Time for National Renewal: Australian adult literacy and numeracy as ‘foundation skills’

Stephen Black; Keiko Yasukawa

doi:10.5130/lns.v18i2.1897

PDF

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5130/lns.v18i2.1897

Stephen Black

University of Technology Sydney

Keiko Yasukawa

University of Technology Sydney

Abstract

Those working in the field of adult literacy and numeracy are currently anticipating changes in the near future as the federal government has flagged the development of a National Foundation Skills Strategy (Australian Government 2010). ‘Foundation skills’ is a term that has recently been suggested as a way of simplifying discussions about literacy and numeracy (Perkins 2009:8), and it has gained traction in various Australian national policy environments (e.g. Gillard 2009, Council of Australian Governments [COAG] Reform Council 2009, Australian Government 2010). Foundation skills appears to encapsulate adult language, literacy and numeracy, and more broadly, it may also include so-called employability skills such as communication and teamwork (Roberts and Wignall 2010:1). In this paper, our main focus is on the adult literacy and numeracy dimensions of what is needed in the policy renewal.

Issue

Vol. 18 No. 2 (2010)

Section

Articles (PEER REVIEWED)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Copyright Notice

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

a) Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share and adapt the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

b) Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

c) Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Open Access Citation Advantage Service). Where authors include such a work in an institutional repository or on their website (ie. a copy of a work which has been published in a UTS ePRESS journal, or a pre-print or post-print version of that work), we request that they include a statement that acknowledges the UTS ePRESS publication including the name of the journal, the volume number and a web-link to the journal item.

d) Authors should be aware that the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) License permits readers to share (copy and redistribute the work in any medium or format) and adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the work) for any purpose, even commercially, provided they also give appropriate credit to the work, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. They may do these things in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests you or your publisher endorses their use.

Author Biographies

Stephen Black, University of Technology Sydney

Stephen Black is a researcher in the Centre for Research in Learning and Change at the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia. He is currently working on a national project with Keiko Yasukawa on integrated literacy and numeracy in vocational education and training. He worked in TAFE NSW for more than 20 years as a head teacher of basic education, and he has been an active researcher in the adult literacy field since the 1980s. His email is stephen.black@uts.edu.au.

Keiko Yasukawa, University of Technology Sydney

Keiko Yasukawa is a Lecturer in Adult Education at the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia. She teaches and researches in adult numeracy and literacy. As an active member of the Australian Council for Adult Literacy and the NSW Adult Literacy and Numeracy Council, she has been involved in advocacy for a national literacy and numeracy policy renewal. Her email is keiko.yasukawa@uts.edu.au.

Article Sidebar

Main Article Content

Abstract

Article Details

Stephen Black, University of Technology Sydney

Keiko Yasukawa, University of Technology Sydney