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From: "Barbara Garner" <Barbara_Garner@jsi.com>
To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-fobasics@literacy.nifl.gov>
Subject: [NIFL-FOBASICS:250] Re: Persistence
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Rose's finding's (below) are similar to an experience I had with a
simultaneous abe/vocational education program. The learners had very
concrete goals: to complete academics and to get their home health
care certificates and to log in enough time in placement to get their
licenses. By taking them to potential work settings as part of the
intake/orientation, and bringing in former students to share their
experiences, we made sure that the goals were tangible, and we used
weekly activities to accentuate the movement they were making towards
the goals.
At the same time, certain learners had difficulties, and their
sister students and the teachers reached out to them to ensure that
they had the support --- tangible, such as child care or rides, or
intangible, such as friendship and encouragement --- they needed to
continue.
In focus groups with the learners, they spoke quite a bit about
the impact of teacher and peer support on their ability to succeed, as
well as their internal motivation to reach their goals.
Barb Garner
Editor,
Focus on Basics/NCSALL
(former program coordinator, in an earlier incarnation)
Boston, MA
.
>>> <FPeter5224@aol.com> 05/24 10:01 PM >>>
Persistence is a complicated issue. The BASICS issue raises some
excellent
points, goal development is crucial, however, for some students this
must be
done in a context of a community of learners.
I completed a dissertation in 1998 on the experiences of Women
in
Louisiana seeking a GED. Persistence became a central theme. For the
population I studied, the ability to develop a relationship with the
teacher,
school and/or program was the most important variable to persistence.
Even
when family emergencies occurred, it was a teacher who pulled them
back to
the school/program after the crisis had passed. Some of the women
had begun
and ended 5 and 6 adult programs. For this population, the
relationship
preceded the goal development.
Another finding showed, similar to the article, hat the ability to
integrate
a GED program into a vocational program is powerful. One of the
study sites
was a private proprietary school (cosmetology). It was very
effective for
students who had been unsuccessful in more traditional adult
education
programs. Students developed professional relationships with
instructors
around hair which extended to academic subjects. The small student
body also
created a community which was important to them.
For the students in my study, the way school "made them feel"
determined
persistence-whether they dropped out or stuck it out. The
relationships began
in high school and continued throughout their school careers.
Rose Drill-Peterson
New Orleans Public Schools
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