Robin,

I agree that we need to have higher entry requirements for adult ESOL  
teachers and tutors.  If I didn't, I wouldn't have undertake that  
huge project to try to find out what the states now require and what  
they are planning.  I would love to see tutors participating in a  
structured training program of sufficient duration to provide the  
foundation that you mention.  I just don't know how much we can  
expect when they are volunteers.

I would love to hear from various volunteer program administrators  
about the kinds of pre-service and in-service training they provide  
and what kind of incentives (if necessary) to get volunteers to  
participate.

Jodi
On Feb 7, 2008, at 7:22 PM, robinschwarz1 at aol.com wrote:


> Jodi-- Embedded training is pretty much what I do-- meet with tutor  

> and student and try to help the tutor develop adjusted strategies  

> and techniques for working with that learner and teach the teacher  

> as we go along what works.

>

>  What I am saying is that the foundations skills are so lacking  

> that the "embedded training" is just like putting water color paint  

> on a house in a rainy climate.   I know places like Illinois have  

> made some good efforts to create a more substantial training  

> program for tutors and require that they complete an online portion  

> and a face to face session or two before tutors can begin.  It is a  

> start--but I have worked with one literacy provider organization  

> that admitted in so many words that it was more important to keep  

> the tutors happy than to serve the learners' real needs-- so that  

> organization would not change its highly ineffective method of  

> assigning tutors to students even while recognizing that learners'  

> needs were not being met.

>

> I am suggesting that perhaps this paradigm can be shifted--rather  

> dramatically, that learners' needs MUST drive tutor training and  

> assignments.   What is so bad about setting things up so tutors  

> must EARN the right to work with learners just as teachers must?  I  

> know of at least one program in the West that does that.  Tutors  

> must literally earn the qualification as a tutor through  

> participation in a rigorous training program before they can have  

> the privilege of working with a learner.  And they have tutors not  

> only eager to start, but who are competent enough to love what they  

> do and know they are being effective.   Most training programs I am  

> aware of last from about 6-18 hours and are a hodge-podge of  

> information on adult learning, doing paperwork, culture  

> information, ESL general principles (but few techniques), etc.   

> Even things like learning how to set concrete, achievable, real  

> goals WITH the learner and then measure progress in clear terms are  

> elements that I have never seen in training. In working with some  

> professional tutors from one of the large literacy organizations a  

> few years ago, I was told that they were well trained in setting up  

> a lesson plan, but had not the first word of training in how to  

> measure whether the lesson was effective or not.

>

> What you see when this happens and learning is vague is the blame- 

> the-learner syndrome. EVERY ONE of the tutors here that I have  

> worked with FIRST blamed the learner for not "getting" what was  

> being offered, and then, later in the conversation, began to wonder  

> if maybe they ( the tutor) could possible present the information  

> differently or wonder if it was even the RIGHT information.   One  

> of these--and his supervisor-- characterized his learner as an  

> almost total beginner in English and the tutor was doing ESOL  

> 101.01--"Hi. My name is___.  What is YOUR name?"  .   FIVE minutes  

> with the learner told me that he was really an intermediate  

> learner-- he had LOTS of not-so-comprehensible English and wanted  

> to learn more vocabulary to be able to carry on a normal  

> conversation.  The tutor, having nothing to compare it to, nor any  

> rubric or anything for gauging it, judged the level to be zero.

>

> I agree that SOME tutors COULD learn on the ground, but unless they  

> have more preparation for what they are going to do, it would take  

> a tremendous amount of mentoring and monitoring, which no literacy  

> program could manage, that I know of.  One of the tutors I have  

> mentored here is a 25-yr. teaching veteran. She confessed that  

> NOTHING in her experience as a teacher prepared her for the demands  

> of tutoring a highly literate adult ESOL learner.

>

> Robin

>

>

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

> From: Jodi Crandall <crandall at umbc.edu>

> To: The Adult Literacy Professional Development Discussion List  

> <professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov>

> Sent: Thu, 7 Feb 2008 2:59 pm

> Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1912] Re: Requesting Resource  

> Information

>

> I think Robin has shared what are very important concerns.

>

> I also know how hard it is to expect volunteer tutors to  have  

> substantial training in teaching ESL/ESOL.  I'd really like to know  

> how various programs structure professional development for  

> volunteers/tutors?  In a recent brief I  co-authored, with Genesis  

> Ingersoll and Jacqueline Lopez at CAL,  "Adult ESL Teacher  

> Credentialing and Certification" we tried to identify what the  

> states are requiring in terms of initial hiring and professional  

> development.  Because it was a "Brief," we could not go into much  

> detail on various ways in which individual programs are training or  

> what their initial hiring expectations are.  You can access the  

> Brief at:

> www.cal.org/caela

>

> Be sure to click on the large table which provides information on  

> each of the states and the District of Columbia.

>

> Since we know that most adult ESL/ESOL practitioners gain much of  

> their knowledge and skill on the job (see Marilyn Gillespie and  

> Cristine Smith on this at NCSALL), we really need to figure out the  

> best ways in which we can support tutors and help them to gain  

> skills while they are tutoring.

>

> Is there a way to "embed" training in the volunteers' tutoring  

> experiences.  I'm thinking of something similar to ways in which  

> ESL and work-related training is provided to workers on the job.   

> "Embedded training"  -- the same as ESL and skills instruction  

> embedded in work -- is something that has great potential, I  

> think.  Has anyone tried this?  How?

>

> Jodi Crandall

>

>

>

>

> On Feb 7, 2008, at 1:15 PM, robinschwarz1 at aol.com wrote:

>

>> I hate to be a wet blanket here, but this just caught my eye.  Why  

>> don't you recommend that this person advertise at a local college  

>> for someone to tutor him.  He needs someone who will work with him  

>> on his assignments who is able to meet him at the level of English  

>> he already has.   I say this having just worked with one on one  

>> with the FOURTH tutor from the local library Literacy Services  

>> assigned to an ESOL learner with fairly strong English skills.  I  

>> have also worked with numerous literacy service providers in  

>> several states and regularly provide PD sessions for literacy  

>> tutors in the state where I live.

>>

>> These tutors mean so well but know so very little about working  

>> with ESOL learners that frankly, it is not a productive match.    

>> Since the tutors do not know ESOL issues well, they tend to grab  

>> at some generic book in hopes that will appease the learner-- when  

>> usually the learner has very specific needs and goals, as does  

>> this learner, which do not get met or addressed at all.

>>

>> I am so disheartened by the gap between what ESOL learners need  

>> and what their literacy tutors are providing that I have decided  

>> to speak more frankly about it.  I have adjusted my sessions with  

>> tutors to help them start with the very basics: let's find out  

>> just what English your learner actually knows and then what he or  

>> she really came to you to learn.

>>

>> Robin Lovrien Schwarz

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

>> From: Sandy Phillips <SPhillips at ci.oceanside.ca.us>

>> To: lbedford at rushmore.com; The Adult Literacy Professional  

>> Development Discussion List <professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov>

>> Sent: Thu, 7 Feb 2008 10:37 am

>> Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1910] Re: Requesting Resource  

>> Information

>>

>> Laurie,

>>

>> Have him call the Literacy Coordinator at the Stockton Public  

>> Library Peaches Ehrich at (209) 937-8261.  I am sure she can help  

>> him locate the help he needs.

>>

>> Sandy Phillips

>> Literacy Coordinator

>> Volunteer Coordinator

>> (760) 435-5683

>> (760) 435-5681 FAX#

>> sphillips at ci.oceanside.ca.us

>>

>> From: professionaldevelopment-bounces at nifl.gov  

>> [mailto:professionaldevelopment-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of  

>> Laurie Bedford

>> Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2008 7:38 AM

>> To: The Adult Literacy Professional Development Discussion List

>> Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1909] Requesting Resource  

>> Information

>>

>> All,

>> I am an adjunct faculty member at an online unversity teaching  

>> graduate courses.   I have a student who is struggling with his  

>> writing.   He is an english languague learner and Spanish is his  

>> first language.   He lives in Stockton, CA.   Does anyone know of  

>> any resources in that area that he might draw upon?  Thanks.

>> Laurie

>>

>>

>> Laurie Bedford, Ph.D.

>> Adjunct Faculty/Instructional Development Consultant

>> lbedford at rushmore.com

>> 605-720-7881

>>

>>

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

>>

>>

>> National Institute for Literacy

>>

>>

>> Adult Literacy Professional Development mailing list

>>

>>

>> professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to

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>>

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>>

>>

>>

>> Email delivered to robinschwarz1 at aol.com

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>> Professional Development section of the Adult Literacy Education Wiki

>>

>>

>> http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/ 

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>

> JoAnn (Jodi) Crandall

> Professor and Director

> Language, Literacy and Culture Ph.D. Program

> Director, Peace Corps Master's Intl Program in ESOL/Bilingual  

> Education

> University of Maryland Baltimore County

> 1000 Hilltop Circle

> Baltimore, MD 21250

> tel:  410-455-2313

> fax: 410-455-8947

> eml: crandall at umbc.edu

>

>

>

>

> =

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> National Institute for Literacy

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> Adult Literacy Professional Development mailing list

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>

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>

>

>

> Professional Development section of the Adult Literacy Education Wiki

>

> http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/ 

> Adult_Literacy_Professional_Development

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

> National Institute for Literacy

> Adult Literacy Professional Development mailing list

> professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov

>

> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to  

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>

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>

> Professional Development section of the Adult Literacy Education Wiki

> http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/ 

> Adult_Literacy_Professional_Development


JoAnn (Jodi) Crandall
Professor and Director
Language, Literacy and Culture Ph.D. Program
Director, Peace Corps Master's Intl Program in ESOL/Bilingual Education
University of Maryland Baltimore County
1000 Hilltop Circle
Baltimore, MD 21250
tel:  410-455-2313
fax: 410-455-8947
eml: crandall at umbc.edu




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