Steve--

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.

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.

Andrea:)


On Jul 19, 2008, at 8:38 PM, Steve Kaufmann wrote:


> Andrea,

>

> 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.

>

> Steve

>

> On Fri, Jul 18, 2008 at 6:35 PM, Andrea Wilder  

> <andreawilder at comcast.net> wrote:

> Hi Steve,

>

> I thought some more about your question.

>

> 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.

>

> Andrea:)

>

> On Jul 18, 2008, at 2:18 PM, Steve Kaufmann wrote:

>

>> 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.

>>

>> 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.

>>

>> 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.

>>

>> 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.

>>

>> I have challenged some of the assumptions here, but would be very  

>> interested to see my assumptions challenged.

>>

>> Steve

>>

>> On Fri, Jul 18, 2008 at 9:19 AM, Ellison, Art  

>> <AEllison at ed.state.nh.us> wrote:

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>> 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

>>

>>   It sets math problems in the context of current issues around  

>> race, gender and class."

>>

>> Adult Education for Social Justice: News, Issues and Ideas is a  

>> biannual publication that "helps teachers incorporate social  

>> justice content into their curriculum".

>>

>>

>>

>> 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  

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>>

>>

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>>

>>

>>

>> -- 

>> Steve Kaufmann

>> www.lingq.com

>> 1-604-922-8514

>> ----------------------------------------------------

>> National Institute for Literacy

>> Adult Literacy Professional Development mailing list

>> professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov

>>

>> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to  

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>> http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/ 

>> Adult_Literacy_Professional_Development

>

>

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> Adult Literacy Professional Development mailing list

> professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov

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> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to  

> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/professionaldevelopment

>

> Professional Development section of the Adult Literacy Education Wiki

> http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/ 

> Adult_Literacy_Professional_Development

>

>

>

> -- 

> Steve Kaufmann

> www.lingq.com

> 1-604-922-8514

> ----------------------------------------------------

> National Institute for Literacy

> Adult Literacy Professional Development mailing list

> professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov

>

> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to  

> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/professionaldevelopment

>

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> http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/ 

> Adult_Literacy_Professional_Development


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