[NLA] A basic right, a public value. a true investment

[George E. Demetrion]

Colleagues:

There has been much fruitful discussion on the value of adult literacy
over these airwaves.  As part of this continuing dialogue I would like to
offer some representatives comments from students and tutors in our
program,  These are Basic Literacy students most of whom would fall into
the NALS I level and possibly some in NALS 2. (Tom and others, I'm well
aware of the disputes).

The tutors are both volunteers and paid tutors who live in the community
where the program is situated.  For the comments I draw both from a
family resource  in the north of Hartford (BL students) and a residency
for seniors (ESOL students).

The comments that follow are not based on a scientific sample and I do
not claim that they are representative in any formal scientific sense. 
They do not cover the universe of our student population.  One might say
in an informal sense, that the comments are typical.  They span the
normal range of our program.  

While they provide a glimpse into our program, clearly additional
information to more fully bring out the significance of such learning. 
Various ethnographic studies on adult literacy have done that.  In
effect, they utilize site-based information to provide authenticity to
"evidence-based" qualitative studies. (I place "evidence-based" in quotes
not because I view empirical evidence as unimportant, but because of my
concern that the way the term is used by the Bush led USDOE is invariably
tinged with particular ideological overtones that attempts to mask the
particularity of its value system in the guise of scientific
"objectivity" and "neutrality."  Obviously, I view such claims with more
than a little skepticism).

In any event, it is not that "rigorous" "evidence-based" studies cannot
be developed from a range of methodologies (qualitative and
quantitative).  The issue of what counts has less to do with methodology
than that of values. Thus, one could build from the following student and
tutor statements a solid research project to better illuminate the impact
of adult literacy and show that it has significance in the lives of
individuals and within the context of families and local community
settings.  And, in a more diffusive way, on the larger civic culture. 
The critical issue is not that there is not impact, but of it's value and
who (what) is determining such values.

Let me stop here lest my text take over the narratives below.

GeorgeDemetrion
Manager, Community-Based Programming
Literacy Volunteers of Greater Hartford
______________________________________________________________

(Some notes in preparing a power point presentation)

Literacy is using printed and written information to function in society,
to achieve one goals, and to develop one knowledge and potential. 
National Adult Literacy Survey 1993.

The mission of Literacy Volunteers of Greater Hartford is to create
opportunities for Hartford area adults to learn to read, write, and speak
English; to gain new ways to represent themselves and to expand their
contributions to their families and communities. 

I want to comprehend and read better.  And I'm hungry for knowledge. 
I'll be more independent.  I won't have to  depend on anybody.  I want to
share my knowledge with a younger generation.

 I thought all I wanted was reading and writing.  I wanted more than
that. A lot of doors opened.  When you keep feeding the brain with new
ideas, knowledge about reading and writing, and other learning skills,
other doors open.  Whatever a student has hidden, learning can bring it
out.  Learning sets new adventures for me, new ideas, new challenges

Read, write and speak English

 It's necessary to study English when we go to the restaurant.

 It's important to study the meaning of words.

It's  important when we are looking for a street.

I need English to share with other persons.

When I read a story it makes me meditate, think about what's going on in
life.

When the time comes I will get my G.E.D.  I have more challenges to go in
life.  I am going to make it.  You got to have a well made up mind.

This year I learned to put words together better and break words down.  I
can read the newspaper and street signs.  I can write a letter.  This
will help me do things for myself.
 I would like to continue going to school.  I would like to be a nurse.

I like coming to Literacy Volunteers because, after two years, I see
progress and I feel good about that.  I hope to continue coming and to
make some progress.
To represent one self

I need to learn English to talk to the doctor without an interpreter.

Education is important because a man or a woman who doesn't have reading
skills is dependent. When you rely on someone to read your mail, you are
not completely independent.  Education is important because, without it,
you can't fill out a job application.

Coming to school makes me strong.  I can do more for myself.  I can write
my letters and feel good about it.  Writing letters and sharing them with
friends makes me think about how strong I am.  Coming to school opens
doors for me
.
I want to study English so other people don't discriminate against me.

 When I returned to school I was very old.  I came back because I would
like to do for myself.  I want to learn much more so I will be able to
explain more.

We learn to read and write and will know more about the world.  We want
to know more about where we live.  We want to express ourselves fully. 
Sometimes we stay behind because we're shy.  If we learn more we will
have more confidence.

 To expand contributions to family & community

The Clark program is very important to me.  It helped me when I first
came here.  I could not read and write.  Now I can help myself.  I am
able to help my daughter with her homework.
 
I  like to do a lot of things with my grand kids. Every time I do stuff,
they're right there learning it.  Then my granddaughter ask me a
question, like what is it. She's like, grandma, what is this word?  I'm
like   cat.   She  like, how can I spell that?  C-a-t., cat.  Then she'll
write it five times and I'll have to spell it  That's how I get taught
the learning, then I'll spell it myself.  And I help her out more than
me.  Most everything I'm doing, she catch on with me.  We at about the
same level.

I am coming to class with Literacy Volunteers because I want to learn to
read and write better so I can read to my grandchildren.  I want to learn
to read and write so I can learn to read my mail.  This is a very good
program.

My daughter was getting older and coming to me with different questions
and she didn't know how to read and she needed my advising.  Some things
I couldn't help her with. That was the first time I realized I had a
reading problem.  Before it really didn'tt matter.
 
I read things the kids bring home from school.  Martha helped me read
them.  She taught me to write notes to the kids.  I had to write notes to
my family.  I used to bring my kids books, like Mother Goose.  She used
to help me read some stories, and when I go home I go over them with my
kids.

My daughter asked me to read this book to her.  I couldn't read to her. 
I  didn't  know how to tell her that I couldn't read.  Now I read a
little better and I can read to the baby and my sons.  Now I read my own
letters and I can write my address on my envelopes.  Before I couldn't do
that.

I want to read and write more.  I love to read and write because I want
to share letters with my family who lives in Jamaica. I want to share
with them my experience in America

It's s important to be involved in your community.  If we adults are more
involved in our community, we could make it better.  A lot of us have
good ideas, but we just  don't  know how to get it out.  If we knew how
to do that, we wouldn't have so many kids getting into crime and drugs.

"From [my daughter] going to school from September from now, every day
she bring homework and the homework done and go back to school.  I help
her with the homework.  Before, when she was in kindergarten and then she
go to Grade One, I used to have problems.  That's why I came here.   I
used to call my church sister.  I'd spell the word and she would tell me
what answer.  I said, no. I need to be more private with certain things. 
 And now it's better.  Her homework is taken care of and she goes to
school every day.  She have an excellent red medal thing from shook--
Best Attendance for the Year  medal. So from when she start school, she
didn't stop..  She has to go to school because I believe people have to
go to school.

 Tutor Reflections

A student used to always bring me her daughter  report card or progress
in how she was doing before going to a teachers meeting.  Today she had a
parent-teacher conference.  I asked how was it.  She said her report card
was good. She had read it herself.  So when she can do that, she's going
to be more likely to pick up something else and read it.  That's a
wonderful thing. 

The group is they has such a feeling of community with each other that
when one sees another succeeding, they also think, I can do it, too. I
mean, they share in each other's accomplishments. And that gives them a
boost.

Right now we are working on Freedom to Me.  That's a book of 25 short
stories in it from some adults that have taken literacy in Canada. 
Basically, they're telling their little story on what freedom means to
them.  Basically, they don't feel free till they know how to read and
write.  Basically, that's what their topic is about.  But each one worded
it a little different, form their own perspective.  You know, the
students can relate to it because, right now, they don't feel like
they're free if they don't understand what they're doing.
 
The ... Family Resource Center gives them the opportunity to have the
class here, which they love.  But it also gives them the opportunity to
know other resources in the community.  It's there for them and the staff
here let them know if there's things going on that they need to know or
if they'd like to get involved in. It's different things that opens the
doors for them to get them involved.

 I think the main thing here is everybody gets to know each other as
friends and get support from coming here, not just in the literacy world,
in their whole lives.  Many of the people who come here have a lot of
problems we can help them with.  The other thing is they help each other
very much and give great support to each other.


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