[NLA] No need for evidence, just get personal

[Christopher Schroeder]

Freire has been important to specialists in composition and rhetorical
studies, who have largely tried to apply him, with limited success, to
college classrooms.  However, I would caution against idealizing Freire.
First, his work was specific to the contexts in which he was working, which
was something that he himself acknowledged.  Second, his treatment of false
consciousness, etc. identifies his modernist marxist agenda.

Don't get me wrong.  I've learned much from Freire.  Freire was my
inspiration for the book that I wrote on negotiated literacies.
Nevertheless, I'm reluctant to adopt the hero narrative that often informs
his theories of literacy and education.

Chris


----- Original Message -----
From: "ADALINE ROGERS" <adaliner at prodigy.net>
To: <nla at lists.literacytent.org>
Cc: <tsticht at aznet.net>
Sent: Monday, April 01, 2002 11:59 PM
Subject: Re: [NLA] No need for evidence, just get personal


> Paulo Freire's work is a standard worthy of striving for. He crosses the
> traditional barriers of cultural orientation with ease and humor without
> sacrificing depth of understanding or compassion.
> a r
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Thomas Sticht" <tsticht at aznet.net>
> To: <nla at lists.literacytent.org>
> Cc: <tsticht at aznet.net>
> Sent: Monday, April 01, 2002 10:24 AM
> Subject: [NLA] No need for evidence, just get personal
>
>
> > Some thoughts upon reading comments about the OERI and reduced
> > enrollments to improve quality of AELS services.
> > Tom Sticht
> >
> > Regarding David Rosen's, John Coming's, and George Demetrion's comments
> > regarding changes at OERI. Perhaps NCAL and NCSALL could put together a
> > report that presents evidence showing that their research has improved
> > services for adult learners somewhere in some way. The evidence should
> > be of a nature that the R & D centers think the policy makers
> > considering changing OERI would find convincing. George might
> > demonstrate how those people he listed ( Dewey, Mezirow et al) showed
> > that they could design, develop, and implement an adult education
> > program teaching literacy or other important subject matter, that was
> > more effective in some ways than an existing program. Of the people in
> > his list, I am only familiar with Paulo Freire's work to actually
> > develop and deliver a literacy program. I don't recall seeing any
> > evidence demonstrating that his program was more effective than programs
> > others had developed. Perhaps such evidence exists but I am unaware of
> > it.
> >
> > Regarding Bob Bickerton's comments about reducing numbers served and
> > thereby improving quality of instruction for those fewer served,   I
> > think it would be important to know why the AELS lost over a million
> > enrollments in two years and whether this had any thing to do with
> > showing some improvements in programs in the AELS.  Having lost  large
> > numbers of enrollments, and then showing that adults peristed longer in
> > programs, does not actually demonstrate improvement in the quality of
> > instruction. It could be that sample bias was introduced and that those
> > adults who would have left early were not enrolled and those adults who
> > would have stayed longer actually did enroll. This would increase
> > average hours of instruction but not because those enrolled were staying
> > longer than they would have but because those who would have left early
> > and lowered the hours of instruction were not enrolled. I don't know if
> > this is the case, of course, because to my knowledge no one has yet put
> > out a report showing why so many adult enrollments were lost from the
> > AELS, nor am I knowledgeable about any reports from Massachusetts
> > demonstrating the efficacy of the use of the "reduced enrollments to
> > improve quality of service" strategy.
> >
> > Overall, it seems that if we are to make a good case for continued
> > support of research in adult education and literacy development, we need
> > to put forth some pretty convincing evidence that past research has made
> > some payoffs in improved services for adults.
> >
> > But I am likely wrong about the importance of trying to show that our R
> > & D has been effective in some ways. Probably there only has to be some
> > political contacts made to congress people in the states where research
> > centers are now located and then have these congress people go in and
> > fight for "their" R & D centers. Don't bother them with data, just get
> > personal! I've seen it work many times before.
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