Motivation to Upgrade Literacy Skills

The participants in this study were asked to explain how increasing their literacy skills would enhance or improve their lives. Seventeen participants (66%) addressed the question and their responses revealed not just the perceived advantages of greater literacy skills but also their sadness and the sense of loss resulting from living a life without these essential skills. As several participants said:

“ Sentenced to a life of academic poverty, education gives credibility to life but that was denied me.” (BC2)

“ Dream of future taken away from me.” (SK2)

“ I’ve not had the ability to read what I want – comic books or Shakespeare.” (BC12)

“ You can train your head and then there’s nothing stopping you, I try to tell my kids not to end up like me.” (NB5)

The participant’s insights have been organized under the following headings:

• Reclaim self-esteem
• Afford new interests / opportunities
• Enjoy reading and writing
• Communicate with the world

· Reclaim Self-esteem

The participants spoke of the increase in self-esteem and confidence they anticipated gaining with increased literacy skills, and that they would stop feeling “ stupid,” “self-doubt,” “regain a sense of lost potential,” “feel like I measure up to my able-bodied friends,” and “be less afraid to ask for help.” As two participants said: “ I’d be a lot further ahead if someone had taken the time to teach me to learn the basics of reading and writing” (BC2), and “my life could have been a different story … who knows what I would have been able to do” (SK1).

· Afford New Interests / Opportunities

Participants spoke of the possibility of pursuing further education, volunteering, getting a job or a better job “an enjoyable one instead of anything that came along or is offered,”(SK1), applying for promotion, “be less afraid of someone finding out what I can’t do at work,” and achieving a Grade 12 education.

· Enjoy Reading and Writing

Several participants identified that they loved reading and just wished that it could be less effort for them. Many participants wanted to enjoy reading for the relaxation and intellectual improvement they associated with it. Their comments illustrate this desire: