Doctoral Research: Functional Literacy and Social Justice

My doctoral research examines the relationship between policy and practice in Functional Skills English within further education.

Drawing on a qualitative, multi-method exploratory case study within a further education institution in Leicester, the study explores how literacy qualifications, funding policies and institutional practices shape learners’ educational opportunities, identities, confidence and progression. The research challenges the idea that literacy can be understood only as a collection of technical skills. It examines how Functional Skills English has been positioned in relation to GCSE English and how this qualification hierarchy can affect vocational learners, particularly those already experiencing educational or socioeconomic disadvantage. The research is also a call to action for literacy policy to move away from utilitarian, neoliberal conceptions of literacy centred on employability and towards a model of meaningful literacy that serves emotional, relational, self-expressive and survival purposes.