ABSTRACT
There has been much debate over the teaching of literacy with adults (Alamprese, 2001; Kruidenier, 2002b; Stahl, 1999; Venezky, Oney, Sabatini, & Richa, 1998; Weiner, 2005/2006). Indeed, the field of adult education is characterized by diverse and oftentimes competing conceptual paradigms (Demetrion, 2005). Adult education programs, in theory, often espouse a model of literacy instruction that is based on relevant and authentic reading materials from the adults’ lives (Auerbach, 1996; Degener, 2001; Freire & Macedo, 1987; Greenwood Gowen, 1992; Purcell-Gates, 2002; Purcell-Gates & Waterman, 2000; Stein, 2000; Sticht, 1989, 1997). These researchers believe that adults should learn to read with material that has direct transference to their daily lives with integrated instruction on problem-solving skills at the word level (Mikulecky, 2000; Mikulecky & Lloyd, 1997; Purcell-Gates & Waterman). Further, this approach includes a critical analysis of social structures and aims at raising critical consciousness of both the teacher and the student, which ultimately leads to social action. Demetrion (2005) refers to this approach as a “participatory approach” to literacy education. It is also often referred to as “critical literacy,” a set of frameworks we discuss below.
