Return-Path: <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id gAD2meX22802; Tue, 12 Nov 2002 21:48:40 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 12 Nov 2002 21:48:40 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <sdd17677.036@langate.gsu.edu> Errors-To: alcrsb@langate.gsu.edu Reply-To: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Daphne Greenberg" <alcdgg@langate.gsu.edu> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:2388] Re: % of lgbt in adult literacy X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII X-Mailer: Novell GroupWise Internet Agent 6.0.2 Status: O Content-Length: 13220 Lines: 415 Mariann, When is the upcoming event at LAC? After the event,if you have the time, I am sure that many of us who will not be able to attend, would love it if you could describe what happened during the strategy session once the event took place. Daphne Daphne Greenberg Associate Director Center for the Study of Adult Literacy Georgia State University University Plaza Atlanta, GA 30303-3083 phone: 404-651-0127 fax:404-651-4901 dgreenberg@gsu.edu >>> mariannf@lacnyc.org 11/11/02 15:30 PM >>> Hello All, As for some literature which may be appropriate for introducing LGBT characters, concerns and issues in to the adult education classroom I have compiled a short list (at the end of this message). Most of these are young adult texts. To my knowledge there is a dangerous scarcity of adult literacy level text which broach these topics. A lot of the work being done in terms of currciulum and materials that address the LGBT community are being done at the k-12 level (see the GLSEN web site at http://glsen.org/templates/index.html for curriculum and text resources that might be adaptable to the adult ed. classroom). A media resource which may be of interest to the adult ed. community is the Point of View (POV) television upcoming documentary on Bayard Rustin, a Civil Rights activist in the 60's who was gay. The web site ( http://www.pbs.org/pov/ ) will feature classroom resources which will again have a k-12 focus. At the Literacy Assistance Center (LAC) we will be conducting a workshop which will include a pre-broadcast screening of the film and then a strategy session on how the film and its themes (civil rights, lgbt people and concerns,...) can be used and scaffolded in the adult ed. classroom toward meeting students goals for learning. As for the question of numbers of LGBT students, all the points Deborah makes are well reasoned. I would only add that further complicating any data collection on the numbers of adult ed. lgbt students are different cultural constructions of what it means to be gay or lesbian. Men-who-have-sex-with-men may by our cultural definition be considered gay but for people from some cultures your sexuality is determined by the role you take during the sex act. In 1997 the HIV Center for Clinical Research in New York City conducted a project called "Latinos Empowering Ourselves" (Project LEO). This project sought to increase safer sexual behaviors among Latino Men-Who-Have-Sex-With-Men by in part having them participate in ESOL classes for which HIV/AIDS awareness was the foundation of language learning. The outreach to the community steered away from using the word "gay" as it might have kept men either unable to cope with that term or who simply did not identify as gay from participating. I will gladly further discuss the upcoming event at the LAC or my participation in Project LEO with anyone on the list. Please fell free to contact me at the below email address or number. Sincerely, Mariann Book List Titles: Companeras: Latina Lesbians 1994, Editor Juanita Ramos Collection of oral histroies, essays, poetry and art by and about latina lesbians I Am Your Sister Audre Lorde, Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, 1985 The Dear One Jacqueline Woodson (Young Adult) Dell, 1991 Growing Up Gay/Growing Up Lesbian (Literary Anthology, young adult) Bennett, Singer New Press 1994 Living in Secret Christina Sala Yearling, 1993 (Children's Lit) A Death in the Family (Video) About a young man's death from AIDS PBS Television, 1988 Different Daughter: A Book by Mothers of Lesbians Louise Rafkin 1987, collection of essays My Son Eric Mary Borhek Pilgrim Press, 1979 (Non-fiction) MAC John Maclean Avon Books, 1987 (Young Adult) Now That I Know Norma Klein Bantam 1988 (Young adult) Becoming Visible Kevin Jennings Ayson Publications 1994 (Gay and Lesbian History for Young Adults) The Truth About Alex Anne Snyder New American Library, 1981 (Young Adult) When Someone You KNow is Gay Susan Cohen Dell, 1989 (Young Adult) At 02:25 PM 11/11/2002 -0500, you wrote: >Daphne, > >Warning!This is a long post. > >These theories re: the percentage of lesbian, gay, bi, trans adult students have been tossed >around. Most of our theories are anecdotal as we don't have money and/or support to research the >hard data about numbers of gay/lesbian/trans/bi adults in literacy classrooms. IN fact, it's really >difficult to determine actual gay numbers in the overall population since it's still nearly impossible >and/or unsafe for many adults to identify as being gay/lesbian/bi/trans. > >So, many of us speculate on numbers that we serve and on demographic issues: For instance, I >one colleague who teaches ESOL in San Francisco notes that there are a huge percentage of gay >men in his lanugage classes for refugees. He spoke to his students about this and came up with >two possiblites: 1. Gay and lesbian immigrants may make a choice to immigrate to certain areas of >the country,or to certain countries because those regions seem more gay friendly. This is not unlike >the word of mouth syndrome that drives much of immigrant choices. 2. Certain areas of the world >may experience anti-gay policy, ie. torture and imprisonment that drives large groups of gay >men/lesbians/bisexual and/or transgender people to leave their home country. My colleague has >coined this trend: "sexual refugees." > >In response to this notion of more gay, lesbian, bi and transgender youth showing up in our GED >program, atleast around here, in Boston, I've certainly experienced that. I've taught classes of youth >where 20 percent of my students identify as gay. > >The other obstacle we have to determining these numbers is that 10 percent is actually a very >conservative estimate, and that as I mentioned previously, it's almost impossible to determine >how many people in any given population identify as gay. There's such repercussions to identifying >as gay in most contexts that the danger factor has to be correlated somehow when we collect >numbers. > >This leaves me with a question and two thoughts: >I wonder has any one ever been involved with a study that in some way measures how many >lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender people are served in a given program or class room? Or > > I think we have to be careful relying on the notion of waiting to collect accurate numbers as a way to >justify how inclusive our teaching material is. 1. Because it's so difficult to really know, and 2. >because whether or not we have gay-identified students, we all interact with gay/lesbian people and >our attempts to lovingly include others' reality is just part of a procesc of making our world more >peaceful and acceptable to all. > >And finally, since we don't know the number of 'queer" students in our classrooms, at any given >moment in time, we want to do our best to make our classrooms safe for these students who may >or may not be able to identify as gay. I think what we don't want is to add to any trend that is ousting >gay/lesbian/transgender and bisexual people. We want our programs to be a safey net for any >group of people whose lives have been made unsafe and dangerous due to oppression. > >Deborah > >---- Daphne Greenberg <alcdgg@langate.gsu.edu> wrote: >> Deborah, >> You have touched upon an issue that I have been thinking about for some time, that actually got >sparked from stuff that Mev has been tossing around. >> You remind us that "at least 10 percent of any given population is gay." There are two arguments >in how this could be inaccurate: >> 1. Maybe it is more than 10%? Since compared to nongay teens, a disproportional number of gay >teens drop out >> of high school, and our adult literacy classrooms are significantly made up of many high school >dropouts, could adult literacy programs have a higher percentage of gay students? >> 2. Since there are so few materials out there that include lgbt issues for adult learners, and >because it is so difficult for many individuals to be out about their orientation, could it be that the >adult literacy classroom is not a very comfortable place for them, and perhaps the percentage of gay >students is smaller? >> Just some thoughts... >> Daphne Greenberg >> Associate Director >> Center for the Study of Adult Literacy >> Georgia State University >> University Plaza >> Atlanta, GA 30303-3083 >> phone: 404-651-0127 >> fax:404-651-4901 >> dgreenberg@gsu.edu >> >>> deborah@alri.org 11/09/02 14:03 PM >>> >> .and one more thought about addressing the question of how much of our material should >include >> lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender issues, characters or experiences. Whether or not our >students >> or colleagues can or decide to be "out," atleast 10 percent of any given population is gay. If, as >adult >> educators, we were grounded in that truth then at least 10 percent of the material and curriculum >> that we develop and teach from, at any given time would include the experience of gay people. >> >> Deborah >> ---- Deborah Schwartz <deborah@alri.org> wrote: >> > Daphne, >> > .. as for your questions #2- using texts that are considered between 2nd-7th grade reading >levels >> > that include Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and/or Transgender characters, I've had success with >> > Nicholasa Mohr's novella, Herman and Alice in her larger collection of work, El Bronx >> Remembered, >> > originally published by Arte Publico (1975), more recently republished in paperback by >> > HarperCollins (1993). >> > >> > The novella explores Alice's life- a trapped, seemingly dead-end existance where she's >pregnant >> > and on the cusp of leaving high school. She meets a handsome, gracious older man who is >also >> > trapped in his community and life and who happens to be gay. I won't give away the plot... >> > >> > The reading level seems to be about 5th or 6th grade equivalent, but the issues and the tone of >> the >> > writing are adult. >> > >> > Deborah Schwartz >> > >> > ---- Gail Spangenberg <gspangenberg@caalusa.org> wrote: >> > > Daphne, On your first question, I always have trouble with the terms >> > > "learners" or "adult learners," because all of those terms include >> > > ALL adults -- i.e. we are ALL learners or adult learners regardless >> > > of the domain of learning. Also, I think "student" is a honorable >> > > term as is "literacy" and that both convey a very positive concept. >> > > Like you, I am inclined to feel that we need better terminology, as >> > > do the students who are learning or have learned new literacy skills >> > > and who aspire to provide much-needed leadership in the field. I >> > > don't necessarily have something better to offer, but perhaps >> > > "literacy learners," or "adult literacy learners" or even "adult >> > > literacy students" are worth considering. It will be interesting to >> > > see what other suggestions are made in your listserv and I hope Marty >> > > Furstenberg as Executive Director of VALUE will among those sharing >> > > their thoughts about this. Gail >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, from time to time I will >> > > >pose questions that I am struggling with while I am doing my >> > > >research. Here are two questions: >> > > > >> > > >1. Do you prefer the term learner or student? Do you prefer the term >> > > >teacher or instructor? If you have a preference, why? I am >> > > >struggling with the words that we use, but I don't know enough to >> > > >know why I am struggling. What do we imply when we use the word >> > > >learner vs. student? What do we imply when we use the word teacher >> > > >vs. instructor? Are there other terms that are even better? >> > > > >> > > >2. I would like to make sure that the reading materials that we >> > > >offer to our learners/students are as diverse as possible. How do I >> > > >ensure this? For example, if I want to include books with characters >> > > >who have diverse orientations-what proportion of the books should >> > > >this be? Also, does anyone know of appropriate books that cover LGBT >> > > >issues/characters that are written between the 2nd and 7th grade >> > > >reading levels (Mev, I know that you have supplied lists, but are >> > > >any of the books that you have mentioned written below the 7th grade >> > > >reading level)? >> > > > >> > > >Any thoughts ideas about any of the above? >> > > >Daphne >> > > > >> > > >Daphne Greenberg >> > > >Associate Director >> > > >Center for the Study of Adult Literacy >> > > >Georgia State University >> > > >University Plaza >> > > >Atlanta, GA 30303-3083 >> > > >phone: 404-651-0127 >> > > >fax:404-651-4901 >> > > >dgreenberg@gsu.edu >> > > >> > > >> > > -- >> > > Gail Spangenberg >> > > President >> > > Council for Advancement of Adult Literacy >> > > 1221 Avenue of the Americas - 50th Fl >> > > New York, NY 10020 >> > > 212-512-2362, fax 212-512-2610 >> > > >> > > >> > >> > >> >> >> > > Mariann Fedele Coordinator of Instructional Technology Literacy Assistance Center 32 Broadway 10th Floor New York, New York 10004 212-803-3325 mariannf@lacnyc.org www.lacnyc.org
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