Dr Juliet McCaffery, a founding member of BALID and respected specialist in literacy, gender and development, died in June 2024. Juliet was an active member of the BALID committee. Along with Brian Street, Alan Rogers and others in BALID, Juliet saw literacy as social practice, intimately linked with people’s lives and livelihoods. She was…

Uta Papen (University of Lancaster), Ahmmardouh Mjaya (University of Malawi), Vicky Christoforatou, Mohammad Naeim Maleki, Catherine Jere and Anna Robinson-Pant (University of East Anglia) The New Literacy Studies (NLS) emerged in the 1980s (Street, 1984) as a response to the growing recognition that literacy is used and learned, not only within classrooms, but within everyday…

Shaida Salwi Victoria International School, Malaysia Over the next few months, BALID will host a series of blogs exploring the role of informal learning and literacies in young people’s everyday lives. The series hopes to feature young people’s work and ideas, inspire intergenerational conversation and become the basis for future action / research in these…

Yeonhee Sun The Prince’s Trust (UK) Over the next few months, BALID will host a series of blogs exploring the role of informal learning and literacies in young people’s everyday lives. The series hopes to feature young people’s work and ideas, inspire intergenerational conversation and become the basis for future action / research in these…

Janelle Rabe Durham University Over the next few months, BALID will host a series of blogs exploring the role of informal learning and literacies in young people’s everyday lives. The series hopes to feature young people’s work and ideas, inspire intergenerational conversation and become the basis for future action / research in these areas. Learn…

Arianna Berardi Musician and music therapist working for Nordoff Robbins Over the next few months, BALID will bring you a series of blog conversations following BALID’s last interactive Informal Literacy Discussion (ILD) on the theme of ‘applying visual and sensory literacies in refugee research and practice’. Taking some definitions of visual and sensory literacies as…

Katie Blair University of Birmingham Over the next few months, BALID will bring you a series of blog conversations following BALID’s last interactive Informal Literacy Discussion (ILD) on the theme of ‘applying visual and sensory literacies in refugee research and practice’. Taking some definitions of visual and sensory literacies as a starting point, the blog…

  Professor Alan Rogers served BALID as President from 2020 but before that he had been an outstanding supporter and ‘critical friend’ for many, many years! We will miss Alan’s enthusiasm and energy not only on literacy and development but adult learning in general. In this blog post, BALID committee members share their memories and…

Mary-Rose Puttick Birmingham City University   Over the next few months, BALID will bring you a series of blog conversations following BALID’s last interactive Informal Literacy Discussion (ILD) on the theme of ‘applying visual and sensory literacies in refugee research and practice’. Taking some definitions of visual and sensory literacies as a starting point, the…

“I was left [after spending several years in Africa] with the huge conviction that even the simplest acquisition of literacy can have a profoundly empowering effect personally, socially and politically. When it comes to women, there is a huge change in their self-worth and confidence.” Lalage Bown, in an interview with Mary de Sousa in…