Action research to improve youth and adult literacy – Empowering learners in a multilingual world

Published by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) and UNESCO Multi-sectoral Regional Office in Abuja in 2015.

This guidebook would like to highlight the importance of multilingual 9 and multicultural contexts for youth and adult literacy. Research and practice are leading the way, and the Post-2015 Agenda to follow the global Education for All initiative emphasizes the importance of culture. Culture gives languages, oral or written, a prominent place as a key means of communication and voice.

The present action research has identified five guiding principles for youth and adult literacy programmes: (1) inclusion; (2) lifelong learning; (3) literacy perceived from a multilingual and multicultural perspective and as an essential aspect of the human right to education; (4) a multilingual and multicultural ethos; and (5) sustainability. These guiding principles are the pillars of the quality framework for youth and adult literacy education and learning which is proposed in this book.