Action Learning can be effectively used in both large and small businesses and organizations by employees, stakeholders, or volunteers through this "learning by doing" approach to evaluate an issue or issues of importance to the organization. First developed in the 1940s, Action Learning has increasingly been used as a method to explore questions…

This paper describes seven ideas that would help a literacy program work well. Some examples are given to show how each idea could be used in different parts of a literacy program. Some questions are also listed that could stimulate discussion about each idea. The seven quality guidelines or ideas are as follows: (1) community focus--a good…

The first of three related monographs resulting from a Unesco regional literacy workshop in Asia, this booklet provides information useful to those designing national programs in literacy training for underdeveloped and developing nations. Following an introduction, the booklet discusses the formulation of both policy guidelines and policy…

A study created a typology of 271 adult literacy programs nationwide describing their distribution along two dimensions: (1) relevance of materials to learner needs and sociocultural context (life-contextual/decontextual), and (2) extent of learner control of decisions about program activities (dialogic/monologic). A questionnaire elicited…

Although the National Workplace Literacy Program is relatively new, a new orthodoxy of program development based on particular understandings of literacy and learning has emerged. Descriptions of two model workplace education programs are the beginning points for an examination of the assumptions contained in most reports of workplace education…

Even Start is a family literacy and support program for families with young children. This paper identifies several characteristics of adult learners in order to suggest effective approaches for working with adults to improve literacy skills. The first section presents five case studies illustrating adults with different histories, circumstances,…

Despite the fact that, of all the 50 states, Utah has the highest percentage of state and local government expenditures for education and the highest proportion of adults who have graduated from high school, one out of every five adults in Utah lacks basic literacy skills. At present, the following adult literacy programs offer instruction in…

Many of John Dewey's ideas concerning ethics and the universalization of democratic habits of thought and action are especially relevant to a discussion of adult literacy as a means of developing social intelligence in a democratic society. Dewey's basic ethical principles are manifest in approaches to adult literacy education such as those…

This document is designed to help literacy practitioners and others promote and establish family literacy programs to prepare adult learners in South Carolina for their roles as parents, workers, health consumers, and citizens. The rationale for promoting family literacy is explained. The following topics are discussed: a design for family…