UNESCO formed the concept of fundamental education in hopes that the programme could end poverty, bring world peace and serve indigenous people. When UNESCO's first pilot project appeared to fail, the organisation developed centres where fundamental education workers learned to use such techniques as libraries, museum displays, films and radio,…

Scholars of adult basic literacy curricular materials have argued that the skill-based, deficit-oriented approach of many such materials denies the interests and motivations of adult learners. Exploring why these kinds of curricular materials are prevalent in adult basic literacy education, this article focuses on the case of ProLiteracy, a…