Kinerney, Donna wrote:


> Which of these roles (leader,

> advocate, program designer, coordinator, and visionary) do you find the

> easiest?  Why?  What's the most challenging for you?  Why is that?



For me, both the advocate and visionary roles are perhaps the easiest:

Advocate- since I work very closely with our clients and with other 
adult learners in a relatively small community, I am in an optimal 
position to assess and present the various challenges and requirements 
of these groups.

Visionary- Again, working in a small community makes this one of the 
most fascinating roles; it's an opportunity to research solutions from 
other communities and disciplines, and to implement these for the first 
time. This opportunity to bring innovation to a relatively new (for this 
region) field is partly what drew me to adult education in the first place.

...And the most challenging:

Leader and coordinator- navigating political differences, inter-agency 
rivalries, and personal dynamics is still very new to me, especially 
when designing a program from scratch. My previous job experience helps 
a bit here, though (see below).

In the way of introduction:

I studied French language and literature as an undergraduate and worked 
as a laborer in various industries before being hired as an information 
technology director of a nonprofit agency. Eventually I became 
interested in the potential of technology to improve the state of adult 
language education in my native Harrisonburg/Rockingham County VA area, 
so I resigned to complete my BA in adult ESL. I was fortunate to locate 
a full-time adult ESL job within two years of graduation, and am 
currently considering an MA program in instructional technology.



-- 
Erich W. Lantz

ESL Specialist
Virginia Council of Churches Refugee Resettlement Program
(540) 433-7942
lantz at vacouncilofchurches.org