Inquiry into adult and youth literacy – first Commissioners’ meeting Friday, November 26, 2010 - 17:17

Last week the Commissioners of the NIACE-supported Independent Inquiry into Adult and Youth Literacy, led by Lord Tim Boswell, met for the first time.

The Inquiry will study evidence from employers, policy-makers, practitioners and learners ahead of the publication of the State of the Nation report on adult literacy that will be published by NIACE in September 2011.

Lord Boswell opened the meeting by relaying the commitment of the Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, John Hayes, to the agenda of developing a literate nation. Lord Boswell then expressed his own deep understanding of the issues at stake. He said:

"Let's be clear about the moral imperative underpinning this agenda. There needs to be more than a utilitarian and economic response; this is a more complex issue than perhaps is generally acknowledged and therefore a differentiated response is needed."

One of the Commissioners on the Inquiry is Linda Worden. Linda is an adult learner who appeared on the Channel 4 series ‘Can't read, can't write'. Unfortunately illness prevented Linda from attending, but she did submit a statement for the other Commissioners about what is needed from this Inquiry.

"I wanted you all to remember what we are working towards. I spent the first 46 years of my life unable to read or write. You may well say - but Linda that did not stop you and you would be write." 

If I could have talked to other adults without feeling stupid, if the subject of illiteracy had not been so shaming. We need to make this subject less of a problem and more of an inconvenience to get round

Linda Worden

"But what it did do was take away my ability to choose how I interacted with the out world. Please remember that the people that need your help the most have spent a big part of there lives without your help. So that when you are thinking of ways to help remember that yes they need education but don't want to be told they need it. Don't want you telling them it is for their best interest don't want a new scheme or big governmental initiative. Screaming at them from the tv."

"Find ways to reach them that is subtle and respectful. What I wanted was to be able to read Shakespeare but I also needed to read a bus time table and to read a ballet paper."

"Can't read can't vote. Don't have choices."

"If you watched the program (The C4 programme on adult literacy last year) you would have seen that Phill and I did not get on to well I said no to him did not have to sit thear and listen to him talking to us like children."

"What would have help me to access learning would have been more informal offering of services. Ie. Let's you want to learn cookery, Spanish, Shakespeare but theay are not good at the basics so ok make it part of thear corse work thear is ample technology. Today to allow this to happen."

"If I could have talked to other adults without feeling "stupid" if the subject of illiteracy had not been so shaming? we need somehow to make this subject less of a problem more of an inconvenience to get round."

"If I could talk to the government and ask for anything it would be to stop throwing money at the next big government scheme and utilise what they already have."

"Get to the people that really want to lern and make it a far more open subject that way the person on the receiving end will not feel the underdog but in control. What would have helped me was to be bail to admit it admit I wanted and needed help without the stigma."

This statement laid the foundations for a meeting that was strongly embedded in what learners want and need, and in thinking creatively about how we make that step change to build a literate nation.

Carol Taylor, Operational Director at NIACE, said:

"Going forward the Inquiry is absolutely determined to strike the right balance between the need to master the mechanics of reading and writing as well as seeing literacy as a form of liberation. This is not to dismiss in any way the enormous success of the Skills for Life strategy started in 1999, inspired by the ground-breaking report from Lord Moser, but maybe now we need to consider what would be the step change we could recommend to the Government that would begin to build a literate nation. Many people think the Moser discussions and the subsequent strategy were too weighted in favour of the mechanical side of literacy."

"The Commissioners agreed that what will surely have a huge impact on learners is their ability to acquire the competences needed to achieve individual and community goals - the idea encapsulated in Amartya Sen's concept of capability, ‘freedom to achieve well-being'."