Childish Pleasures and Adult Fears: Reflections on Becoming Literate in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries

With the Skills for Life strategy came new professional qualifications for teachers of literacy to adults. Having learned to be literate themselves in the mid-to-late twentieth century, how ready are these teachers to take on the challenges of preparing their learners for the literacies of the new millennium? This paper comes out of doctoral research into adult literacy teachers' ‘stories of identity and experience.’ It draws on stories of literacy learning completed by one group of 21 teachers at the start of a subject specialist Level 5 Diploma course for Teachers of Literacy to Adults. Using teachers' personal narratives it explores how encouraging practitioners to reflect on their own experiences of becoming literate might in turn inform their practices as teachers of literacy to adults. A preliminary thematic analysis reveals rich opportunities for research, exploration, and reflection. Themes emerging include pleasure in being read to and in reading with others, activities which arguably do not feature prominently in approaches to teaching literacy to adults. Fears associated with the processes of becoming literate include shame and anxiety associated with exposure to or criticism by others for perceived literacy deficits. Concerns about the impact of new technology feature strongly in the stories, including a sense of loss for ‘traditional’ literacy skills such as handwriting, and fears associated with ‘keeping up’ with new technology. Finally, the paper recommends how highlighting opportunities for developing reflective practices in teacher education programs in adult literacy might go some way to resolving conflict between reflexivity and the relentless pace of change in the Skills for Life arena.