List Books » Conflicting Paradigms in Adult Literacy Education In Quest of a U.S. Democratic Politics of Literacy
Authors: George Demetrion
ISBN-13: 9780805846232, ISBN-10: 0805846239
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Taylor & Francis, Inc.
Date Published: November 2004
Edition: (Non-applicable)
Demetrion's overview of adult literacy theory, policy, practice, and research since the 1980s analyzes three schools: the Freirean-based participatory literacy movement, grounded in oppositional politics and grass-roots community activism; the British-based New Literacy Studies, focusing on the ways diverse students use literacy practices in their daily lives; and the US government's focus on functional literacy, linked to a 45-year-old policy emphasis on workforce readiness. His analysis of the schools' very different implications concludes with an argument that unless a convincing set of values grounded in political culture emerges, it's unlikely that the adult literacy field will be able to move from its current marginalized status toward greater public and policy legitimacy. Demetrion is outreach manager for Literacy Volunteers of Greater Hartford, CT. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
1 | Introduction : in search of common ground amidst conflicting paradigms in adult literacy education | 1 |
2 | Adult literacy and the quality of life | 26 |
3 | Workforce readiness in the information age | 56 |
4 | Workforce Investment Act/National Reporting System (WIA/NRS) | 83 |
5 | NLA polemics : criticism and counterarguments | 108 |
6 | Defining outcomes and impacts of adult literacy education : enduring problems and conflicting perspectives | 128 |
7 | Equipped for the future : building the infrastructure | 151 |
8 | EFF standards : linking pedagogy and policy in quest of a national consensus | 179 |
9 | Research traditions : problems, paradigms, polemics | 205 |
10 | Toward a mediating pedagogy of adult literacy via Dewey's model of inquiry and his accompanying metaphor of growth | 236 |
11 | In quest of a more perfect union through a double-vision perspective of hope and skepticism | 267 |