[AAACE-NLA] Helping Adult Learners in Hard Times

Tue Dec 30 10:04:12 EST 2008

Dear Friends,

We have to work with adult learners to help them become advocates for themselves and other adult learners. As adult literacy national organizations and stakeholders, we must help VALUE and other advocacy organizations so together we can move the adult literacy agenda forward.  Otherwise Debbie, we will continue to have this conversation among ourselves with negligible progress. 

We need to shift the paradigm, reflecting the sentiment of this quote I encountered while working for Peace Corps:
"If you have come to help you can go home again.  But if you see my struggle as part of your own survival then perhaps we can work together."

I attend too many meetings where so-called advocates are content deciding what is best for the undereducated, underemployed, disenfranchised, etc.  We must engage our brothers and sisters along the way and empower them in the process.

Carl Guerriere
Executive Director/Literacy Advocate
Greater Hartford Literacy Council
One Union Place
Hartford, CT  06103

Fax: 860.722.2486
www.greaterhartfordreads.org <http://www.greaterhartfordreads.org/> 

NOTE NEW EMAIL: cguerriere at capitalworkforce.org until January 31st, 2009 when we will close our doors.

________________________________

From: aaace-nla-bounces at lists.literacytent.org on behalf of Debbie Yoho
Sent: Mon 12/29/2008 9:11 PM
To: aaace-nla
Subject: Re: [AAACE-NLA] Helping Adult Learners in Hard Times

As I have commented before in this very corridor, I was first confronted
with what I call the Accountability Revolution when the basic skills
movement hit k-12 in the early 70s in SC.  I was teaching at the high
school level at the time and for fifteen years struggled with the issue of
"teaching to the test".  SC was in the forefront of this movement--Dick
Riley was the governor at the time, and it is no coincidence that he became
Secretary of Education eventually. When the same limited view of education
reared its head in the adult ed system after welfare reform,  the political
context of education in this country became clearer to me more than ever
before, especially because I am  living in a Third World State (Pat
Conroy's term) where educational policy has been linked to reactionary
political agendas since Reconstruction degenerated into Jim Crow.  Most of
my learners long ago realized they have been denied even a rudimentary
connection to the mainstream because of what they suffered in public school
systems held hostage by local school boards and the state legislature.  It
amazes me that so few hold any rancor for the powers that be.  I guess
that's why I feel I must be angry for them.   

Debbie Yoho
Division Director, TURNING PAGES/VOAC
   (formerly the Greater Columbia Literacy Council)
Secretary, SC Association for Adult Literacy Education
803-765-2555    fax  803-779-1657
PO Box 1447, Columbia, SC  29202
yohogclc at earthlink.net

"True progress preserves order amid change and preserves change amid
order."  (John Morgan, You Can't Manage Alone)

> [Original Message]
> From: Catherine B. King <cb.king at verizon.net>
> To: <yohogclc at earthlink.net>; National Literacy Advocacy List sponsored
by AAACE <aaace-nla at lists.literacytent.org>
> Date: 12/29/2008 3:10:05 PM
> Subject: Re: [AAACE-NLA] Helping Adult Learners in Hard Times
>
> Hello Debbie and all:
>
> We also need to keep in mind the broader relationship of (1) education in
a
> democracy to (2) its political ground.  The problems of
institutionalizing
> education for labor-work environments, or even for self-actualization,
are
> not in those educational developments themselves, but in their more
subtle
> omissions--of including reference to or education about the larger
> "context," which is the kind of political culture that affords us this
> freedom and opportunity to learn in the first place.
>
> The first step in losing a democracy occurs when the polity forgets its
> meaning.  There is enough of this oversight already going on in K-12
> environments.  And in adult education, the omission is especially suspect
> where "education for work is fine; but let's be sure they do not know
about,
> ignore, or are too busy making ends meet to consider, their own political
> power"--as someone like Paulo Freire would understand.
>
> A good new year to all,
>
> Catherine King
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Debbie Yoho" <yohogclc at earthlink.net>
> To: "aaace-nla" <aaace-nla at lists.literacytent.org>
> Sent: Monday, December 29, 2008 7:37 AM
> Subject: Re: [AAACE-NLA] Helping Adult Learners in Hard Times
>
>
> > Susan has touched on a concern shared by many, including me. I fear that
> > funds will become even more targeted to individuals judged to be
employabe
> > at the expense of programs focused more on self-actualization, instead
of
> > funding increases for all programs so that the rising tide rasise all
> > boats. I hate that the funding process is more and more an either/or
> > situation.  But the accountability revolution will not tolerate efforts
> > that are difficult and time consuming to measure.
> >
> > Seven years ago, our local United Way began to "reinvent itself" by
> > training everyone in outcomes measurement and moving to a system that
> > funds
> > only programs that can "demonstrate effectiveness".  At the time, I
> > protested that many human services cannot be boiled down into figures
that
> > fit into a box, and called for alternative assessments, such as
portfolio
> > documentation, showcase events, interviews, etc.  I was assured that of
> > course the decision makers wanted to include ways to "help you tell your
> > story."  Gradually, the new system has evolved into a report format
that
> > is
> > only  an Excel spreadsheet that allows nothing but numbers.  Clearly
they
> > no longer have the time to spend reading even one anecdotal paragraph.
> >
> >
> > Debbie Yoho
> > Division Director, TURNING PAGES/VOAC
> >   (formerly the Greater Columbia Literacy Council)
> > Secretary, SC Association for Adult Literacy Education
> > 803-765-2555    fax  803-779-1657
> > PO Box 1447, Columbia, SC  29202
> > yohogclc at earthlink.net
> >
> > "True progress preserves order amid change and preserves change amid
> > order."  (John Morgan, You Can't Manage Alone)
> >
> >
> >
> >> [Original Message]
> >> From: McGilloway, Susan <smcgilloway at ccbcmd.edu>
> >> To: National Literacy Advocacy List sponsored by AAACE
> > <aaace-nla at lists.literacytent.org>
> >> Date: 12/28/2008 10:20:38 PM
> >> Subject: Re: [AAACE-NLA] Helping Adult Learners in Hard Times
> >>
> >> I have been doing some more thinking about this issue of training of
> > undereducated adults in hard economic times and realize that Tom's
> > approach
> > makes some sense, but still leaves me wishing for more. I am a graduate
> > student in psychology and we have been learning about different
approaches
> > to changes in quality of life and what impacts people to change. I would
> > like to offer some insight that I have from the perspective of one who
> > believes we need to look at the total student when making decisions
> > regarding approach to learning.
> >>
> >> Learning is important, but only to the extent that it serves to bring
> > about the self-actualization of the person to reach a higher goal or
> > purpose. Even cognition goes beyond behaviorism. Cognition and critical
> > thinking are structured processes that the mind carries on to make
sense
> > of
> > knowledge, stimuli, emotion. Without cognition, the human is reduced to
> > the
> > animal species. Learning, when reduced to behavioral manipulation, is
not
> > learning in the true sense of the word, and it makes a mockery of
> > education. I had an education professor who once stated that there is a
> > difference between the teacher and the educator. The teacher is
> > tunnel-versioned and sees the student as one to whom factual knowledge
is
> > paramount. A true educator is one who realizes that the student is a
> > complex individual and that education involves shaping the whole person
-
> > mind, body, emotion, soul.
> >>
> >> In our program, we are transitioning to DLLR and I fear the impact will
> > be devastating. I fear that we will be asked to push students through
> > classes at a faster rate so they can become employed without giving any
> > attention to the hopes and dreams of some type of self actualization for
> > these students. Instead of caring for these students as the precious
> > diamonds they are, we may be asked to give them assembly line training
as
> > fast as can be done so they can go out and get another low paying,
> > meaningless job that brings no satisfaction to their souls. What we are
> > being asked to do is act as behaviorists who give facts as stimuli and
> > require a rote response that is enough to get them out the door as fast
as
> > possible
> >>
> >> Sue McGilloway
> >> CAFL Career Advisor/Coordinator, Volunteers in Partnership
> >> Center for Adult and Family Literacy
> >> CCBC
> >> 410-285-9933 (phone)
> >> 410-285-9557 (fax)
> >>
> >>
> >> ________________________________
> >>
> >> From: aaace-nla-bounces at lists.literacytent.org on behalf of
> > tsticht at znet.com
> >> Sent: Wed 12/24/2008 1:27 PM
> >> To: aaace-nla at lists.literacytent.org
> >> Subject: [AAACE-NLA] Helping Adult Learners in Hard Times
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> December 24, 2008
> >>
> >> Strategies for Education and Training of Undereducated Adults in Hard
> >> Economic Times
> >>
> >> Tom Sticht
> >> International Consultant in Adult Education
> >>
> >> During these hard economic times there is clearly an urgent need for
> >> undereducated adults to receive solid basic skills education in the
> > context
> >>  of training for well paying jobs and areas of entrepreneurship. Of
> >> particular concern is the need for education and training of many
poorly
> >> skilled women who are single and managing families on their own.
> >>
> >> For several years I worked on and off with Wider Opportunities for
Women
> >> (WOW) located in Washington, DC, on adult literacy projects that
followed
> >> Functional Context Education  principles and integrated basic skills
> >> education (reading, math) with job skills training for non-traditional,
> >> well-paying jobs for women, and  business skills training. The last
> > project
> >> that I worked on with WOW was  its Six strategies for Family Economic
> >> Self-Sufficiency project.
> >>
> >> As part of the project, in 1999 I worked with a women's organization in
> > San
> >> Francisco to illustrate how Functional Context Education (FCE)
principles
> >> could be followed in microenterprise trainng and development. This
> > provides
> >> a  good resource for adult basic skills and vocational/job skills
> > education
> >> providers. Here is a  little background about the Six Strategies
project,
> >> FCE, and Microenterprise Training and Development. Following are
several
> >> paragraphs  about the project that are taken from information available
> >> from WOW online at  www.wowonline.org
> >>
> >> Six Strategies for Family Economic Self-Sufficiency-Overview
> >>
> >> For many families, especially those moving from welfare to work,
> >> self-sufficiency cannot be achieved in a single step. It requires
> >> strategies that create ladders out of poverty-strategies that provide
the
> >> assistance, guidance and time needed for families to become
> >> self-sufficient. Recognizing this, Wider Opportunities for Women
promotes
> >> Six Strategies for Self-Sufficiency:
> >>
> >> * The Self-Sufficiency Standard
> >> * Targeting Higher-Wage Employment
> >> * Nontraditional Employment for Women
> >> * Functional Context Education
> >> * Microenterprise Training and Development
> >> * Individual Development Accounts
> >>
> >> Why the Six Strategies?
> >>
> >> * Because women currently earn 74¢ for every dollar men earn.
> >> * Because 60% of all minimum wage workers are women.
> >> * Because most welfare recipients leaving the rolls for work earn very
> >> low
> >> wages.
> >> * Because nearly one in three American households possesses zero or
> > negative
> >> assets.
> >>
> >> These realities demonstrate the critical need for strategies that will
> > help
> >> families move out of poverty and into lasting economic security. The
Six
> >> Strategies are tools for individuals, community-based organizations,
and
> >> state- and local-level policymakers to use to truly help low-income
> > families
> >> move out of poverty and achieve long-term economic stability and
> >> independence.
> >>
> >> In today's policy environment-in which welfare and workforce
legislation
> >> have devolved power to states and localities-new and effective
strategies
> >> are urgently needed to aid low-income people:
> >>
> >> Functional Context Education
> >>
> >> * What it is and why it works
> >> * Approaches
> >> * State and federal legislation
> >> * Resources pertaining to this strategy
> >>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>
> >> What it is and why it works
> >>
> >> Functional Context Education (FCE) is an instructional strategy that
> >> integrates the teaching of literacy skills and job content to move
> > learners
> >> more successfully and quickly toward their educational and employment
> > goals.
> >> Programs that use the FCE model are more effective than traditional
> > programs
> >> that teach basic skills and job skills in sequence because this
> >> innovative
> >> approach teaches literacy and basic skills in the context in which the
> >> learner will use them. Clients see clearly the role literacy skills
play
> > in
> >> moving them toward their goals. This strategy promotes better
retention,
> >> encourages lifelong learning and supports the intergenerational
transfer
> > of
> >> knowledge.
> >>
> >> * For adults who have already experienced school failure, enrollment in
> >> programs that use traditional approaches to teaching often reproduce
that
> >> failure. Functional context education programs address this problem by
> >> using content related to adult goals to teach basic skills.
> >>
> >> * Basic education and technical training must be relevant to the skills
> > and
> >> education required by jobs if low-income persons are going to succeed
in
> >> becoming economically self-sufficient. In addition, most adults do not
> > have
> >> time to spend years in basic education programs learning skills that
may
> >> seem unrelated to their educational and economic goals.
> >>
> >> * Given welfare time limits and restrictions on education and
training,
> >> it
> >> is more important than ever that individuals master basic and
> >> job-specific
> >> skills as quickly and efficiently as possible.
> >>
> >> Microenterprise Training and Development
> >>
> >> * What it is and why it works
> >> * Approaches
> >> * State and federal legislation
> >> * Resources pertaining to this strategy
> >>
> >> What it is and Why it Works
> >>
> >> Microenterprise development is an income-generating strategy that helps
> >> low-income people start or expand very small businesses. Generally, the
> >> business is owned and operated by one person or family, has fewer than
> > five
> >> employees and can start up with a loan of less than $25,000.
> > Microenterprise
> >> is an attractive option for low-income women who may have lacked
> > opportunity
> >> but who are highly motivated and have skills in a particular craft or
> >> service.
> >>
> >> In the current weak economy,  unemployment and underemployment are
high.
> > The
> >> lack of quality employment options-especially for low-income,
low-skilled
> >> women-makes microenterprise development a critical strategy for moving
> >> families out of poverty.
> >>
> >> * Low-income women entrepreneurs, especially those living in rural or
> >> inner-city communities isolated from the economic mainstream, often
lack
> >> the contacts and networks needed for business success.
> >>
> >> * Peer networks (such as lending circles and program alumnae groups)
help
> >> women learn to earn from each other, build self-esteem and organize
> >> around
> >> policy advocacy.
> >>
> >> * Linkages between microentrepreneurs and more established women
business
> >> owners provide program participants with role models, facilitate an
> > ongoing
> >> transfer of skills, and expand networks.
> >>
> >> I hope that adult literacy and vocational/job training educators can
work
> >> together with business, industry and those desiring microenterprise or
> >> entrepreneurship education to follow WOW's six strategies for
> >> self-sufficiency and develop effective programs that integrate basic
> > skills
> >> and vocational skills education. As Russ Tershy, the former Director of
> > the
> >> Center for Employment Training (CET) in San Jose, CA used to say,
there
> >> is
> >> only one piece of paper for undereducated adults more valuable than a
GED
> >> in times of need- a good paycheck!
> >>
> >> This is the time to eschew literacy programs that are too often too
> >> irrelevant to the critical life contexts of adults and to aim for
strong,
> >> intensive, meaningful basic skills/vocational skills education that can
> > get
> >> people on their economic feet quickly. Then that should be followed by
> >> additional upskilling and further education. But first folks need a
way
> >> to
> >> make a good living!
> >>
> >> Thomas G. Sticht
> >> International Consultant in Adult Education
> >> 2062 Valley View Blvd.
> >> El Cajon, CA 92019-2059
> >> Tel/fax: (619) 444-9133
> >> Email: tsticht at aznet.net
> >>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
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