International Literacy Day 2022: ‘Transforming Literacy Learning Spaces’

Image courtesy of TEACHRwanda, Wikimedia CC BY-SA 4.0

UNESCO marks International Literacy Day every year to remind people of the importance of literacy as a matter of dignity and human rights. Unfortunately 771 million illiterate people around the world still lack basic reading and writing skills.[1] The theme for this year’s International Literacy Day is ‘Transforming Literacy Learning Spaces’. Because literacy learning goes beyond the classroom, what spaces can we transform to teach reading and writing, especially to more women and girls, to ensure they can become lifelong learners? 

Literacy is more than mere cognitive skills; it encompasses the social contexts, purposes, and relationships in which literacy is actively used. Functional literacy implies that a person can apply their skills in social, cultural and economic contexts. Moreover, the notion of literacy should be understood as a continuum of different proficiency levels of literacy and numeracy skills.[2]

Libraries are critical literacy learning spaces for both children and adults. During the piloting of an Early Literacy Development Course for Librarians, Dr Nkem Osuigwe, Director of Human Capacity Development and Training of the African Library and Information Associations and Institutions (AfLIA), asked participants:

"Have you ever wondered why some children find it easy to learn in primary school, while some do not? Have you ever thought about how learning to speak and communicate in the mother tongue affects children when they start school and have to learn concepts in another language that they call official? Don’t you think this affects how we imbibe knowledge, keeping what is learnt at school, different from what we learn and do at home. As library staff, has it ever occurred to you that your library can change the trajectory of the lives of children in your community?"[3]

Public libraries in Africa are increasingly required to do more with less, while providing vital access to reading material and resources for communities and individuals who cannot find such support elsewhere. Dr Osuigwe says of open educational resources (OERs):

"This is an area that people do not know much about, and it’s also an area that will help librarians generate more resources for their user communities. Where they can go and learn how to collaborate with others and to create resources if needs be."[4]

OERs are created to be free to use, share, and adapt. They have the potential to reduce accessibility barriers by implementing best practices in teaching and being adapted for local unique contexts and diverse learning needs, therefore transforming learning spaces to be relevant and effective.

Librarians like Dr Osuigwe are making great progress in transforming libraries in Africa to be more inclusive and ensure access to more books in more local languages, aided by technology and OER. Libraries can provide women and girls the space and opportunity to learn. Across the globe, women face greater literacy challenges than do men. Two thirds of people who lack basic literacy skills are women. Social inequalities, cultural biases, structural barriers to education, and stereotyped gender roles are often at the root of this. And, yet, women’s literacy is key to sustainable development. Educating women contributes to creating a better life for them and their families, as well as enabling the wellbeing and economic productivity of their communities. Better educated women often support and improve their children’s academic achievement.

Some of the ways that libraries can support literacy learning for women and girls include:

• Creating a safe and welcoming space: for example, ensure there is trustworthy security, establish special events, and promote reading and writing by designing competitions.

• Building a collection of resources relevant to the lives of women and girls. This could include materials on health, parenting, and entrepreneurship for women, story times for mothers and young children.

• Establishing partnerships with local organizations such as women’s centres and family planning centres.[5]

African Storybook (ASb) is transforming how African children can access storybooks and even stories that have been passed down orally – and it uses open licensing to do this. Dorcas Wepukhulu[6] discusses how ASb taps into the rich storytelling and oral tradition of Africa and, supported by technology, provides opportunities for stories to be written, published, and openly shared on the ASb website in underserved languages. As she says,

"various social aspects of life are better learnt or passed on from one generation to the other through stories and parables, whether orally or in a written form, rather than more didactically in a formal classroom setting…Language has the power to limit and exclude and it also has the power to broaden opportunities, promote creative expressions and foster social belonging."

Literacy learning does not just rely on physical spaces. Virtual spaces are also now opening opportunities for literacy development, particularly in underserved languages.

AfLIA and ASb are just two initiatives that are working to transform the literacy learning spaces in Africa to foster equality and inclusion through open learning practices and OER. Globally, the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) and the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) have published Guidelines on open and distance learning for youth and adult literacy to support literacy providers around the world in planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating open and distance learning-based (ODL) literacy programmes. It includes practical ideas and a comprehensive list of OER that can be used to incorporate open learning practices into literacy programmes – which now include online and offline spaces to ensure literacy learning is accessible, inclusive, and reaches more youth and adult learners.

What initiatives or organizations do you know of who are transforming literacy learning spaces in Africa? Tag these organizations on social media using the hashtag #OERAfricaCelebratesInternationalLiteracyDay. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.