Adult literacy education, gender equity and empowerment
Insights from a Freirean-inspired literacy programme
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11476754 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Esther Prins (0000-0002-9630-6105, Pennsylvania State University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2008 |
| Volume | 40 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 24-39 |
| Publication date | 2008-03-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Studies in the Education of Adults (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0266-0830 • E-ISSN: 1478-9833 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/02660830.2008.11661554 |
| OpenAlex | W2477419697 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 14 |
| References cited | 27 |
Based on ethnographic research in rural El Salvador and drawing on New Literacy Studies (NLS) and gender and development (GAD) literature, this article examines how participation in a Freirean-inspired literacy programme fostered and/or limited women's and men's personal, interpersonal and collective empowerment. The findings reveal that participation planted seeds of agency and generated numerous psychosocial benefits such as enhanced self-esteem and expansion of social networks, yet it did not lead to collective empowerment or increased gender equity. This suggests that literacy education is a necessary yet insufficient basis for ameliorating entrenched social and gender hierarchies. Nevertheless, the psycho-social benefits identified by learners enhanced their human capabilities, corresponded to needs rooted in the social context (e.g. postwar social fragmentation) and helped lay a foundation for future collective action. Additionally, the article attributes the programme's limited influence on women's and men's collective empowerment to both programmatic and contextual factors.Keywords: adult literacyempowermentgendergender and development (GAD)psycho-social benefitssocial context
Collective action · Economic growth · Empowerment · Literacy · Pedagogy · Political science · Sociology · Adult and Continuing Education Topics · Critical and Liberation Pedagogy · Gender Studies · Global Educational Policies and Reforms
Literacy Before It Counts
Adults who learn
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‘I can speak on this here’
Investigating the Effects of Sociodemographic Characteristics on Psychological Factors That Impact on Educational Process of Adult Learners in Second Chance Schools in Greece
Participatory photography
Salvadoran campesinos/as’ literacy practices and perceptions of the benefits of literacy
Learning to trust
Still different
Indigenous women’s perceptions of the Mexican bilingual and intercultural education model
Declared ‘literate’
What Kind of Literacy? Reflections on the Experiences of Migrant Domestic Workers Negotiating Learning in London
The Object of Extension
Freire, literacy and emancipatory gender learning
Empowerment
Questioning Empowerment
Women's education in developing countries
Gender Planning and Development
Qualitative evaluation and research methods
Reversed Realities
Women and equality
Fourth-Generation Evaluation
Portraits of Mujeres Desjuiciadas
Aquí no somos unidos ’/‘We’re not united here’
Literacies and livelihood strategies
Change Through Empowerment Processes
Adult literacy education in Botswana
When Does it Work? Freire's Pedagogy in Context
Literacy, speech and shame
Introduction to action research
What can ethnographic studies tell us about the consequences of literacy
Between Jesse Helms and Ram Bahadur
The Sound of Barking Dogs
Women Teaching Class
| Citations per year | 0.88 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2010 - 2026 (17) |
| Highly cited | No |