Reading and writing difficulties among adults in Cyprus

The four-star Sunhall Hotel in Larnaca, Cyprus, was recently the venue of a weeklong seminar about reading and writing difficulties among adults.

The course was funded by the Comenius 2.2C in-service course programme, which in Malta is managed by the European Union Programmes Unit within the Education Division.

The course, provided through the Grundtvig 3 International Co-Operation Sub-action, was organised by Klitos Symeonides, president of the Cyprus Adult Education Association.

Lectures during the seminar were delivered by Ms Kari Letrud from Sweden, Mr Ross Cooper from the UK and Ms Christine Firman from Malta, all experts in the area of literacy difficulties, providing us with invaluable information and advice on how to deal with people with learning problems.

This course followed the Forward Project, a two-year project aimed at identifying how the various countries are supporting individuals encountering literacy difficulties. The Forward Trainer involved four countries, together with the support of yet another six in putting together a training course, which uses as a starting point identified needs.

The countries involved were Sweden, Norway, Hungary, Germany, the UK, Canada, Portugal, Ireland, the USA and France, based on the results in prose literacy in the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS, 2000).

Participants hailed from various countries, namely Switzerland, Finland, Greece, Norway, Hungary, the UK, Portugal, Germany, Latvia, Sweden, Poland, the Netherlands, Estonia, Italy, Ireland, Cyprus and Malta. The large number of participants coming from so many diverse backgrounds and cultures provided a European dimension to the course, with everyone sharing rich personal experiences.

"Reading and Writing Difficulties Among Adults" took into consideration the needs of literacy disadvantaged individuals, regardless of their social, personal and economic background and did not focus solely on one group.

One must keep in mind that literacy is not a luxury but a basic need. Consequently, the challenge of the seminar was to ameliorate the position of those who are not given appropriate opportunities in the first place. The course aimed at increasing awareness of the need to take concrete action to improve the situation.

On the opening day of the seminar, participants were given a presentation on "Special Educationin in Cyprus: Policy and Practice", by Dr Simoni Symeonidou. The Cypriot education policy closely follows the British model (Cyprus having been a British colony, just like Malta), based on segregation, inclusion and integration.

During the course, which was not just lecture-based, but involved a lot of discussions and workshops, during which participants were free to air their views, an understanding of the difficulties and fears of some adults as a result of their literacy limitations was developed, as well as the devastating effect of these limitations on every aspect of an individual's life.

Different learning styles were discussed, namely visual, auditory and kinaesthetic. The visual learner learns best and remembers information longer if he sees it or pictures it in his mind, while the auditory learner needs to talk about the topic.

The kinaesthetic learner, a combination of tactile and kinetic, learns best if he is involved in handling materials and doing things. Various strategies to use with these different learners were discussed, regarding both literacy and numeracy.

Visual and auditory processing difficulties, as well as motor integration problems were clearly explained and compensatory strategies that could be proposed to individuals were shared among group members.

Another important point taken into consideration was the fact that despite the diverse cultures of different countries, these all have one thing in common - the embarrassment which adults with literacy problems face in everyday life, when dealing with family, community, education, employment and training.

The denial of the existence of their problem keeps them back from following courses at the workplace, applying for promotion and advancing in life. The kind of support and accommodation required at the workplace was the topic of more than one workshop.

I am sure that my participation in this seminar will have a positive impact on the methodology used with problematic learners and will enhance the quality and reinforce the European dimension of my school.