[NLA] Volunteers and credentials (longish)

Fri Jul 5 18:01:09 EDT 2002

Andres:  

I think you've hit on a point worth exploring.  The Massachusetts ABE
license is a general license, designed to be an indicator of having acquired
a foundation of knowledge and skills.  Employers, who choose to use the
license as part of their hiring criteria, will be hiring individuals who
have demonstrated a foundation of ABE knowledge and skills.  It will still
be up to employers to make sure that teachers have the requisite depth of
skills and knowledge for the positions they are hiring (e.g., math, ESOL,
workplace education).  Wouldn't it be nice if the latter was done by
committee as you suggest?  It will be interesting to see whether employers
in our state who use the license as a foundation for their hiring criteria
(corrections and school district based programs require a teaching license
and the ABE license is one option) take the time to make sure that their
teachers have the knowledge and skills the position requires.  If not, and
if the funding is available, will employers make the necessary training
and/or mentoring available to develop those skills?  

Perhaps this is an element missing in K-12 (viewing a license as only having
acquired a foundation of knowledge).  Perhaps this is why K-12, at least in
our state, is working to provide mentoring for novice teachers and free
content institutes (the latter is also available to ABE teachers).

What I hear underlying your final sentences is that ABE teachers know best
how to train their own.  We also heard that from Mass. practitioners and we
worked very closely with them and our professional development organizations
(SABES, MATSOL, YALD)* to develop the license.  In fact, this message was so
strong, with the help of SABES, MATSOL, and YALD, we also had 16 45-hour ABE
courses developed by recognized local ABE experts (who better to develop
courses on how to train ABE teachers?).  These courses were developed for
use by our professional development organizations and to help higher
education get a jump start on developing teacher preparation programs for
our state.  These courses cover ABE subject matter, integrate theory and
practice, incorporate the ABE curriculum frameworks, the use of technology,
and information on learning disabilities.  Teachers who have taken these
courses have appreciated their breadth and depth.  

A license, in any field, only means that a person has demonstrated a certain
level of knowledge, skill, and ability--it doesn't mean that they know it
all.  And, as with any field, one's knowledge and skills need to be
continually updated as new information and research becomes available and as
new skills and knowledge needs to be added to the foundation.

Mary Jayne Fay
Mass. ABE Licensure Coordinator

*System for Adult Basic Education Support (funded by MDOE), Massachusetts
Teachers of Speakers of Other Languages, Young Adults with Learning
Disabilities

-----Original Message-----
From: AndresMuro at aol.com [mailto:AndresMuro at aol.com]
Sent: Friday, July 05, 2002 10:43 AM
To: nla at lists.literacytent.org
Subject: Re: [NLA] Volunteers and credentials

Carey:

the list makes sense to me. however, for future purposes, turning such a
list into an official certification is scary. Especially, since, as I argued
before, institutionalized entitlements do not guarantee knowledge. How then
can a field procure experts w/o relying on entitlements. I think that the
private sector has the answer to this question. Potential teachers can be
interviewed  by peers with knowledge for a position. this is how we do it in
our program. We have expectation of knowledge, experience and potential that
candidates should have. We interview them and if we feel that they are
qualified, we hire them. In general, we do not hire teachers with
certifications from texas. Many think that they know everything and they do
not want to change. We do hire a lot of teacher education students, and
college students in other fields. They are willing to learn and supplement
their formal training with what we teach them. When they graduate, they
become much better teachers. We also hire college students that after
working in our program they choose to become educators themselves. 

Andres 

In a message dated 7/5/2002 8:22:07 AM Mountain Daylight Time,
Carey_Reid at jsi.com writes: 

The framers of the Massachusetts ABE teacher's license, which included a
great deal of field input,  struggled with many of the issues that have
come up in this discussion thread.  Here are a few of the requirements
that were put in place to assure, hopefully, that real, ABE-relevant
knowledge and skills were being acquired by license seekers. This is a
voluntary license, and one general license without specializations.

* knowledge of math through college algebra
* knowledge of second language acquisition 
* knowledege of learning disabilities
* knowledge of adult learning theory and adult development theory
* understanding of connections between ind. learner needs, curriculum,
and teaching activities
* ability to apply knowledge/theory to practice
* ability to teach in a variety of ways
* direct observation of teaching in the classroom by an ABE-experienced
observer

Source regulations, including subject matter and professional
standards, and other relevant documents can be viewed on MassDOE's
website at http://www.doe.mass.edu/Educators/abe.html

Carey Reid
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
Think before you print:  Do I NEED to print this out?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
SABES Central Resource Center
World Education, Inc.
44 Farnsworth Street
Boston, MA  02215
617-482-9485
617-482-0617 (FAX)

>>>AndresMuro at aol.com 7/4/02 7:32:50 AM >>>
Just for the record, I don't have a single official entitlement that 
credentials me to administer or teach at an adult education program or
the 
K-12 system. I have this joke that I came up with a few years ago. It
is 
based on Ivan Illich. Ivan Illich is a philosopher who argued that
schools  
didn't give you knowledge. Instead they gave you entitlements in the
form of 
credentials to show that you possess a certain kind of knowledge.
however,  
the relationship between knowledge and the credential was non existent.

Knowledge is simply the indoctrination into a series of socialization's
that 
you go through. . If you are willing to get indoctrinated you will be
given, 
through a credential, the entitlement to claim that you know. Illich
wrote a 
book called Deschooling Society. 

Now, back to the joke. I founded the Ivan Illich Academy for 
Deinstitutionalized Self-Entitlements. through this academy, I gave
myself an 
AS Ph.D. SA stands for self-appointed, but I do not have to disclose
that. In 
my academy any person can give himself or herself an entitlement of
their 
choice w/o joining an institution (there is a small fee, of course ;-)
.

A few years back my wife designed a diploma for my SA Ph.D. She
invented a 
university and signed the diploma with Che Guevara, Sub Comandante
Marcos and 
George Bush. I though that it was so funny that I hanged the diploma in
my 
office. The amazing thing is that a lot of people see it and compliment
me on 
my Ph.D. I explain to them that it is a joke and they laugh. However, I

realized that a lot of people that come to my office and see my SA Ph.D
may 
think that I am a doctor.

So, how about this for a credentialing system. Send me a Penny and you
have 
entitled yourself to receive any SA degree from the Ivan Illich
academy. We 
have financial aid. If you  entitle yourself  to Financial Aid, simply
don't 
send the Penny.

Andres  

In a message dated 7/4/2002 4:43:33 AM Mountain Daylight Time, 
eileeneckert at hotmail.com writes: 
>On credentialing: College faculty are not credentialed as such
(though some 
>are hired with credentials from the discipline--e.g., for faculty of
social 
>
>work, an LCSW is required), and they enjoy the identity of being a
"field". 
>
>What is the relationship between credentialing and
professionalization or 
>legitimacy as a field? Is there a clear relationship? And is it
persuasive 
>enough to give up local, program-level control and flexibility in
staffing?
>
>

andresmuro at aol.com 
Visit my art webpage at:
http://www.geocities.com/andresmuro/artwork.html
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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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