REFLECTING ON CULTURE WARS IN ADULT LITERACY EDUCATION: EXPLORING CRITICAL ISSUES IN "CONTESTED GROUND"

George Demetrion
Spring 2000
Literacy Volunteers of Greater Hartford
30 Arbor Street
Hartford, CT 06106
Gdemetrion@Juno.com

A review of: Merrifield, J. (1998). Contested Ground: Performance Accountability in Adult Basic Education. Cambridge, MA: National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy.

[W]hile the theories of New Literacy Studies are being applied in teaching, they have had much less currency at the level of educational systems and policies—institutions, funding, and accountability. Such a shift in the understanding of literacy means that ‘performance’ is defined differently and requires a different approach to accountability (Merrifield, 1998, p. 32)

One’s perspective on what is good performance in adult education, and what should be measured, depends on one’s context and position. Learners’ perspectives on what is a successful program may not be the same as policymakers’ perspectives. Learners may want a program that treats them with respect, allows them to feel successful, provides them with the learning opportunities they want, and supports the results that are important to them, whether they are a credential or the ability to read to their children. Policymakers may not care about any of the process, but want a program that gets people into jobs. Educators, rooted in the kindergarten-through-higher-education tradition, may care most about credentials (Merrrifield, 1998, p. 33).

In her aptly titled "Contested Ground: Performance Accountability in Adult Basic Education," Juliet Merrifield lays out the critical issues of policy, practice, and theory that consume adult literacy/ABE discourse at the end of the Clinton era. Merrifield, a proponent of the New Literacy Studies (Merrifield, Bingman, Hemphill, and Bennett deMarrais, 1997), is a very vocal critic of functional literacy that has a long lineage in 20^th century adult literacy, now associated with such policy initiatives like the 1998 Workforce Investment Act (WIA). In no uncertain terms, she and her colleagues maintain the following:

The concept of functional literacy should be laid to rest. The concept is flawed. Its definition is arbitrary, its measurement is problematic, and the phenomenon of "functioning in life" cannot readily be equated with literacy. Adults with limited literacy skills should be credited with the skills and knowledge that they do have. Educators should start to build on and extend this knowledge and skill, based on the needs, desires, and interests of the adult learners, rather than dwelling on measuring how "functional" a learner is or needs to become, according to standardized tests (Merrifield, Bingman, Hemphill, and Bennett deMarrais, 1997, p. 213).