Addresses the issue of diverse literacies and the problems of privileging a dominant form of literacy at the expense of those from non-mainstream cultures. Illustrates how the literacy practices of working-class families and communities can be incorporated into learning programs. Stresses the need to legitimate the vernacular literacies of the…

A project to improve access to higher education for working-class Scottish adults illustrates the need to address individual ability and attitude as well as institutional and situational barriers to participation. A balance of the structural and the individual is needed to challenge inequality and promote social inclusion. (SK)

"Connect" is an approach to family literacy in Scotland that recognizes that people have different literacies used in different life domains. It values home and community literacies and challenges the deficit perspective and dominant cultural and ideological patterns. (SK)

Widening participation initiatives tend to focus on raising the aspirations of the working class rather than changing educational cultures. However, any analysis must take account of the role of the educational institution itself in creating and perpetuating inequalities. Participation in higher education (HE) is an inherently more risky, costly…

Assumptions about learner identity are often based on a deficit view of the working classes. This chapter illustrates an alternative discourse that shows how one family literacy program in Scotland generated useful knowledge.

Examined the gendered experiences of 18 working-class participants in higher education through the analysis of interviews related to schooling, later learning, students' views of higher education, and attitudes toward being working class. Findings emphasize the construction of masculine and feminine identities and the mediating effects of gender…