On 2 April 2025, the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL), together with the Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy at Penn State College of Education (USA), will launch the new book Family and Intergenerational Literacy and Learning: An International and Comparative Perspective, edited by Ms. Esther Prins (Penn State’s Goodling Institute) and Ms. Rakhat Zholdoshalieva (UIL) through a webinar.

 What’s inside? 

While intergenerational and family learning has shaped societies for millennia, research and publications have largely focused on more structured programmes implemented in high-income, English-speaking countries. This book attempts to shift the lens towards family and intergenerational literacy and learning with a special focus on low- and middle-income, non-Anglophone nations, and communities that are often marginalized, and hear more about the perspectives that challenge the dominant discourses and enrich our understanding.

 Why it matters 

Oftentimes, it is argued that family and intergenerational literacy and learning programmes benefit both children and adults — boosting their literacy, numeracy, self-esteem, social connections, and lifelong learning opportunities. While this argument is still included, the new book primarily aims at centering the perspectives and practices of marginalized and disadvantaged communities and groups to challenge existing narratives and offer alternative insights into informal learning, digital and oral literacies, and culturally embedded educational and learning practices worldwide.

 Who’s speaking? 

Hear directly from the book’s editors – Ms. Esther Prins (Penn State’s Goodling Institute) and Ms. Rakhat Zholdoshalieva (UIL) – as well as from authors who contributed to the book to learn more about their rationale for initiating this book and about the central arguments of their chapters on intergenerational and family learning narratives, practices, and programmes. This event is part of our ‘Unlocking the Power of Lifelong Learning’ webinar series, connecting experts and practitioners twice a month.Date and time

2 April 2025, 14-15:30h CEST

Registration
https://unesco-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_M_-7G9rTRH-OWuPFf2Rc9g

14:00 – 14:20 - Opening remarks and official launch

• Ms Isabell Kempf, Director, UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL)
• Ms Leah P. Hollis, Associate Dean Access, Equity & Inclusion and Professor, College of Education, The Pennsylvania State University, USA

14:20 – 15:20 - Family and Intergenerational Literacy and Learning – International Perspectives

• Moderator: Mr Paul Stanistreet, Head, Knowledge Management and Communication Unit, UIL 
• Co-editors' perspectives
  • Ms Esther Prins, Professor, and Co-Director, Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy and Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy, Pennsylvania State University, USA
  • Ms Rakhat Zholdoshalieva, Team Leader, Quality Learning Ecosystems programme, UIL
• Insights from some authors
  • Towards an alternative framework for family literacy in the Global South - Mr Chris Millora, Lecturer in Educational Studies, Goldsmiths University of London, and Associate Academic, University of East Anglia UNESCO Chair, UK
  • Indigenous African intergenerational learning practices and the role of technologies - Ms Omobola O. Adelore, Professor, Adult and Distance Education, and Deputy Director, Distance Learning Centre, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
  • Creating play invitations from open-ended materials in the Philippines: Family involvement in literacy development during infancy - Ms Josephine Louise F. Jamero, Assistant Professor, Department of Family Life and ChildDevelopment, College of Home Economics, University of the Philippines, Philippines
  • Small is beautiful, or not? The impact of family literacy programmes in a multilingual, small island state (Malta) - Mr Charles L. Mifsud, Professor, Language and Literacy Education, and Director, Centre for Literacy, University of Malta Valletta, Malta
  • Challenging epistemic exclusion: Creating a space for understanding Caribbean family literacy practices - Ms Zoyah Kinkead-Clark, Senior Lecturer, Early Childhood Education School of Education, The University of the West Indies Mona, Jamaica
• Questions and answers

15:20 – 15:30- Concluding remarks

Ms Rakhat Zholdoshalieva, Team Leader, Quality Learning Ecosystems programme, UIL