[NLA] participation and resistance

Tue Aug 6 14:25:52 EDT 2002

Some thoughts that came to mind while reading your posts:

I was reading an article yesterday in which the author argued that there is a 
disconnect between theory and practice in teaching. she argued that teachers 
could practice teaching, but they did not know the ideology behind what they 
were teaching. According to her, this prevented teachers and students from 
getting into meaningful discussions as to why they are learning something. 
they can only discuss the answer to a problem, but not the reason why the 
problem was chosen. Is it possible that this is what the students resist? 

It seems to me, that possibly the students perceive that the ideological 
reasons the students learn what they learn are not for their benefit, but for 
the benefit of someone else. Recently I was invited to the office of minority 
health conference to talk about health and adult education. I have been 
thinking about this for a while. to me, schools are supposed to be teaching 
important things and health is one of the most important things there is, 
period. Why are schools not teaching health in a systematic way, for example. 
 To me, this is the most clear evidence that schools don't teach what is most 
important to the students.  

Andres

In a message dated 8/6/2002 8:53:04 AM Mountain Daylight Time, 
arthur at ellijay.com writes:

> Thank you Eileen,
> 
> I think you hit it directly on the head with your interpretation of my 
> post.
> 
> Whether we realize it or not, we emulate the education 'processes' we 
> received,
> and we attempt to utilize them on our students in like style, that's why I 
> see
> K12 as self-perpetuating.  But more than that, we in adult lit are at a 
> loss in
> terms of how do we deal with the potential student's philosophy that we, as 
> part
> of an 'educational' opportunity for them, will force 'values' that they 
> haven't
> 'chosen'.  Which leads us directly to the next question: Where is the 
> societal
> 'demand' that tells us that 'education' is important to survival in our 
> world?
> What happened to it?  I remember those days and it wasn't that long ago.
> 
> Debbie stated quite clearly her program's primary concern, that of the
> realization of human potential via understanding the language of the
> environment, it's ours also.  For some reason this issue wasn't addressed 
> or
> solved in k12 ?  OK, for a few it was and still is, but we appear to be 
> leaving
> more and more behind.
> 
> I respect Quigley, Ziegahn, and others who have approached this issue, but 
> their
> work was over ten years ago and this has gotten much worse over time.  Even
> though their assumptions appear on track, I wonder also where the data came
> from.  Was it from students who entered the various centers seeking 
> information,
> or was it from those who were recent dropouts and totally uninterested in
> education?  After time we tend to glaze over the real reasons we do 
> something,
> especially if possible answers to specific questions are made conveniently
> available, like a multiple-choice-answer based survey ??
> 
> 
> Art
> 
> 
> Art LaChance
> Gilmer Learning Center
> Ellijay, GA
> 
> 
> 
> Eileen Eckert wrote:
> 
> >This is in response to Art's comments from last week. Art LaChance asked 
> why
> >we insist on doing research on the 10% of adults who participate in 
> literacy
> >programs, while ignoring the 90% who don't. He said we need to look at the
> >reasons kids are dropping out of high school and how adult literacy
> >practices that mirror K-12 perpetuate the problem of low literacy. I'm
> >paraphrasing here, and if I've gotten it wrong, Art, let me know.
> >
> >First, I went back through my files and found research articles from the
> >early 90s that do deal with nonparticipants. Here are some references:
> >
> >Quigley, B.A. (1990) Hidden logic: Reproduction and resistance in adult
> >literacy and adult basic education. Adult Education Quarterly, 40(2),
> >103-115.
> >
> >Quigley, A. (1992) Looking back in anger: The influences of schooling on
> >illiterate adults. Journal of Education, 174(1), 104-121.
> >
> >Ziegahn, L. (1991) Beyond reciprocity: Exchange around literacy. Adult 
> Basic
> >Education, 1(2), 79-97.
> >
> >Ziegahn, L. (1992) Learning, literacy, and participation: Sorting out
> >priorities. Adult Education Quarterly, 43(1), 30-50.
> >
> >Looking back over the articles, I found that some nonparticipants view
> >learning, literacy, and schooling as distinct from each other. They are
> >learners, but they resist the imposition of values that they haven't 
> chosen
> >for themselves. Quigely (1992) asked adults why they did not participate 
> in
> >ABE or literacy programs, and he reported that, "Subjects were 
> experiencing
> >very real situational barriers, as mentioned, but the primary reasons 
> given
> >were based mainly on an unswerving belief that ABE or literacy would be no
> >different and no better than school" (p. 108). He also wrote, "It is
> >significant that these subjects did not see the terms 
> 'school,''education,'
> >and 'learning' as interchangeable, as is so often the case in the 
> literature
> >on adult literacy. Each term had a distinct meaning, with 'school' at the
> >negative end of the spectrum and 'education' at the positive end" (p.109).
> >
> >The research listed and quoted above can provide some insight to guide
> >conversations with the people who come to literacy programs, and with 
> those
> >we encounter who refuse to come.
> >
> >It seems to me that our accountability system maintains the power and
> >responsibility in the hands of programs and teachers (though it
> >simultaneously takes away much of their power, but this is already too 
> long
> >to get into that!). Learners are left only the choice of acquiescence or
> >resistance. However, Debbie Yoho wrote that her program's concern is
> >"nothing less than the realization of human potential, through the
> >incredible richness of the written word." This concern puts both tutor and
> >students in positions to learn together through reading and dialogue. How
> >different this is from the one-way relationships fostered by a traditional
> >teacher/school-as-transmitter-of-knowledge "mental model."
> >
> >To others on the list: What is the mental model you use in practice? What
> >seems to be the mental model(s) behind the "system"? How do these 
> interact,
> >and what is the impact on those who seek or resist participation? Can 
> policy
> >changes alone make a difference? If not, what else needs to happen?
> >
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andresmuro at aol.com

Please see Andres Muro's original paintings at: 
http://www.geocities.com/andresmuro/art.html
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