Research Key for achieving the goals of the United Nations Literacy Decade Sabine Kube UNLD Coordination Unit, UNESCO

UNITED NATIONS LITERACY DECADE (2003 – 2012) BACKGROUND adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2002 proclaimed to directly support the Dakar Framework for Action (6 EFA goals) adopted at the World Education Forum in 2000

UNLD in support of the EFA agenda Literacy and life skills cut across all six Education for All goals and are the explicit focus of three: Goal 3: Ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life-skills programmes Goal 4: Achieving a 50% improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults Goal 6: Improving all aspects of the quality of education (…) so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life-skills

UNITED NATIONS LITERACY DECADE (2003 – 2012) RATIONALE Literacy is crucial to the acquisition, by every child, youth and adult, of essential life skills that enable them to address the challenges they can face in life, and represents an essential step in basic education, which is an indispensable means for effective participation in the societies and economies of the twenty-first century.

UNITED NATIONS LITERACY DECADE (2003 – 2012) RATIONALE (2) Literacy for All is at the heart of basic education for all and creating literate environments and societies is essential for achieving the goals of eradicating poverty, reducing child mortality, curbing population growth, achieving gender equality and ensuring sustainable development, peace and democracy.

UNITED NATIONS LITERACY DECADE (2003 – 2012) PURPOSE build international momentum for Literacy for All; assist countries to address their literacy challenges and to make a real and measurable impact on the life of their populations; place literacy centrally in international development agendas and plans; create links and synergies with other on-going international development strategies; foster exchange, cooperation and partnerships at national, regional and international levels.

UNESCO’s role coordinate the UNLD by stimulating and catalysing the activities at the international level; coordinate LIFE, the Literacy Initiative for Empowerment, established in 2005 as UNESCO’s main operational tool for the Decade.

Six Key Areas for Action in Literacy: UNLD Plan of Action Six Key Areas for Action in Literacy: Policy Programme modality Capacity-building Research Community participation Monitoring and evaluation

POLICY Develop sound policies, across communities, sectors, agencies, ministries, which mainstream the promotion of literacy to ensure broad collaboration, interdisciplinary approaches and wider recognition

PROGRAMME MODALITY Design literacy programmes which support lifelong learning, are gender-sensitive, learner-centered, respond to changing literacy needs and are delivered through both non-formal and formal approaches

CAPACITY-BUILDING Ensure that various partners and stakeholders have the requisite capacities for running high quality literacy programmes in a sustained manner

RESEARCH Develop specific and well-designed research programmes to allow the use of latest research findings for the formulation of literacy policies and the regular evaluation and improvement of literacy programmes

COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION Ensure the success of literacy programmes by involving local communities at all levels of programme planning and implementation

MONITORING AND EVALUATION Build functional monitoring and evaluation systems providing reliable and meaningful data on the status of literacy and uses, impact, performance and effectiveness of literacy programmes

International Strategic Framework for Action for the second half of the Decade and beyond Three strategic objectives: To mobilize stronger commitment to literacy → strategies: advocacy; clear policy formulation; improving assessment, monitoring and evaluation; stronger and more strategic partnerships B. To reinforce effective literacy programme delivery → strategies: increasing the scale and quality of delivery; enriching literate environments; capacity development; research C. To harness new resources for literacy → strategies: recommend national governments to increase their allocation of budgets; influence bilateral, multilateral and private donor organizations; developing new models and systematically compiling evidence on literacy programme costs

International Strategic Framework for Action for the second half of the Decade and beyond Purpose orient action on basic literacy and on evolving literacy demands and needs, whatever the socio-economic context and at whatever level, until 2012 and beyond; articulate the three strategic objectives identified from the experience of the first half of the Decade, elaborate consequent strategies and spell out actions at national, regional and global levels under each strategic thrust; provide a framework for all UNLD partners to situate and articulate their own workplans to support the UNLD.

Why research? To provide evidence for: convincing governments, donors and funders of the importance of literacy; informing policy making; supporting effective programme design; making advocacy more convincing.

Research in the Mid-Decade Review in 2008 Enhancing research capabilities identified as a major challenge: lack of investment in research on adult literacy; insufficient collaboration between university departments and literacy providers; most pressing areas for research: - national-level assessments; - research on the uses and impact of literacy; - responses to linguistic diversity and changing literacy environments including digital literacies and information and communication technologies; - costs and benefits to improve programme quality; - synergies between children’s education and adult literacy (e.g. intergenerational benefits).

Research in the International Strategic Framework for Action for the second half of the Decade and beyond Strategy: Research to provide sound data for advocacy and policy formulation and for improving programme quality. Research and development are inextricably linked; and research must focus on informing change. Research must keep a clear focus on the key objectives, considering what must be achieved for whom and why and within a given timeframe.

Research in the International Strategic Framework for Action Recommended actions: (1) Gathering and using research findings: - Identifying research gaps and facilitating relevant research including action-research on topics in the area of literacy policy, quality of programme content and delivery, including teaching and learning methods and approaches, and relevant thematic studies to inform policy making and improve programme delivery and thus determine priority areas for further research in literacy; - Deploying methods suited to the investigation of the multiple dimensions of literacy; - Developing a research knowledge base and disseminating available research data and results in appropriate formats, focusing on key messages for different audiences, illustrated with case studies; Translating research findings into practice, tailored to relevant audiences.

Research in the International Strategic Framework for Action Recommended actions: (2) Fostering research networks and partnerships: Fostering partnerships, collaboration and exchange of experience among universities and research institutions to strengthen their capacity in research design and methods and support young researchers in their work; - Further developing a network of universities and literacy researchers and providing a platform for sharing relevant existing research on youth and adult literacy and non-formal education; - Supporting joint North-South and South-South research projects; - Building and strengthening collaborative action-research programmes with NGOs, research institutions and private foundations; - Working with potential research funding institutions (e.g. trusts, research councils, government departments, donors) to identify and allocate funds to support the priority areas for research under the UNLD.

Examples of key areas for research - Seeking solutions to current literacy problems Literacy as a neglected goal in the EFA agenda → provide evidence on the magnitude of the challenge, on concrete needs and on the crucial role of literacy for reaching all EFA goals ex. research into links between parents’ literacy and achieving UPE Scarce funding for literacy, both domestic and external donors → provide evidence on the opportunity costs of literacy programmes and the costs of illiteracy Literacy programmes of poor quality and not tailored to the needs of the learners → provide evidence of what works and for whom ex. research into factors and indicators for programme effectiveness

The UNLD University network To facilitate cooperative research linking end-users (policy makers, practitioners, learners, etc.) to researchers and supporting North-South and South-South cooperation To facilitate sharing research results, experiences, data, insights To facilitate interpreting and communicating research results, making them accessible, relevant and applicable to different audiences (offering key messages, guidelines, etc.).

Thank you for your attention! Sabine Kube UNLD Coordination Unit, UNESCO