NLA Discussion: Old discussion on Adult Literacy Programs

[Literacy Volunteers of Wayne County, Inc.]

Sorry to weigh in so late, but there are some things worth mentioning here
-

1)  The distinction between "volunteer" and "professional" is a false one. 
I have worked for BOCES, SUNYs, and LVA, and find that volunteer is a pay
scale, and professionalism is not something you can pay for.  To
"professionalize" the field would not help as long as professional
credentials continue to be process-based rather than competency-based.  I
have no certification, but have out-taught many certified ESL teachers. 
The field needs greater competency, resulting in more effective instruction
which benefits those in need.  While there are teaching practice segments
in use today, they are a small portion of the credentialing process, and
they are often very lightly weighted in relation to classroom work.  It
might be interesting to see how people react to comments about professional
versus volunteer if the distinction were based on competency.  LVA and LLA
would probably fare pretty well if the distinction were not pay and
certification, but performance and student outcomes.

2)  While the drawbacks of government assignment of volunteers to address a
social ill and the woes of underfunding are both very real to me, the fact
remains that other countries with far less resources and relatively
undeveloped formal educational systems have had great success in adult
literacy campaigns, while the USA continues to enroll less than 2% of those
in need in adult literacy programs, and less than 10% of those in need in
adult basic education programs, nationwide.  Cuba and Brazil are two
notable examples where practically unfunded, volunteer-based programs
enrolled high percentages of illiterate adults with a majority of
participants acheiving literacy.  Perhaps we need to look outside our
borders (and outside those models most of us are comfortable with) in order
to find some effective approaches to adult literacy.

3)  To say that the issue is volunteer versus paid is a little simplistic. 
In fact, hospitals use volunteers for many, many things, and have for
centuries in this country - not for surgery, but for things volunteers can
be trained to accomplish competently.  Yes, the motivation for this is that
it makes the volunteers "feel good" - which is also a motivation for being
in adult education at all, since very few are getting rich in this line. 
LVA and LLA do not use volunteers for extremely technical matters, such as
designing programs and trainings, or case management.  They do include
volunteer input, which may be one factor behind their success - and other
"professional" organizations would do well to follow suit.  

Perhaps we can agree that a mixture of volunteers and paid staff are needed
for all educational programs - it is rapidly becoming the vogue in public
schools, even for assistance in instruction, to use trained volunteers. 
For different organizations, there may be different mixes of volunteers. 
Perhaps we can also agree to respect each organization's use (or lack
thereof) of volunteers.  I suspect it will take a variety of approaches,
stemming from a variety of philosophies, to effectively serve the
pre-literate and functionally illiterate adults in this country.  With a
little maturity and open-mindedness, we can, as one respondent noted, agree
that every literacy provider is underfunded, and work towards the goal of
full funding.

Kirk:)

Kirk Baker
Executive Director
Literacy Volunteers of Wayne County, Inc.
Lyons, NY 14489
(315) 946-5333
lvwayne at redsuspenders.com