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dc.contributor.advisorRobertson, Neville
dc.contributor.advisorHunter, Judy
dc.contributor.advisorMay, Stephen
dc.contributor.authorFurness, Jane Amanda
dc.date.accessioned2012-07-12T23:28:58Z
dc.date.available2012-07-12T23:28:58Z
dc.date.issued2012
dc.identifier.citationFurness, J. A. (2012). The contribution of family literacy programmes to the wellbeing of individuals, families and communities (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)). University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10289/6457en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10289/6457
dc.description.abstractApproaches to literacy education named as ‘family literacy programmes’ first emerged in Aotearoa New Zealand in the early 2000s amidst considerable enthusiasm. Such approaches involve adults, children, or both in literacy learning in the contexts of home and family life. They are part of a wider field, established internationally, of academic and practical endeavour encompassing studies of the literacy practices of family members, studies of parents’ support of children’s literacy development, and studies of programmes aimed at enhancing family members’ literacy abilities, and the evaluations of such programmes. It is a contentious field, with divergent views of what constitutes both literacy and family, leading to differing expectations of what programmes are for and what they might achieve. From a moral perspective, hopes for such approaches, which hold much intuitive and culturally-located appeal, must be set against the concerning disparities in wellbeing between different groups, evident and growing in New Zealand as elsewhere. The study set out to explore the effects of a range of family-focused approaches in New Zealand, and their characteristics that seemed important in achieving relevant and meaningful outcomes for participants and their families. An important aim of the study was to encourage the essential conversation concerning the ideological and research-informed basis on which policies and practices should be developed to best suit our contexts, and that have people’s overall wellbeing, as well as their literacy development, in mind. The study traced the experiences of nineteen mainly Māori, Pacific and Pākehā adult participants in four varying family-focused literacy programmes located in different kinds of communities, drawing on Kaupapa Māori methodologies in its approach. Conversational interviews with the adult participants, programme staff and others who knew the participants well, repeated over 18 months, as well as participant observations of programme sessions and programme documentation, formed an extensive data set for latent theoretical thematic analysis. I identified literacy and other changes in the participants’ lives; synergistic links between factors influencing the programme effects, ‘flow on’ of effects to wider aspects of the participants’ lives and to their families and communities, and links to the personal, relational and collective wellbeing of individuals, families and communities. The findings demonstrate that there are complex influences on programmes such that effects are highly individualised, but that there is nevertheless a tangible, discernable process in play as people journey from participation to wellbeing, in which literacy enhancement, familiarity with new literacies, and new uses of literacies, are involved. The study suggests a disjuncture between current literacy education policy and the hopes, aspirations and real lives of many people for whom the programmes are intended and who wish to contribute to their families and communities despite their complex and often fraught lives. It also demonstrates that a deep level of care and holistic concern is possible in a programme which also achieves literacy skill development. Recognition of people’s whole selves including their problems and their existing abilities in programme content and approach demonstrated the ‘respectful relevance’ that appears crucial to the involvement and the positive (useful and meaningful) outcomes that were observed. It demonstrated that a broad and inclusive evaluative lens offers the best hope for full appreciation of the contribution of programmes such as these, when the overall wellbeing of families, communities and society as a whole is placed at the centre of literacy work. The study offers new and urgently-needed ecological systems-based models within a wellbeing orientation to family literacy theory. These have implications for the future development of programmes in Aotearoa New Zealand and provide frameworks against which programmes internationally may consider their work afresh. The study calls for greater community relevance in family literacy based on local values and aspirations.
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherUniversity of Waikato
dc.rightsAll items in Research Commons are provided for private study and research purposes and are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated.
dc.subjectAdult Literacy Strategy
dc.subjectbasic skills
dc.subjectdeficit
dc.subjectdiscourse
dc.subjectdiversity
dc.subjectcitizenship
dc.subjectco-construction
dc.subjectcollectivism
dc.subjectcolonisation
dc.subjectcommunity psychology
dc.subjectconfidence
dc.subjectCook Island
dc.subjectcritical
dc.subjectcritical theory
dc.subjectcritique
dc.subjectculture
dc.subjectcultural identity
dc.subjecteducation
dc.subjectefficacy
dc.subjectempowerment
dc.subjectEuropean
dc.subjectfoundation learning
dc.subjectfoundation skills
dc.subjectfour component model
dc.subjecthealth
dc.subjectidentity
dc.subjectideology
dc.subjectideological model
dc.subjectautonomous model
dc.subjectilliteracy
dc.subjectindividualism
dc.subjectindependence
dc.subjectinterdependence
dc.subjectLearning for Living
dc.subjectliteracy crisis
dc.subjectKey Competencies Framework
dc.subjectKenan model
dc.subjectknowledge society
dc.subjectmarginalisation
dc.subjectmental health
dc.subjectmultiliteracies
dc.subjectmultimodality
dc.subjectNew Literacy Studies
dc.subjectnumeracy
dc.subjectoral language development
dc.subjectoutcomes
dc.subjectparticipation
dc.subjectphenomenology
dc.subjectpower
dc.subjectpsychological wellbeing
dc.subjectripple effects
dc.subjectSamoa
dc.subjectschool
dc.subjectself-determination
dc.subjectself-efficacy
dc.subjectsense of community
dc.subjectsocial capital
dc.subjectsocial cohesion
dc.subjectsocial constructionism
dc.subjectsocial-contextual
dc.subjectsocial exclusion
dc.subjectsocial identities
dc.subjectsocial inclusion
dc.subjectsocial inequalities
dc.subjectsocial justice
dc.subjectsocial network
dc.subjectsocial support
dc.subjectsocial wellbeing
dc.subjectsociocultural
dc.subjectspirituality
dc.subjectstrengths
dc.subjectstrengths-based
dc.subjectteaching
dc.subjecttino rangitiratanga
dc.subjectTonga
dc.subjectTreaty of Waitangi
dc.subjecttypology
dc.subjectWhare Tapa Wha
dc.subjectwhanau
dc.subjectwhanaungatanga
dc.subjectworkplace
dc.subjectworldview
dc.subjectborderlands
dc.subjectembedded
dc.subjectwhanau literacy programmes
dc.subjectidiosyncratic
dc.subjectinterconnected
dc.subjectcontextualised
dc.subjectmethodological fundamentalism
dc.titleThe contribution of family literacy programmes to the wellbeing of individuals, families and communitiesen
dc.typeThesis
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Waikato
thesis.degree.levelDoctoral
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)
dc.date.updated2012-07-10T03:25:15Z
pubs.place-of-publicationHamilton, New Zealanden_NZ


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