Learning for Life places self-esteem in its proper perspective. It is not a mere by-product of adult basic and literacy education; it is the sparkplug that ignites self- efficacy and social action. Having acquired basic skills and self-esteem, participants strove for practical goals that included higher education and vocational training, secure employment and enhanced financial status. The educational attainments of participants’ children as well as successful adult learners’ satisfaction with their lives, social awareness and community involvement reflect personal impacts that have relevance for all of us as educators and as a nation. As Beder (1999) posits: “It may well be that the power of adult literacy education lies not in its function as an end that produces immediate gains but in its function as an enabling means to a wide range of other benefits that, when obtained, yield still more benefits.”

Dr. Sherry Royce
December 15, 2001