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The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School Department of Learning and Performance Systems MEANING, USES, AND OUTCOMES OF ADULT LITERACY IN A FUNCTIONAL ADULT LITERACY PROGRAM IN UGANDA A Dissertation in Lifelong Learning and Adult Education by Anne Odele © 2018Anne Odele Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December, 2018 ii The dissertation of Anne Odele was reviewed and approved* by the following: Esther Prins Professor of Education Dissertation Advisor Chair of Committee Kimberly Powell Associate Professor of Education (Language, Culture & Society), Art Education, and Asian Studies Carolyn Sachs Professor Emeritus of Rural Sociology and Women's Studies Alicia Decker Associate Professor of Women's Studies and African Studies Susan Land Head of Graduate Program *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School iii ABSTRACT This ethnographically informed study explored how 32 former participants in the Functional Adult Literacy (FAL) Program in rural Uganda used learning from the program in their daily lives, the perceived outcomes of applying the practices learned in the program, and the meanings that literacy held for participants. Learning domains included literacy practices (reading, writing, and numeracy) and livelihood practices (e.g., agriculture, hygiene and sanitation, income generation, savings and credit). The theoretical framework drew on New Literacy Studies (NLS) and a critical literacy view of literacy as well as a feminist food justice perspective. These lenses allowed an exploration of various literacies and livelihoods and their significance, and the sociocultural environment that influenced both how adults applied literacy and livelihood practices, as well as the outcomes of applying these practices. The ethnographically informed study (conducted March–August, 2017) included the following data sources: participant observation of trading at the local markets, choristers at a Catholic mass, village savings and credit association meetings, and farming activities, among others; 23 interviews with 10 focal participants, literacy participants’ associates (spouse or child, n=10), and local community leaders (n=3); four focus groups with literacy participants; and analysis of official documents and literacy artifacts. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis. This study presents a longitudinal perspective of participants’ literacy and livelihood practices over 12 years since the literacy class ended. Literacy practices included various forms of reading (e.g., personal, shared, family records), writing (e.g., contracts, notes during trainings, biblical references, signing names, records of debtors), numeracy (e.g., calculating monetary iv equivalents for goods sold and change during financial transactions, helping children with homework), and speaking English (e.g., to visitors at social functions in the community and when travelling). Participants applied what they learned in the program to livelihood practices including agriculture, environmental conservation, income generation, hygiene and sanitation, care of the family, spiritual growth, and collective savings groups. The findings indicate that to be more meaningful for poor populations, adult literacy programs must be rooted in people’s social realities. First, participants applied literacy learning selectively based on what they considered beneficial for its functional or instrumental value (e.g., when trading, helping children with homework), economic capital (e.g., from formal jobs and leadership positions in the community), cultural value (self-esteem, confidence, familial relationships, social manners, and social networks), and symbolic capital (in the power to convert economic and cultural capital into material resources and social authority). Participants contested the hegemonic influence of the Western sponsor, who determined the terms and conditions of operation for the savings and credit association, by establishing a parallel flexible savings and credit system, a social safety net that responded to their needs. This mechanism required no interest, provided instant access to credit with flexible loan re-payment terms, and required no pass books. Similarly, adherence to Christian teaching was challenged when participants sought recourse in traditional healers. Such experiences depict the fluidity of spirituality and melding of traditional and Christian practices. Participants also resisted some literacy learning considered culturally inappropriate such as making compost manure and using a raised drying rack. These technologies were labor intensive or too expensive. Participants appropriated literacy artifacts (including pit latrines, v granaries, bathing shelters, and plate racks) to denote enlightenment, deriving prestige from the existence of these structures in their homes. The benefits of participants’ new livelihood practices were mutually reinforcing and included diversified sources of income from selling agricultural produce; value-added processes such as selling peanut butter and other products; and from the collective savings and loan scheme. Participants also sold livestock and related products (e.g., eggs) and hired out oxen for animal traction. The application of literacy learning further led to increased food security and improved health, self-confidence, and family relations. Second, although the local context determined certain meanings and forms that literacy took (Brandt & Clinton, 2001), participants were nonetheless attracted to particular mechanics of reading and writing. For instance, participants had specific interest in particular literacies: signing names, financial literacy, religious literacy, reading dates, and reading texts such as public notices or official and personal letters. This particularity suggests that literacy itself may be a commodity demanded for its intrinsic value. Participants defined literacy beyond the mechanics of reading and writing to include the capacity to apply knowledge to improve their lives. This perception of literacy shaped the participants’ identities wherein the ability to translate literacy learning for one’s benefit was synonymous with being educated. As such, participants had their own definition of progress in literacy learning. Third, with their perceived identities, participants’ access to resources including material, human and training shaped their application of literacy and livelihood practices, to realize instrumental, economic, cultural, and symbolic capital. vi This research project contributes to scholarship on adult literacy education by demonstrating how the significance of literacy learning is linked to participants’ livelihoods and how literacy is used to manage spousal relationships. It also offers a cultural perspective of literacy in relation to the identities participants developed. The study adds to literature on longitudinal adult literacy by providing a nuanced view of hegemonic influences on local communities and the tension between cultural knowledge and Western knowledge about farming practices, health management, and local social safety nets. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... xi LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... xii LIST OF ACRONYMS ............................................................................................................... xiii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................... xv CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 The Awakening ......................................................................................................................... 1 Problem and Purpose Statement ............................................................................................... 4 Study Focus and Research Questions ....................................................................................... 5 Significance............................................................................................................................... 9 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................................... 10 Theoretical Perspectives on Adult Literacy: The New Literacy Studies ................................ 10 Critical Literacy ...................................................................................................................... 16 Defining Literacy .............................................................................................................. 18 Uses of Literacy ................................................................................................................ 20 Longitudinal Studies on Adult Literacy .................................................................................. 21 Feminist Food Justice Perspective .......................................................................................... 23 CHAPTER 3 METHODS ............................................................................................................. 26 Ethnography and Critical Realism .......................................................................................... 26 Critical Realism ...............................................................................................................