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 j3IKXlG16339; Mon, 18 Apr 2005 16:33:47 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 16:33:47 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <1113856369.4264197193fdd@mail.msln.net> 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: Bonnie Fortini <bfortini@mmhs.u102.k12.me.us> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-4eff@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-4EFF:2987] Re: Conflicting paradigms and confusing terms: exciting discussion X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Status: O Content-Length: 4224 Lines: 66 I would like to jump in again to add a small voice from the hinterlands in light of the discussion so far. Having been involved with adult education in the state of Maine since 1989, I have had the opportunity to be involved with the development of EFF in a number of ways. This discussion has included several points which I feel are misunderstandings, and I hope the following will help to shed some furthe light on the issues. In no particular order, the feeling that EFF requires a lot of its teachers. Donna, Andy, Amy, Meta, and others have certainly put it a lot better than I might, but in my experience, while it may take a while and some effort to become familiar with using EFF tools, EFF gives its teachers far more than it asks of them. It provides structure and standards within which teachers can become (or stay) creative, flexible, empowered/empowering, and excited about the work they do. The fact that you can substitute the words student, administrator, policy maker, researcher, legislator, and so on, into that statement is one way of saying that EFF is all about being an effective adult regarless of what you do. Two anecdotes may illustrate this view. The first was something that happened at a meeting of adult ed practitioners (ABE teachers) in Maine when we were at the stage (prior to the development of EFF's Framework) of trying to get our heads around standards and the four purposes. We were asked to respond to the four purposes in the context of our state's own Quality Indicators document and the "student expectations" section we were attempting to develop. It occurred to a couple of us sitting at the table that the purposes applied to us as teachers, to administrators, to our programs as entities, and even to the folks in Congress who were holding the purse strings. In fact, we thought that was the point of the purposes, that they were applicable to all. At the time, though, things were still being looked at compartmentally, a wise and appropriate approach for research if it is to be manageable. But for some of the EFF researchers in the room it became a bit of a turning point to hear that student expectations should meld with program expectations and services, at least in the way it was expressed by the practitioners. The second anecdote is that shortly after that meeting, my own program (I was codirecting at the time) was scheduled for a peer review from our state DoE. We were asked to have a number of policies, documents, etc. available, and we decided to use the Role Maps and 4 Purposes as a structure to build our review process around. We presented ways in which our program's "Voice" was heard, how we incorporated avenues to "bridge to the future" in terms of PD, funding, etc. From the Role Maps we described how we "do the work" of an adult education program. Or "promote the growth and development of our 'family' members" in terms of students and staff being our family. We also included information on how we as a program did and intended to "take action to strengthen our communities." That we now have 16 standards around which we can build goal plans to reach our vision is very exciting. It takes effort and practice to do work this way, but the very inexcapable fact that as an administrator I am using the same tools as the teachers and students has only strengthened our program, even when we have few resources and big obstacles to overcome. In previous postings and individual messages I have encouraged those new to EFF to look for themselves in the tools and to look for EFF in how they live their lives. EFF may not be receiving the same type of funding or focus at the federal level, but the fact that it was developed from the grass roots up, in an inclusionary, iterative manner, and is understood to be always a work in progress gives it populist power. It's not something preconceived or new-fangled. It is, not only what it is, but what each of us makes of it. And the fact that it has all our voices, providing access to the kind of information that supports constructive action today and in the future, in a way makes it something we can each "recognize" rather than "learn." Bonnie Fortini Machias, Maine
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