The International Adult Literacy Survey (1995) quantified significant differences in adult literacy levels both between and within industrialised countries. The goal of this research was to better understand the influence of public policy on the reported difference between adult literacy levels in Canada and Sweden. This study compared the congruence between policy as developed at the macro level and policy as experienced at the micro level. The observation that socio-economic status and level of education had less impact on adult literacy levels in Sweden than in Canada was of particular interest. This suggested that significant opportunities for learning in the community, above and beyond that offered by the school system, existed in Sweden.

This chapter begins with a brief discussion of terms that are increasingly used in international discussions about adult literacy and the economy. I then introduce various definitions of literacy under the broad headings of autonomous and ideological literacy and resulting ways it has been measured. An overview of past literacy campaigns shows that while past policy-in-intent had a variety of goals, including morality, nation building, and the economy, it was understanding between government and the people that was key to campaign outcomes (Arnove & Graff, 1987). The influence of ideology on public policy, the New Literacy Studies, and the supply-demand paradigm shed light on factors that lead to successful, or not, outcomes of past literacy campaigns. The chapter concludes with an introduction to the adult education contexts for this research in Canada and Sweden and the guiding conceptual framework.

Lifelong and Lifewide Learning

The terms lifelong and lifewide learning enjoy growing acceptance in international discussions about education and they invite discussion of informal as well as formal education (Boström, Boudard, & Siminou, 2001, Tuijnman & Schuller, 1999). Rapid changes in technology and communications encourage us to continue learning new skills throughout life. Learning also occurs across our lifetime outside the walls of formal education provided in schools, as we learn through community activities and the workplace.