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Steve--<div><br></div><div>People on these lists generally take the position that not to teach important texts is ideological--the idea that the uses of literacy are self-evident.</div><div><br></div><div>I think that whatever is taught is ideological, the content is there., embedded. Evening teaching phonics is ideological. �I think the best tack is to examine the ideology ask critical literacy questions, and go ahead from there. �</div><div><br></div><div>Andrea:)</div><div><br></div><div><br><div><div>On Jul 19, 2008, at 8:38 PM, Steve Kaufmann wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr">Andrea,<br><br>I think it is an excellent idea to teach math or language using practical examples from life or content that is meaningful to the learner. However, I believe it is important to guard against directing the learner in any ideological direction. I feel it is condescending. By all means help the learner acquire necessary language and math tools as efficiently as possible. The goal should be the acquisition of the tools, and the if possible, the enjoyment of them. <br> <br>Steve<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Jul 18, 2008 at 6:35 PM, Andrea Wilder <<a href="mailto:andreawilder@comcast.net">andreawilder@comcast.net</a>> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"> <div style=""> Hi Steve,<div><br></div><div>I thought some more about your question. �</div><div><br></div><div>An excellent lesson demonstrating some of what has been talked about recently, here, would be one where a mortgage is the centerpiece for critical literacy.�</div> <div><div></div><div class="Wj3C7c"><div><br></div><div>Andrea:)</div><div><br><div><div>On Jul 18, 2008, at 2:18 PM, Steve Kaufmann wrote:</div><br><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr">Since you are interested in having your basic assumptions challenged, let me state my reaction to what I am reading here.My involvement in public education is that of a former pupil, and parent and grandparent of children who have attended or do attend public school. <br> <br>I find it quite unacceptable that teachers of math or English feel they have the right to mobilize learners to lobby politicians. In my experience with Adult ESL, for example, and this was borne out by the recent study I saw from the Center for Applied Linguistics, instructional hours have less impact on immigrant language improvement than what these immigrants do outside of the classroom. Instructional hours are a small part of the solution. <br> <br>That is also true with literacy learning where only a small percentage of people struggling with low literacy actually attend instructional classes. So if the goal is to have an impact in these areas, you should be looking at what to do beyond more funding for your own sector. Educators are in an obvious conflict of interest in "mobilizing" their students to lobby for more funding for their own jobs.<br> <br>I also feel that converting maths or language teaching into social activism courses is a distortion of premise under which tax-payer funding is allocated to teaching those subjects.<br><br>I have challenged some of the assumptions here, but would be very interested to see my assumptions challenged.<br> <br>Steve<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Jul 18, 2008 at 9:19 AM, Ellison, Art <<a href="mailto:AEllison@ed.state.nh.us" target="_blank">AEllison@ed.state.nh.us</a>> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"> <div link="blue" vlink="purple" lang="EN-US"> <div><br><br><div><font face="Arial" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">�</span></font><br></div><p><font face="Arial" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br></span></font></p><p><font face="Arial" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br></span></font></p><div><font face="Arial" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">�</span></font><br></div><p><font face="Arial" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">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.� </span></font></p> <div><font face="Arial" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">�</span></font><br></div><p><font face="Arial" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Art Ellison, Policy Committee Chair, National Council of State Directors of Adult Education </span></font></p><p><font face="Arial" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">�</span></font><font face="Arial" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> It sets math problems in the context of current issues around race, gender and class."<br> <br> </span></font><font face="Arial" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Adult Education for Social Justice: News, Issues and Ideas is a biannual publication that "helps teachers incorporate social justice content into their curriculum".<br> </span></font></p><div><font face="Arial" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">�</span></font><br></div> </div> <br> <hr color="#d2d3d2" noshade=""> The contents of this message are confidential. Any unauthorized disclosure, reproduction, use or dissemination (either whole or in part) is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, please notify the sender immediately and delete the message and any attachments from your system. <br> <br></div> <br>----------------------------------------------------<br> National Institute for Literacy<br> Adult Literacy Professional Development mailing list<br> <a href="mailto:professionaldevelopment@nifl.gov" target="_blank">professionaldevelopment@nifl.gov</a><br> <br> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to <a href="http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/professionaldevelopment" target="_blank">http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/professionaldevelopment</a><br> <br> Professional Development section of the Adult Literacy Education Wiki<br> <a href="http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Adult_Literacy_Professional_Development" target="_blank">http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Adult_Literacy_Professional_Development</a><br> </blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"> <br>-- <br>Steve Kaufmann<br><a href="http://www.lingq.com" target="_blank">www.lingq.com</a><br>1-604-922-8514 </div><div style="margin: 0px;">----------------------------------------------------</div> <div style="margin: 0px;">National Institute for Literacy</div><div style="margin: 0px;">Adult Literacy Professional Development mailing list</div><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="mailto:professionaldevelopment@nifl.gov" target="_blank">professionaldevelopment@nifl.gov</a></div> <div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px;">To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to <a href="http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/professionaldevelopment" target="_blank">http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/professionaldevelopment</a></div> <div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px;">Professional Development section of the Adult Literacy Education Wiki<span>�</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Adult_Literacy_Professional_Development" target="_blank">http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Adult_Literacy_Professional_Development</a></div> </blockquote></div><br></div></div></div></div><br>----------------------------------------------------<br> National Institute for Literacy<br> Adult Literacy Professional Development mailing list<br> <a href="mailto:professionaldevelopment@nifl.gov">professionaldevelopment@nifl.gov</a><br> <br> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to <a href="http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/professionaldevelopment" target="_blank">http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/professionaldevelopment</a><br> <br> Professional Development section of the Adult Literacy Education Wiki<br> <a href="http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Adult_Literacy_Professional_Development" target="_blank">http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Adult_Literacy_Professional_Development</a><br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"> <br>-- <br>Steve Kaufmann<br><a href="http://www.lingq.com">www.lingq.com</a><br>1-604-922-8514 </div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">----------------------------------------------------</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">National Institute for Literacy</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Adult Literacy Professional Development mailing list</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><a href="mailto:professionaldevelopment@nifl.gov">professionaldevelopment@nifl.gov</a></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to <a href="http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/professionaldevelopment">http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/professionaldevelopment</a></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Professional Development section of the Adult Literacy Education Wiki<span class="Apple-converted-space">�</span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><a href="http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Adult_Literacy_Professional_Development">http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Adult_Literacy_Professional_Development</a></div> </blockquote></div><br></div></body></html>