Further Research
The re–conceptualized view of adult literacy development is but a grain
of an idea that needs a great deal of further exploration. It needs to be used
in a variety of settings to determine if it does in fact provide a useful
framework. The settings would have to be analysed in relation to each
of the elements in the framework to determine if and how they are apparent within
the settings. In addition, the idea that practices is primary and the
other elements are secondary needs to be examined across settings. It might also
be useful to use the definition to uncover how different people (such
as students, instructors and policy–makers) think about literacy in different
situations and at different times. For example, how do adults with low literacy
perceive literacy development if they aren't involved in any sort of program? Does this
change when they are involved in a program?
CONTRIBUTIONS TO PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT
Examining the employment preparation program through the combined frameworks
of situated learning and literacy has made contributions to program development
on a micro and macro level. On a micro level, the program will gain directly
from the study by focusing on ways to make better connections between
the classroom and the two work settings. In addition, on a more macro level, the example
of the employment preparation program has revealed the need to develop
literacy based on how it is used in specific settings. In other words, literacy program
development needs to emphasize practices over skills, tasks, and critical
reflection to help students learn and integrate new practices in their
work, home and community lives.
A New Role for the Classroom
Although this brief discussion focuses on the classroom in the employment
preparation program, it can be related to other programs that are attempting
to integrate literacy and employment development. The students themselves offered clues
on how the classroom should be used to better support the activities of
the coffee shop and the job placements. The only set of activities that they felt were
connected to the two work settings were the activities related to employability,
such as safe food handling and workplace safety. Perhaps it should be these kinds
of activities that become the focus of the classroom, as opposed to spelling,
grammar, and math. In addition, the students began to use the classroom to discuss
their job placement experiences. They focused on the culture of work and
rarely, if ever, talked about the literacy involved in their placements. Activities
that focused on work culture could provide another focus for the classroom
setting. Instead of dividing the day based on school subjects, the time spent in the
classroom could be devoted to topics such as workplace safety and insurance
issues, employment rights, handling conflict, and workplace culture.
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