Recommendations

These recommendations grew out of this research project but they are rooted in years of experience in adult literacy. At their centre is the belief that change in the development of policies, programs, and practices occurs most effectively when all participants in a program, all members of a community, all peoples in a nation are involved in decision-making.

At the same time, the women in this project know that change will not come easily. Any group faces resistance whenever members propose changes that may limit the privilege of those who are unable or unwilling to recognize injustice and then do something about it.

• Getting women on the agenda

Everyone involved in the field of adult literacy and basic education must take responsibility for putting women's experience on the agenda in terms of program development and evaluation, provision of support services, professional education and development, coalition building, policy analysis, and government lobbying. This will also open the way for all experiences of both privilege and oppression to become agenda items.

As in many other female front-line job ghettos, literacy work is devalued in terms of salary, working conditions, and respect. In the context of the rhetoric surrounding the importance of adult literacy and basic education, all those involved in the field must advocate for an in-depth investigation into the current working conditions of program practitioners. Affirmative action hiring policies should be implemented wherever the paid staff and volunteers of a program do not represent the students or community in terms of sex, race, or culture.

• Program development and evaluation

Program development and evaluation must recognize the reality of women's lives within the particular program and community. Programs must take the responsibility for providing a safe environment in which women can learn. Staff, students, and volunteers must be willing to deal with difficult issues, such as childcare and violence against women, that directly affect women's equitable access to education.

Programs must adopt anti-discrimination policies that address sexism, racism, class bias, ablism, and homophobia, and act on reports of discrimination immediately. Anti-discrimination should be made part of the curriculum. Sexual harassment policies should be developed in all programs. A woman's right to safety within a program must take precedence over a man's right to education. All those involved in the field of adult literacy and basic education must understand that both violence and the threat of violence are very real barriers to women's education.

Isolation must be recognized as a key factor limiting women's work in the field of adult literacy and basic education. Women who work in the field as staff and as students often feel physically, socially, intellectually, and emotionally isolated. They need opportunities to get together and talk about how this work affects their lives and how their lives affect their work.