An Ethnographic Study of Rural Community Literacy Practices in Bweyale and their Implications for Adult Literacy Education in Uganda George L. Openjuru Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Faculty of Education UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL, DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA 2008 i DECLARATION I, George L. Openjuru, do hereby declare that this is my own original work, except for the acknowledged assistance and referenced citations. It has not been previously submitted to any university for the award of a degree. Signed: Date: 29th February 2008 ii DEDICATION This work is dedicated to my mother Ventorina Ladur Odong (Oveni) who strongly believed that I was a good and capable child, and my father Garisiano Erocano Ladaah Odong (Agari) who struggled to keep me in school against all odds, and gave me the most inspiring advice ever, to become a teacher and not a pilot, my dear wife Eunice Openjuru and children: Raymond, Max Godwin, Flower Elsie, and Warren, for their love and moral support. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to acknowledge the support of my supervisor Dr. E. S. Lyster, Cathy Rich for carefully reading and editing the final copy of the work, Kogi Doorasamy and all my friends for their wonderful contributions to this work, and Makerere University for their financial support. Special thanks go to my wife for supporting the family during my long absence from home and my children for tolerating my long absence from home. To every one of you I say thank you very much. iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AAU ActionAid Uganda ABET Adult Basic Education and Training ADRA Adventist Development and Relief Organisation AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome CBO Community Based Organisation CCF Christian Children’s Fund CMS Church Missionary Society CRS Catholic Relief Service CWA Community Welfare Assistants DRC Democratic Republic of Congo IIZ-DVV The Institute for International Co-operation of the German Adult Education Association (Institut für Internationale Zusammenarbeit des Deutschen Volkshochschul-Verbandes) EFA Education for All FAL Functional Adult Literacy HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus IDP Internally Displaced People IGA Income Generating Activity INFOBEPP Integrated Non-Formal Basic Education Pilot Project JET Joint Education Trust KADDO Karamoja Diocesan Development Organisation Kiira AEA Kiira Adult Education Association LABE Literacy and Adult Basic Education LC Local Council v LNA Learning Needs Assessment MoGLSD Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development NAEA National Adult Education Association NALSIP National Adult Literacy Strategic Investment Plan NGO Non-Governmental Organisation NLPN National Literacy Programme in Namibia NLS New Literacy Studies P. 1-7 Primary school education from year One to Seven PEAP Poverty Eradication Action Plan PMA Plan for the Modernisation of Agriculture REFLECT Regenerated Freirean Literacy through Empowering Community Techniques S. 1-6 Secondary school education from year One to Six SOCADIDO Soroti Catholic Diocese Integrated Development Organisation SOMED Support Organisation for Micro Enterprise Development TOCIDA Tororo Community Initiated Development UBOS Uganda Bureau of Statistics UK United Kingdom UNCST Uganda National Council for Science and Technology UNESCO United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation UNICEF United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund UPE Universal Primary Education US United States of America WEP Women’s Empowerment Programme vi ABSTRACT This was a study of rural community literacy practices in Uganda. I used the social practices theory of literacy as a theoretical framework to investigate literacy use in rural community life in Bweyale. The social practices theory of literacy sees literacy as variable social practice that can only be understood within the social context of its use. Consistent with the social practices theoretical perspective and following similar research traditions in this area of literacy study, I used ethnographic research methods to collect data and grounded theory methods to analyse data on literacy use in Bweyale. The study revealed that rural people, contrary to popular perceptions about their illiteracy and hence lack of literacy, actually use reading and writing in a variety of ways in different domains of literacy use. Literacy pervades most aspects of rural community life, making rural people use literacy in many rich and creative ways. Most people, regardless of their literacy status, participate in local literacy practices. The most prominent areas of literacy use in rural community life are livelihood activities, education, religion, bureaucracy, household life, and personal life. The study also found that the conception of literacy among rural people in Bweyale is similar to the dominant conception of literacy. In this conception, literacy is seen as equal to education and/or schooling and it relates to modernity. Rural people see literacy as a valuable and important aspect of life. The literacy they value most is the dominant English language literacy. This is due to the multilingual nature of Uganda and the national language policy that made English the dominant language of literacy even in rural community life. The use of English literacy is also reinforced by its use as the language of instruction in Uganda’s education system where most people learn how to read and write. This dominance of English complicates literacy use in rural community life because it brings in the need for translation, especially when people who do not understand English are involved in a literacy event. It also complicates local language literacy learning. The use of English is closely associated with the dominant non-traditional activities like school education, the police service, modern trade practices, and to some extent, Christian religious practices. Local language literacy is mainly used when vii communicating information relating to traditional activities, for example, traditional medicinal practices or for personal use. The study recommends that adult literacy education curricula should be tailored to the local literacy practices of the people for whom the literacy programmes are being developed. This will help to make the literacy programmes immediately relevant to the everyday literacy practices of the learners’ community. The programmes should promote literacy use in the community by exploring new areas of literacy use in rural community life. These are areas in which the use of literacy could lead to better management of some activities in rural community life. In all, rural people are literate in ways that are not acknowledged in dominant literacy thinking and hence even by rural people themselves. This way of thinking must be discouraged. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION.............................................................................................................ii DEDICATION................................................................................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS..............................................................................................iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.........................................................................................v ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................vii TABLE OF CONTENTS...............................................................................................ix TABLE OF FIGURES.................................................................................................. xv CHAPTER ONE: Introduction......................................................................................1 1.1 Introduction and research problem .........................................................................1 1.2 The rationale for the study .......................................................................................3 1.3 The nature of this study ............................................................................................8 1.4 The purpose and objectives of this study.................................................................9 1.4.1 The purpose of the study ..................................................................................9 1.4.2 The objectives of the study............................................................................. 10 1.5 The research focus................................................................................................... 11 1.5.1 Local conceptions of literacy.......................................................................... 11 1.5.2 Literacy domains ............................................................................................ 11 1.5.3 Literacy practices ........................................................................................... 11 1.5.4 Coping strategies ............................................................................................ 12 1.6 The location of Bweyale .......................................................................................... 12 1.7. Why Bweyale? ........................................................................................................ 13 1.8 Organisation of the thesis ....................................................................................... 14 CHAPTER TWO: Theories and ethnographies of literacy........................................ 17 2.1 Introduction............................................................................................................