Navigating the Labyrinth: The Role of the Adult Literacy Tutor

This study addresses the implications, for adult literacy provision and practice, of the restructuring and reorientation of adult education in Ireland which brought adult literacy under the remit of Further Education and Training (FET). Drawing on the methodological approach of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) the research provides important insights into how practitioners are making sense of the rapidly changing Adult Literacy/FET landscape and associated activation agenda. In Ireland, as elsewhere, policies associated with the activation agenda have prioritised literacy as skills for employment. This study reflects findings from previous research in so far as it demonstrates the difficulties which this narrow conceptualisation of literacy, associated with neoliberal ideology, is creating for adult literacy tutors who are working from a student-centred holistic model of literacy education. Findings show that adult literacy tutors are managing to navigate the tensions between neoliberal policy and their own student-centred ethos. The study concludes that tutors are engaging in “ambivalent acquiescence” (Randell-Moon, Saltmarsh, and Sutherland-Smith, 2013) in that their actions can neither be called resistance nor full compliance. These actions come at a cost in terms of the effort that has to be made to keep student needs at the centre of provision and the toll this takes on tutors’ well-being. The viability of this balancing act over the long term is questionable and these tutors express serious doubts about the future direction of adult literacy education. Nevertheless, reasons for optimism can be found in the recently published Adult Literacy for Life – a 10-year Adult Literacy, Numeracy and Digital Literacy Strategy which provides an alternative vision for adult literacy. Findings from this study which provide rich insights into the interface between policy and practice have the potential to inform the implementation of the strategy and a more progressive policy direction for adult literacy education.