Return-Path: <nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id e8PEJh911160; Mon, 25 Sep 2000 10:19:43 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 10:19:43 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <001b01c026fb$d9b2e2c0$07eeffd1@cbking> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Catherine King" <cbking@flash.net> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-POVRACELIT:19] Re: Introduction and Background X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2314.1300 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; Status: O Content-Length: 7182 Lines: 149 Hello: My name is Catherine King and I am also looking forward to "meeting" you'all and to learning about your experiences and thoughts on this most important issue. I recently moved to Long Beach California after having taught philosophy and ethics at colleges in central Virginia where I was also involved with adult ed, and had a brief stint as Literacy Director in a very small town there while they restructured their program--to consolidate with a larger nearby town, leaving the rural people and transient farm tobacco workers without one. The Lit Director before me was paid very little for 20 hours a week and -- a saint -- worked 60 to bring the message to these folks. Basically, there was a "mismatch" between my naive assumptions about helping them learn English and to become literate, and the "powers that be." I became enlightened about the ideological overview, learned-- and left. I also taught Ethics in prison while on staff at Virginia Community Colleges. I am now on staff at National University and Brooks College where I will teach English and Humanities. My long-term work is theoretical. My interest is in the background of intelligence, attitudes, and interpersonal relations (and intergenerational) that feed into poverty, race-ethnic-gender--or what is called "group biases" including nuances in "class" issues. I have been an active member on the National Literacy Association list (where I found this list). My fundamental argument, and one that I find is overlooked by funders and policy makers, is that continuing education is mandated for all by democracy itself, and that the U.S. Constitution and various other documents contain the "upper blade" that has continually drawn us towards equality under the law and social development. Simply put, without an educated polity, democracy will fail. My thought is that there is a great political shift going on with the moves towards "education for work" and the mania for "results," accountability, and statistical analysis--none of which is bad-- unless seen as the only issues while they obfuscate their own political context and implications. I also think the authority of the teacher and the power center of the one-to-one teacher- student relationship is under attack. Our assumptions about what education is are changing. But we can work 24-7 on poverty, lack of literacy, and "group bias" problems, but if our funders and policy makers break with the Constitutional mandate of "education for all," (not to mention "pursuit of happiness"), and that we **owe** education to those who don't have it by our very political structure we live in even if we sometimes fail, then all of our programs will be as houses of cards by losing the creative structure the whole thrust is built on. It is itself an underlying class issue. Besides funders and policy makers, the recalcitrance of poverty and all the things that lie behind "self-esteem" problems, can be understood from the political point of view. The psychological, as important as it is, often overshadows the fact that the U.S. Constitution is our social and personal outer guarantee. It holds the "drawing power" and hope of straightening out our inner landscape--it is the objective measure that shows with clarity that racial-gender, etc. imbalance is nothing less than hypocrisy. When people understand this, the fire always gets lit. I look forward to this discussion and hope to learn much from it. Catherine King ----- Original Message ----- From: Mary Ann Corley <macorley1@earthlink.net> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov> Sent: Sunday, September 24, 2000 10:02 PM Subject: [NIFL-POVRACELIT:17] Welcome and Introduction > Hello to all subscribers to this list: > > Welcome to a new discussion list! Thanks to those who have already > introduced themselves. I extend an invitation to those who have not yet > introduced themselves to tell us about yourselves and your particular > interests in the topics of poverty, racism, and literacy. > > By way of introduction, my name is Mary Ann Corley. I have worked in the > field of adult literacy for more than 30 years, first as ABE/GED/ESL > teacher, then as local program administrator, as Maryland State GED > Administrator, and more recently, as Director of the National Adult Literacy > and Learning Disabilities Center (National ALLD Center) in Washington DC, > and as founding Director of the Lindy Boggs National Center for Community > Literacy at Loyola University New Orleans. I have recently established a > National Center for Literacy and Social Justice (NCLSJ), located in New > Orleans. The mission of the NCLSJ is to build capacity among literacy > practitioners to provide services that are responsive to adults with a > history of educational low achievement, including those who live with the > effects of intergenerational poverty, institutionalized racism, learning > disabilities, and language and cultural acquisition problems. To that end, > the NCLSJ develops and conducts professional development sessions for > literacy providers on these topics. > > Dale Lipschultz of the American Library Association in Chicago is > co-moderating the list with me. Jaleh Behroozi has graciously agreed to > have the NIFL host this list for us. We have long wanted to get this > discussion list started because we believe that, in sharing our experiences, > we can all learn from one another and, ultimately, we can make our programs > more responsive to the needs of our learners. > > When we teach and learn from the adults in our programs, most of us soon > gain a deep respect for the individuals who struggle to balance literacy > instruction with their home and work lives. And perhaps we come to > recognize that adults who live with the effects of poverty and racism, just > as those who live with learning disabilities, do not always have equal > access that the mainstream culture in this country has to its social, > economic, and political institutions. How does this unequal access affect > learning? > > We are aware of the high drop-out rate nationwide in adult literacy > programs. Could a reason for this high drop-out rate be cultural dissonance > between the well-intentioned and caring teacher or tutor, who often > represents the dominant culture, and the learner(s)? Are there cultural > misunderstandings that affect the teaching/learning process? What > instructional methods are most effective in reaching and teaching persons > who live in poverty or with the effects of racism? What changes might we > make in our programs to be more responsive to all learners? > > Let's hear from you. You are invited to share your teaching experiences and > your insights into the issues of poverty and/or racism and how these are > related to literacy levels. You are encouraged to share resources that you > have found to be useful on these topics. (Thank you, Nancy Sledd, for > sharing info on the JCPR website.) > > I look forward to hearing from you and to engaging in some thought-provoking > discussions on these issues. > > Mary Ann Corley > macorley1@earthlink.net > > >
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