To Kim Bosworth/Natasha Worthington

 

My name is Marty Finsterbusch. I would like to share with you some secrets
to successful student involvement that include critical thinking skills,
organizing skills and diversity training. 

To start, think about a project. For projects to succeed, they must have
these parts: there must be a need/want for the project and the group or
person sponsoring the project must get some kind of return. Your project
will not succeed or last long without these elements. For example, students
have identified childcare as a need for them to participate in a literacy
program; therefore, childcare is the need. The literacy council will benefit
by providing child care in that more people can participate in adult
literacy classes because they know that their children will be cared for
during their class; therefore, the program also benefits. It really does not
matter what the project is, as long as it meets the needs of the two groups.

The critical thinking is not taught while doing the project, it is in the
pre-planning. What does the group want to accomplish? Who do you need to
talk to, to make this project work? How long will this project take? Who
would be responsible for each part of the project? This is a good
opportunity to teach time lines, program structure, assigning of various
tasks and goal setting. It doesn't really matter what the various reading
levels are, most of this can be done through group discussion and visual
aids. 

I would like to give an example of a project, but remember it can be any
issue: healthcare literacy, day care issues, community violence, or lack of
books in the programs or in the schools. 

Both the students and the practitioners of a literacy program have agreed
that a newsletter is needed. After your preplanning and discussion sessions,
you have identified the various tasks to be completed. If the students are
the reporters and the topics of the newsletter are picked during your
planning session, the students will learn about your program, the program
will learn about the students, and writing skills can be improved; we all
know the positive benefits to students when they see their writing in print.
Editing, layout, proofreading, computer skills are all tools used to make
the newsletter a success. What about printing? Is the letter going to be
printed in house? Now the students have the opportunity to learn about
printing and what is involved in putting together a newsletter. The adult
learners have learned critical thinking skills, organizing skills and have
the opportunity to interact with other people they may have never interacted
with before; hence, diversity issues are being addressed. All of these
skills are transferable skills to be taken into the workforce and all other
areas of the adult learners' life. The program gets a newsletter, PR, and it
frees up the literacy council staff from having to do the entire newsletter.

I would like to hear from others who have done projects that have made a
difference to the students and what difference have these projects made to
your program.

 

 

Marty

 

Marty Finsterbusch

Executive Director

VALUE, Inc.

 

www.valueusa.org

strengthening adult literacy efforts in the USA

through learner involvement and leadership

-----Original Message-----
From: professionaldevelopment-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:professionaldevelopment-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Taylor,
Jackie
Sent: Monday, July 07, 2008 10:11 AM
To: The Adult Literacy Professional Development Discussion List
Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 2180] What do we mean by
studentinvolvement and critical thinking?

 

Hello All,

I'd like to welcome Cynthia Peters, Editor of The Change Agent, and Marty
Finsterbusch, Executive Director of Voice of Adult Learners United to
Educate (VALUE) to the list. Thank you for helping us to explore issues,
strategies, and resources on Student Involvement and Critical Thinking in
Adult Literacy.

 

I see that we already have some questions from subscribers. That's great! I
hope to see more coming. In the meantime, I also have a couple of questions
as we get started. 

 

Both student involvement and critical thinking in adult literacy can mean
many things to many people. What do we mean when we say we're teaching
critical thinking? How do you teach critical thinking? 

 

What is student involvement? Where does critical thinking come in?

 

Thanks, Jackie

 

Jackie Taylor, Adult Literacy Professional Development List Moderator,
jataylor at utk.edu 

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