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Campbell, Elizabeth Margaret (2011) Scottish adult literacy and numeracy policy and practice: a social practice model: rhetoric or reality. PhD thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/2948/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] Scottish Adult Literacy and Numeracy Policy and Practice A Social Practice Model – Rhetoric or Reality? Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The Faculty of Education University of Glasgow Elizabeth Campbell October 2010 Abstract This thesis is about the story of the development of Adult Literacy and Numeracy policy and practice in Scotland. It includes some of my personal experiences over the past thirty years working in the field of adult education and particularly in literacies. However, the focus is primarily on the years 2000 –2006 when major developments took place in this field of adult learning. One of the tenets of the „new literacies‟ policy and practice is that it is predicated on a social practice model. This thesis explores whether this assertion is rhetoric or reality. In the process the thesis outlines what the term social practice means to theorists, academics and those involved in the direct delivery of literacies. It examines the policy documents and the practices of managers and tutors and learner outcomes. The thesis argues that, while a learner centred approach is integral to any good adult education practice, it does not equate to the use of a social practice model and more requires to be done before it can be claimed that Scotland truly operates a social practice model in the delivery of Adult Literacy and Numeracy. The first five chapters of the thesis outline the historical context of literacies development in Scotland, locate my methodological approach, explore what is meant by social practices, sketch the development of policy and practice in Scotland and describe the methods used to gather data. 1 The following three chapters explore the responses of the managers, tutors and learners that informed the outcomes of the research. The final chapters analyse the data and address three pertinent questions. Firstly, is it possible/likely that a full social practice model can become the norm in Scotland, secondly, whether it is possible to develop this model at a national level anywhere considering the current global situation and thirdly, how can the good practice recorded in this research be sustained. 2 Contents Page Chapter 1 Background to Literacy and 5 Numeracy Development in Scotland Chapter 2 Locating the Research Methodology 30 Autobiographically and Philosophically Chapter 3 Social Practice in Literacies 65 Chapter 4 The Development of the Adult Literacy 82 and Numeracy Policy in Scotland Chapter 5 Methods 121 Chapter 6 Research Findings - Managers 135 Chapter 7 Research Findings - Tutors - Local Issues 165 Chapter 8 Research Findings–Tutors–National Issues 200 Chapter 9 Research Findings – Learners 228 Chapter 10 All change, please 256 Chapter 11 Keeping a Wider Focus 294 Bibliography 333 Appendix A 345 Appendix B 348 Appendix C 353 Appendix D 354 Appendix E 355 Appendix F 356 Appendix G 358 3 Acknowledgements I would like to express my sincere thanks to my friends and colleagues in the three partnership areas involved in this research. Without their co- operation the task would have been impossible. To the tutors who willingly gave their time to answer my questions and comment on my interpretations I am grateful and to the learners who were prepared to meet a complete stranger and talk about personal matters openly I am deeply indebted. Thank you all for enabling me to make this journey. I am also grateful for the support given by my family and friends who have supported me throughout and kept my nose to the grindstone, particularly when I was forced to take a year‟s leave of absence and considered giving up the whole idea. There are two people without whose unfailing support, patience and humour this thesis would never have been completed, my tutors, Professor Jean Barr and Kathy Maclachlan. Everyone who embarks on a long journey such as this requires ongoing encouragement in addition to practical suggestions and I could not have wished for better supervision than that provided by Jean and Kathy. It would be remiss of me not to mention the support given by members of the administrative team in DACE, especially Allie and Myrtle and, prior to her retirement, Rosemary. They were always willing to answer my queries irrespective of how trivial they were. 4 CHAPTER 1 Background to Literacy and Numeracy Development in Scotland „Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope. It is a tool for daily life in modern society. It is a bulwark against poverty, and a building block of development, an essential complement to investments in roads, dams, clinics and factories. Literacy is a platform for democratisation, and a vehicle for the promotion of cultural and national identity. Especially for girls and women, it is an agent of family health and nutrition. For everyone, everywhere, literacy is, along with education in general, a basic human right.... Literacy is, finally, the road to human progress and the means through which every man, woman and child can realize his or her full potential.‟ [Annan 1997] The above statement was made by Kofi Annan, General Secretary of the United Nations, on International Literacy Day 1997. Part of his speech equated the value of literacy provision with that of roads, dams, clinics and factories. For the adult population of Scotland at least, to date, the money spent on the latter has far outweighed that spent on the former. This chapter will outline the historical development of literacies in Scotland up to, and including, the publication of the Adult Literacy and Numeracy in Scotland (ALNIS) report issued by the Scottish Executive in 2001. In common with the rest of the United Kingdom, literacy development in Scotland has been an evolution rather than a revolution. However, whether someone is deemed „literate‟ or „illiterate‟ depends on how literacy is measured. In the 1750s the ability to write one‟s name was the yardstick and, using this measurement, about 50% of the population of Scotland was considered literate rising to 58% by 1840 (Fieldhouse 1996a). 5 Before the advent of compulsory schooling, strategies for teaching literacy in the nineteenth century were deeply saturated by the religious ideologies and practices that were dominant at the time (Hamilton 1996). The Church and State played a significant rôle in the development of literacy in Scotland as early as the 17th. Century. The insistence of the Calvinist Church that every parishioner should be able to read the bible led to legislation being introduced requiring landowners to fund a post of school master in every parish (Macrae 1999). The result of this legislation meant that at the time of the Education Acts of the late 19th. Century, only 11% of Scottish men and 21% of Scottish women could not sign their names on public documents, compared with 30% of men and 41% of women in England and Wales. (ibid 1999). At the time of the Act of Union in 1707 Scotland retained control of three important national institutions, the law, the church and education. As a result of this, education in Scotland has developed differently from the rest of the United Kingdom. Until the advent of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 the Scottish Education Department (SED) was responsible for all education matters and separate acts were required to be passed by the United Kingdom Parliament for the Scottish education system. Post devolution the responsibility lies solely with the Scottish Parliament. The statutory framework for Adult and Further Education in Scotland is part of the Education (Scotland) Acts of 1962 and 1969 and the Further Education (Scotland) Regulations 1959-1979 (Scottish Institute of Adult Education 1981). The 1969 Act places a duty on each education authority 6 to „make adequate and efficient provision of school and further education‟, the latter to include both vocational and non-vocational provision (ibid 1981). There is a lack of clarity as to what is meant by „adequate and efficient provision‟ and, as a result, education authorities and other providers are unsure exactly what is expected of them (ibid 1981). In 1975 the Community Education Service was created as a result of the Government report, The Challenge of Change, or, as it is more commonly known, the Alexander Report. This report recommends the setting up of the service in Scotland by merging the former adult education sector with the Youth and Community Service (Scottish Education Department 1975). One important factor to note is that the remit of the Alexander Committee was very narrow in that it was restricted to local authority provision of non-vocational adult education described in the 1945 Education (Scotland) Act as „informal further education‟ (Martin 1996). The Alexander Report clearly indicates that informal adult education should no longer be the preserve of those who could afford to pay for the services but should address the issue of wider participation (McConnell 1997). Martin (1996) argues that the report, which was intended to strengthen adult education, actually had the effect of weakening the provision by isolating it from the wider field of adult and continuing education.

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