Adult Literacy and the Work of Community Building

In contrast to K-12 learning communities that are often defined by buildings and formal institutions, adult literacy education has historically found, repurposed, and created new spaces in which students and teachers work. These programs create new communities and reshape existing ones as a central part of their practice. This chapter considers this connection between adult literacy and community building in three distinct ways: 1) The benefits of a collective sense of belonging in a classroom, 2) The role of literacy practices in establishing membership in a community, and 3) Literacy education as communal liberation. In each case, adult literacy development and community work are inseparable.