This guide offers ideas for adult literacy curriculum development using a participatory approach. Its intent is not to prescribe a curriculum but to raise issues associated with the varied needs of limited-literacy students and with development of curricula to address these needs. An introductory section discusses how the guide evolved and can be used. Chapter 1 explains the principles behind the participatory approach to curriculum development. Chapter 2 discusses program structure, including the relationship between structure and practice, the institutional context, staffing, site selection, student population, admission, orientation, and support services. The third chapter moves into the classroom, looking at the participatory cycle in action. Chapter 4 discusses how to find student themes, including establishment of a participatory atmosphere, practice of conscious listening for issues, problems, and concerns, and use of catalyst activities to elicit these issues and concerns. The fifth chapter discusses how to develop curriculum around themes, and recurring issues arising in the process are examined in chapter 6. Chapter 7 looks at how students can and do use literacy to make meaningful change in their lives. The eighth chapter outlines issues and methods in student evaluation. A list of additional resources is appended. (Contains 55 references.) (Adjunct ERIC Clearinghouse on Literacy Education) (MSE)