Adult literacy biographies: trajectories for changing lives

Abstract

Since 2005, in Portugal, adults that didn’t get a school certificate have the opportunity to get one by means of a process called Recognition, Validation and Certification of Competences (RVCC) which today is the most relevant form of provision of school (basic or secondary level) and professional certification for adults in Portugal. Supported by a key-competencies framework, RVCC can include education and training and takes place in education centres called New Opportunities Centres (NOCs) belonging to schools, local or business associations, among others. The process is mediated by oral and written language: life stories, interviews and portfolios are the means for adults to display evidence of their prior learning. Literacy practices are, then, a means to reflect upon experience, and to develop one’s own identity. In this presentation, the authors will present the first data of a wider study - Changing Lives. Literacy in Adult Education - about the impact of this certification process on adults’ literacy lives. The qualitative and quantitative data that will be discussed concern the first phase of the study, which specifically aims at characterizing adults’ literacy biographies before starting the recognition process. The focus will be on personal literacy practices, attitudes, values and beliefs towards the social uses of literacy in order to conclude about the literacy potential that adults bring to the recognition and accreditation process and that may support their further learning as well as changes in their lives.