Materials for 'post-literacy'

As we have seen, in almost every context, rural as well as urban, a great deal of reading and writing material exists. Not all of it is in a form appropriate to those with limited literacy experience and confidence, but it is material with which they need to cope. The use of this material, suitably adapted and mediated to meet the needs of these people, we argue, could - and should - form the basis of all forms of post-literacy provision. This would be the most effective way of developing usable and sustainable literacy and numeracy skills within a particular context. The main finding of this report is that support for the practice of literacy in real situations using real materials will be more effective than support for further literacy instruction using special 'post-literacy' materials.