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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#002060;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Kia ora Tom, The reports you sent are great to read -
</span><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#002060">and happy birthday for the 10<sup>th</sup>. Reading between the lines in your email about the social return on investment do you think that the impact of adult literacy programs is not so much
that they improve text literacy, leading to higher grades and educational qualifications for the adults involved but that they increase adult self-confidence which encourages them to apply for jobs, get jobs, contribute to society, become social activists,
and help and encourage their children at school? These are very important outcomes but indirect effects of the programs. It is obviously a tough field to work in, to raise literacy levels for adults who have failed in school, the small experience I have had
in teaching literacy to adults taught me that it is hard. There are success stories but also much struggle. Thanks so much, tom</span><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">From:</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> Reading-hall-of-fame <reading-hall-of-fame-bounces@lists.nottingham.ac.uk>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Colin Harrison<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Sunday, 8 September 2024 6:40 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> Thomas Sticht <tgsticht@gmail.com><br>
<b>Cc:</b> reading hall of fame <reading-hall-of-fame@lists.nottingham.ac.uk><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Reading-hall-of-fame] International Literacy Day 2024<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Many thanks for this, Tom. Like everything you write, it’s succinct, clear, and compelling.
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<p class="MsoNormal">I shall certainly draw upon it in a report I’m writing for the European Commission on how the 27 nations of the EU should develop literacy. <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Kudos to you. You’re an inspiration for us all. <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">One small correction: I know that you’ve been publishing since 1965, when you got your PhD, but I don’t believe for a moment that you’re retired!<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Best regards <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt">Colin <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Sent from my iPhone<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt">On 7 Sep 2024, at 19:20, Thomas Sticht <<a href="mailto:tgsticht@gmail.com">tgsticht@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
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9/7/2024<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<b>A Message for September 8: International Literacy Day</b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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Tom Sticht, International Consultant in Adult Education (Ret.)<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">UNESCO reports that since 1967, some 512 International Literacy Prizes have been awarded. Studying these awards I have observed two main important streams of effects produced by adult literacy programs around the world:<i>(1). Multiplier
Effects in Adult Literacy Education. </i>An examination of research reports and several hundred applications for UNESCO literacy prizes revealed that governments can expect multiple returns on investments in adult literacy education in at least five areas:<span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p> 1. Improved productivity at work, at home, and in the community leading to higher tax bases for communities, decreased violence at home and in the community, and greater participation in citizenship activities by a larger segment of the adult population.<span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times",serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt">2. Improved self-confidence and other psychological and physiological aspects of health of adults, including activities that will help the brain grow throughout adulthood and contribute to reduced medical costs for
adults as they age.<span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times",serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">3. Improved health of adult’s children due to learning in adult education programs leading to better prenatal and postnatal care, reductions in low birth rate infants, and better home medical care, thereby contributing to lowered medical
costs for children and fewer learning problems in school.<span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">
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4. Improved social justice from providing literacy education for marginalized populations to permit them to acquire skills and knowledge needed to take political action that allows them to achieve their civil rights and to overcome social exclusion and join
in the mainstream of society.<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt">5. Improved productivity in the schools by providing adults with the knowledge they need to better prepare their children to enter school, help them achieve in school, encourage them to stay in school and increase
their opportunities to enroll in higher education.<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:.55pt"> <span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times",serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<i>(2). Intergenerational effects of adult literacy. </i>Item number 5 above is especially important because it reveals the effects that educating adults can have on the educational opportunities and achievements of children.<i> </i>This intergenerational effect
of adult literacy education was discussed extensively three decades ago in 1994 at UNESCO’s World Symposium on Family Literacy during the United Nations Year of the Family (<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Sticht, 1994).</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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Over a quarter century later, in 2023, a UNESCO report confirmed the foregoing thoughts and states, “ Research evidence indicates a strong association between parents’ education levels and their children’s level of literacy acquisition. Different studies have
therefore stressed the importance of intergenerational approaches to literacy learning …The desire to help their children with school readiness and schoolwork often motivates parents to (re)engage in learning themselves…” (Hanemann, 2023)<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">ConclusionThrough their efforts, thousands of devoted adult literacy teachers working in a field of education that is generally marginalized among the education systems of nations, adult literacy teachers have often worked under the most
arduous circumstances, at times in fear of their very lives, to serve the earth’s disenfranchised, socially excluded, illiterate or marginally literate adults.On International Literacy Day governments and individuals express appreciation for and solidarity
with the work of adult literacy teachers all around the world. And the work to bring literacy to close to three quarters of a billion adults continues.<span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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References<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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Hanemann, U. (2023). <span style="color:#333333">UNESCO International Literacy Prizes 2023, Promoting literacy for a world in transition: building the foundation for sustainable and peaceful societies: analytical study</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">.
online at <a href="https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000388129" target="_blank">https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000388129</a>)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Sticht, T. (1994). Family Literacy: A World Movement. In: UNESCO: World Symposium on Family Literacy. Online at: </span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><a href="https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000125234/PDF/125234engo.pdf.multi" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1155CC">https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000125234/PDF/125234engo.pdf.multi<br>
</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">_______________________________________________<br>
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