[Reading-hall-of-fame] International Literacy Day 2024

[Tom Nicholson]

Kia ora Tom, The reports you sent are great to read - and happy birthday for the 10th. 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

From: Reading-hall-of-fame <reading-hall-of-fame-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk> On Behalf Of Colin Harrison
Sent: Sunday, 8 September 2024 6:40 PM
To: Thomas Sticht <tgsticht at gmail.com>
Cc: reading hall of fame <reading-hall-of-fame at lists.nottingham.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: [Reading-hall-of-fame] International Literacy Day 2024

Many thanks for this, Tom. Like everything you write, it’s succinct,  clear, and compelling.

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.

Kudos to you. You’re an inspiration for us all.

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!

Best regards

Colin
Sent from my iPhone


On 7 Sep 2024, at 19:20, Thomas Sticht <tgsticht at gmail.com<mailto:tgsticht at gmail.com>> wrote:


9/7/2024

A Message for September 8: International Literacy Day

Tom Sticht, International Consultant  in Adult Education (Ret.)
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:(1). Multiplier Effects in Adult Literacy Education. 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:

 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.

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.
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.



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.

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.



(2). Intergenerational effects of adult literacy. 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. 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 (Sticht, 1994).

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)
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.



References

Hanemann, U. (2023). UNESCO International Literacy Prizes 2023, Promoting literacy for a world in transition: building the foundation for sustainable and peaceful societies: analytical study. online at https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000388129)

Sticht, T. (1994). Family Literacy: A World Movement. In: UNESCO: World Symposium on Family Literacy. Online at: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000125234/PDF/125234engo.pdf.multi


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