The National Foundation Skills Strategy for Adults launched in 2012 represented the first major national policy in adult literacy and numeracy in Australia for over two decades. The authors argue that the strategy has had the effect of alienating some stakeholders in the field of adult literacy and numeracy, themselves included. In this chapter they seek an understanding of this sense of alienation towards the strategy and the discourse surrounding it. The authors' aim is to examine and explain what is in 'dispute' between how the strategy represents the meanings and values of adult...  [+] Show more

The National Foundation Skills Strategy for Adults launched in 2012 represented the first major national policy in adult literacy and numeracy in Australia for over two decades. The authors argue that the strategy has had the effect of alienating some stakeholders in the field of adult literacy and numeracy, themselves included. In this chapter they seek an understanding of this sense of alienation towards the strategy and the discourse surrounding it. The authors' aim is to examine and explain what is in 'dispute' between how the strategy represents the meanings and values of adult literacy and numeracy, and the meanings and values held by the authors based on their professional engagement in the field and research. They propose that, through this process, the construction of unequal power relations involved in the dispute is demonstrated.

Edited excerpt from publication.