Return-Path: <nifl-fobasics@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.9.3/8.9.0.Beta5/980425bjb) with SMTP id TAA28270; Fri, 18 Feb 2000 19:55:12 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 19:55:12 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <20000218.194922.9150.0.GDEMETRION@juno.com> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-fobasics@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-fobasics@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-fobasics@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "GEORGE E. DEMETRION" <gdemetrion@juno.com> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-fobasics@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-FOBASICS:220] Literacy for Life X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: Juno 1.49 Status: O Content-Length: 8668 Lines: 165 Greetings: On the NLA listserv and in other places, I have been disseminating the following brief article that I will also place in a local newspaper. I draw on the Literacy for Life thesis from Fingeret and Drennon's 1997 text, "Literacy for Life: Adult Learners: New Practices." Perhaps the article raises issues for folks that merit comment here. Then again, perhaps not. If so, I'm willing to listen and engage in discussion with others. George Demetrion LVA-Connecticut River East GDemetrion@juno.com I appended the following note to the article on the NLA post: "The following is an article I will be soon placing in a local newspaper. As the Literacy Summit is soon upon us, I would like to include it here "for the record" as Summitteers begin their work. This article represents part of a broader effort on my part to encourage a vision that embraces the concept of Literacy for Life-- or "continuous learning" as Linda Hoover puts it, that includes, but extends beyond the social roles into the realm of personal identity-- an important aspect of any coherent broader cultural identity within the U.S. Without the self engaged there can be no meaningful literacy. Self-enhancement, I argue, is a viable outcome in itself and merits as much validity as other more "public" outcomes. As a cultural product, the "self" is as much a public as a "merely" private manifestation of identity My thanks to Tom Sticht for sharing his latest research which has helped me to formulate this article." Literacy for Life George Demetrion Executive Director Literacy Volunteers of America-Connecticut River East "You are going to teach; but as you teach, you are going to learn much more than you can possibly teach, and in the end, you will feel as grateful to your students as those students feel to you for the dignity that you created together." Jonathan Kozol Illiterate America According to national literacy researcher Thomas Sticht, over 4.2 million adults nationwide participated in adult basic education programs in 1998. In that same year, Sticht goes on to state, "the K-12 system served some 46.8 million enrollees while the post-secondary, higher education system enrolled about 14.6 million." Sticht's point is that as indicated by the number of enrollees, adult basic education is far from a marginal aspect of this nation's total education system. In drawing our attention to these numbers, Sticht's intent is to move adult basic education from the margins to the mainstream in the public's eye. As a veteran adult literacy educator, I heartily embrace Sticht's vision. Individuals participate in adult literacy programs for many important reasons. Most desire general language (reading, writing, speaking, listening, critical thinking) development. In an increasingly print-based society that depends on effective communication, this is clearly a valuable goal in itself. Closely related in importance among students is the sense of confidence and personal dignity, self-esteem, and enhanced competency adults experience as they expand their language communication skills. Although hard to measure, this somewhat intangible impact cannot be overestimated. As one study puts it: "Students do not necessarily have a concrete goal in mind, an instrumental view of literacy tied to some specific task or aspiration. More than anything, they want to feel that there are possibilities for the future, that there are choices and potential for change." Current research on literacy states that language development is most fully acquired when it is learned through living contexts that people identify as important. This becomes more the case after students have participated for some time, and obtain a better sense of what they might learn and the length of time required. Thus, instead of learning to read and write or speak and understand English first, say through workbook exercises, one develops such skills through direct application in real-life situations and interests. This may be through interesting stories in the newspaper, a church bulletin, correspondence from a child's school, work related instructions, the TV Guide, stories from other adult literacy learners, as well as short fiction and other culturally-derived material. In programs like Literacy Volunteers of America-Connecticut River East (LVA-CRE) students and tutors work on long range planning and goal setting to help connect specific learning with broader life projects. Our student-centered approach not only makes learning fun and interesting for the student and the tutor, but makes it relevant to the lives of adult students that fuels the motivation to stay engaged in learning for the year or more that it often takes to make significant progress. Let's look at one student, we'll call Ed, who entered a literacy program with very limited reading skills. Ed was motivated by practical concerns. As he put it, "what I need now is filling out applications, stuff like that." With help from his tutor he learned to fill out money orders and how to pay his rent and insurance. He drove, but couldn't read signs, so he limited his driving only to known areas. So-called friends that he depended upon to write money orders kept the money for themselves. What troubled Ed most about not being able to read was feeling trapped in situations over which he had no control. As he put it: "I thought about it, but you're not comfortable with it. You know you have limitations to what you can do. So, I'm stuck. It's not like I can go out there and get a job doing something else because I don't have the ability for it. So you have to settle for what you can get, most of the time." Things were not easy for Ed. He felt shame in asking his girlfriend for help. Certain coworkers referred to Ed as mentally retarded because he could not read. Ed's need to bolster a precarious self-esteem was perhaps nowhere more poignantly stated than in the following sentence: "I live by myself, so I have to be motivated because I don't have anybody to do anything for me." As Ed participated in the program he was able to master some of these areas through the caring support of his sensitive tutor, Jane, one of the unsung heroines of our field. He also learned to read by studying stories of other students in the program and became inspired. As he said it: "It motivates you, you know? It makes you want to keep going to learn something for yourself. Sometimes you don't think you can learn until you see other people do it. So that motivates you a little bit. Well, a lot, I might say, a lot." Ed's progress has been slow. He has made good progress, but still needs a lot of help with his reading and may never gain total fluency. Still, he is learning and applying what he has learned in his personal life, at work, and particularly in the adult literacy community where he is still active. His confidence has improved a great deal which gives him courage to face new challenges. Sondra Stein of the National Institute for Literacy points out the importance of "literacy for life" rather than for any single purpose. She says "while the specific tasks, roles and responsibilities vary from context to context adults seek to develop literacy in order to change what they can do, how they are perceived and how they perceive themselves in specific social and cultural contexts." For Ed, the change has been slow rather than dramatic, but profound on the cumulative impact of his life. Ed's story is paralleled by another student, Pat, who grew up in the Canadian backwoods. Pat, who never learned to read either in his native French or English, started to learn to read for the first time in his 40s. The following describes in a more compelling way than anything I ever could the impact of literacy on Pat's life: "Now if I go into a restaurant, I don't have to pretend I'm reading the menu; I really read it. My wife used to read it to me. I hated when people were with us or around us because they know that I can't read and may think that I am a dummy. But now I can order my food myself." As stated by Hanna Fingeret at the conclusion of her massive study of students at Literacy Volunteers of America-New York City, "The impact [of literacy] is profound, touching every aspect of their lives." In short, literacy is for life. It opens doors in many different ways for individuals in family, community, and workplace settings and has an incalculable impact on self-esteem. It is for this reason that we at LVA-CRE embrace Tom Sticht's vision of moving adult literacy from the margins to the mainstream.
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