Hello Steve Kaufmann,

As you may know, the word education comes from the Latin, "educare"  
which means to "bring out of" or to "lead forth." One interpretation  
of this is that teachers should help to bring something out of  
learners; to bring it to consciousness. Another is that teachers  
should challenge learners, as Cynthia appears to suggest, by helping  
them to critically view many sources in forming their views.  I agree  
that learners should read what they like, but not only what they like.  
They should also be challenged by their teachers to examine their  
assumptions, to learn about the world outside their community, and to  
see the world in new ways.

I was recently challenged in my thinking by a PBS documentary on  
Bangladesh in which the responsibility for thousands -- perhaps soon  
to be millions -- of "climate change refugees"  is placed by a  
Bangladeshi educator not on the refugees who contributed not at all to  
the climate change problem that has disastrously affected their low- 
lying villages, but on people in industrial nations such as the U.S.  
and China, countries that so far do not seem to take much  
responsibility for the consequences of climate change because we are  
not (yet) much affected.

To view this half-hour documentary, "Water World," go to http://www.pbs.org/now/ 
    Good professional development (such as this WGBH TV documentary)  
also challenges teachers to think in different ways and perhaps to  
read what they might not otherwise have chosen.

David J. Rosen
DJRosen at theworld.com




On Oct 27, 2009, at 12:23 PM, Steve Kaufmann wrote:


> If the issue is literacy, it does not matter what the information  

> is. Learners should be encouraged to read and listen to the  

> information that they like, whether the Bible, Karl Marx or the  

> sports page. It is not for the literacy teacher to worry about the  

> ideological orientation of the learner, in my view.

>

> Steve Kaufmann

> 604-922-8551

>

>

>

> --- @ WiseStamp Signature. Get it now

>

>

> On Tue, Oct 27, 2009 at 8:02 AM, Cynthia Peters <cynthia_peters at worlded.org 

> > wrote:

> It would be interesting to talk with teachers about how they address

> objectivity in the classroom. How do they come up with objective

> sources? Perhaps another way of looking at it is to remain skeptical  

> of

> all sources and to look at many sources and to ask questions about  

> where

> the sources comes from, what interests they might represent, and what

> outcomes they might be invested in, etc.

>

> For example, what constitutes "solid information"?

>

> Cynthia

> --

>

> Cynthia Peters

> Change Agent Editor

> World Education

> 44 Farnsworth Street

> Boston, MA  02210

>

> tel: 617-482-9485 ext. 3649

> fax: 617-482-0617

> email: cpeters at worlded.org

>

> Check out The Change Agent online at:

> www.nelrc.org/changeagent

>

>

> >>> On 10/26/2009 at 3:20 PM, in message

> <d0ed1c87b10017dc676f2abfe92dc2ea at ciesc.k12.in.us>, Bhofmeyer

> <bhofmeyer at ciesc.k12.in.us> wrote:

> > Cynthia,

> > You are correct to encourage critical thinking and evaluation skills

> in our

> > instruction of adult learners and in PD for instructors. Such skills

> will

> > benefit our learners in life and work. However, I believe that a

> critical

> > part of that instruction includes teaching them to consider all  

> sides

> of an

> > issue and then to make up their own minds after having weighed the

> > information. To do so, we must be sure to offer - or provide

> resources for

> > them to discover -  solid information without prejudicing the

> information.

> > That may mean they reach conclusions contrary to our own. However,  

> if

> we do

> > not approach topics with a good measure of objectivity we risk

> sacrificing

> > the very lesson we strive to teach.

> >

> > Barbara Hofmeyer

> > Professional  Development Consultant

> > Indiana Adult Education

> > Professional Development Project

> > bhofmeyer at ciesc.k12.in.us

> > 260-572-6296

> > FAX: 260-927-8720

> >

> >

> >

> > -----Original message-----

> > From: "Cynthia Peters" cynthia_peters at worlded.org

> > Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:11:04 -0400

> > To: professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov

> > Subject: [PD 4065] Re: Swinging the Sword of Literacy in Iraq

> >

> >> Tom's article reminds me of some key aspects of literacy, including

> the

> >> importance of understanding the context of events, of examining who

> is

> >> saying what and why, and of being able to think clearly about

> events

> >> despite the way that certain kinds of "talk" can obscure reality.

> >>

> >> Professional Development for adult ed. teachers should include a  

> lot

> of

> >> support to teachers to figure out ways to help students not just

> learn

> >> to read but to penetrate people's words in context. Those of us who

> are

> >> teachers and who are already literate need to be supported to keep

> >> reminding ourselves about harsh realities because it's tempting to

> >> ignore them, especially since (as U.S. citizens) we have a large

> >> responsibility.

> >>

> >> For example, in reference to Tom's article below, if we are

> concerned

> >> about literacy in Iraq, perhaps one of the most important

> contributions

> >> U.S. citizens can make would be to examine our government's role

> there

> >> over the past several decades, which includes numerous illegal and

> >> immoral (not to mention useless and counterproductive) bombings,

> >> invasions, occupations, economic boycotts (which do not literally

> drop

> >> bombs on people but nonetheless cause 100s of thousands to die),

> etc.

> >>

> >> Another example: A close reading of the text reveals the Orwellian

> >> doublespeak of Army Spc. Tiffany Evans talking about how "...war

> and

> >> economic hardships have caused the education system to suffer

> >> significantly in the last two decades" -- as if the *source* of war

> and

> >> economic hardship were not directly linked to her, indeed, to all  

> of

> us,

> >> as citizens of the country which launched an illegal pre-emptive

> war,

> >> and which before that had driven the country into the ground

> through

> >> absolutely vicious economic sanctions.

> >>

> >> I know there are many great professional development people out

> there

> >> who are supporting teachers (and by extension, students) to look

> deeply

> >> into texts and to provide pathways for all of us to use what we

> >> understand to be happening in the world as a check on what we read.

> I

> >> think we cannot underestimate the importance of that work!

> >>

> >> Cynthia

> >>

> >> --

> >>

> >>

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

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> Wiki

>

> >

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

>

> > nt

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>

>

> -- 

> Steve Kaufmann

> www.lingq.com

> 604-922-8514

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

> National Institute for Literacy

> Adult Literacy Professional Development mailing list

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>

> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/professionaldevelopment

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