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Contradictions Of Agency, Educational Discourses, And Learner Changes: Mexican Women’S Enactments Of Agency In Family Literacy And Their Community, Blaire Willson Toso
Contradictions Of Agency, Educational Discourses, And Learner Changes: Mexican Women’S Enactments Of Agency In Family Literacy And Their Community, Blaire Willson Toso
Adult Education Research Conference
This qualitative study explored Latina women’s use of hegemonic mothering and literacy discourses, encountered in an adult education and family literacy program. Findings revealed that participants were simultaneously constrained by and appropriated prevalent discourses to achieve goals or advance ideas that challenged normative views of women. Material and social structures also defined which and how participant goals could be pursued. Examining discourses and learner agency and constraints can assist educators and policy makers in better supporting learners to achieve their goals and to examine how social structures and hegemonic ideas shape learner lives, and expand understandings of discourses and agency.
Women’S Involvement In Adult Education And Family Literacy: Consequences For Social Networks, Social Support, And Mental Health, Esther Prins, Maricela Carrera, Brendaly Drayton, Ramazan Gungor, Faith Miller, Tom Spencer
Women’S Involvement In Adult Education And Family Literacy: Consequences For Social Networks, Social Support, And Mental Health, Esther Prins, Maricela Carrera, Brendaly Drayton, Ramazan Gungor, Faith Miller, Tom Spencer
Adult Education Research Conference
This paper presents preliminary findings from a mixed-methods study that examines how women use adult education and family literacy programs to construct supportive social networks, and, in turn, how these influence their mental health. We argue that these programs offer opportunities to form friendships and to access emotional, informational, and material support, thereby alleviating psychological distress arising from poverty, caregiving, and other stressors. However, intentional efforts to cultivate social ties and support systems among adult learners are needed.