In this article we offer a discussion around our academic-practitioner involvements with one another and with a targeted community, in relation to a particular project. In the title of the article, we have hyphenated the term "academic-practitioner" to render fuzzy the distinction between "academic" roles (associated with…

Adult literacy is a crucial element of community and economic development in South Africa and many developing countries striving to meet Millennium Development Goals. However, few governments invest the recommended 6% of education budgets on programmes for adults. Without resources, volunteer educators and international supporters rely on their…

Legislation over the past two decades has shaped the dominant view of adult literacy as addressing gaps in well-defined, measurable skills. As rural communities face unprecedented challenges, this one-size-fits-all view of adult literacy does not consider the unique local context of rural communities or involve those communities in defining their…

In March 2006, Premier Wen Jiabao acknowledged that the situation in the Chinese countryside is desperate and claimed new resources would be devoted to healthcare and education. This announcement should have pleased architects of the Chinese "learning initiative" who are building learning cities and villages. The authors describe why…

Describes the "Walking Teachers" program in Thailand, developed to bring functional literacy to all adults in the community where they live. The walking teachers have three functions: (1) teaching adult functional literacy, (2) overseeing nonformal educational activities, and (3) coordinating rural development activities in general. (CH)

This booklet presents a discussion that focuses on the relationship between adult literacy and the economic development of a community. The principal characteristics of the currents that have had most influence in Latin American during the last decade are described, and a new alternative for community development education is presented. This…

Describes three projects sponsored by the International Community Education Association: (1) functional literacy for railway workers in Ghana; (2) youth farmers' community development project in Ghana; and (3) participatory research in a community education and development network in Sierra Leone. (SK)

The Adult Basic Education Program at Umgeni Water, a water authority in South Africa, is a workplace literacy program that seeks to impart skills within the workplace that can be used in community development, benefiting both the business and community involved. From a pilot project in 1989, the adult education program at Umgeni Water has grown…

Amid the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Brazil was the Global Forum, a gathering of representatives of more than 9,000 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Brazil's array of NGOs and grass-roots support organizations began developing in the early 1960s. The "pedagogy of the oppressed" developed by Paulo…

Describes the ALPHA series of publications, an action-research project on literacy and education. Explains that ALPHA began as a literacy movement in Quebec, Canada, and is now focused on alternative education, basic education, and sustainable communities throughout the world. (Contains 26 references.) (NB)

Mount Wachusett Community College's (MWCC's) Workplace Partnership Project (WPP) was undertaken to raise the awareness of local agencies to the linkage possibilities among MWCC, economic development leaders, and literacy programs; and to develop a tutor training program for rural workforce literacy tutors. Brochures and flyers publicizing the…

This journal issue contains a series of papers concerned with exploring the role that adult education can play in developing communities. The first paper, "Major Challenges and Prospect of Adult Education for the Year 2000" (T. M. Sakya), provides an overview of adult education in Asia and the Pacific, emphasizing the vastness of the…

This report contains materials from a workshop to provide training in audiovisual materials development for women and other disadvantaged populations, such as slum dwellers, minorities, and migrants. The proceedings section contains an introduction, objective, and summaries of opening, workshop, and other presentations. Chapter 1 provides details…

World Education, with a small grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development, began an experimental pilot project in nonformal education at a university research center, a pilot project that eventually became the Government of Nepal's national literacy program. The program evolved gradually over 12 years (1977-89) and was molded in…

Four adult education programs being conducted in India are described in the case studies in this packet. Two of the projects involve literacy; the third promotes literacy as one part of its community development program, and the fourth trains workers in hotel management and catering technology. The literacy programs are (1) development of a…