Widening Literacy: A Training Manual for Managers of Adult Literacy Learning Programs

This training manual has been developed to serve two purposes: To be used as the basis of a training program and to be read independently of a training program as a tool for self-directed learning. To this end, some remarks are addressed to the independent reader. Both sets of users may of course use this manual in whichever way they prefer, starting where they wish to start and finishing where they wish to finish. But we recommend that looking at the introduction before beginning to work on any section which touches upon your current interest. This training manual is intended for all those persons at middle level of management in government or non-governmental or private voluntary organizations (NGOs or PVOs) who have responsibility for designing and managing adult literacy learning programs in the context of developing societies. The manual then is a management tool. It is not a training of trainers' manual or a facilitators' manual dealing with the classroom situation, rather it is about how to organize the program and how to facilitate the facilitator. To begin, we may wish to reflect on our role as a middle level manager. We may see ourselves as a bridge between, on the one hand, the local communities in which to adult literacy learning program is located (the facilitators and local support group, the participants, their families, and the groups they belong to, if any) and on the other hand the senior managers in our organization, and the national (and international) sponsoring agencies who may be supporting our program. Part of our task is to help these two groups to interact. We will need to see the program through the eyes of these different groups -- to bring the voice of the local communities in to the headquarters building, to represent their interests, and at the same time to bring the facilities and resources of the center out into the community. We will need to speak with at least two voices, while at the same time remaining true to ourselves, our own commitments and visions.