4 Global literacy and educational policy

We will now ask you to look back and reflect on global literacy agendas by looking more closely at initiatives for adult literacy and a particular case study of adult literacy in the UK. You will examine in depth how equity, equal opportunity and social inclusion are being influenced by global trends and governance.

Hamilton and Pitt (2011) make numerous arguments in relation to global discourses that govern literacy policy at a national level. Adult literacy was not highlighted as a particular problem in ‘richer’ western countries until the 1950s. Compulsory schooling for all secondary students was not established in most western countries until the 1930s–1940s – we note that concerns about adult literacy did not become prevalent until compulsory schooling for all school-based learners was established. We note also that international and globally based agencies such as UNESCO were not developed until after the Second World War. The international agencies which focus on the economy, such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), were developed and shaped at the Bretton Woods conference in the USA, and the conference delegates were strongly influenced by the Great Depression, the Second World War and the post-war economic circumstances (see Steil, 2013).

At the end of the Second World War, American rather than European interests dominated the views of economic historians and other commentators. They stressed free-market economics and neoliberal policies, and held an implicit belief in the power of the market and its potential to foster economic progress, development and social equality. Hamilton and Pitt (2011) highlight the way in which the OECD is seen by many commentators and academics working in literacy policy-related fields to be central to the globalisation of educational policy. This consequently has influenced policies surrounding adult literacy and literacy education in general. This suggests that not only are adult literacy and other literacy discourses being shaped by globalisation but also that globalisation and the discourses that surround it have, in turn, been shaped by the particular historical or socioeconomic situations that have formed them.

Hamilton and Pitt describe how the creation of global organisations, such as the OECD and UNESCO, has enabled the collection of global statistics and subsequently the formulation of league tables. These, in turn, have shaped policymakers’ conceptions of equity and ‘deficits’ in relation to adult literacy among specific social groups.

Hamilton and Pitt (2011) highlight key themes that run throughout this course. They argue that the social, economic and cultural contexts which have surrounded literacy acquisition across the globe since 1945 are not fixed. These contexts reflect continuity and change which, in turn, impact on literacy policies designed to promote inclusion and address social justice issues.