[NLA] Change of Name?

Tue Jul 16 15:01:04 EDT 2002

I think that the problem is beyond the orientation, but has to do with capacity, knowledge and ideology. I argued before that chidren and adult literacies are interconnected issues and that relate. My example that the education of the parent is directly proportional to that of the child is an easy example. They don't only relate at the pedagogical level, but also at the cultural, social and psychological levels. True early childhood education people know the relationship between the two areas and the importance of both. 

Unfortunately, a lot of people that work in early childhood and k-12 are completely unprepared in their fields and hence in any issue that relates to literacy in general. A lot of people that have worked in headstart programs for years don't know anything about education, period. They are administrators. I know a lot of people that have Ed.Ds from fancy universities and all they can do is incesantly refer to Alma Flor Ada without any context for such reference. It's as if all they did for 6 to 8 years was study Alma Flor Ada. Is she really popular in graduate programs nowadays? 

I see the problem as one of ignorance about education in general. Not relating children's education to adult education is not understanding the social, psychological and cultural forces that shape the work that needs to be done in these areas. 

There are people that push the back to basics idea. These are not education experts. They are people repeating political rhetoric. So are the ones that argue that no child will be left behind w/o recognizing the needs of the poor. 

What we have, is not a problem of orientation towards early childhood vs adult education, but a problem of knowledge and ideology. We need to question the knowledge, background and expertise of the board members. How many have done extensive work in education in multicultural social settings? How many have knowledge of the sociocultural, psychological, political and economic forces that shape learning of adults and children? How many understand, Dewey, Freire, Vigostky, Ada, Montessori, etc?

If someone told me that people like Carol Chomsky, Delgado Gaytan, Trueba, Ogbu, Ada, Cummins, etc had been nominated to the board, I would be rejoicing. However, I don't know anything about the participants. Who are they? What are their credentials in education in general? any references? 

Andres       

In a message dated Tue, 16 Jul 2002 8:47:57 AM Eastern Standard Time, "Gullion, Christy" <Christy.Gullion at ed.gov> writes:

>Daphne-
>
>The Institute was established by Congress through the National Literacy Act
>of 1991.  Only Congress has the authority to change the name of the
>Institute.    
>
>Christy Gullion
>Associate Director for Federal Policy
>National Institute for Literacy
>1775 I Street, NW, Suite 730
>Washington, DC  20006-2417
>ph. (202) 233-2033 
>fax (202) 233-2050
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Daphne Greenberg [mailto:alcdgg at langate.gsu.edu]
>Sent: Monday, July 15, 2002 9:06 PM
>To: nla at lists.literacytent.org
>Subject: [NLA] Change of Name?
>
>
>I know that there are individuals who are waiting to be confirmed as new
>NIFL Board members. However, until that happens, is there a current active
>NIFL Board? If yes, would it be possible, assuming that others would agree
>with this, for the current Board to consider changing the name from National
>Institute of Literacy to National Institute of Adult Literacy? What is
>involved in changing the name? Is it even possible? If it is possible, I
>think that it would be a good idea-perhaps it would help keep the adult
>focus in NIFL.
>Daphne Greenberg
>Center for the Study of Adult Literacy
>Georgia State University
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-- 
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