[NLA] Cutting Edge Research

[Andres Muro]

Tom:

regarding your question about the issue of gayness, it is very serious in the educational system. I don't know how to approach any administration about this, however, I am not puzzled as to how it affects literacy people at all levels. 

I am not sure what you are puzzled about, but if you are puzzled about how the gay issue affects the literacy world, I respond below. 

Being straight is a privilege that a lot of us take for granted. It means that we can hold hands, or that a teacher can say "my wife, my kids and I went to the movies last week". A student can say "my (opposite sex) partner and I are getting married". A student can write about this, do a composition or written assignment using himself/herself as a reference and disclose relationships, matter of factly, w/o realizing the privilege that he/she has. 

For gay people, administrator, students, teachers, etc, talking about their personal life is not allowed. While there is no policy against this, there is unwritten rule that you do not disclose your gayness for fear of reappraisal, ie: getting fired, getting hurt, being isolated, being harassed, etc. Therefore, it is discrimination that goes on in our classes (and our world) daily. This discrimination may not be overt. However, it exists in the sense that I may be able to freely tell my students, that last week, my wife and I saw a good movie and that her son and his wife accompanied us. While I can freely make such a statement, or give my wife a hug or a kiss in my office, a lot of people do not have this privilege and, hence, they are being discriminated against.

In terms of literacy education, the question has to do with the ability to create spaces where "non-traditional" relationships could be normalize. For example, a literacy textbooks may have pictures of a straight couple holding hands and an article about a straight couple engaging in some kind of an activity. This is "normal". On the other hand, we are not likely to encounter a picture of a gay couple holding hands or an article about gay people doing something, since this would be considered "abnormal".

To me, exploring ways to make our society just to all, is part of literacy work.  At the same time, exploring issues that relate to gayness and openness allows the exploration of other issues of justice and discrimination. I realize that these issues are difficult to explore and address. I don't know  if it is even possible to explore these issues openly or with the current administration. However, they are of central importance to literacy work.

Andres

  

>>> tsticht at znet.com 11/11/02 11:44AM >>>
Recently Dr. M. C. Smith mentioned some people whom he thinks is doing
"cutting edge" research. One of these was Dr.Daphne Greenberg, a recent
recipient of one of the five NIFL/NICHD/USED grants to study adult
reading. On the Women and Literacy (Womenlit) discussion list sponsored by
the National Institute for Literacy I recently came across a couple of the
"cutting edge" questions that Dr. Greenberg is struggling with. I left the
list after reading the questions and a couple of responses to the
questions posted by others, one of which reported the definite "fact" that
10 percent of the population of adults is gay,  puzzled as to what
particular issues in adult literacy education these questions were aimed
to resolve. I also wondered how this work might be used to approach the
Bush administration and new Republican-lead Congress to advocate for the
field of adult literacy education. I wonder if others have any insights as
to how this might be done.
Tom Sticht

On  the Womenlit list Dr. Greenberg said:

Quote:"As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, from time to time I will
pose questions that I am struggling with while I am doing my research.
Here are two questions:

1. Do you prefer the term learner or student? Do you prefer the term
teacher or instructor? If you have a preference, why? I am
struggling with the words that we use, but I don't know enough to
know why I am struggling. What do we imply when we use the word
learner vs. student? What do we imply when we use the word teacher
vs. instructor? Are there other terms that are even better?

2. I would like to make sure that the reading materials that we
offer to our learners/students are as diverse as possible. How do I
ensure this? For example, if I want to include books with characters
who have diverse orientations-what proportion of the books should
this be? Also, does anyone know of appropriate books that cover LGBT
[lesbian, gay,bisexual,transgendered] issues/characters that are written
between the 2nd and 7th grade reading levels (Mev, I know that you have
supplied lists, but are any of the books that you have mentioned written
below the 7th grade reading level)?

Any thoughts ideas about any of the above?
Daphne" End Quote.


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