[AAACE-NLA] NIFL: Teach the Parent, Reach the Child

Fri Feb 13 11:17:16 EST 2004

 Art says" What we're saying here is that to become fully aware and effective in your
teaching you must independently seek out the knowledge, that which you don't
understand, and take a college course that specializes in such information.
On your own time.  Makes perfect sense.

I agree with you Art. There seems to be no standardization particulary at the Adult level in our state.Grades 1-12 is a different story. Those teachers MUST take University courses. I speak for myself of course but without a doubt, knowing how they are taught(by taking  videos  home in some cases) and what the substance of the  the workshops are about, ( I have asked my friends) the workshops for Adult Education Teachers are never as rigorous as University level courses, yet  Adult ED. teachers are allowed to be come certified at the state level thru these workshops as well. The level of preparation  for state  certification is therefore  not uniform.
 Yet the other side of the coin is that it is not easy to find teachers to teach ESOL,  especially those willing to teach at night.Our sub list is very short. And we are IMPLORED to be absent as little as possible. So any and all who sign on to do so are welcomed.There is no obligation to become state certified, altho all are urged to do so. 
Tanya Tweeton
GED and ESOL
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
> And therein, I believe, lies a problem that affects most adult literacy
> programs' effectiveness and ultimately funding since the funding formula
> contains factors like number of students and time spent in studies as well
> as level completions.  If the field received formal training in the student
> referenced emotional issues we might find our recruitment and retention
> factors improve.
> 
> Since there is no official "certification" of adult literacy teachers or
> assistants/aides we are able to employ all comers.  And that isn't a bad
> thing, but what takes away from what credibility we do have is that many who
> become adult literacy teachers have never been in a position to evaluate or
> teach the academic skills.  Especially to an adult student who is pretty
> much overwhelmed with anxiety and fear of failure when confronted with the
> issue of "testing" and subsequent acceptance of their not being "ready" to
> take the GED test.  And no I don't believe this capability to be a "common
> sense" factor on the part of the teacher.
> 
> I fail to understand why, when "training" of adult literacy teachers is a
> requirement, do we as a field continue to train our teachers in those
> teaching methodologies that didn't work the first time our students were
> exposed to them, and additionally totally ignore the students emotional
> response issues.
> What we're saying here is that to become fully aware and effective in your
> teaching you must independently seek out the knowledge, that which you don't
> understand, and take a college course that specializes in such information.
> On your own time.  Makes perfect sense.
> 
> Art
> 
> Art LaChance
> Gilmer Learning Center
> Ellijay, GA
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: <ttweeton at comcast.net>
> To: "National Literacy Advocacy List sponsored by AAACE"
> <aaace-nla at lists.literacytent.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, February 11, 2004 11:57 AM
> Subject: Re: [AAACE-NLA] NIFL: Teach the Parent, Reach the Child
> 
> 
> > Art, I am only talking about University level traing on "Affective
> filters" the concept Krashen talks about  in his  ESOL text books. ESOL
> teachers in Florida can receive training in ESOL  via workshops but I am not
> sure they mention this concept  at all. Of course it would be a good idea to
> incorporate in any training when working with adults.
> > Cordially,
> > Tanya Tweeton
> > ESOL and GED
> > Fort Lauderdale, Florida
> > > Tanya,
> > >
> > > What your post here says is that all of FL's ESOL teachers receive
> formal
> > > training in the what's and how's of that emotional affect in order to
> better
> > > serve the interest of the adult literacy student.  If that's true then
> FL's
> > > ABE and ASE teachers should also be receiving formal training for the
> same
> > > purpose ?  However I wouldn't bet on the second part of your statement
> that
> > > the rest of the nation is receiving like training in this area.  I am
> > > curious if any other states offer or require their adult literacy staff
> to
> > > participate in such training ?  The training would include how to
> recognize,
> > > informally evaluate, and help to resolve the "affective screen"
> mentioned by
> > > Tanya or more than that how to recognize and effectively deal with the
> adult
> > > student's sense of impending doom, low self confidence, failure
> syndrome, as
> > > well as help to generate internal motivation for "work" in the
> classroom.
> > >
> > > Art
> > >
> > >
> > > Art LaChance
> > > Gilmer Learning Center
> > > Ellijay, GA
> > >
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message ----- 
> > > From: <ttweeton at comcast.net>
> > > To: "National Literacy Advocacy List sponsored by AAACE"
> > > <aaace-nla at lists.literacytent.org>
> > > Sent: Friday, February 06, 2004 10:03 AM
> > > Subject: Re: [AAACE-NLA] NIFL: Teach the Parent, Reach the Child
> > >
> > >
> > > > Art, certainly in ESOL training in university courses the emotional
> > > "affective screen" of the ESOL students is dealt with certainly in
> Florida
> > > and I would imagine around the nation.
> > > > Tanya Tweeton
> > > > ESOL and GED
> > > > Fort Lauderdale,Florida
> > >
> > >
> > > > > I find it exceptionally interesting that those of us in the
> classroom
> > > > > understand these issues yet I don't remember folks like NIFL or
> NCSALL
> > > > > addressing same in proposed training for teachers / administrators.
> Nor
> > > > > have I seen research that directly addresses the student emotional
> > > condition
> > > > > and how to deal with it.  Does this mean that one cannot
> 'understand'
> > > the
> > > > > concept unless they are directly involved with the day to day
> > > functioning of
> > > > > an adult literacy classroom that serves the average citizen?
> > > > > Might be an indicator of an area we may need to go in order to
> improve
> > > the
> > > > > communications between the classroom and administration and
> legislative
> > > > > processes?  I don't feel that it's appropriate to expect the
> classroom
> > > > > practitioner to adapt whatever materials and processes are being
> > > dictated as
> > > > > mandatory without some measure of understanding from the top.  We've
> > > been in
> > > > > adult literacy long enough now to have developed a comprehensive
> > > > > understanding of what goes on in the classroom and what is needed to
> > > ensure
> > > > > effectivity, yet I'm completely unaware of anything that might be
> headed
> > > in
> > > > > that direction.
> > > > >
> > > > > Art
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > Art LaChance
> > > > > Gilmer Learning Center
> > > > > Ellijay, GA
> > > > >
> > > > http://literacytent.org
> > >
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