A constrastive case study of orthodox and alternate adult literacy initiatives, as regards their assumptions about literacy, pedagogy, and curriculum

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate and contrast two sites of literacy tuition, the one being an orthodox night school, set-up and run according to departmental requirements, and the other, an innovative endeavour situated within the walls of the South African Museum. My concern was to examine how different constructs of what literacy is and how it should be taught manifested themselves in curricula, pedagogy, and organisation at the two sites. I used ethnographic-style methods to gather data at the two sites. From the perspective of orthodox literacy instruction, as it has developed in adult education, the emphasis in literacy instruction is on the transmission and acquisition of a set of skills, imparted to learners in order that they might 'become literate'.