The role of literacy in the lives of women in rural Thailand

In adult literacy education in the developing world, literacy is attributed with numerous important life consequences for adult learners. However, very little research has been conducted to examine the importance of literacy for particular groups of low literate adults in the developing world. The purpose of this study was to understand the role of literacy in the lives of a group of adult literacy learners living in rural Northeastern Thailand.;Findings indicated that the women valued education as a source of practical skills and occupational mobility, but their access to education and literacy was restricted by gender, supporting current feminist theory in adult literacy education. The literacy program was seen as devalued women's work yet also as compensation for past discrimination in schooling. Buddhist beliefs, economic development and the matrilocal system of land tenure in the village also helped to explain findings.;In their daily lives, the women used literacy most extensively in domains in which the government had a large role. In literacy classes, collaborative literacy practices reflected the oral traditions, social norms and status of the women outside of class. In family literacy collaborations, each member contributed technical skills, knowledge or status to literacy transactions.;In performing certain tasks associated with functional literacy, the women combined modern technology and traditional life resources. Electronic technology was used to circumvent literacy, and as an aid to literacy learning. In certain settings, literate strategies were disadvantageous without knowledge of traditional systems of oral and visual communication. Life tasks such as voting, family planning and health care were community functions, performed by the village as a whole, largely without the use of literacy.;Ethnographic research involving eight women participating in a functional literacy program was conducted over six months. Research questions were: (a) How do the women value literacy and education? (b) How do they use reading, writing and math in their daily lives? (c) What strategies do the women use to perform everyday life tasks associated with literacy?...