[NIFL-4EFF:2832] From John Commings Re: The New Division of Labor

From: MWPotts2001@aol.com
Date: Thu Sep 09 2004 - 13:11:57 EDT


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Subject: [NIFL-4EFF:2832] From John Commings Re: The New Division of Labor
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Colleagues,



As you are reading and considering this message, remember the EFF Standard: 
Use Communications and Information Technology and the Teaching/Learning Cycle.

MP

Date: Wed, 08 Sep 2004 11:18:22 -0400
From: John Comings <comingjo@gse.harvard.edu>
Subject: Re: [AAACE-NLA] The New Division of Labor
To: National Literacy Advocacy List sponsored by AAACE
    <aaace-nla@lists.literacytent.org>
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I'm reading “The New Division of Labor: How Computers are Creating the Next 
Job Market” by Frank Levy (MIT) and Richard Murnane (NCSALL/Harvard GSE). 
This book is a must read (and luckily it is easy to read and short) for 
anyone who has to make a case for investment in ABE/ESOL/GED programs.  You 
can view, or read a transcript of, a Leher NewsHour interview with Levy and 
Murnane at:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/economy/july-dec04/jobs_8-16.html

The book supports the idea that we should be helping our students prepare 
to be successful in postsecondary education and training and that we should 
be focused on a broader set of skills (such as those outlined in EFF) that 
include oral communication and problem solving.

The book also made me think that for some of our students, we need 
alternative ways to help them be more successful in the labor market. 
Workplace education focused on an industry rather than a job might be one 
approach that could work. That is, we would help our students acquire the 
skills and knowledge they need to progress up a career ladder in a 
particular industry (healthcare for example).  But, some of our students 
are probably stuck in jobs that pay little because anyone can do them. We 
probably need to teach these students the value of organized labor, or 
maybe we can help them start a small business that competes with their 
employer.

John Comings
National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy
Harvard Graduate School of Education
7 Appian Way
Cambridge MA 02138
(617) 496-0516
john_comings@harvard.edu
http://ncsall.gse.harvard.edu



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