Changing Value Positions: A Movement in Transition

Drawing on philosophical, sociological and economic lenses, this chapter tracks the value positions that could be associated with the changing policies and events in the field of adult literacy in the United Kingdom over the past four decades. We commence the analysis of policy evolution from the 1970s, largely because this was the period when adult literacy started filtering into policy discourse. The analysis will be constructed around three broad periods: the 1970s to the early 1980s, the early 1980s to the mid-1990s and the mid-1990s through Moser to date. The blocks are not arbitrary, as they are informed by major policy events and pronouncements. In analysing each period, although there will be a recording of historical facts, the major focus will be on the perceived underpinning values informing policy direction, as well as the implication for practice which includes the vocationalisation and marketisation of the literacy provision.