Family and intergenerational literacy and learning: international perspectives
Foreword of the Resource
The educational challenges we face today are complex. They demand thoughtful, cohesive responses that span formal and non-formal learning contexts and consider the learning needs of every community member, throughout their lives and in all the settings in which they learn.Family and intergenerational literacy and learning (FILL) is an essential, if undervalued, part of this picture, especially in the discourse on lifelong learning in different historical, social, cultural, economic and livelihood contexts. It has demonstrable benefits, not only for the children and adults who take part in it, but for the wider community. It helps families to become more adaptable and resilient and to improve their life chances, while developing confident, empowered learners. It is also an anchor during times when access to education is limited for public health or political reasons, especially for girls and women.FILL has the double benefit of boosting children’s education while enabling parents (and other adult carers) to develop their own literacy and numeracy capabilities. It also fosters a range of wider benefits, including self-esteem, agency and civic participation, while creating social networks that can offer ongoing support to adults as they continue their learning journeys.For learning to be truly transformative, in the way envisaged by UNESCO and the United Nations, it must be part of the day-to-day life of every family. By investing in FILL and learning, we put into families’ hands the means to make better futures, for themselves and their communities.Yet, for all this promise, family learning remains under-researched and under-appreciated. With a few notable exceptions, most of the existing literature focuses on countries in the Global North, particularly in North America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK). Little is known, by comparison, about family learning in the low- or middle-income, non-Anglophone nations in which most of the people in the world live.That was the inspiration for this book and the reason I am so pleased to welcome it. We wanted to understand the different ways that family literacy and learning was conceptualized and delivered around the world, with a special focus on the Global South, and to show that although Western perspectives dominate the research, there are other models and much more to learn beyond them.The editors of this volume, Esther Prins, of The Pennsylvania State University in the United States of America (USA), and Rakhat Zholdoshalieva, of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, have brought together an impressive list of contributors, primarily from low- or middle-income, non-Anglophone countries, who traverse linguistic, cultural and national borders in presenting their diverse perspectives, encompassing every world region.Together, the 20 chapters offer a distinctively comprehensive picture of how people and organizations in countries around the world are approaching and practising family literacy and learning. They show the value of looking beyond the dominant perspectives of FILL research and, at times, challenge conventional assumptions of what works in family learning and why it matters.As the editors note in their afterword, most of the countries considered in this book were at one time colonized. Rediscovering traditional intergenerational knowledge systems, ways of transfer and learning practices, including reviving traditional languages, represents a critical part of family literacy and learning in these countries and reflects the importance of building on these practices in fostering community flourishing, prosperity and well-being.One theme emerges very clearly from these studies: There is more than one route to literacy and learning. The chapters in this book highlight that by marginalizing other cultures, other languages or other literacy practices, we commit epistemic injustice, stifle communities and prevent them from thriving. Family learning works best, and becomes even more sustainable, when it grows with the grain of local history, culture and tradition, not against it.Policy-makers, educators, scholars and the wider public will be able to draw valuable lessons from the comprehensive picture pieced together by the two editors and the numerous authors who contributed their work. They deserve enormous credit.The resulting book merits a wide readership and will, I hope, help demonstrate the significance of FILL in advancing global efforts to position education both as a common good and as part of a future characterized by inclusion, equity and peace, ensuring that no one, no matter where in the world they live, what culture they belong to or what challenges they face, is left behind.