Jack Beetson will present to the international literacy community at the World Literacy Summit on April 8, 2025 in Oxford, UK.
Jack’s presentation is titled Our Mob Up Front: Achieving Adult Literacy Policy Change in Australia Through First Nations Success.
It will focus on the greatly improved adult literacy results that are possible through educational self determination and its potential to benefit even more learners.
The abstract for Jack’s presentation is available below:
Australian First Nations organisation, Literacy for Life Foundation, was formed in 2013 as a First Nations community-controlled sector response to the issue of low English language literacy among adults. The response followed decades of action and advocacy by First Nations communities, calling for self-determination in education, including effective measures to lift adult literacy.
In this context and in the face of an inadequate government policy approach, the First Nations community-controlled sector set about implementing a way forward.
Since the original pilot in the small town of Wilcannia, a further 19 First Nations communities across Australia have been supported to establish community-led adult literacy Campaigns. As a result, an extensive evidence base of efficacy has been generated.
By supporting communities to deliver training that works for them, led by local First Nations community members, Literacy for Life Foundation has achieved results that are at least 30 times, and up to 200 times better, than equivalent government programs.
In March 2022 a year-long inquiry undertaken by the Parliament of Australia released 15 recommendations for reform, including a stand-alone recommendation recognising the work of The Literacy for Life Foundation as ‘an outstanding success story.’
In July 2024 the Australian Government announced a new approach to adult literacy, reforming policy and funding to support whole-of-community training and opening up eligibility to better reach those most in need of support.
By demonstrating the greatly improved adult literacy results that are possible through educational self-determination, First Nations Australians have achieved significant reforms that have the potential to benefit hundreds of thousands of learners each year.
The points covered in the presentation by Professor Beetson at the World Literacy Summit are applicable for anyone looking to achieve high-impact policy reform. The case-study outlines key factors that led to reform, including examining the role of evidence versus influence.
For more info on the World Literacy Summit you can visit the official event website here.
Professor Jack Beetson will be presenting on Tuesday, April 8 at 4.55pm (GMT+1) in the South Writing School, Oxford.
You can register here for a streaming link.