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This study, conducted in Uganda, was set up to observe, record and analyse the pattern of interactions among the participants of URLCODA's adult literacy programme which has taken a semi-formal intergenerational form. Inspired by Vygotsky's ideas on mediation, more 'capable peers' and the Zone of Proximal Development, it was thought that intergenerational interactions in URLCODA's literacy programme could be harnessed to maximise learning among the participants which could become an alternative model for promoting literacy across the board regardless of age, sex, race, location and social status. The main research question that guided the study was: what happens in the intergenerational interactions in URLCODA's adult literacy programme attended by children in Arua district of Uganda and what are the motivational, enabling and limiting factors in such a teaching and learning arrangement? The study, which adopted a qualitative design, used observation, interviews, documentary analysis and photography to collect data from a sample of 32 participants. These were purposively selected from URLCODA's intergenerational literacy programme. It was important to conduct the study because URLCODA's adult literacy programme attended by children is rare and has not, to the best of my knowledge, been reported on anywhere in Uganda. The study was unique because the learning relationships between the adult and child learners were the reverse of the Vygotskian concept of mediation that interested me to undertake the study. This is because in the formal literacy and numeracy skills lessons, it was the child learners who played the role of 'more capable peers' and not the adult learners. The data collected revealed that the teaching methods were conformist in nature, the learners depended entirely on the instructors for the teaching/learning and reading materials, the participants were motivated by various factors of which personal, social and economic ones outweighed the rest, such as political and environmental ones, the intergenerational interactions appeared to be beneficial to both adult and child learners who all appeared to be enthusiastic about the programme, and the greatest challenge to the programme lay in the area of lack of resources on the part of the organisers and poverty on the part of the literacy learners. The study concluded that the interaction between the adult and child learners is beneficial for exchange of ideas, experiences, skills and beliefs which helps in shaping their behaviour in the class and outside the class. The programme has serious resource limitations and design deficiencies, especially in terms of the content of the curriculum that needs to be addressed urgently. The study recommended that URLCODA should seek support from the government and charitable organisations, liase with other organisations to institute credit schemes to support and strengthen the livelihood or functional nature of the programme, solicit and provide reading materials to the learners, put in place post-literacy programmes, further develop the intergenerational nature of the programme, offer training opportunities for the instructors, balance the curriculum to ensure that the programme meets the needs of all the participants and embark on fund-raising and other resource mobilisation drives to enable the programme achieve its intended goals. Finally the study identified a number of areas for further research. These include: the assessment of the impact of such an intergenerational programme on the performance of children in the primary schools in case of those attending Universal Primary Education (UPE), the assessment of the impact of the programme on the behaviour of children outside the literacy class and whether such a learning arrangement can create a democratic situation for the two groups to freely share information for enhancing learning opportunities and promoting the concept of lifelong learning. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2004.

The study was conducted in Mwizi, Mbarara District, South Western Uganda. The major purpose was to find out if a uniform method of planning a programme fitted the unique characteristics of the people for whom it was intended, and whether the FAL programme deters or encourages participation in literacy studies. The study looked at the programme; the people's lives and the infrastructural support that was available in the community to enable people to attend the FAL Programme. The research questions focused on what encouraged or discouraged people to participate or not to participate in the FAL program. In order to achieve this, the lives of the respondents were explored to see how literacy related to their daily lives and activities. This exploration was effected using a range tools that had their roots in participatory rural appraisal and they included; interviews, focus group discussions, daily activity clock and mobility mapping. These helped me get an understanding of the lives of the people and where literacy fitted in their lives. The programme was also explored to get an insight into what it was about and this was mainly done through reviewing of literature and material. This study revealed that one size does not fit all. That is to say, learners in different areas of the sub county have unique characteristics that cannot be planned for as if they were uniform. Similarly, underlying principles of adult education were not considered when it came to planning the FAL programme. The study also revealed that illiteracy and learners were highly stigmatized. This resulted in a situation whereby very few people wanted to be associated with non-literates because of the stigma associated with illiteracy in our societies. The study concludes with a set of recommendations, some of which can be addressed by program planners directly, while others are long term issues. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005.

This study analyses adult learners' perceptions of functional adult literacy provision in six centres in Kampala city. Specifically, what is analysed is adult learners' perceptions of what motivates adults to enroll; their views on the appropriateness of the providers' strategies, approaches, methods and materials used; the venues, facilities, equipment, quantity and quality of facilitators; the extent to which the programmes address the adult learners' needs and the use of the knowledge and skills by those who complete the functional adult literacy programmes. Interviews, observation and focus group discussions were used to collect primary data from forty one adult learners from programmes of government, NGOs and the private sector in Kampala city. On the whole, findings indicate that the programmes are relevant, can improve learners' standards of living in urban areas and can help enable learners to live as useful citizens in their communities. A major de-motivator to participation was identified as shame associated with attending FAL classes. Some of the recommendations put forward are that: • Start up capital should be availed to the learners as literacy skills alone will not help them get out of poverty. • Facilitators should be well trained so as to be able to correctly use the strategies, approaches, participatory methods and adapt the rural based materials in a way that best facilitates learning. • Conditions of learning should be enhanced by improving the quality and quantity of facilities, equipment and facilitators. • The integrated functional adult literacy approach should be strengthened as it is preferred by both the learners and providing agencies. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

This research was conducted at Makerere University Uganda, in the Department of Adult Education and Communication Studies on adult students in fulltime employment who were emolled for an evening degree programme, faced with the challenge of getting time to study. The university had structured the course in such a way that lectures started at 5 : 00 P.M.,the time they left work. At times, they studied non stop for five hours, and had only 3 2% of their remaining school time residual in which to do independent study and assignments. Moreover, they were working in a neo-liberal labour market that demanded them to retrain, but in their own time and at their own cost. The focus of the study was on how these students integrated work with study in such a context. Specifically, the study looked at how these students found time to attend lectures, conduct independent study, revise, and take exams; and how they fulfilled their academic obligations. The study was qualitative and of the case study type aimed at getting an in-depth understanding of how these students coped with the multiple and conflicting demands of work and study. What emerged is that these students try to get time to attend lectures by reducing on time meant for work, but being careful to maintain the delicate balance between work and study. They needed to retrain if they were to remain employable, and they also needed the job for survival and paying for their education. They managed to fulfill their academic obligations in the little time available by adopting pragmatic behaviour. With pragmatic behaviour, the student would find out what is useful in a course and concentrate on that in order to maximize personal outcome. Given the context and the strategies these students adopted, they most likely missed out on meaningful learning as an important educational goal. The role of the socio-economic and study contexts in influencing these students' approach to studying and learning was important to note. Recommendations to change the context are made to all stakeholders in the programme. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005.

This was a comparative study of FAL and REFLECT'S adult literacy facilitator training processes in Uganda. It was based on the government's Functional Adult Literacy (FAL) programme, and Action Aid Uganda's (AAU) REFLECT Programmes.The purpose of this study was to: Find out the similarities and differences between the FAL and REFLECT facilitator training process. Establish how FAL and REFLECT facilitator training is organised. Establish how FAL and REFLECT facilitators are selected for training. Identify the teaching and learning materials used for training FAL and REFLECT literacy facilitators. Find out how the trained facilitators of FAL and REFLECT feel about the training and the approach they have been trained to use. Establish the kind of post training support arrangements provided for the trained adult literacy facilitators under FAL and REFLECT. These issues were all raised in the form of research questions and answered by the study. A qualitative research study was used to address the research questions. This included the use of focus group discussions, key informant interviews, questionnaires, direct observation and documentary analysis. The findings of this study are presented in chapter four under various headings applicable to both FAL and REFLECT. These are: the ideological view of literacy, selection of trainees and trainers, the training programmes, the training materials, funding for the training, employment arrangements after training, post training support arrangements, and evaluation of the training programme. From the findings, a general conclusion was drawn that the training processes of FAL and REFLECT were similar in the areas of organisation of the training programmes, selection of trainees, the sources of funding for the training programmes, deployment of trainees and evaluation of the training. Differences were found in the ideology which informs the two literacy approaches and therefore the training programmes for the literacy facilitators, the training methods and materials used and the post training support arrangements made for the trained literacy facilitators. The study concludes that the FAL and REFLECT literacy facilitator training is different. REFLECT has a better approach to training their literacy facilitators than FAL, although both approaches have many areas which should be improved for better training of their literacy facilitators. It was also noted that the differences between FAL and REFLECT occur in areas which are crucial for the success of a training programme and the performance of the trainees. This could explain the difference in the performance and effectiveness of the programmes using the two approaches. The recommendations call for serious attention to be given to the training of adult literacy facilitators to ensure that only qualified people are entrusted with the work of teaching adult literacy. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Natal, Durban, 2002.