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Alphabetization
in contexts of exclusion
ANA MARÍA MÉNDEZ PUGA
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The discussion about the relationship between poverty / exclusion and the fact of not being alphabetized or not having a basic education is a topic that has been much debated already, but is not for that reason less valid. The thoughts this article presents include the topic of the relative failure of alphabetization and basic education programs for youths and adults in Latin America; this discussion is based on some non-alphabetized people, children who do not attend school and those who are expelled. The differences between some campaigns and initiatives are summarily commented on, and in closing some elements are described which will allow for the construction of more consistent proposals for the alphabetization of adults, most of which emerge from the texts that form part of this issue of Decisio. |
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| Reading practices
in the alphabetization
of youths and adults:
¿What needs to be learned
and what needs to be done?
CLÁUDIA LEMOS VÓVIO
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Reading,way of reading and the objects related to writing acquire very diverse meanings according to the situations in which people interact and appropriate those cultural goods. Reading is presented in this article as an object produced within and as a result of the relationships among human groups, in specific social moments and spaces. This has implications for the educational practices that are carried out in alphabetization groups. One of the consequences of this approach is the widening of the reading horizon, that is to say, the consideration of a great variety of objects, forms of reading, behaviors, gestures and tastes related to this activity. This article deals with reading practices that are generally invisible, as well as a great number of voices and discourses not socially recognized.
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Alphabetization:
Theory and practice
GREGORIO HERNÁNDEZ ZAMORA
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The term “alphabetization” constitutes a platform for discussion and debate concerning what it means to be alphabetized, what it means to know or not know how to read and write, what level of skill is acceptable, whether alphabetization must be used to function in or out of school, which alphabetization approach is best and who decides what counts as alphabetization, who needs alphabetization, and what kind of alphabetization they need. This article exposes in a simple form some definitions and current theoretical debates on the concept of alphabetization. With that purpose some common misunderstandings are dealt with, focusing as well on some points of agreement and divergence. The distinctions between three dimensions of alphabetization (functional, cultural and critical) are exposed in a “didactical” form, and the critical dimension is treated in depth. In closing, some implications and recommendations for action are presented.
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Families and written culture
Approaches to daily domestic and scholastic situations
LAURA MARÍA OMINETTI
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International organizations advocate the need of developing alphabetization activities for children and adults in school and beyond it. This article intends to account for some thoughts and proposals for action concerning the existing bond between families, schools and written culture, which arise out of two research projects developed at the Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades, Universidad Nacional of Cordoba, Argentina. It approaches the problems of the existing bonds between elementary shools for children and youths and families integrated by adults with null, interrupted or deferred scholastic formation, immersed in urban and rural contexts. It also intends to account for written culture resources present in the daily lives of families, as well as those specifically related to schools. |
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A task to be learned:
Alphabetization of young and adult indigenous people
SARA ELENA MENDOZA ORTEGA
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Given the importance of alphabetization for the improvement of the living conditions of people and marginalized communities, this article approaches the learning of reading and writing skills in indigenous populations, with particular attention given to the implementation of the indigenous alphabetization program by the Instituto Nacional de los Adultos (INEA) in the Mayan peninsula in Mexico. Some problems and tendencies in the current practices of indigenous alphabetization that gave rise to the construction of this proposal are described, and the model in question is analyzed. Finally, the learning experiences and challenges obtained from this task are recovered in order to outline some recommendations for action in the domain of alphabetization and basic education of the indigenous population.
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Alphabetization
of adult foreign immigrants:
Alphabetizing in a language
they don’t understand
FÉLIX DELGADO PÉREZ
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The massive arrival of foreign immigrants in Spain and the educational demand this creates have placed this country in need of revising methodologies, strategies and concepts that refer to the alphabetization of adults. Arising from that phenomenon, the concept of alphabetization, traditionally conceived of as the process of acquisition of reading and writing techniques in a language that is possessed in its oral manifestation, is now presented as a more global, more integrated proposal. It is not about learning how to read and write, but about grasping a language that is unknown and that becomes manifest through sounds and letters. Alphabetization as an integrated, undifferentiated process in the learning of a language implies a global process, where sounds, letters and meaning form a whole that students must learn how to relate and identify at the same time.
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