Return-Path: <nifl-4eff@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id hBNFNJm04147; Tue, 23 Dec 2003 10:23:20 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2003 10:23:20 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <000b01c3c965$b79549c0$130101c8@workstation1> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-4eff@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-4eff@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-4eff@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "George Demetrion" <george.demetrion@lvgh.org> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-4eff@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-4EFF:2632] Can EFF be squared with moderately conservative principles X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1158 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; Status: O Content-Length: 4589 Lines: 100 The short answer is, I think so, and that is also the case with moderately progressive principles. That is, EFF is squared most firmly with core American values that individuals crossing a broad stream of political opinion who are open to each other and willing to talk; are capable of coming to terms with what is best in another's position, and able and willing to take an exploratory,approach to learning, in which one's heart-felt viewpoints becomes at least modulated by other considerations. Clearly, EFF emerged in the quest to find some coherent middle ground amidst the politics and pedagogy of adult literacy education, a field, that as Juliet Merrifield has described it, has been marked by intensive contested ground. Not that EFF has succeeded in what it has sought to achieve, though it's goal, particularly in the mid 90s, had been to establish a broad based consensus to establish a coherent politics of literacy that could move the field, as Tom Sticht has put it, "from the margins to the mainstream." No doubt, in its early days, EFF was grounded in a moderately progressive politics of literacy reflective of the neo-liberalism of the Clinton administration. That, it should be noted was an effort to ground New Democrat political culture with a market economy that has accepted the basic presupposition of globalization. Now, the government has shifted to a neo-conservative political culture that has moderate as well as more radical manifestations and spokespersons. Obviously, I seek to work with that more moderate strain as reflected in the scholarship of Michael Novak and others. Making room for such fluidity between a moderate liberalism and a moderate conservativism allows for at least two things, (a) the possibility of continuity in the development of projects and initiatives across divergent administrations, (b), the prospect of taking what is best within particular political persuasions; those with which one agrees with and those which one does not. Sustainable progress, I would argue, requires such effort. What are some of the core neo-conservative beliefs as they might apply to EFF? 1. Self-efficacy 2. The dignity of the individual 3. Hard work 4. Family values 5. Localism 6. Volunteerism 7. Patriotism and civic responsibility 8. The market economy Obviously, liberals believe in these things, also, while placing more emphasis on the role of the government in the improvement of the domestic lives of its citizens. Even still, streamlining government was a passion of the Clinton administration, and in practice when in power, conservatives acknowledge the importance of the federal government as stated. The issue is matters of degree rather than either/or polarizations and the quality of our collective civic life depends our public capacity to make such distinctions. What then of EFF? The Four Purposes: 1. Access 2. Voice 3. Independent Action 4. Bridge to the future Read, the American Dream Then the Three Role Models, the Broad Areas of Responsibility and Key Activities. All these are designed to better equip individuals to carry out key social roles with which conservatives and liberals agree and to stimulate an ethos of inclusiveness--inclusiveness into what, once again, the American Dream. Then when one looks at the 16 Content Standards organized under the four key categories: 1. Communication Skills 2. Decision- Making Skills 3. Interpersonal Skills 4. Lifelong Learning Skills Once again, look at those 8 conservative values, also held by liberals. The Content Standards are designed for nothing other than to better enable individuals to achieve those objectives, with the result being, not only improved lives at the individual level, but an enhanced public ethos squared with the core values of a democratic market economy. Issues remain, to be sure, particularly the definition of literacy on whether it is synonymous with reading or lifelong learning through the appropriation of print media. Either way, reading becomes a vehicle for learning, however one may view the manner in which the interaction is worked out. So in this holiday season, I ask folks wherever they may stand to look at EFF in a comprehensive way, and as a signpost itself for the type of literate society and culture that we could become as the American people, so that we could continue to build cumulatively on the hard work of a decade regardless of the shifting climate. Is EFF patriotic, whether viewed from conservative or liberal perspectives? I believe that to be the case. George Demetrion
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