Alpha 97: Basic Education and Institutional Environments.

This document was published by Alpha, a research program specializing in alternative, experimental approaches to adult basic education. It is an attempt to widen the field and examine the relationship between the micro and macro levels, between the diversity of different practices and the major policy orientations that foster or limit this diversity. Section 1 contains "A Political Review of International Literacy Meetings in Industrialized Countries, 1981-94" (Jean-Paul Hautecoeur). Section 2 presents six contributions from Central and Eastern Europe: "The Gypsy Minority in Bulgaria: Literacy Policy and Community Development (1985-95)" (Elena Marushiakova, Vesselin Popov); "Basic Education in Romania" (Florentina Anghel); "Adult Basic Education in Albania" (Andon Dede);"Andragogic Summer School: Towards Improving Literacy and Local Development" (Dusana Findeisen); "Basic Education and Community Development in Poland" (Ewa Solarczyk-Ambrokik); and "Adult Basic Education Environments from Discursive Interplay among Legislature, Economics, and Institutions" (Stanislav Hubik). Section 3 consists of five contributions from the European Union: "Keeping Alive Alternative Visions" (Mary Hamilton); "The Institutional Environment of the Struggle against Illiteracy in France" (Pierre Freynet); "30 Years of Literacy Work in Belgium: Where Has It Got Us?" (Catherine Stercq); "Skills, Schools, and Social Practices: Limits to the Basic Skills Approach in Adult Basic Education in Flanders" (Nathalie Druine, Danny Wildemeersch); and "Role of the State in Basic Adult Education: The Portuguese Example" (Maria Jose Bruno Esteves). Section 4 presents five chapters from North America: "Getting Clear about Where We Are Going: Results-Oriented Accountability as a Tool for System Reform" (Sondra G. Stein); "This is a School. 'We Want to Go to School.' Institutional Social Responsibility and Worker Education" (Sheryl Greenwood Gowen); "Facing Training and Basic Education: One Unionized Workplace Experience" (Jorge Garcia-Orgales); "Literacy, the Institutional Environment, and Democracy" (Serge Wagner); and "Making Up for Lost Time: Rescuing the Basics of Adult Education" (Enrique Pieck). The final chapter in Section 5, "Basic Education: Defending What Has Been Achieved and Opening Up Prospects" (Jean-Paul Hautecoeur) is a synopsis of the main propositions presented in the document. (YLB)