PAST EVENTS

 BALID 2018 AGM

We had a very successful AGM on 22 November 2018 at a new venue, The Scullery at The Mitre, Craven Terrace, Lancaster Gate in London. After presentation of our Annual Report and the election of officers, we then moved on to a very enjoyable buffet meal where we reminisced about Brian Street, our late President, and the influence he had on the field of literacy. Recurring themes focussed on his generosity and friendship.

PAST EVENTS

BALID has organised several seminars in the UK, which are listed below: please make sure you follow the links to the full reports. In the past we have also organised conferences both in the UK and abroad, and this is something that we hope to revive.

Models of Literacy Learning (2018)

This is mentioned on our home page, and you can find the full report here.

Weaving Literacy through Lifelong Learning  (2016)

The full report of our all-day seminar held on Friday 18th November 2016, at the UCL Institute of Education in London, UK, is now available. The day provided a vibrant and creative forum for multi-sectoral dialogue, exploring the role of literacy in enhancing lifelong learning. It was chaired by Professor Alan Tuckett and our keynote speaker was Dr Ulrike Hanemann of UNESCO’s Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL).

Please do watch the snippets of our discussions and the key points made by Dr Ulrike Hanemann. This seminar was organised in conjunction with the UCL Institute of Education, BAICE, and the UIL in Hamburg.

Dr Hanemann has recently published an article entitled ‘Lifelong Literacy: some trends and issues in conceptualising and operationalising literacy from a lifelong learning perspective’ in the International Review of Education.  Here is the abstract from her article.

In a fast-changing and highly inequitable world, lifelong learning is becoming increasingly important, not only as a key organising principle for all forms of education and learning but also as an absolute necessity for everyone. It is particularly important for disadvantaged individuals and groups who have been excluded from or failed to acquire basic competencies through formal schooling. Within a lifelong learning framework, literacy and numeracy are viewed as foundation skills which are the core of basic education and indispensable to full participation in society. This article discusses recent developments in conceptualising literacy as a foundation of lifelong learning. Starting from the evolving notions of adult literacy, the author identifies some current trends, the most important being that literacy is now perceived as a learning continuum of different proficiency levels. Dichotomous states of being either “literate” or “illiterate” no longer apply. She analyses (1) findings extracted from UNESCO Member States’ national reports submitted to the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) for the 2nd Global Report on Adult Learning and Education; (2) a desk study of national literacy campaigns and programmes as well as (3) some recent developments in formal education. Her suggested three-dimensional analytical framework considers literacy as a lifelong and life-wide learning process and as part of lifelong learning systems. She draws a number of conclusions for policy and practice of literacy as a foundation of lifelong learning. These conclusions are a timely contribution to the ongoing post-2015 education debate, in particular to the challenge of how to mainstream youth and adult literacy into the implementation of the sustainable development agenda for 2015–2030.

An Uppingham Seminar was held from 7-9 April 2016 under the title ‘The sustainable Eduation Development Goals and Adult Learning Programmes: why have adults largely been excluded in the past and are there signs of a change?’ For more information, please email 

Bridging the Gap (2015)

BALID and The Literacy Working Group (LWG) supported by NIACE and BAICE, linked up with the University of East Anglia (UEA), in order to organise three free ‘Bridging the Gap’ seminars addressing the issue of dialogue and cooperation between researchers and NGOs in the field of women’s literacy. The first was held at the UKFIET conference in Oxford in September 2015, the second was at UEA on 23rd October, and the last was held on 26th November at The Mothers’ Union in London. Please do read the full report.