This course will provide students with a theoretical background to the acquisition of literacy and to the issues that will affect literacy in ethnolinguistic communities. Various Western theories of education will be presented and critiqued for their suitability to non-Western contexts and students will formulate their own theory appropriate for use in a particular context. Various models of multilingual education will be examined and an appropriate model applied to a particular context. The global issues and organisations which influence local literacy program design will be examined, including critical literacy, post-colonialism, gender equality and diversity, conflict, poverty alleviation, urbanization, environmental impact, worldview differences, participatory planning and economic development. Topics: • Introduction to Literacy and Education • Cognitive Literacy • Psycho-linguistic Literacy • Sociocultural Literacy • Critical Literacy and summation • Principles of Multilingual Education (MLE) • Advantages and Disadvantages of varieties of MLE • MLE case-studies • Global issues and trends • Global Literacy players • Project proposal • Program case studies