[NLA] participation and resistance

[Eileen Eckert]

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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