15: Literacy: A Song, Stitch, Story, Sound Reconstruction

In this chapter, I share my perspective as an adult literacy facilitator with nearly two decades of experience working with individuals who face systemic barriers relating to class, culture, disability and race. I have witnessed how poverty, discrimination, and other often invisible factors can intertwine to limit access to education for adult learners. Many learners express difficulty articulating the complexity of their challenges, including the private and sometimes intergenerational traumas that have led them to seek adult literacy support. The variety of experiences, histories, and invisible barriers that adults encounter can significantly affect retention rates and hinder their efforts to participate more fully in society. To create a more equitable literacy construct, this chapter emphasizes the importance of embracing diverse understandings of literacy through alternative forms, such as songs, stories, and stitches. Pedagogy that challenges traditional notions of literacy can unlock the rich potential within each individual, cultivating alternative literacies that bridge educational gaps and foster a sense of belonging and agency among learners. I envision an egalitarian approach to literacy that recognizes and values different ways people make meaning, express their humanity and coexist on the land.