Fostering a culture of reading and writing Examples of dynamic literate environments United Nations Educational, Scientifi c and Cultural Organization Fostering a culture of reading and writing – Examples of dynamic literate environments Fostering a culture of reading and writing Examples of dynamic literate environments Selected case studies from http://litbase.uil.unesco.org United Nations Educational, Scientifi c and Cultural Organization Published in 2017 by UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning Feldbrunnenstraße 58 20148 Hamburg Germany © UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning The UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) undertakes research, capacity-building, networking and publication on lifelong learning with a focus on adult and continuing education, literacy and non-formal basic education. Its publications are a valuable resource for education researchers, planners, policy-makers and practitioners. While the programmes of UIL are established along the lines laid down by the General Conference of UNESCO, the publications of the Institute are issued under its sole responsibility. UNESCO is not responsible for their contents. The points of view, selection of facts and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily coincide with official positions of UNESCO or UIL. The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO or UIL concerning the legal status of any country or territory, or its authorities, or concerning the delimitations of the frontiers of any country or territory. We would like to thank the following people for their support in developing case studies for the UNESCO Effective Literacy and Numeracy Practises Database and for supporting the production of this publication: Ai Tam Le Pham, Alena Oberlerchner, Almudena de la Torre Cubillo, Andrea Díaz Hernández, Anne Darmer, Ayda Hagh Talab, Bernhard Oberngruber, Bo Zhao, Chung Dolma, Clara Bucher, Danchen Wang, Daniel Faltin, Dijana Avdagic, Edgar I. Félix Vargas, Francesca Lasi, Julian Kosh, Justin Jimenez, Kristin Erhard, Kwaku Gyening Owusu, Lara Tilke, Laura Fox, Lingwei Shao, Lyu Na, Mahmoud Elsayed, Malgorzata Torchala, Malte Jahnke, Maria Victoria Ferraz, Mariana Simoes, Maurice Shawndefar, Medaldo Runhare, Michelle Viljoen, Mihika Shah-Wundenberg, Mika Hama, Moussa Gadio, Nisrine Mussaileb, Omotunde Kasali, Qingzi Gong, Rouven Adomat, Ruth Zannis, Sarah Marshall, Seara Moon, Shaima Muhammad, Stephanie Harvey, Thomas Day, Ulrike Schmidt and Unai Arteaga Taberna. Edited by Ulrike Hanemann and Lisa Krolak Layout and design Teresa Boese ISBN 978-92-820-1217-8 This publication is available in Open Access under the Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO (CC-BY- SA 3.0 IGO) licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/igo/). By using the content of this publication, the users accept to be bound by the terms of use of the UNESCO Open Access Repository (http://www.unesco.org/open-access/terms-use-ccbysa-en). Contents F OREWORD Page 7 I NTRODUCTION Page 9 AFRICA Ethiopia eBooks and Family Literacy Programme Page 32 South Africa Reading and Writing for Pleasure Page 38 Zambia Innovative Library Services for Vulnerable Children and Youth Page 45 ASIA AND THE PACIFIC Nepal Community Library and Resource Centres Page 52 Nepal My Grandparents' Stories, My Pictures Page 57 Pakistan Adult Female Functional Literacy Programme Page 63 Viet Nam Books for Rural Areas of Viet Nam Page 68 EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA Germany Münster Prison Library Page 74 Netherlands VorleesExpress Page 79 Switzerland Tell Me a Story Page 84 United Kingdom Of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Bookstart Page 90 United Kingdom Of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Prison Family Learning Programme Page 94 United States of America Free Minds Book Club and Writing Workshop Page 99 United States of America Reach Out and Read Page 107 L ATIN AMERICA Argentina Reading and Writing in Unit 33 Page 114 Honduras Changing Lives in Central America through Access to Information and Literacy Page 122 Nicaragua Bibliobús Bertolt Brecht and the German-Nicaraguan Library Page 132 Uruguay Prison Education Programmes for Young People and Adults Page 141 F DOREWOR 7 Creating cultures of reading, writing and learning The improvement of literacy is a concern globally, in reading, writing and learning should be part of all lit- every region of the world and in countries at every lev- eracy and lifelong learning strategies. This is about not el of income. It is widely recognized as critical to the only building supportive conditions but also identify- achievement of most of the Sustainable Development ing and removing impediments to literacy and learn- Goals (SDGs) that comprise the 2030 Agenda for ing. Furthermore, it is about the creation and use of Sustainable Development. However, progress with spaces that bring learning closer to people’s everyday regard to the Education 2030 literacy target (SDG lives, which is the central idea of the lifelong learning 4.6) – ‘by 2030, ensure that all youth and a substan- principle. tial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy’ – is only possible if The examples of literacy programmes showcased and those young people and adults who face literacy chal- analysed in this publication confirm the critical role of lenges are motivated to engage in learning. Available literate environments. They have been selected from research evidence suggests that supportive economic, UNESCO’s Effective Literacy and Numeracy Practises social and cultural environments are more likely to Database (LitBase), which UIL develops on a continu- encourage people with literacy needs to enrol in lit- ous basis. They demonstrate first and foremost how eracy courses, to make use of a range of opportuni- the development of literate environments can posi- ties – including for continuing education – to use and tively influence people’s motivation to (re-)engage in further develop their skills, and to become independ- literacy and learning and how they can practise their ent and effective lifelong learners. This should fix the newly acquired skills in their daily activities to reach attention of policy-makers and programme providers sustainable skills levels. In addition, they reveal suc- on the need to develop rich and dynamic literate envi- cessful strategies towards a culture of reading, writing ronments. and learning in the family, community or wider soci- ety. The examples reflect different contexts, such as The promotion of literacy and the creation of lit- families, libraries and prisons, to illustrate the poten- erate environments are two sides of the same tial of ICTs, intergenerational approaches, and com- coin: Policies and strategies to achieve literacy and munity, mobile and prison libraries to engage young numeracy should ensure good-quality programmes people and adults in literacy and learning. for young people and adults alongside the develop- ment of rich literate environments. Such policies can Paving the way to the achievement of Education 2030 include support for libraries, the provision of reading will be only possible to the extent that an enabling materials in local languages, book publishing, and culture of reading and writing is nurtured. This access to opportunities to gain recognized adult basic requires the creation of truly literate environments. It education certificates and to use newly acquired is my hope that this publication contributes to a better skills in local socio-economic development activities. understanding of the importance of dynamic literate The generation of multiple opportunities for uses environments and highlights a number of promising of literacy in relevant life spheres often acts as an approaches. I firmly believe that the experiences enabler to ‘hook’ young people and adults into literacy shared in this compilation will be a valuable source learning. Consequently, efforts to enhance literate of inspiration for literacy stakeholders, including environments must be intersectoral in nature. policy-makers, programme providers, researchers and practitioners. The UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) has advocated the creation of literate environments and Arne Carlsen, Director, the development of literate societies, communities UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, and families for a long time. Advancing a culture of 2011–2017 9 Introduction The achievement of ambitious literacy goals depends ducive to the practise and further development of lit- not only on good-quality literacy programmes, but also eracy and numeracy. on the creation of opportunities and demand to use, improve and sustain (newly) acquired skills. This is par- The relationship between an individual’s motivation ticularly true in poor and disadvantaged communities. to engage and remain in literacy learning and the qual- Even where such opportunities are available in the local ity and variety of his or her literate environments – at context, their potential in supporting and reinforcing home, at work, in the community and in society as a literacy learning is frequently insufficiently recognized whole – is reflected in an increasing emphasis on cre- or exploited. The importance of creating dynamic liter- ating such environments as a key element of an effec- ate environments and of nurturing a culture of reading tive literacy strategy. and writing needs to be much better understood. D EFINING LITERATE ENVIRONMENTS Literacy and numeracy