Empowerment through Literacy: The Alpha to Omega Workshop

The Grundtvig Workshop ‘EMPOWERMENT THROUGH LITERACY: THE ALPHA TO OMEGA WORKSHOP’ took place in Kryoneri Korinthias, Greece, from 4th to 11th January 2014 with the participation of 20 adult literacy educators from 12 countries (DE, ES, GR, HU, IE, IT, LT, LV, MT, NO, RO, TR).

The following activities have been implemented through group work and peer-learning methods: Reflection on obstacles and barriers but also on the motivation and the needs of functional illiterates; learning several concepts and methodological and didactic approaches used in the European adult literacy education, with special attention to Paulo Freire and the key word approach as well as to the literary creativity approach; critical discussion about the online literacy tutor concepts; best practices exchange between 12 countries; information about literacy initiatives in Europe.

Accompanying activities have been: attendance of a literacy teaching unit in a second chance school, visit of the Acropolis Museum in Athens and experience with the ancient Greek alphabet, meetings with representatives of local authorities.

The main outcomes of the workshop have been: The international composition of the group provided participants a valuable intercultural experience. They could compare literacy education and teaching practices in different countries. They became familiar with networking as well as social and educational initiatives contributing to the improvement of the quality of adult literacy teaching in Europe (i.e. volunteer educators and literacy tutors).

Grundtvig Workshop Reference Number: 2013-1-GR1-GRU13-15305