Literary Practitioners and Volunteers

[PAULA AUSTIN]

I thought I would just put my two cents in about this issue, although I
hate having these kinds of discussions on listservs....

I think what Andre is saying is quite true, and I would say that in many
cases, literacy practitioners help to perpetuate this idea that "anyone
can teach literacy" or that "it's for the good of the learners" and that
we don't need things like benefits and job stability or paid professional
development opportunities like other folks in a "real" job field.  But, I
would also add that there are a ton of administrators and executive
directors who also perpetuate this idea and a ton of professional
development organizations who do not provide staff development
opportunities for literacy teachers who have been in the field for more
than a few years.  Because burn out and turnover are so high, many
professional development places only offer workshops for new teachers.  Of
course burn out and turnover is high, there are no mechanisms to keep
teachers in the field. 

I worked in NYC for several years and there are certain people in the
literacy field who are administrators and managers who have fired teachers
for trying to do the kind of organizing that Andre talked about -
organizing that might help us to get the kinds of benefits and respect in
this field that we deserve.  Managers and administrators who although they
espouse a liberal and participatory philosophy, practice something much
more hierarchical and set up policies and structures which isolate
teachers and leave then with little to no decision making power.


This is to say that there are all kinds of structures in place that hinder
teachers from really coming together to talk about these issues and take
action. And there are wolves in sheeps' clothing all over this field, who
would not be willing to step down and give up some of their power to see
teachers and other literacy workers get the kind of professionalism and
respect that they deserve.  It's more than just teachers not reflecting on
their situations and continuing to work in less than adequate situations,
it is also an institutionalized oppression in many literacy organizations.

Paula Austin
SCALE