[NLA] Cutting Edge Research

Wed Nov 13 14:13:15 EST 2002

Hi folks,

So much has been said that clearly explains why and how gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgender issues effect our adult literacy classrooms and
programs. In addition, other colleagues have  articulated the role of
cutting edge inquiry that asks questions that may or may not automatically
be transparent or utilitarian, but that ultimately functions to lead us to
places that we may not be able to get any other way-- in part, by asking
teachers, students and folks who aren't used to articulating their
knowledge, for a whole myriad of reasons to reflect and share about  what
they think. Those bases have been covered.

But Tom, you also asked about the policy implications implicit in addressing
Dr. Greenberg's questions of identity and self-naming. You wrote, "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." And I wanted to address that question too.

The language of this administration, especially the far-right constituencies
of this present administration has seeped in to policy in many discreet and
not so discreet ways. For instance, the TANF reauthorization includes
language that not only exacts time limits and working conditions for
eligible clients, but that also articulates who is worthy of collecting such
benefits. Here's the language:
" The purposes of the TANF program: States decide the services or benefits
that are to be provided using their Federal and State funds. A State must
use all of its Federal TANF and State MOE funds to meet one of the four
purposes articulated in the Federal TANF statute or, in the case of the
Federal TANF funds, to continue providing services and benefits that it was
authorized to provide under its former title IV-A or IV-F State plans (which
covered Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), Emergency Assistance
(EA), Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS), and Supportive
Services). In brief, the four purposes are to:

Provide assistance to needy families;
End the dependence of needy parents by promoting job preparation, work and
marriage;
Prevent and reduce out-of-wedlock pregnancies; and
Encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families. " from:
http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/ofa/funds2.htm#programpurpose

In this case, the new administration cemented a new level of exclusion and
power by defining the perimeters of normal and worthy and in doing so it
incorporated new levels of blaming poor women for their poverty (misogyny)
and telling these families how they should be families (misogyny and
homophobia).  Another reason to connect gay,lesbian issues with public
policy.

Part of my role in this field has been to learn with students and colleagues
how to discern between which policies we can navigate and which ones are so
detrimental to students and to the society at large, that they are perhaps
unnavigable and that just plain outright need changing.

With sincerity,
Deborah Schwartz

----- Original Message ---
From: "Andres Muro" <AndresM at epcc.edu>
To: <nla at lists.literacytent.org>; <tsticht at znet.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 12, 2002 5:39 PM
Subject: Re: [NLA] Cutting Edge Research

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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LiteracyTent: web hosting, news, community and goodies for literacy
http://literacytent.org