Project Leaders: Dr. Bonny Norton and Dr. Maureen Kendrick

Our research seeks to investigate the complex relationship between literacy and development, and to better understand women and girls' participation in literacy practices associated with development. The indicators of development that are central to our research include health, education, work, local and national government, transportation, and leisure. The theoretical framework of the study is drawn from work in the "literacy ecology" of communities (Barton, 1994; Barton & Hamilton, 1998; Hornberger, 2003, Kramsch, 2002) which, rather than isolating literacy practices in order to understand them, seeks to understand its wider sociocultural context. Our research takes place in Uganda, a country in the eastern part of Africa, which is characterized by chronic poverty, unfavourable health conditions, and gender imbalance (Bigsten & Kayizzi-Mugerwa, 1999). The study includes three educational projects that offer unique possibilities for understanding the relationship between literacy and development, and are representative of the kinds of educational initiatives common throughout Uganda and other parts of Africa.

Dr. Shelley Jones and the participating students, Masaka	Local research assistant Dan Ahimbisibwe and UBC PhD student Harriet Mutonyi

More about the project: Literacy, Gender, & Development: Redefining Educational Research in Uganda