The Changing Face Project took an historical look at policy and practice in the field of Adult literacy, Language and Numeracy (ALLN) between 1970 and 2002. By bringing together the perspectives of the main stakeholder groups on basic skills policy, the study aimed to identify the key issues and mechanisms that have driven change in the field. By assessing the relevance of the policies to the changing context of basic skills in everyday life, it makes a contribution to the effectiveness of future policy and practice in ALLN.
The main findings from the project are summarised in
Hamilton, M., & Hillier, Y. (2006). The Changing Faces of Adult Literacy, Language and Numeracy: A Critical History Trentham Books.
Hamilton, M., & Hillier, Y. (2007). Deliberative policy analysis: Adult literacy assessment and the politics of change. Journal of Education Policy,22(5), 573-594.
A major aim of the Changing Faces project was to create an historical archive containing both participants’ accounts of their experiences during this period and the documents that were circulating at the time. We have carefully catalogued and stored all the materials we collected. Digital versions of the interview transcripts are stored in the UK national Data Archive and can be accessed at the UK Data Service
The documentary archive is physically stored in the library at Lancaster University. The collection is listed in this catalogue.
DOWNLOAD CATALOGUE.
To find an item in the archive list, simply open the pdf document and type an author, title or keyword in the search box. Each entry has complete information about the item and where it is physically stored in the archive boxes.
We hope that these archives will be a useful resource for those studying, or with a general interest, in literacy, numeracy and ESOL between 1970-2000.
The Interview Archive
This consists of digital versions of 116 semi structured recorded interviews carried out with practitioners and key people in the field of adult literacy numeracy and ESOL, plus 71 structured recorded interviews with adult learners using the National Child Development Study database held at the Institute of Education. This data is unpublished and consent/copyright permission has been granted.
The Documentary Archive
Material for the documentary archive came from groups that we visited, requests at practitioner events and in newsletters as well as on these web pages. A number of individuals donated their personal collections to the archive.
Archive items include papers and documents from campaign groups, minutes from meetings, local and national policy initiatives and programmes, media campaigns; dissertations and theses that cover this area and histories that have been written about specific groups, organizations, policy or geographical areas. We have also collected examples of worksheets, schemes of work and teaching resources, photographs and other artefacts.