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International Review of Education

, Volume 63, Issue 5, pp 745–766 | Cite as

“We also wanted to learn”: Narratives of change from adults literate in African languages

  • Joel Trudell
  • Ian Cheffy
Original Paper
First Online:

Abstract

This article discusses the impact of literacy programmes on those who learned to read and write in their own African languages. It draws on adult learners’ reflections on the significance of literacy and numeracy in their everyday lives as evidenced in interviews conducted in 2014 and 2015 in rural sites in five African countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Cameroon, Burkina Faso and Ghana. The research approach was influenced by the Most Significant Change (MSC) method of monitoring and evaluation, which collects and examines narratives that reveal beneficiaries’ perceptions of change related to a given programme. This study emulates this approach in that it seeks to learn about perceived changes attributed to literacy acquisition from the perspectives of the beneficiaries, without imposing pre-established indicators. In the rural adult learners’ view, literacy enabled lifelong learning outcomes that rivalled the results of primary schooling. Literacy programme graduates demonstrated extensive ongoing learning after they learned to read, write and calculate, consequently acquiring new literacy practices and new understandings of themselves. Even though many of those interviewed had been unable to attend school, they viewed the practices of reading and writing that they developed outside of school as equivalent to the practices of adults who had been educated in primary school.

Keywords

Adult literacy African languages Most Significant Change (MSC) 

Résumé

« Nous aussi voulions apprendre » : récits de changements par des adultes alphabétisés en langues africaines – Cet article analyse l’impact de programmes d’alphabétisation sur des personnes qui ont appris à lire et à écrire dans leurs langues africaines. Il s’appuie sur les réflexions d’apprenants adultes quant à la portée de la littératie et de la numératie dans leur vie quotidienne, enregistrées lors d’entretiens menés en 2014 et 2015 dans des localités rurales de cinq pays africains : Burkina Faso, Cameroun, Éthiopie, Ghana et Kenya. L’approche scientifique était inspirée de la méthode de suivi et d’évaluation appelée du changement le plus significatif (MSC), qui collecte et analyse les récits révélant les perceptions des bénéficiaires sur les changements liés à un programme donné. La présente étude applique cette approche en ce qu’elle cherche, sans imposer des indicateurs préétablis, à tirer des enseignements des changements perçus et attribués par les bénéficiaires à l’acquisition de l’alphabétisme. Selon l’avis des apprenants adultes ruraux, l’alphabétisation leur a permis d’obtenir en apprentissage tout au long de la vie des résultats correspondant à ceux de l’enseignement primaire. À l’issue du programme d’alphabétisation, ils ont fait preuve d’un apprentissage permanent approfondi après l’assimilation des bases, acquérant en conséquence de nouvelles pratiques de l’écrit et une nouvelle perception d’eux-mêmes. Si un grand nombre des personnes interviewées n’ont pas été scolarisées, elles considèrent les pratiques de lecture et d’écriture acquises à l’extérieur d’une école comme équivalentes à celles des adultes ayant accompli la scolarité primaire.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. and UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning 2017

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.SIL InternationalCape TownSouth Africa
  2. 2.SIL InternationalHigh WycombeUK

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