Description

ABE, ESL, adult literacy, and family literacy programs are typically evaluated by measurable outcomes such as increased standardized test scores or student job placement. However, there is growing evidence that learners-particularly women who are poor and socially isolated-value not only the academic but also the social aspects of their educational experiences. Educators, too, recognize the psychosocial dimensions and benefits of participation in adult education, but seldom have opportunities to document them.

This discussion will focus on what are often considered peripheral or serendipitous aspects of adult education, including access to and expansion of social support networks, the social meanings learners attach to education, and the psychosocial benefits of participation.

To orient the discussion, we will review a recent research study that explores how family literacy programs provide a supportive social space for women in poverty and enhance their psychosocial well-being. We will then open up the discussion to questions and comments. Participants can read the Adult Education Quarterly article (for subscribers only) or the Goodling Institute Research Brief (see below).

Prins, E., Toso, B., & Schafft, K. (2009). "It feels like a little family to me": Social interaction and support among women in adult education and family literacy. Adult Education Quarterly, 59(4), 335-352.

Goodling Institute Research brief

Guest facilitators

Blaire Willson Toso coordinates the English Language Acquisition Collection for LINCS (Literacy Information and Communication System), is a doctoral candidate in the Adult Education Program at Penn State, and a researcher for the Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy. Her interests are literacy, gender, student leadership, and family literacy.

Esther Prins is an assistant professor in the Adult Education Program at The Pennsylvania State University and the Co-Director of the Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy. Her research explores the social context of adult and family literacy; gender, racial, and class inequalities in adult education; civic engagement; and participatory approaches to education, community development, and research.

Kai A. Schafft is an assistant professor of education in the Penn State Department of Education Policy Studies where he directs the Center on Rural Education and Communities and edits the Journal of Research in Rural Education. His research focuses on the relationship between spatial and social inequality, particularly within rural settings.

Last updated: Thursday, 03-Sep-2009 13:52:57 EDT