Grundtvig Workshops to help address literacy crisis

Nearly 75 million adults lack basic reading and writing skills which makes it hard for them to get a job and increases their risk of poverty and social exclusion – this according to a European Commission literacy report produced by a high-level group of experts.

Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, says;

We are living a paradox: while reading and writing are more important and relevant than ever before in the context of our digitised world, our literacy skills are not keeping up. We urgently need to reverse this alarming situation. Investments to improve literacy among citizens of all ages make economic sense, producing tangible gains for individuals and for society, adding up to billions of euros in the long run.

The Grundtvig Learner Workshop action was no stranger to addressing literacy and broader language issues. Growing Rural Enterprise ran a workshop in 2012 which consisted of farming and countryside activities with an added language component. As the workshop progressed participants were encouraged to learn between 50-100 basic English words and phrases including good morning, hello, goodbye, good night, good afternoon, please and thank you. The rationale for this Learner Workshop was to increase participants’ wellbeing, positivity, confidence, self-esteem and social skills. Read the rest of this entry »