what external forces shape classroom behaviour? Addressed are such classroom concerns as adult tardiness and tuning out. The authors note that adult education practitioners, unlike secondary and elementary teachers, let these unpleasant behaviours go unnoticed. According to this study, these behaviours stem from external forces such as fatigue and family and job pressures. However, this study does not address the classroom management issues that arise when adults are being mandated to take literacy courses. The present study sponsored by the Literacy Branch of the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities and the national Literacy Secretariat will shed some light on this new adult literacy classroom reality.

Belzer, Alisa (1998). Stopping Out, Not Dropping Out. Focus on Basics, 2 A http://www.gse.harvard.edu/~ncsall/fob/1998/belzer.htm

In this article, Alisa Belzer, a project director of the Pennsylvania Adult Literacy Practitioner Inquiry Network (PALPIN), suggests that students and teachers may perceive withdrawing from a program differently. Students in this small scale study did not feel that they had failed when they stopped participating in a program. They simply felt that it was not possible to continue due to factors beyond their control, such as a job, health problems, financial and family problems etc. Because of this Belzer suggests that teachers and program managers plan their curriculum and assessment procedures on the assumption that “even under the best of circumstances students will come and go and hopefully, come again”.

Campbell, Pat. (1996). Participatory Literacy Practices: Exploring Social Identity and Relations. Adult Basic Education. 6, 3 p. 127-142. http://www.nald.ca/fulltext/pat/vol6no3/page127.htm

Campbell, a consultant with Literacy Services of Canada, explains that participatory literacy programs are those which "share the power equally among learners and staff”. The main purpose of this research is to study participatory literacy practices or the active involvement of students in the operation of one or more components of their adult literacy program. The interaction between social identity and power relationships are examined and then applied to the following research questions: (a) What are the individual and group experiences of students and literacy workers who are involved in participatory literacy practices? (b) What changes do students and literacy workers see in themselves and in their programs as they become involved in participatory literacy practices?