ADULT BASIC EDUCATION
Volume 6, Number 1, Spring 1996, 3 - 20

Grace V. Malicky
Charles A. Norman

ABSTRACT

Little research has focused on the lives of adult literacy learners or on their perceptions of changes in their lives as they participate in literacy programs. In this study, 94 adults enrolled in literacy programs in a large Canadian urban center were interviewed at entry to literacy programs, and 69 of these adults were involved in follow-up, interviews across a 3-year time period. While some program participants talked about the financial problems they were experiencing at home, most focused on relationships with other people, primarily family members, and on time pressures and stress. They perceived positive cognitive, psychological and social changes within themselves, particularly in the initial stages of program participation, However, with increased demands from school and minimal support from family or friends, some felt less positive about themselves by the end of the study. In addition to recognizing the complexity of the lives of adult literacy learners, there is a need for more support services for many adults in programs and for more long-term research.¹

Much of what has been written about the lives of adults labeled as illiterate paints a picture of darkness and despair (e.g., Calamai, 1988; Kozol, 1980; 1985). We are inundated with statistics and images of illiteracy which reflect the perspective of the academic, the researcher, the literate rather than the perspectives of those of whom the statistics and images are written. As Horsman (1990, p. 136) points out, "few educators seek to describe the situation of those who are labeled illiterate from the 'illiterate's' perspective." Similarly, Hunter and Harman (1979) concluded in their overview of research on adult illiteracy that the perceptions, views and attitudes of clients are notably absent from the bulk of the literature, There are some exceptions. Eberle and Robinson (1980) talked with adults about what it was like to be illiterate and why people decided to increase their literacy skills. Quigley (1992) asked adults to recall their experiences in school and related these experiences to their participation in literacy programs. Beder (1990) and Beder and Valentine (1990) investigated the participation decisions of adult basic education students. However, only a handful of researchers have talked with adults about what their lives are like or what the impact of literacy education is on their lives.

GRACE V. MALICKY is a professor in the Department of Elementary Education at the University of Alberta, Edmonton.
CHARLES A. NORMAN is a professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Alberta, Edmonton.