Theory and Practice in Adult Literacy, Learning and Social Change

Catherine Kell is Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and was Director of the School of Education from 2017 to 2020. She has taught in the field of language and literacy studies for over three decades in South Africa and New Zealand, with a brief spell in Tanzania.Anna Robinson-Pant is Professor of Education at the School of Education and Lifelong Learning, University of East Anglia, UK. She holds the UNESCO Chair in Adult Literacy and Learning for Social Transformation.

• List of photographs and maps List of contributorsAcknowledgementsIntroduction, Catherine Kell and Anna Robinson-PantSection 1: Theoretical perspectives on literacy, learning and social change1. Why literacy and social change?, Anna Robinson-Pant2. Unpacking the linguistic in changing conceptualisations of literacy: language/s, script/s and ontologies, Catherine Kell3. “Widow” as a bodily assemblage: Reconceptualising the body in learning and change, Amina Singh4. The coloniality of literacy: Latinisation and Arabicisation of the script in Sudan, Ashraf Abdelhay, Mohammad Alkhair and Abdelrahim Hamid Mugaddam5. Adult literacy as a catalyst for empowerment, Vicky Duckworth and Amanda FulfordSection 2: Literacy practices and social change: trajectories, identities and resources6. “We learn in struggle”: the contributions of Literacy Studies for Adult Education in Brazil, Claudia Lemos Vóvio and Luanda Rejane Soares Sito7. A telling tale: Life history, Dalit women and literacy for social change, Malini Ghose8. Protest literacies in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro: Social change or social transformation?, Jamie D. I. Duncan9. The Role of Literature in Resisting Social Change: A Small-Scale Case Study, Mostafa Hasrati and Pedram LalbhakshSection 3: Taking hold of adult literacy and learning in policy and practice10. A changing adult literacy and learning landscape: case studies from Indigenous Australia, Ros Bauer and Inge Kral11. Adults' eloquence literacy as a means of adapting to social transformation: A case study on adult literacy in Xi'an, China, Dengke Liu, Rong Wen, Chenbing Wu and Jiacheng Li12. A Haven and a Vehicle: Generating transformational learning experiences in a formal university graduate school using adult nonformal education methods, Michael Gibbons, Tom Lent and Beck Waghorne13. Learning for global social justice: the contribution of global citizenship and education for sustainable development, Douglas Bourn

'This inspiring book offers insightful theoretical and methodological approaches for exploring ways in which processes and practices in adult literacy and lifelong learning can be perceived as intertwined with social change, lived experiences and embodied spaces of minoritised groups of people.'