Literacies work with young people

What is it?

Photo of three young men looking at a newspaper

Literacies work with young people links with adult literacies provision. Young adults were identified as a priority target group in the Adult Literacy and Numeracy Report 2001. The report spoke of literacies work being 'particularly important for young adults with limited educational achievement as they begin to transfer skills learned in school into adult life'. See the adult literacies section for more details.

Literacies work with young people also relates to Curriculum for Excellence, More Choices More Chances and 16+ Learning Choices and Curriculum for Excellence Senior Phase and we will be making connections with those working with these initiatives.

There are a number of materials that have been developed over the years linking to literacies work with young people, including:

Mapping Youth Literacies Practice With The 16 - 25 Age Group (2007)

Learning Connection commissioned The Scottish Centre for Research in Education to research youth literacies in Scotland, in 2007. The aim of the research was to carry out a mapping exercise, capturing examples of effective youth literacies practice. The research also explored similarities to Scotland from the National Research and Development Council's (NRDC) research Success factors in informal learning: young adults' experiences of literacy, language and numeracy. A copy of the research is available from the NRDC website.

Training materials for supporting literacies work with young people

The Big Book of Literacies Training: A resource bank for supporting young people with their literacies, or BLT for short, is a practitioner developed resource made up of tried and tested materials used by youth workers and adult literacies staff to support and develop literacies work with young people. In order to cater for a number of different potential audiences, the training has been developed in four sections:

  1. Awareness of Literacies with Young People
  2. Supporting Young People with literacies
  3. Developing Young people’s Literacies
  4. Additional Materials and Resources.

The materials can be accessed on Adult Literacies Online (ALO) and YouthLink Scotland websites.

Networking and communication in youth literacies

Support will be offered in the form of events, networking opportunities and online communication. There are a number of opportunities to get involved in discussion and sharing practice on supporting literacies with young people, including:

Communities of Practice Adult Literacies (COPAL)

A Working with Young people section, providing information and discussion on any topic relating to young people and literacies, has been developed for the Communities of Practice Adult Literacies (CoPAL). This area provides a space for sharing practice, ideas and reflections.

If you are new to CoPAL you will be asked to register or if you are returning you will be asked to log in using your password. If you experience any difficulties logging in, please contact us.