[AAACE-NLA] What is purpose of AELS?

[Catherine B. King]

George, Hall, et al:

Yes--we can "telescope" on economics or on providing a bridge to higher 
education; however, a picture of the whole includes the hard-to-reach, or 
the marchers to different drummers that Tom speaks of.

It seems to me that the Equipped for the Future goes far in maintaining a 
view of the different foci (economics, political development, 
adult-relationships with children and social regeneration; ongoing 
education, etc.), while maintaining a "whole" view, and while avoiding 
letting the view from the telescope erase the larger view, and become the 
only view we see, work from, and **fund**.

Also, Hal says:  "If you define a democracy as a society where the people 
get what they want, and if you agree that we are a democracy under this 
definition, then if there is a problem it lies with those who constitute the 
majority of voters in this country."

To this I would add two quotes from Jefferson followed by one from Pilon:

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it 
expects what never was and never will be."
and:  "In a republican nation, whose citizens are to be led by reason and 
persuasion and not by force, the art of reasoning becomes of first 
importance."  And from Pilon:  Civilized life depends upon the success of 
reason in social intercourse, the prevalence of logic over violence in 
interpersonal conflict"  (Copi, 1998).    Not to mention basic literacy?

Also, voting doesn't happen or fail to happen in an educational vacuum. 
Rather, voting is when all of a person's education (or lack of it, because 
there is no in-between) comes together in a singular moment of 
future-directional choice or avoidance of that choice.

This is why, though all the other efforts to justify adult education are 
important, the roots of our AE system are still firmly planted in the ground 
of our political order (Democracy/Republican).  Without this basic 
understanding of how education applies so intimately to ALL adults and 
persons in a democracy, telescoping is bound to occur either from 
short-sighted guidance or by covert political fiat.

And the real-politic of our common political ground, and the assumptions we 
all stand on, is why any effort to transgress, eliminate, or funnel to other 
venues continuing education of our adults in any of the arenas above is 
politically scandalous and is an assault on the ground that we ALL walk on 
and claim to love.

Catherine King


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "George Demetrion" <george.demetrion at lvgh.org>
To: "National Literacy Advocacy List sponsored by AAACE" 
<aaace-nla at lists.literacytent.org>
Sent: Friday, March 03, 2006 12:53 PM
Subject: Re: [AAACE-NLA] What is purpose of AELS?


>I agree with what Tom says; though ideally, it's a both/and rather than
> an either/or issue. I do think the upper echelon needs to be addressed
> also as there are a lot of gaps there where many adults get left behind,
> to coin a phrase. I say ideally because resources of time, money and
> staff invariably influence programming.  Still, with Tom, addressing the
> needs of those at the lower and intermediate ranges also remains
> critically important.
>
> George Demetrion
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: aaace-nla-bounces at lists.literacytent.org
> [mailto:aaace-nla-bounces at lists.literacytent.org] On Behalf Of
> tsticht at znet.com
> Sent: Friday, March 03, 2006 1:11 PM
> To: aaace-nla at lists.literacytent.org
> Subject: [AAACE-NLA] What is purpose of AELS?
>
> Aaace-nla colleagues: Some time ago I posted a message about how the
> Adult
> Education and Literacy System (AELS) seems to be being transformed more
> and
> more from an adult education system with the purpose of helping adults
> meet
> a wide variety of educational needs, to a second-chance K-12 system in
> which the goal is to have adults learn what is taught in the K-12 system
> to
> move from secondary to post-secondary, college education. The recent
> posts
> by David Rosen and Hal Beder arguing for moving more adult learners from
> the AELS into post-secondary education seems to be consistent with this
> trend. To me this raises the important question of what services the
> AELS
> should be offering. I have always considered it an opportunity for the
> hardest to reach, most underserved adults, with the greatest need for
> adult
> literacy education. Of course, the need for ESL (ESOL) has been and
> continues to be an important component of the AELS, too. But I am
> troubled
> by the move toward having the AELS focus attention away from the most
> difficult to reach and teach and to move to a college-prepatory program.
> I
> would like to know what others think. Tom Sticht
>
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