School as Learning Communities: An Effective Alternative for Adult Education and Literacy in Brazil

Abstract

Women and men, young, and adult, who have reached youth or adult life without elementary schooling, are part of an important and vulnerable group in Latin America, as for instance Brazil. Integrating the studies that seek to contribute to a qualitative change in Brazilian Adult Education, as a means for overcoming inequalities and in support of most vulnerable groups within the population, this article regards the case of the first Adult Education School in Brazil to transform into learning community. The research was developed between 2014 and 2016 and refers to a qualitative case study using the communicative approach, guaranteed by the use of the Communicative Methodology. Data was collected using four techniques pertaining to the Communicative Methodology: communicative in-depth interview with the school's Adult Learning and Education coordination; communicative daily-life story with students and volunteers; communicative focus groups with students, volunteers, and teachers; and communicative observation in Successful Educational Actions. The results indicate transformative and excluding elements that emerged in the following categories: the school's characteristics studied, work and life conditions and access to schooling and continuity in school, and interaction within the learning community. Comparing the results that indicate positive aspects of the Adult Learning and Education school transformed into learning communities to results in other studies about other successful Adult Learning and Education schools in Brazil, it can be established that they coincide in some aspects and go beyond in others. Although coincidence between studies was observed, they were more intensely noticed in the learning community regarding the following aspects: (a) school management oriented toward learning, with contact mechanisms with students that began missing classes, (b) appreciation, from the school staff, of teaching and learning processes, specially reading and writing, (c) a welcoming environment, bonding between professionals and students, and high expectations toward students. As for the elements identified in the learning community which were not found in the other Brazilian studies, they were: (a) enrollment increase over time and decrease in student dropout rates throughout the year, and (b) overcoming dramatic situations experienced in the neighborhood and in the school that could initially lead to school dropout.

Child Well-Being in Times of Confinement: The Impact of Dialogic Literary Gatherings Transferred to Homes

“…The schools participating in the study are part of a sub-net of SaLeaCom school (Rodrigues and Marini, 2018), in the neighboring territories of the Valencia and Murcia regions in Spain. These schools are part of the Open Doors Schools (Roca et al, 2020) project that started on March 18, 2020, to foster learning and supportive relationships, as well as a safe environment for childhood.…”

“…Evidence is provided about their effectiveness at all stages of life and in every context where they are implemented in all their diversity: from rural communities, to extremely disadvantaged backgrounds, high-complexity schools, special education centers, children's residential care institutions, adults educational centers or prisons (Pulido-Rodríguez et al, 2015;Alvarez et al, 2016;García-Yeste et al, 2017;Garcia et al, 2018;Rodrigues and Marini, 2018;Duque et al, 2020), to mention a few examples. The implementation of DLGs in said settings has been conducted on-site until confinement, but since the pandemic situation, the schools participating in the study are developing these meetings online, through a video conference platform, providing an opportunity for social contact during lockdown.…”

Developing School-relevant Language and Literacy Skills through Dialogic Literary Gatherings

“…It is especially beneficial for improving reading comprehension skills, which are increasingly complex in school and, therefore, essential to succeed academically (Goldman, 2012). DLGs are a type of dialogic reading activity currently being implemented in more than 3000 diverse schools and other centers all over the world, from favelas in Brazil (Mello & Braga, 2018) to high SES schools in Cambridge (García-Carrión, 2015) or prisons (Alvarez et al, 2018) and mental health centers in Spain. However, their impacts have been especially noticeable in linguistically and culturally diverse schools, where access to rich texts and dialogues has traditionally been denied.…”

The value of international cooperation in education

“…As reported by Ivenicki (2015), a significant number of adults have not acquired basic literacy and numeracy skills during their childhood. Mello and Braga (2018) add that adult women and men without elementary schooling belong to or could be described as a vulnerable group in Brazil. The authors also report that in 2016, Brazil registered a total of 11.8 million non-literate youths and adults, representing 7.2% of the country's population.…”