Keynote speakers

In this presentation I speak to two issues of relevance for educators in the field of adult literacy. The first issue concerns the ways in which educators engage with environmentalism in their pedagogical practices and, in particular, how we might view environmentalism through the lens of our relationship with non-human animals. The second issue concerns the ways in which educators engage with the visual arts and multimodality in teaching and learning. I discuss how these two broad issues overlap in interesting ways and how each can provide a rich source of inspiration for education in adult literacy. I will be drawing on my own experience of literacies in higher education with the aim of sparking further discussions about the important role of animals, the environment, and the arts in our professional practices.

Have demands for and complexity of numeracy practices risen or declined since the 1990ies? How do adults handle a lower level of income after retirement? Do women manage small amounts of money while men care for the big amounts of money? Are debt and homelessness caused by not controlling your budget? How confident do Syrian refugee students feel towards mathematics? Do low numerate adults receive more training than others? And does numeracy feature in the Sustainable Development Goals?

The Hamburg Numeracy Project (2017-2020) gives fresh answers to some of these questions, showing the relevance of Numeracies for being critical and for getting your ‘fair share’. Moreover, the data from the Project contradict stereotypes regarding vulnerable phases in adult life: those who need to manage tight budgets, calculate more often than others, not vice versa  (Grotlüschen et al. 2019). Still, gender and literacy-based inequalities are visible in many ways.

Grotlüschen, A., Buddeberg, K., Redmer, A., Ansen, H. & Dannath, J. (2019). Vulnerable Subgroups and Numeracy Practices: How Poverty, Debt, and Unemployment Relate to Everyday Numeracy Practices. Adult Education Quarterly 1 (10), 074171361984113. doi:10.1177/0741713619841132

Identity—who we are and who we aspire to be—is embedded in relationship, and relationship is all about language. In this keynote, Ralf will consider some of the contradictions and complexities that arise from the work that we do, especially in an era of increasingly complex and globalized identities. Our sexualities, our class backgrounds, our abilities, our education, all play out within our relationship with written language and other symbol systems. Questions around what it means to be literate and who can make that claim are becoming more pressing, as are concerns with the viability of civil discourse, critical perspectives, and self-expression. As literacy educators, we are located near the centre of this hurricane, with enormous responsibility to inspire learners to engage with questions of language and who they want to be in this world. Now is the time for us to work together to create and preserve the solid ground upon which we can do what we do with words.