In the mini handbook on the Alphabetter website we describe the practical pedagogical tools developed and tested during the project activities to support people affected by or at risk of functional illiteracy. They have been prepared in a universal version: on the basis of the developed common methodology, their practical operationalisation has been prepared, assumptions have been made and exemplary cultural adaptations have been presented, which can serve as model practices for the application of the proposed solutions. This allows for a wide possibility of adapting a given solution to very diverse social conditions. In the following chapters, the reader can easily find numerous graphics showing their possible forms. All material has been translated into English. The document also provides instructions on how to apply the proposed tools in contexts other than just those in which the pilot was implemented.
The educational materials developed as part of the project were translated into English during the course of the project. Together with numerous supplementary materials, they are available on the following websites: https://wsb.edu.pl/erasmus-alphabetter-learning-tools-for-preventing-functional-and-secondary-illiteracy/materials and https:// webgate.ec.europa.eu/.
In the field of functional illiteracy we pay special attention to the cultural and linguistic diversity existing in the social world. Referring to the well-known distinction in cross-cultural research between cultural analysis of the emic type (in some simplification: an approach based on the belief that elements of a cultural nature e.g. such as words in a specific language are primarily specific and incomparable) and the etic type (there are cross-cultural universals, e.g. abstract elements of meaning that can be expressed in any language) we focused on the etic perspective. At the same time, some elements of the realised implementations of the universal tool were contextually adapted (e.g. graphic materials) due to their deep embedding in the cultural context (e.g. linguistic, legal, organisational, which is, after all, a prerequisite and normal procedure for adapting a universal tool of the etic type,) were developed in language-specific versions.
We developed and tested four different very specific forms of implementation of the universal methodology. Each partner in the Alphabetter project coordinated joint work on one of the implementations. With this arrangement, each partner became responsible for the cultural adaptation of the results of the joint work. Due to the linguistic and cultural context in which the piloting of each tool adaptation took place, one of the partners became particularly responsible for the process. However, at each stage and for each tool, the work was carried out jointly and on the basis of complementing each other's competences. The tools were designed according to the assumption of multimodality, which required the continuous pooling and coordination of expertise from different areas. The different partners, due to their unique expertise, brought their unique knowledge and experience related to the specifics of their previous activities at each stage:
- WSB University - experience in enhancing the social interactivity of designed educational tools and strategies for cultural adaptation of educational materials; as a result, designed tools include procedures for matching the interactional dynamics of particular types of social environments;
- University of California San Diego - expertise in the design and evaluation of proven tools to assist people affected by functional and secondary illiteracy in migrant communities; UCSD representatives provided the main ideas, principles of tool development and evaluation, and the application of eqiuty policy in the design of educational tools aimed at migrants;
- European Center of Entrepreneurship Competence & Excellence (Austria) - experience and knowledge of using graphic elements in the creation of literacy tools and methodologies for working with migrant families; the participation of the Austrian partner was materialised e.g. in the form of developing procedures for shaping all graphic elements according to the principles of cultural adaptation to the needs of the target group;
- ENAIP VENETO IMPRESA SOCIALE (Italy) - experience and expertise in the preparation of implementation multimedia presentations and tutorial videos adapted to the needs of migrants and knowledge of typical communication problems of refugees; the Italian partner developed principles to support training aimed at people at risk of functional illiteracy with audiovisual materials;
- MEPCO, s.r.o. (Czech Republic) - experience of working with public institutions and the needs of institutional clients not directly related to the education sector; the methodology and all educational solutions designed by the Alphabetter consortium include procedures for adapting them to the legal and institutional context of a given country.
On the basis of the analysis of standard cases of pedagogical tool development, the principle was adopted that the tools would take the form of specific preparation instructions referring to mutually agreed assumptions. In this way, an innovative result of a universal nature possible for use by actors from different countries was created. Of course, due to the specificity of the cultural and linguistic context, it has to be adapted in each case to meet the needs of the specific target group. The document describes procedures for adaptation and provides concrete examples of such adaptation. These are intended to serve as model practices for the proposed solutions.
In the course of working together on the tools, the consortium decided to modify and expand on the original idea of creating graphic material in the form of a comic strip with a specific protagonist ('Paragraph-man'), which for cultural reasons would have been less suited to people belonging to certain migrant groups. Simply calling it 'Paragraph-man', in the context of the decision to work on a tool aimed at migrants, could be perceived as stigmatising and suggestive of the criminal nature of the experiences of these communities. This perspective was the result of an educational visit to San Diego, but also of extensive consultation of the solution with expert organisations from Europe. In the end, guided by considerations of the universality of the new approach, we opted for tools of a less controversial nature (narrative-interaction multimodal solutions), yet empirically proven to meet the needs of the people we are targeting with the educational materials developed. The refocusing of the work on developing the tool did not constitute an abandonment of the originally envisaged concept of the comic strip and, by analogy, the tools developed fit into its framework. After all, the comics formula is very broad, and its openness to new and less obvious forms is a constitutive feature of the genre. The determinants of this convention are the pictorial nature, the iconicity of the signs, the sequentiality, the use of frames and their semantic linking; in these criteria, without a doubt, the proposed tool fits perfectly. At the same time, the tools are characterised by features that are at the heart of the assumed concept, i.e. educational character and interactivity. As mentioned, the comic strip is intrinsically an open-ended genre, and its diversity is not only determined by the multiplicity of its functions (e.g. social, therapeutic, educational, psychological, diagnostic comics), but also by the multiplicity of its formal dimensions (e.g. comic cards, comic playing and learning cards, interactive comics, online comics, "strips" (comic strips), comic stencils, memes, comic infographics, photo books, murals and graffiti, etc.).
Each of the proposed tools, in line with the multimodality approach, refers to graphic or visual elements that support communication and allow adaptation in a new place of life. The tools are composed of a collection of graphics or visuals, instructions and examples of their practical adaptation and use. Each tool can be used very easily with any audience once it has been adapted to a specific purpose, e.g. explaining what a child's parents have to do with the school they attend in a way that is adapted to local regulations. The advantage of using flexible graphic tools in the project as an open form of communication - in relation to the comic strip in its traditional (book) form - is that it is an innovative solution, allowing users to generate different narratives that make up a comic strip-type story. The innovation lies in the flexible adaptation of the amount of information provided to the needs of the people using the tool.` In the manual, we have described what are the alternative ways of obtaining and selecting the most relevant graphics) for free use. As the evaluation shows, the materials are evaluated as attractive and practically useful. The educational materials refer to important public procedures determining social adaptation, which, supported graphically and visually, are an innovative method of developing literacy. During the final conference organised by the consortium with the participation of educators-practitioners, the presented educational materials met with appreciation and wide interest.