Literacy and Citizenship
What's at Stake?

This is the third in our series on how literacy relates to the primary roles adults play as family members, workers and citizens. What is the relationship between literacy and citizenship now, at the beginning of the 21st century? How do literacy barriers affect people’s ability to exercise their rights and responsibilities in relation to their communities and our country? A key development in this area (and a very important one for the literacy community) is “citizen engagement”, the trend for governments to seek input from citizens in the process of public policy development.

“A variety of forces are pushing governments to find new ways to involve citizens in the making of policy. Forces like the speed and complexity of change and the growing diversity of Canadian society demand up-to-date, accurate input from those affected if policies are to be relevant and effective...The type of involvement follows a continuum from that of communicating a message, to consultations, to true engagement (deliberative, open-ended and transformative ).”

Karen Jackson, Canadian Policy Research Networks (CPRN) presentation at Ready Set Go conference, Ottawa, January 30 - February 1, 2002

According to CPRN, the engagement process involves “a working through of issues and values, searching for common ground, mutual listening and public learning”. Engagement is significant when there is a genuine role for citizens — especially at the stages of problem definition and direction-setting and if policy-makers are ready to invest in listening and learning.

What does citizen engagement mean right now for literacy learners and for those who work with them? . . .

Continued on next page....