Like the human capital theory on which it rests, the liberal perspective -on illiteracy is highly favorable to the interests of dominant classes in that it provides the framework of assumptions for an adult literacy and basic education practice which reinforces the status quo. Conversely, the critical perspective fundamentally challenges the basis of existing power relationships among classes, and so has positive implications for the long-term interests of impoverished surplus population stratum of the working class. It is suggested here that it is this ideological aspect of perspectives on illiteracy--their practical value in the conflict between classes--which more than any other single factor explains the pattern of dominance and subordinance among them (i.e. their different degrees of influence on educational thought and Practice). Further, it is argued in the present chapter that this proposition holds true not only for the present period, but also for the whole historical span of educational responses to illiteracy in Canada, which extends back to the middle of the 19th century and encompasses a succession of relatively distinct theoretical perspectives on the problem. In the present chapter and the two following it, we consider all of these historical periods. In doing so, we able to more clearly isolate the essential relationship of perspectives on illiteracy, and the educational programs they inform, to phenomena of class and class conflict than if we were to limit ourselves solely to the most recent period (i.e. from the late 1950's to the present) This historical survey suggests that new episodes of concern about illiteracy have accompanied fundamental shifts in the capitalist accumulation process, and have constituted responses to the social crises which they entail. There is evidence that the present time of economic and social crisis is the harbinger of a similar shift. Therefore, a critical history of literacy of this nature can be useful for adult basic educators in helping them to better understand the nature of the challenges which now confront them, both within their profession and in the larger society. The present historical analysis is particularly indebted to the work of Coolie Vernor, the late Professor of Adult Education at the University of British Columbia, who laid part of the foundation for the critical study of the history of adult literacy in Canada in a brief but suggestive 1974 article. 4 However, Vernor worked within the assumptions of liberal sociology, and his views are phrased in its terms and suffer from its limitations. Therefore, the attempt is made in the present analysis to 'extract' his critical insights, reformulate them on the terrain of Marxism, and expand their scope. Historical Overview With the establishment of public schooling for children in Upper Canada in the mid-19th century, the right of children to basic education was recognized in law. In spite of this, for a variety of reasons many adult Canadians since then either did not receive basic education as children, or even if they did, did not become literate. If we ignore for the moment the problems of commensurability of historical definitions and measures of illiteracy, we find that as long as records on the matter have been kept, illiteracy has been a fact of life for substantial minorities of Canadian adults. The census of the 1860's showed that about 10% of the adult population of Upper Canada reported that they could not read or write.5 In the 1891 census of Canada, 15% of the population 10 years of age and over answered in the negative to the question, "Can you read and write?"6 In 1921, 20.2% answered in this way. 7 From the 1941 census onward, this question was dropped and data on highest grade of school completed was substituted. The percentage of Canadians 15 years of age and over with 8 or fewer years of schooling was 59.1% in 1941, 8 53.4% in 1951, 9 46.8% in 1961 10 and 28.4% in 1976. 11 |
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