research, policy and practice in women’s literacy chaired by dr. ian cheffy, sil international...

research, policy and practice in

women’s literacy

Chaired by Dr. Ian Cheffy,

SIL International ian_cheffy@sil.org

Presenters from the UK Literacy Working Group and the Literacy and Development Group at the University of East Anglia

research, policy and practice in

women’s literacy

Women’s literacy and development: an

academic research perspective

Prof. Anna Robinson-Pant

University of East AngliaA.Robinson-Pant@uea.ac.uk

What’s wrong with moving from this?

To this?

The relationship between women’s

literacy and development

How to engage with policy, given an increasing emphasis by governments and donors on an instrumental approach to women’s literacy?How to read and use ethnographic data in a policy and programme context?How to shift the policy and programme focus from women’s literacy to gender and literacy?

Current research challenges

research, policy and practice in

women’s literacy

An ethnographic study of China’s rural women and

their learning

Fusheng JiaUniversity of East Anglia

F.Jia@uea.ac.uk

An ethnographic perspective: How Chinese rural women’s learning affects their capacity to cope with urbanization

• Rural urban migrant women workers in China assume multiple identities

• Generally lower formal educational qualifications

• Informal learning as playing a major role in women’s adaptation to urban areas

How are migrant women included and excluded from adult learning opportunities?

Lack of support from enterprises Government sponsored Dream

Fulfillment plans targeted at elite migrant workers with limits on age and household register

Women’s greater role evident in Dream Fulfillment plans

The future of rural women not only depends on their conscientization, but also on social inclusion

research, policy and practice in

women’s literacy

Women’s literacy and development:

an NGO perspective

Dr. Katy Newell-JonesBritish Association for

Literacy in Developmentkaty@kn-j.com

Katy Newell-JonesWith thanks to Feed the Minds

Is there an issue around NGO accessto research?

How is research into

women’s literacy

being used by

NGOs?

What DONOR factors are at play?

Bridging the gap: an NGO perspective

too little.. limited academic links lack of a cost/benefit

relationship low commitment to

research publication lack of resources - high

(perceived) cost of partnership with HEIs

How is NGO

work

informing

academic

research into

women’s

literacy?

research, policy and practice in

women’s literacy

Practitioner-academic collaborations:

translating research into policy and

practice

Dr. Gina Lontoc University of East Anglia

G.Lontoc@uea.ac.uk

 What types of research data do NGOs integrate into their work on women's literacy?

  To what extent are research

findings accessible to NGOs?

  How do academic researchers

translate their findings into policy

and practice?

•Topic/content• Language• Database•Journal subscription

•NGO staff involvement•Access to

community and funding agencies•Dissemination grants

research, policy and practice in

women’s literacy

Family literacy and learning: learning

from practice

Dr. Clare Meade NIACE

grubbmeade@talktalk.net

Clare MeadeWith thanks to Family Literacy Providers

Valuing the literacy and learning of women and families- are their voices heard?

How can family literacy and learning be evidenced effectively to inform research?

Bridging the gap:

Main issues:• Target/agenda driven;• Data collected but lack

of infrastructure to process and use;

• Lack of academic links; • Lack of resources to

publish research.

How can family learning practitioners contribute most effectively to the academic debate and inform policy?

research, policy and practice in

women’s literacy

Rebuilding Cambodia: women

and literacy

Dr. Juliet McCafferyBritish Association for

Literacy in Development

juliet.mccaffery@gmail.com

Cambodia

Questions Can someone who does not know the

country or the language and does not have access to academic journals, or any other reports write an adult literacy curriculum with just a few weeks notice ?

What information do government departments have when planning? What form does this take – research articles, project reports, commissioned research?