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 f0V1dF907418; Tue, 30 Jan 2001 20:39:15 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2001 20:39:15 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <20010130.203543.6398.1.GDEMETRION@juno.com> 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: "GEORGE E. DEMETRION" <gdemetrion@juno.com> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-POVRACELIT:382] DEBBYDAM@aol.com: community literacy work X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: Juno 1.49 Status: O Content-Length: 4465 Lines: 102 Debbie was having difficulty posting this and asked me to do so for her. My thanks for the sharing of this experience. I will put thought to this tomorrow. I'm transcribing tapes right now and am plugged into the Leave it To Beaver Listserv and participating in a collaborative effort among fans for TV Land to keep the Beav on the airwaves. Additional expereriences or reflections heartily welcome. George Demetrion --------- Begin forwarded message ---------- From: DEBBYDAM@aol.com To: gdemetrion@juno.com, nifl-ovracelit@nifl.gov Subject: community literacy work Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2001 11:37:48 EST Message-ID: <59.633977d.27a847dc@aol.com> This a belated reponse to George's post about community literacy work, and engaging non-literacy providers in literacy work. The Adult Literacy Media Alliance (ALMA), creators of TV411, a pre-GED level television show also available in video, has had many experiences that parallel the Greater Hartford Literacy Council's. When TV411 first aired in fall of 1998, it did so in four cities with whom ALMA had already established a relationship. Two years of coalition building preceded the show's launch, and in each of these cities (Pittsburgh, El Paso, Seattle, and New York), the coalitions were a mix of literacy and other kinds of organizations with which adult learners might have regular contact. These included health care facilities, K-12 schools and programs serving children, housing organizations, corrections facilities and organizations, community based organizations, etc. At this point, ALMA has about 200 hubs in these four cities, along with sites served by our community development partners (the community college system in North Carolina, which holds classes at workplaces, prisons, churches, etc.; the adult education systems of South Carolina and Massachusetts; the Workforce Investment Board of Monmouth county, NJ; and the Institute for Career Development, the labor management joint fund of the United States Steelworkers and participating steel companies). We are finding that we are reaching beyond the literacy community, and that the flexibility of our video and print are allowing providers to offer literacy in ways other than only classroom learning. However, much like George's experience, we are also finding that new ways of delivering literacy are difficult to institute, because of underfunded and understaffed organizations and high staff turnover. We are also finding that a fair amount of technical assistance and training and follow up is necessary to ensure creative, ongoing participation in effective literacy instruction. Much like Greater Hartford's design, ALMA expects that TV411 will become part of the work of our partner organizations, and that it will support and strengthen their capacity to fulfill their own organizational goals and mission. Hubs, or participating organizations, are expected to use TV411 with their existing client or customer base, in ways that fit in with the servies they provide. We offer training in how to use TV411 to address topical issues and literacy practices, and expect that users will continue on to create their own instructional methods and content. However, because using video, or thinking in the practice-based, constructivist, participatory ways that our approach to literacy is based on, are new for many folks, we are now revamping out training and have recently produced a new teacher's gudie with much more explicit lesson plans than our previous version. We are hopeful and encouraged by what we have achieved so far-that a mjaority of the organizations using our material do not have literacy as their primary mission and that most are extending use beyond the classroom. We are also heartened by the way classroom instructors and tutors use our material to enliven their work in ways made possible through multi-media approaches. We think that media, by their very nature, push us beyond the boundaries of conventional educational settings and that reaching more adult learners is unlikely to happen unless we continue to extend the classroom. But--we work in a marginal system with folks considered marginal by those in power-so none of it is easy. It is important for those of us working in this way to continue the dialogue about what we are doing, what works and what doesn't. Debby D'Amico --------- End forwarded message ----------
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