National Adult Literacy Database

This report, presented during the annual conference of the Canadian Association for the Study of Adult Education (CASAE) in Vancouver in 2008, outlines a case study of an Aboriginal adult literacy centre. The study was framed by the concepts of guided participation and cognitive apprenticeship, which involve learning through guidance from an expert.

Results of the study show that adult learners moved through five phases of cognitive apprenticeship towards increased participation in the literacy community. The authors note that these findings point to particular patterns of guided participation in Aboriginal settings and broaden the understanding of a socio-cultural model of adult learning.