[NLA] Policy regarding the use of AELS

[Catherine B. King]

Hello Tom:

Though, as your note says, you clarified the definition of
<what you mean>   when you use the term "AELS," I'm sure
you are not trying to be territorial in your usage?  That is,
you don't own "AELS" or have a copyright for its usage?

Also, I see no "confusion" in other groups, like the NCSALL,
using the term to portray  <what they might mean>  by it.
Terms don't change, but meaning does.  That is, Tom is right
to ask for clarity of meaning when the term is used, but wrong
to demand that only one meaning be used by all--especially
since the fact is:

The reality of adult education and literacy,

<<<<MEANING: a living dynamic activity in our culture>>>>

...is, in fact, not a defined system with exact and exclusionary
definition, as Tom is talking about.  He has defined system well,
but, as in many human concerns, the actual thing is "loose."
It is, in fact, a living, dynamic human enterprise with many facets--
some well-defined, some not so well-defined.

Remember, we work with volunteers; and adult students are
notoriously unsystematic critters--it's sometimes like herding cats?
So the entirety of the REAL data tends to resist such systematic
and ultimately artificial definition.   Though in SOME discourse,
definition is necessary?

Thus, Tom says:  "Given all this, it is not clear to me why NCSALL
and CAALauthors/editors, all of whom were aware of the
earlier use of the  AELS terminology and acronym,  chose to
simply ignore the prior definition of the AELS and to each
define it differently."

Though Tom's call for clarity is totally appropriate, it is only so
because we need to clarify meaning    <in some special area
of discourse>    where clarity is called for--like when considering
funding channels.

But that doesn't mean NCSALL (or others) cannot use the term
to refer to some other aspect of the data and remain not more,
but less confusing--as long as they/we clarify what we mean by it.

We are not talking about a factory system here.  A change of
meaning of terms such as AELS in such a dynamic field as
this one is not to necessarily  "confuse" but rather to do what
Tom is also trying to do--that is, to:

. . . be able to define clearly and name an area <<you are talking
about>> which may be a more comprehensive view of the data
under review than what Tom means by it in his rightly limited
area of discourse.

The movement of meaning and its definition to fit what we are,
in fact, referring to is perfectly legitimate and professional.  It's
also creative, and pays attention to the data as it is, and not as
we might, in our totalitarian view, think it should be.  I didn't read
the reports Tom is talking about but he says:  ". . . and to each
define it differently."

That some other group defines and uses the term differently is
not the source of confusion.  The potential confusion lies in (1) not
clarifying what we mean and/or (2) readers and writers uncritically
assuming and importing a different meaning into something
someone else has already clarified.   But this kind of confusion
is normal fare in integrative fields such as education, and
government,  where part of what we do is "bridge" theory into
common and particular discourse and human living.   Here, the
field of "applications" rests on dynamic, not static (and easily
systematized) human consciousness.

And I would say, at the end of a year and the beginning of a new
one, that though teaching, and adult education, needs system, it
is ultimately based on the more dynamic, creative, and
unsystematic, field of love.

Happy New Year to all out there in cyberspace,

Catherine King





----- Original Message -----
From: Thomas Sticht <tsticht at znet.com>
To: <nla at lists.literacytent.org>
Sent: Friday, December 27, 2002 1:25 PM
Subject: [NLA] Policy regarding the use of AELS


> Deborah Yoho responded to my earlier message in which I suggested that
> when the name Adult Education and Literacy System and the acronym AELS are
> used that their use be restricted to how I originally defined the name and
> acronym to avoid confusion about what is being talked about. In her
> response Deborah made some remarks that I do not think are accurate.
>
> First,Deborah said that "I do not accept, Tom, that one person can name a
> national program. I understand you means ONLY those receiving WIA funds,
> and I have heard your arguments regarding this."
>
> My response: This is incorrect on two points. First, it is clearly the
> case that one person can name a national program or anything else if they
> want to. It is not unusual in research for investigators to come upon an
> event, object, phenomenon or other thing and to give it a name. In my
> case, while studying the major adult education and literacy development
> system in the United States I found that it did not have a name commonly
> used to refer to it. So I invented the name and acronym, Adult Education
> and Literacy System (AELS) of the United States. Since there was no other
> name in common use, I thought it was a useful thing to do because it makes
> it easier to mobilize people for and to advocate for a concrete thing like
> the AELS, considered as an educational system, rather than for something
> rather more abstract like "adult education and literacy." At least this is
> my opinion.
>
>
> Secondly, I did not use the name and acronym to refer to programs
> using"WIA funds", but rather to funds from Title 2 of the WIA, the title
> called the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act. The WIA has both Title
> 1 and Title 2 programs, and I only included the Title 2 programs.
> Specifically, I include as the Adult Education and Literacy System (AELS)
> only those 3500- 4000 or so programs funded wholly or in part by the WIA,
> Title 2 State Grants. But my decision to call these programs a "system"
> was not based solely on the funding source, but also on the fact that
> these programs operate as a set of components (programs) connected,
> organized, and systematized by the rules and regulations of the WIA, Title
> 2-Adult Education and Family Literacy Act. They operate on common
> eligibility, reporting, and accountability rules and regulations to
> achieve a commonly agreed to set of objectives and outcomes. The AELS is
> open to all adult education and literacy providers who are able to and
> agree to operate under these rules and regulations. This is the system of
> education that I named the Adult Education and Literacy System (AELS) of
> the United States.
>
> Deborah also stated: "I feel the system as described  in "Leading from the
> Middle", which includes actually six sectors within an  adult ed and
> literacy system, is far more inclusive and accurate."
>
> My response: I note once again that I and others have observed many times
> before that there are other sources of funds and other adult education and
> literacy programs besides those included in the AELS as I have defined it.
> But it is not more accurate to include the six sectors that the Leading
> From the Middle report includes as part of the AELS because they are not
> part of the AELS as that acronym has been defined earlier by me. From my
> point of view, they are also not a "system," which my Oxford American
> Dictionary defines as "A set of connected things or parts that form a
> whole or work together" and goes on to talk about a system as a set of
> rules or principles or practices forming a particular philosophy or form
> of government, etc.I don't view the array of six sectors discussed in the
> Leading From the Middle report as meeting the idea of a system as "a set
> of connected things" and they don't appear to me to work together by the
> same rules, regulations, etc.
>
> Deborah also said: "Howver, Tom has a point regarding confusion.  For my
> part, I shall use the terms  "AELS" adding the adjectives "WIA-funded"
> when speaking of only WIA programs, and just the vague term "system" when
> talking with colleagues  about lifelong learning programs when I mean all
> providers (direct and  in-direct), which is most of the time. When I read
> "AELS" in Tom's posts,  I'll assume he means WIA-funded, as he certainly
> has a right to define his own terms in his own offerings."
>
> My response: I do not use the AELS to mean "WIA-funded", instead that is
> how the NCSALL report on Five Years defined the AELS and that includes
> both WIA Title 1 and Title 2 programs. Note that the NCSALL use of the
> AELS is also different from how CAAL used the AELS to refer to six sectors
> of government programs that include some adult education and literacy
> provision.
>
> It was to prevent this sort of confusion that I requested that the name
> and acronym Adult Education and Literacy System (AELS) be restricted to
> the use that I originally created them for. If NCSALL, CAAL, Deborah or
> any one else wishes to refer to WIA-funded adult education and literacy
> programs or the six sectors of adult education or any other programs or
> entities as some sort of adult educational and literacy development
> system, then they should come up with different names and acronyms to
> avoid confusion with the AELS.
>
> The intellectual products consisting of the name and acronym  "Adult
> Education and Literacy System (AELS)" have an earlier creation, a
> provenance if you will, including a history, however brief. They have been
> carefully and unambiguously defined, a four hundred year historical survey
> of the rise of the AELS as earlier defined has been published in a
> professional book by Jossey-Bass, in 2002 adult education and literacy
> organizations in seven states celebrated 35 years of the existence of the
> AELS as I originally defined it, and there are several reports that
> discuss the AELS as I originally defined it available on the web and the
> ERIC system. Given all this, it is not clear to me why NCSALL and CAAL
> authors/editors, all of whom were aware of the earlier use of the AELS
> terminology and acronym,  chose to simply ignore the prior definition of
> the AELS and to each define it differently.
>
> Given the confusion introduced by these two organizations, I regret that
> Deborah seems intent upon adding to it  and  I reiterate my earlier
> suggestion that to avoid confusion, it seems to me that for policy and
> advocacy purposes the name and acronym Adult Education and Literacy System
> (AELS) should be used the way they were originally intended and have been
> used to refer to those programs systematized by and funded wholly or in
> part through the WIA Title 2 Adult Education and Family Literacy Act state
> grants program.
>
> I also reiterate my earlier statement that the WIA Title 2 Adult Education
> and Family Literacy Act should be pulled out of the WIA and that a
> separate act called the Adult Education and Literacy System (AELS) Act of
> 2003 should be passed. This would encourage the perspective of the AELS as
> a unique, national educational system comprised of a joint local, state
> and federal partnership with objectives inclusive of but broader than
> simply workforce preparation.
>
>
> Tom Sticht
>
>
>
>
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