Levels 1 and 2 Literacy Benchmarks also follow the philosophical foundations adopted by the Adult Basic Education Redesign Task Team (Saskatchewan Post-Secondary Education and Skills Training, 2002, pp. 14-18):
Explanations of these foundations follow:
The transactional and transformative perspectives rely on the instructor as a facilitator of lifelong learning. The focus is on moving adult learners beyond the memorization of facts and procedures, in order to make them active participants in their own learning. This means assisting adults in articulating their prior knowledge on a subject, to understand and control their own thought processes, and to reflect critically on what they have learned. The learners create their own meaning, instead of simply accepting what others have said.
From the transactional perspective, adult learners form their own questions, articulate prior knowledge, and then connect it to new information. They take responsibility for their own learning within a context of their own choice, rather than learning skills and drills outside of a relevant context. The instructor facilitates the process by helping learners to find information from a wide variety of sources, and to reflect on what they have found and on their own learning and thought processes. Hence, learners and instructors become collaborators on the learning journey.
From the transformative perspective, adult learners undergo personal and social change. Learners and instructors plan reflective activities to explore events and issues from many diverse perspectives. They re-evaluate their own thoughts and opinions by learning about other points of view. The knowledge that accrues from this co-operative reflection can then be used to create change outside of the classroom or tutoring setting.
Imel (1998) identified the principles accepted by many adult education practitioners: