Pure citizenship education--thanks for bringing this up.

Andrea


On Jul 18, 2008, at 12:19 PM, Ellison, Art wrote:


> Both Jackie and Marty have made some interesting comments around  

> student involvement, critical thinking and professional development.

>

>

>

> Throughout my 38 years as an adult educator the clear focus for  

> student involvement has been on the choice that students make to  

> become involved in their community. While that may entail student  

> leadership within the classroom or the program, the leadership role  

> that most students choose is outside the classroom, in the larger  

> community.  The adult education classroom is the place for students  

> to gain the skills to engage with the institutions with which they  

> have to interact.  One of those is the adult education program in  

> which they are enrolled but for most, the institutions are the  

> State TANF office, the local housing authority, the city council,  

> the neighborhood community council, the local school board, the  

> state legislature and the US Congress.

>

>

>

> Students have been the leaders in hundreds of campaigns to gain  

> additional resources for their adult education programs on the  

> local, state and federal levels. As active participants and leaders  

> in these campaigns they have contacted policy makers by letter,  

> telephone and in person. They have testified before legislative  

> bodies, met with legislative staff and lead the effort to include  

> other students in this work. A review of successful advocacy  

> campaigns on the state and federal levels indicates that 80% of the  

> contacts come from adult education students. A recent advocacy  

> campaign for additional funding for adult education in New  

> Hampshire included 4,000 contacts from students with the Governor  

> and members of the state legislature.

>

>

>

> Involvement with this work can be part of a comprehensive strategy  

> that includes political literacy within the mission of the adult  

> education program, along with health literacy, economic literacy,  

> math literacy, English literacy, etc. The tactics, strategies and  

> skills developed by students to become successful in advocating for  

> their adult education programs are the same that students will use  

> to get a stop sign on the corner, an increase in the local school  

> budget, a state law prohibiting predatory lending practices on the  

> part of financial institutions and to influence the next state plan  

> for adult education.

>

>

>

> Professional development for adult educators can be built around  

> this concept of student advocacy. That includes a commitment at the  

> state or local level to helping teachers to find or develop the  

> materials that are needed in this area and to insure that all staff  

> hired by local programs understand and agree to the concept of  

> student advocacy. In New Hampshire we have a long term commitment  

> to working with the Right Question Project, Cambridge, Ma which  

> trains adult education staff in using the questioning process for  

> students to gain the skills that they need to influence their world.

>

>

>

> Art Ellison, Policy Committee Chair, National Council of State  

> Directors of Adult Education

>

>

>

>

>

>

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