The purpose of the Alphabetter project was to develop and test a set of tools to support the inclusion of adults who are functionally illiterate. An adult who is functionally illiterate has difficulty engaging engage in activities in which literacy is required for effective functioning in their community and/or is necessary for their own development (UNESCO, 1978). Because assessments of functional illiteracy are relative to the literacy demands of any given context, the Alphabetter project team adopted an expansive, multi-dimensional view of (il)literacy to include diverse forms of basic literacies, including civic, financial, professional, and legal.
Alphabetter partners designed and implement a set of tools around the specific needs of their communities. These needs were identified through a community engagement process involving focus groups with members of the target populations identified; then, each team developed a unique set of tools to support the specific functional literacy needs identified.
Each team tested their tools with the community of interest and evaluated their effectiveness in supporting the specific literacy needs identified. Overall, each set of tools was deemed helpful by community members in promoting their engagement in the identified literacy practices. Across all contexts, users also suggested improvements to the tools, which each team plans to incorporate into future iterations. The team is very well-poised to have a profound impact on their respective communities as they engage in this and future international collaborations to support adults’ effective functioning and personal development.
The universal support tools document in 5 language versions are available to download below:
Check out all the videos and tutorials produced by the ‘Alphabetter’ project by clicking on the link.