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 f1NC9S901073; Fri, 23 Feb 2001 07:09:28 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2001 07:09:28 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <9.1165b728.27c7ac9e@aol.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: DEBBYDAM@aol.com To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-POVRACELIT:418] Re: GDEMETRION: "GEORGE E. X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: AOL 5.0 for Windows sub 130 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Status: O Content-Length: 2130 Lines: 29 I don't think what Ira raises is necessarily a conflict or even a contradiction. Most of us who support community literacy efforts are the same folks who argue for more iteracy funding for programs. In fact, most literacy programs, I would argue, can not substantially help other organizations with the kind of infrastructure you suggest becasue they lack resources themselves. As someone who respects the knowledge and expertise of literacy professionals, and as someone for whom education made a complete change in my life, I would love to have everyone who needs help with reading,w riting and math in a quality program. I would go so far as to say in an ideal world they might even be paid for attending. However, in the world in which we live, the vast majority of learners cannot or will not attend programs. What do we do about that? Furthermore, literacy programs recognize the research that shows that adults learn most of what they know in other settings. The literature on social learning theory and on informal learning, and on learning from the media, all suggest that we could be applying what literacy professionals know in other ways to reach adults who need help with literacy. Adult literacy professionals can be as involved in this effort as in the classroom, if, and this is a big if, such efforts are funded. Regarding community efforts in literacy, the closest we come in the US, to my knowledge, are the efforts of Highlander, especially in the struggle for voting rights and the creation of education programs by unions early on. While some of these looked like school in that people sat in rooms at desks with a teacher, they were intrinsically connected to larger social issues and movements. so, our discussion involves more the where, why and how of literacy, as well as who facilitates instruction. In this time, and especially under Bush, the organizations closest to adult learners are likely to be hard pressed for resources, as are literacy organizations. Dare we hope that such times might also inspire movements that literacy can be part of? DD
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