Political to me means tht you want to make social cahnge and acknowledge 
that a lot of one's circumstances are not a matter of choice but are thrust 
upon you by decisions made by those in power in various ways. I know many 
instructors who are nurturing rather then political in that they hope to 
help individuals develop their own power but not introduce them to or work 
with them to make larger changes in our society/world.Also they aren't 
comfortable acknowledging with those learners that "It's not your fault"
Cheers
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Laurie Sheridan" <laurie_sheridan at worlded.org>
To: "RaceWomen and Literacy Discussion List The Poverty" 
<povertyracewomen at nifl.gov>; "Catherine B. King" <cb.king at verizon.net>
Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2007 7:53 AM
Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 326] Re: Reply to Andres Muro



> To me, "political" means having to do with power, especially in the

> public sphere, but not only.  Especially having to do with the power

> relationships among people and groups of people.  Not only the

> government--in the workplace, in the community, between classes, ethnic

> groups, genders, cultures, ages, etc.

>

> That's not the "official" definition, but it works for me.   The key

> concept is "power"--the dynamics of who has it, for what, and why.

>

> Laurie

>

>>>> Andrea Wilder <andreawilder at comcast.net> 1/17/2007 10:39 AM >>>

> Looking up a name in a phone book assumes literacy and a phone.

> Context may matter, also--being forbidden to use a phone by a family

> member is an example of power over another person.

>

> By the way, what do we mean by "political?"

>

> Andrea

>

> On Jan 17, 2007, at 9:47 AM, Catherine B. King wrote:

>

>> Hello Andres, Janice and Kearney:

>>

>> I agree with Andres and Janice that the work we do in education (or

>

>> any education) has a definite political dimension.   Reading

>> is freeing, which is itself political because it has to do with

> power;

>> for instance, being able to read labels on cans at the supermarket

>> frees us to make informed choices instead of merely relying on

>> pictures or trusting that we are getting good stuff.

>>

>> But basic literacy is more foundational than that.  That is, in a

>> civil society, the constitution of the political environment and our

>

>> powers is based in written documents--rather than in bloodlines,

>> kings, tyrants, etc.   Only people who can read can read their own

>> constituting documents.  So in this sense, basic literacy

>> is constitutive of a democratic-civil rather than tribal society

>> (where "civil" refers to non-kingship/bloodline sorts of political

>> constitutions).

>>

>> Adult literacy is important in the extreme--In our time, every

>> mini-step towards the reversion to tribalism, e.g., ignoring our

>> citizens' reading abilities, is a step towards losing the civil

>> society we all take for granted and that many have fought so long and

>

>> hard to gain.

>>

>> Regards,

>>

>> Catherine King

>>

>>

>> ----- Original Message -----

>>> From: Janet Isserlis

>>> To: The Poverty, Race, Women and Literacy Discussion List

>>> Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2007 7:56 AM

>>> Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 323] Re: Reply to Andres Muro

>>>

>>> Kearney,

>>>

>>> I can't speak to Andres' intention, but it seems that the contexts

> in

>>> which the activities you describe occur may have strong bearing on

>

>>> the belief that the work we do in adult literacy education is

>>> political.  Even to choose (actively, or by default) to be

>>> apolitical, is (some would reason) a political choice.

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>> Janet Isserlis

>>>

>>>

>>> From: Kearney Lykins <kearney_lykins at yahoo.com>

>>> Reply-To: "The Poverty, Race, Women and Literacy Discussion List"

>>> <povertyracewomen at nifl.gov>

>>> Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2007 12:39:45 -0800 (PST)

>>> To: "The Poverty, Race, Women and Literacy Discussion List"

>>> <povertyracewomen at nifl.gov>

>>> Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 321] Re: Reply to Andres Muro

>>>

>>> Andres,

>>>

>>> (Literacy itself is a political activity.) This seems like an

> extreme

>>> over-generalization. While I don't dispute that each of the

>>> activities you mention can be political in nature, they certainly

> are

>>> not always so, and even when they are, there are degrees to which

>>> they are indeed a mixture of something else  (like merely passing

> the

>>> time, or escaping, or relaxing).

>>>

>>> When you say that "there are no literacy activities that aren't

>>> political." I don't get it. How for example is looking up a phone

>>> number in the phone book a political act? Or, when I teach an ESOL

>

>>> lesson on say, the grammar of definite versus indefinite articles,

>

>>> how do my actions communicate something inherently political?

>>>

>>> So sure, people use their reading and writing abilities to buy a car

>

>>> and buy groceries, or to get a job. But then, they also eat and

> sleep

>>> to help them do the same things. But we wouldn't say that eating and

>

>>> sleeping are political activities. In fact, they must eat and sleep

>

>>> if they expect to obtain a job, or to live more than a couple of

>>> weeks. But they do not need to read or write to do either.

>>>

>>> Are you merely applying the Aristotelian position that "man is a

>>> political animal" to every facet and every nook and cranny of every

>

>>> human activity, or is it something else? Please help me understand

>

>>> what you mean.

>>>

>>> Kearney_Lykins at yahoo.com

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>> ----- Original Message ----

>>> From: "Muro, Andres" <amuro5 at epcc.edu>

>>> To: "The Poverty, Race, Women and Literacy Discussion List"

>>> <povertyracewomen at nifl.gov>; povertyracewomen at nifl.gov

>>> Sent: Sunday, January 14, 2007 7:51:48 PM

>>> Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 307] Re: National Gay and Lesbian Task

>>> ForceFellowship

>>>

>>> [<SPAN id="misspell-6" class="mark" >PovertyRaceWomen</SPAN> 306]

> Re:

>>> National Gay and Lesbian Task <SPAN id="misspell-7" class="mark"

>>> >ForceFellowship</SPAN>

>>>

>>> I would add that literacy itself is a political activity. People

> read

>>> and write to participate in a community. going shopping, seeing

>>> movies, participating in community life, buying a car, choosing to

>

>>> participate in gay activities, studying, acquiring health services,

>

>>> etc. are all political activities. In fact, there are no literacy

>>> activities that aren't political. There isn't such a thing as an

>>> apolitical, neutral technology called literacy.

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>> Andres

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

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>>> <http://autos.yahoo.com/green_center/;

>>>

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>>> W50ZXI->  at Yahoo! Autos' Green Center.

>>>  ----------------------------------------------------

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> povertyracewomen----------------------------------------------------

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