[NLA] Policy regarding the use of AELS

[Nancy Hansen]

Tom and other interested NLA subscribers:

--- Thomas Sticht <tsticht at znet.com> wrote:
> "Nancy Hansen recently recalled the earlier messages
> on this list that were aimed at finding a name for 
> the field. That was in 2000 and resulted from
> a post I made noticing that the field did not have a
> name that was commonly used. David Rosen, our >
moderator, ran a survey to find names for the field >
but there was never any final agreement on a name for
> the field.">>

Tom, I don't know what your "case" is with who in the
world came up with the name here, but it feels as
though it's an issue because of the recognition of it
all.  

David Rosen in the past couple days did respond to
this thread and encouraged us to agree to disagree. 
Even though there was never "final agreement on a name
for the field", I felt as though others gave input
into the final choices -- one of which being AELS --
not just any one person. Here I thought back in 2000
the issue of what are we going to call ourselves was a
dead issue.  Who would have known that two (nearly
three) years later it would become another
controversy?

Tom continued:
> "Nancy is correct in understanding that if her
> program does not receive funding from and does not 
> operate by the rules and regulations of the WIA
> Title 2 Adult Education and Family Literacy Act
> state grants program then it is not a member of the 
> AELS as I have defined the AELS. However, if I 
> understand her program correctly, it is an affiliate
> of the ProLiteracy America system and as such the 
> advocacy efforts that ProLiteracy America carries
out > are activities her program can participate in
along 
> with the 1500 or so other ProLiteracy America 
> affiliates." >>

Yes.  Tom did understand my program correctly and that
this Literacy Council is a <proud> affiliate of the
Proliteracy America organization.  That was why I
signed my post the way I did.  Thank you. I am <glad>
that you "gave me that much".  1500 organizations
isn't anything to scoff at, I'd say.  But the
hard-cold reality <is>, Tom, that those of us who are
on the outside of the AELS often feel as though our
programs don't matter much, even though our programs
participate actively in another national literacy
organization called ProLiteracy America.

Tom went on and wrote:
> "To say that one’s program is not a member of the
> AELS is not to say that the program is not a valued 
> member of the adult literacy education FIELD.  Being
> a member of the adult literacy education FIELD is 
> different than being a member of either ProLiteracy 
> America or the AELS. There are numerous adult 
> educators and literacy professionals who are not 
> members of either the AELS or ProLiteracy 
> America...>>" 

Tom's message went far beyond the above point, but
what he is saying here is what I want folks to get: We
<all> want to be of value in The Field.  It is wrong
to be exclusionary by speaking in acronyms to
decision-makers without clearly identifying the
acronym with either definitive and appropriate
adjectives or explaining in more detail the title to
tell who the people under the "acronym umbrella"
really are.  



Tom is absolutely right in saying that there are many
valued members of the FIELD.  But my question IS:  Why
must <we> outside that group within the field *feel*
as though we take a backseat of importance to those
who are funded by one federal fund?  I don't think
that's right.



I suspect those 'outside the AELS loop', so to speak,
are just as dedicated, just as passionate about their
jobs, just as heavily involved in advocacy, just as
serious about providing adult learners their
hoped-for/expected outcomes as all the others in<side>
the AELS acronym.  


The difference may be that we all march to a different
<drummer>, but we still are members of the FIELD which
is providing the service to adult learners ... To men
and women who come in crisis to gain higher level
literacy skills than when <they> marched in **our**
doors.  (I just described myself and my program, Tom.)


I was very happy to read the following paragraph:
> ... to be a part of the ProLiteracy America
> advocacy agenda is to also be part of the AELS (as I
> have defined it)advocacy agenda. As the AELS rises, 
> so does ProLiteracy America (and many other 
> organizations that work in the field of adult 
> education and literacy development). Each is the sea
> in which the other floats. >>

The fact of the matter is, and what I predict will
occur sometime in the future, there will be a few
<more> people "sit up and take notice" when the voices
of the ProLiteracy America organization begin to be
heard.  The currently outspoken people who talk about
educational practices being utilized by various
practioners across the nation are primarily speaking
from the adult education side of the issue, <I>
believe.  Little concern seems to exist for the
learner with literacy needs and goals whose skills are
not determined accurately by timed testing tools.  


Allow me a small prediction: A great many more
<literacy> practitioners/providers will join in
advocating for change once they feel they are truly
being respected and allowed to speak their piece
without criticizm.  There are lurkers reading this
right now who won't post their feelings.  They've told
me they won't.  They very likely have more power and
administer larger programs than I'd ever <hope> to
have in my very small end-of-the-world, yet they will
not share their feelings.  They just bite their
proverbial tongue.  I'd love to hear what they have to
say.



I liked very much the way Tom concluded the above
paragraph.  He's absolutely correct in saying "Each is
the sea in which the other floats."  We are all in a
swirling school of silvery fish, different colors of
the rainbow and shapes and capabilities, floating in a
green-blue sea.  We all live in the same big watery
space.


All that I am asking is - offer those of us outside
the AELS equal opportunities to provide equal
programming for equally funded entities, for equally
deserving adult learners as those with<in> the AELS
acronym.  And, while you're at it? Tell others who
have their tightly clenched fist on the purse-strings
that we exist in this worldly sea.



Nancy Hansen
Sioux Falls Area Literacy Council
Sioux Falls, SD
sfallsliteracy at yahoo.com

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