Defining the Terms

An undereducated woman can be undereducated in a number of ways: she can have no reading or writing skills; be a poor reader or speller; be unable to add or subtract; be unable to speak fluent French or English; be unable to carry out the tasks we normally associate with citizenship, with the home and family, and with the work place. In general, we have taken the term "educated" to mean to be able to communicate and compute with some degree of skill as established by the unique demands of the society in which a woman lives, to be able to perform these skills without assistance from other persons, and to be able to carry out the tasks associated with citizenship and community participation.

Any definition of "literate" or "educated" should also imply a method for assessing both individuals and the general society in those terms. There are three basic ways for doing this:

1. By defining literacy (or illiteracy) as being equivalent to a certain grade level or completed years of schooling. In Canada, the various governments officially define "basic illiterates" as persons with less than five years of schooling. The Canadian Association for Adult Education and the Movement for Canadian Literacy strongly suggest that truly "functional literacy" is not reached until completion of grade 8 and that a "functional illiterate" should be thought of as any person with less than grade 9 in schooling, (i.e. grade 8 or less). As society becomes more and more technological in nature and we have more and more to communicate about, even this level will become inadequate. In fact, for all practical purposes, "employment literacy" requires a minimum of grade 10, with grade 12 preferred.
   
   This method yields a "literacy rate" which is expressed as a percentage of the adult population 15 years of age and over and two "illiteracy" rates, one for basic illiteracy and one for functional illiteracy. Note that the functional illiteracy rate often includes those who are basic illiterates and care should be exercised in reading statistical material. Note also that this method does not take into account, those skills and abilities acquired outside the formal educational system or through life experiences.
   
   
2. By defining specific behavioral objectives which an adult must be able to perform to be classed as literate. For example, the Louis Harris Survey of U.S. Citizens selected as behavioral objectives which would indicate literacy: reading and replying to classified advertisements for employment and housing; reading and completion of various application forms such as for a driver's license, for unemployment insurance, for public assistance, for census purposes, etc.; and following printed instructions for making a long distance telephone call.
   
   This method requires lengthily testing and a sampling process both of which are prone to error. It generally yields a literacy rate equal to or slightly above that obtained through the first method.
   
   
3. By defining general functions or normative behavior which an adult must be able to perform with some degree of competence and independence in order to be successful in various basic roles. For example, the U.S. Office of Education defines literacy as "the ability to hold a decent job, to support self and family, and to lead a life of dignity and pride".
   
   This method is open to a wide variety of interpretations both by adults about themselves and by authorities about adults in general. It is used to yield almost any literacy rate which seems appropriate to the situation and which meets the needs of the group doing the defining.

For the purposes of this paper we have had to rely solely on census data. Literacy rates reported, therefore, are of the first type. Information of the second type is not generally available in Canada. We are currently getting data on the literacy levels of secondary school graduates entering post-secondary institutions, but this is a special definition of "literacy" and should not be viewed as a generalizable rate. This data does tell us something about the general success of the elementary-secondary education system. which could be utilized in arguing in favor of learning opportunities for undereducated adults.

We have chosen to use the term "adult basic education" as a term covering a wide variety of learning opportunities, all of which provide some type of basic skills to adults who wish to learn them. By this definition, adult basic education programs include such learning opportunities as:

• basic literacy programs
• adult day schools
• academic upgrading
• right to read programs
• English or French as a second language programs
• Manpower training which is preparatory to occupational skill training such as BTSD, BJRT, WAP, etc.
• life skills programs; among others

We have chosen to use the term "service-provider" to include any governmental bodies and agencies, educational institutions and agencies, social agencies, administrators, teachers, tutors, etc., who are involved in delivering the service to the adult learner. Where this term requires refinement, we have specified the actual service-provider.