Return-Path: <nifl-aalpd@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id j8THh2G27952; Thu, 29 Sep 2005 13:43:02 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 13:43:02 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <433BC4BE020000A00000069F@smtp.us.future-gate.com smtp.de.future-gate.com> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-aalpd@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-aalpd@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-aalpd@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Katrina Hinson" <khinson@future-gate.com> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-aalpd@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-AALPD:2282] Re: (still) reading the world? X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII X-Mailer: Novell GroupWise Internet Agent 7.0 Status: O Content-Length: 9067 Lines: 118 Most of the time, I leave it to my students to raise senstive issues in my class simply because I do try to use care and concern so as not to offend. Experience has taught me that students are far more willing to discuss senstive issues when those issues are raised by their peers. I'm always surprised when my students raise certain issues - shock isn't the right word - albeit that happens sometimes too. I've had some of my students discuss everything from homosexuality to the war in Iraq- issues from abortion to gun control - to rising gas prices and the local mayoral elections. I asked this question yesterday in a journal: "Everyone is prisoner to his own experiences. No one can eliminate prejudices - just recognize them" (Edward R Murrow) Do you think most journalists have prejudices. Do you think they recognize them. Do you think this profession gives them a special obligation to examine themselves honestly? I think those questions apply to teachers as well. We impact our students thoughts and opinions far more than we realize sometimes. I think it's very important for us to use caution when expressing ourselves and leading discussions on sensitive issues - for many reasons. We don't want to overly influence a decision a student might make and we don't want to create tensions in the classroom. We don't want students to make wrong assumptions simply because we have opinions on senstive issues that might be different their own. We don't want students feeling unwelcome in the classroom. With my own students- there have been times when I was asked a question that I simply didn't answer. I would try to give my reasons for the not responding. Usually, my students respect that decision. Likewise they don't always have to respond to issues that they are truly uncomfortable discussing. It also depends on the students. Some students are more willing to have discussions and participate in them - they're not afraid to share their input or express their personal beliefs, opinions or thoughts and they are willing to take what ever criticism, commentary, and response they get in return. I have learned that students understand that teachers are human too - we do have opinions but those opinions don't mean that we expect students to have the same ones as ourselves. I've tried to teach my students that our life experiences impact the opinions we have and that those opinions may change over time. That helps to promote good discussions and a sense of freedom in the classroom. I do think however that teachers need to be "taught" how to lead discussions on senstive issues, that perhaps their is a right and wrong way to do so. I think it goes back to understanding/assessing your students' abilities from the beginning and giviing them the tools that they will need to properly participate in a class discussion. It can't be a free for all. I think our opinions and beliefs on issues affect everything we do - from the classroom to the PD arena. A teacher's or facilitator's view point on education is going to directly impact how he/she delivers imformation and to what end that information is given. Information is going to be "biased" towards what ever viewpoint a facilitator or instructor may have regarding topics. I think that will happen even if we all were to try really hard NOT to let those biases show. Regards Katrina Hinson >>> jataylor@utk.edu >>> Hello Eileen, Katrina, All, Eileen, we are certainly not limited to discussing PD via the technical nuts and bolts of teaching and professional development. Something has always stuck with me that Cassie Drennon, one of our former guest participants, once wrote on this list: "That's the great thing about lenses -- each let's me see something that another obscures." The lenses you mention are chances to do just that. Thanks, Katrina, for sharing your experiences with these issues. Have others been addressing these issues in the classroom or with other adult education colleagues? If so, please tell us about it. I'm curious now, and it leads me to more questions for the group: What happens when sensitive issues are raised (who raises them, teacher or student) -- and what are your general (re)actions? Further, as teachers or PD facilitators, do we put our own positions out there in the classroom or PD environment -- and if so, when?? Although there is discussion of New Orleans, race, and class on other lists as David mentioned, we've not discussed it here. I see no reason why we could not address our own professional development work through these lenses in the AALPD forum. We are all impacted in some way by what happened, and what continues to happen in the lives of adult learners and in the classroom. For those who would like to view current discussions of same/similar topics, here are the various archives for easy reference: http://www.nifl.gov/nifl-povracelit/2005/ http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/nifl-health/health_literacy.html http://lists.literacytent.org/pipermail/aaace-nla/2005/date.html Thanks for raising the issues, Jackie Taylor, NIFL-AALPD List Moderator, jataylor@utk.edu +++++++++++++ >===== Original Message From nifl-aalpd@nifl.gov ===== >I haven't seen discussion on the lists re: these topics but I can tell you that as an instructor, I've talked about all of the issues below. My class and I discussed the events in New Orleans not long after it happened - everything from weather patterns, hurricane history to politics. We've discussed issues like whether or not the President could/should have acted sooner - that led to a discussion of state law vs federal law, a discussion on the US Constitution vs a State's Constitution - we talked about what it "state of emergency" meant. I live in North Carolina and we were hit by Ophelia not long after Katrina hit New Orleans...we compared and contrasted the response of our Governor with that of Louisiana. We continue to talk about the events as time goes by - considering the area of the state I live in, we've even discussed whether or not the people here see/saw it as racailly motivated in any way. The irony is, the majority think that whole train of thought is flawed. ! > We've even discussed the 4,500 lb Crocodile that was killed last Friday in New Orleans. > >As for the violence related to urban areas - again that's a real issue for the community I serve. This is not a metropolitan area- it's a rural area with a total population in the whole county of not quite 60K - and yet there is a curfew in place in an attempt to curb violence. There was a young woman that killed herself by hanging herself in a closet this past week all because she felt she had no where to turn for help. As a class, we discuss issues like this as time allows us during our week. We talk about what motivates or drives people to do the things they do and how communities can work to change problem areas. We talk about what it means to become involved in the community, in the schools as parents and simply as citizens. I have alot of young men and the statistics are alarming. I don't want to open the paper and read about one dying or going to jail but happens far more than I like. > >Being an instructor is by no means instruction only on the "standards". Students that enter our programs need life and social skills as well as academic. They need to understand the world around them and learn how to postively affect change in that world. As instructors we can be bridges to understanding for them. We can offer them a "safe" environment in which to learn to express their ideas and share their opinions. I use every opportunity I can to teach my students more than the academics - everything that I can - from parenting to employability to future planning and goal setting. I want them to be a success not just in my classroom but also in life. > >I don't know if this is the response you were looking for Eileen but I hope it helps. > >Regards >Katrina Hinson > >>> eileeneckert@hotmail.com >>> >Hello all, >With the catastrophic events in New Orleans and beyond, I'm a little >surprised and disappointed that there has so far been no discussion of >whether and how adult education teachers and programs can address these >current events and the issues behind them with their students. Or maybe I >just missed it. > >On another topic, I recently heard the end of the Youth Radio broadcast on >KQED out of San Francisco; at the end of the program they read the names of >Californian youth who have been killed in action over the past month, as >well as those who have died by violence in the Bay Area. Of the dozen or so >names that were read, one was killed in Iraq; the rest died by violence on >city streets here. It seems it is more dangerous to live as a poor person of >color in some of our cities than it is to go to war. > >Are these issues relevant to the teaching and administration of adult >education, or are we limited to the technical points of standards and >assessments? > >Eileen
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