[NLA] "breaking news"

[Eileen Eckert]

In response to Andrea: It is because practitioners have day-to-day 
experience to guide them that I believe they should be doing--and 
disseminating the results of--research. The answer you get depends in large 
part on the question you ask, and practitioners ask some extremely important 
and practical questions. As you said, Andrea, it's not a matter of 
either/or.

As for your statement that no one in their right mind would ignore the 
opinions and observations of practitioners, isn't being ignored in policy 
decisions exactly what many on the list are complaining of? So 
legislators/policymakers aren't in their right minds...big surprise. Sounds 
like you're saying practitioners' observations/opinions alone SHOULD be 
enough to convince anyone in their right mind that all practitioners' 
observations/opinions are well-reasoned, valid, and "true" without our 
having to offer any evidence to support them. How do you make a judgment 
about what position to take when several practitioners disagree and they all 
offer observations (but nothing else) to support their opinions?



>From: AWilder106 at aol.com
>Reply-To: nla at lists.literacytent.org
>To: nla at lists.literacytent.org
>Subject: Re: [NLA] "breaking news"
>Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2002 22:19:07 EDT
>
>Eileen,
>
>What Tom has developed through experience and research of many sorts is an
>extremely large (to my observation) data base, a trained mind, and devotion
>to a goal--he likes to solve puzzles and he really wants everyone to be
>literate.  He will also dig in his heels until he comes up with an answer
>that seems reasonable.
>
>What he doesn't have (recently) is fine grained, classroom observation and
>experience. (Maybe he is also teaching and not letting us know....) People 
>in
>the field have first hand experience, those who work everyday with adult
>learners.  It isn't either/or, it's lots. Policy needs many voices, but 
>those
>voices have to be identified as to where they come from (local, state,
>national; public, private) and what their experience is, and what in their
>experience may account for their different views.  No one in their right 
>mind
>would ignore the opinions and observations of those who work with adult
>learners every day.
>
>It seems to me that workers in the field require access to larger data 
>bases
>though, themselves; they can hook up with others and make their opinions 
>and
>different experiences known.  They can refine their observations and test 
>out
>different variables; we all benefit. The nla list helps with the 
>connections.
>
>Andrea
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