Marketplace Literacy ProjectThe mission of this non-profit organization is to enable marketplace literacy among low-literate, low-income individuals through educational programs and through dissemination of educational materials and to improve the practices of businesses, governments, not-for-profit organizations, and educators in this arena. We have developed a unique consumer and entrepreneurial literacy program for low-literate, low income individuals. Previous work has focused on at least two key elements that individuals living in subsistence need to participate in marketplaces - financial resources (e.g., microfinancing) and market access. We focus on a third key element, marketplace literacy. Marketplace literacy is not basic literacy but refers to social skills, awareness of rights, and self-confidence to negotiate the marketplace. Using research aimed at understanding life circumstances and marketplaces in subsistence contexts in urban and rural parts of South India as a basis, we developed a consumer and entrepreneurial literacy educational program which assumes that our audience cannot read or write (http://www.business.illinois.edu/subsistence). This program uses the “know-why” or an understanding of marketplaces as a basis for the know-how of being an informed consumer or entrepreneur. We do not focus on concrete vocational skills but on know-how to run a business or be an effective consumer and know-why to adapt to changing circumstances. Whereas programs in the past have focused on vocational skills, programs on know-how appear to be rarer and we have not been able to find programs beginning with know-why. By beginning with know-why, we aim to enable broader thinking - for example, for an individual thinking of starting a food shop, considering variations such as home delivery and selling ingredients to hotels, or a different business altogether. Thus, we hope to enable individuals to be better able to function as consumers and entrepreneurs and adapt to changing circumstances. Despite the difficulties with abstract thinking that low-literate individuals may experience, we enable deeper understanding of marketplaces by leveraging the social skills that participants bring to the program and relating educational content back to their lived experiences. We use a variety of methods such as picture sorting, simulated shopping, and role plays. We believe such understanding can enable individuals to place themselves on a path to lifelong learning. We innovate in terms of the content as well as the delivery method, covering concepts using picture sortings, role plays, and so on, that tap into people's lived experiences. Topics covered range from consumer skills to choosing an enterprise to start and being customer oriented. We documented our approach in a recently released book "Enabling Consumer and Entrepreneurial Literacy in Subsistence Marketplaces” by Springer in an education series in alliance with UNESCO (http://www.springer.com/education/book/978-1-4020-5768-7). Following extensive piloting and assessment, the program is being scaled through large social enterprises using video-based approaches with plans for implementation in other countries and contexts.
Thus, we are gaining experience in scaling marketplace literacy education in a variety of ways, ranging from training trainers to creating self-administered video based education. We seek to work with organizations and governments interested in customizing marketplace literacy education to reach a large audience. Our program can be used by non-profit organizations as well as businesses working with the urban and rural poor as customers or as suppliers or partners in the value chain. We can customize our program content to different degrees of depth and breadth (e.g., health-related consumer literacy, broader business education, agricultural literacy). In the US, the organization aims to disseminate educational materials to enable marketplace literacy among low-literate, low-income individuals. In a project with the University of Illinois Cooperative Extension, interviews with teachers and clients of nutrition education and observations of their interactions were used to develop educational materials that are currently being assessed in the state of Illinois. Future plans include developing educational materials that enable marketplace literacy in adult education and developing educational programs to enable consumer and entrepreneurial literacy among low-literate, low-income individuals. |
Video IntroductionResourcesPowerpoint Slides of Marketplace Literacy with Materials "Marketplace Literacy: A Key to Unleashing Rural Consumption and Entrepreneurship" - Wall Street Journal - September 2009
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