Reaching adults with low levels of literacy

The definition of adult literacy used in Scotland acknowledges its complexity:
• To be literate and numerate is not only to have the mechanical skills
of encoding and decoding symbols but also the knowledge, skills and
understanding that enable us to do what we want to do in our private,
family, community and working lives;
• The key life areas and social contexts in which literacy and numeracy
are used are important in deciding on what is to be learned;
• Literacy and numeracy skills are almost always employed for a
purpose - such as making decisions or solving problems - and in a
particular social context (Learning Connections, 2005: 13).