Since March 2020, adult literacy and numeracy teachers have been negotiating unprecedented challenges staying connected with their learners when the pandemic prevented face to face on-campus classes. In many education sectors, remote delivery using digital technologies was adopted as a solution during periods of lockdown with varying degrees of success, however, this was not a viable option for many classes with learners in our field. What the experience of the pandemic has highlighted for us is both the fragility of the connections we develop with learners, particularly those with limited economic and technology resources, and the significance to these learners of the efforts we do make in creatively improvising ways to stay connected with them.
This conference takes up the theme of connecting with learners and their community to celebrate and reaffirm the centrality of our connections with learners and their community as key principle in the work we do. The conference will provide an opportunity to hear from researchers on studies they have undertaken that are related to this theme, and invite you to share your initiatives, strategies and reflections on this theme with all of us.
