Steve,
 
I'd be glad to answer your questions.  Unless others are interested,
I'll be glad to e-mail you off list.  
 
Melinda


>>> On 10/30/2009 at 4:44 am, in message

<f1a6e820910300144s5c84220ew362c6870587923b4 at mail.gmail.com>, Steve
Kaufmann <steve at thelinguist.com> wrote:
Thank you Melinda for your insightful post. I would be very interested
to
know to what extent literacy teaching has changed in 34 years. I have
two
questions.

In relative terms, are there fewer or more people with literacy
problems
today than 30 years ago? I presume there are more immigrant learners
than
before, but what about literacy problems among native speakers?

Has the effectiveness of literacy learning improved or changed in any
way?
Are more people being helped then before? Are more people in need of
help
than before? Are people learning more easily than before as a result
of
changes in teaching methods? Or have most things remained the same?

If you have the time to provide your thoughts on this I would greatly
appreciate it.

Steve Kaufmann
604-922-8551
<http://www.lingq.com/?referral=steve>
<http://www.lingq.com/?referral=steve>


--- @ WiseStamp Signature <http://www.wisestamp.com/email-install>. Get
it
now <http://www.wisestamp.com/email-install>


On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 8:19 AM, Melinda Hefner <mhefner at cccti.edu>
wrote:


>  I would like to share a couple of my thoughts.

>

>

>

> I’ve worked in adult literacy for over 34 years in the United States.

 (I

> was a mere baby when I began teaching!)  I learned early on that I

have a

> professionally ethical obligation to refrain from promoting my own

ideas and

> beliefs, to not select course materials that do that or that

intentionally

> exclude or diminish others’ beliefs.  Most adult educators are aware

of

> that obligation and meet it admirably.  But things have changed over

the

> last 34 years and what were once time honored beliefs historically

held by

> the majority of individuals in my country  have been and are now

being

> challenged.

>

>

>

> My concerns are not that those beliefs are being challenged, for

inquiry is

> generally good, although I will admit that I'm not particularly

comfortable

> with how some individuals on opposite sides of a given debate are

often

> quite adversarial.  I am concerned, however, that educational systems

are

> being used as forums for political, social, and cultural changes at

the

> expense of academic instruction.  Let me underscore, "at the expense

of

> academic instruction".  In my opinion, without strong academic

> backgrounds, our students or any others for that matter, will not be

able to

> fully participate in political, social, economic, or any other

discourse.

> Moreover, they certainly won’t be prepared for the globalized

> knowledge-based economy of the 21st century.

>

>

>

> For me, it’s not necessary to hold my instruction up against the

backdrops

> of social, economic, or political justice, etc. although I’m always

> cognizant of the numerous issues and the many sides of those issues. 

When

> my students can read well, communicate effectively in writing and

orally;

> solve problems, make decision; access and effectively utilize

information;

> navigate education, employment, training, and other systems; use

information

> technology to solve problems, perform tasks, or access information

and

> services, etc,  they will be able to create they own backdrops of

social,

> economic, and political justice.   (Just a note:  Please don't

confuse my

> use of the terms social, political, economic “justice”, etc. with

political,

> economic, social “literacy”.  I see them as quite connected but with

> significant and numerous differences.)

>

>

>

> Melinda

>

>

>

>

> >>> On 10/29/2009 at 8:04 am, in message <

> f1a6e820910290504t73dbf8a3y56d78eb7aaee61cb at mail.gmail.com>, Steve

> Kaufmann <steve at thelinguist.com> wrote:

> It appears that almost every poster here is in favour of th

e position
that

> language and literacy teachers should teach their students to think

> critically, and to challenge society.

>

> I believe that teaching "critical thinking" is impossible, and that

any

> attempt to do so is merely an effort to impose one's own values on

others.

> I

> also think that it is arrogant to assume that one's own thinking

process is

> more "critical" or objective than that of the learner, when in fact

most of

> our positions are arrived at based on our own experience and feelings

that

> accumulated over time. I believe that literacy teaching should focus

on

> helping people read better so that they can form their own opinions

by

> being

> able to read from many different sources. The way to get there is to

allow

> learners to read what interests them and interpret it however they

want.

>

> I accept that mine is a minority position here. However, every

campaign for

> literacy that I have seen, especially fund raising activities focus

on

> reading, not on critical thinking and social change. If the majority

of

> literacy practitioners are into social change and teaching critical

> thinking, then I think it would only be honest to say so up front in

the

> fund raising and advocacy campaigns. To not do so is dishonest in my

> opinion.

>

>

> Steve Kaufmann

> 604-922-8551

> <http://www.lingq.com/?referral=steve>

> <http://www.lingq.com/?referral=steve>

>

>

> --- @ WiseStamp Signature <http://www.wisestamp.com/email-install>.

Get it

> now <http://www.wisestamp.com/email-install>

>

>

> On Wed, Oct 28, 2009 at 5:50 AM, Janet Isserlis

<Janet_Isserlis at brown.edu

> >wrote:

>

> >  Re: comments about Art's post, education in Iraq and the whole

notion of

> > political literacy.

> >

> > Just looked up the word politics, but the definition kept using the

word

> > "political"

> > so then I looked that up:

> >

> > p*o·liti·cal* (pə lit*′*i kəl)

> > *

> > adjectiv*e

>

> >

> > of or concerned with government, the state, or politics

> > having a definite governmental organization

> > engaged in or taking sides in politics political parties

> > of or characteristic of political parties or politicians political

pres

> > sure

> >

> > http://www.yourdictionary.com/political

> >

> >

> > so now, to reply, simply, to those who believe we shouldn't impose

a

> > particular set of political beliefs:

> > NO ONE here has said we should.  Art has spoken eloquently to

addressing

> > the skills, knowledge and strategies needed to understand how

government

> > works and to enable adults to make choices  (and/or support them

in

> making

> > choices) that best suit their own interests and beliefs.  NO ONE

is

> > advocating for any one system, or set of beliefs.  No one is using

the

> adult

> > learning center as a soap box.  Good educators are listening to

learners,

> > living in shared communities, discussing what goes on and using

language

> and

> > learning skills, critical thinking, healthy debate, use of media

and

> other

> > resources, to enable everyone to get on as well as they can in the

> > communities in which they live.

> >

> > Janet Isserlis

> >

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

> > National Institute for Literacy

> > Adult Literacy Professional Development mailing list

> > professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov

> >

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

> > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/professionaldevelopment

> > Email delivered to steve at lingq.com

> >

> > Professional Development section of the Adult Literacy Education

Wiki

> >

> >

>

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

> >

>

>

>

> --

> Steve Kaufmann

> www.lingq.com

> 604-922-8514

>

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

> National Institute for Literacy

> Adult Literacy Professional Development mailing list

> professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov

>

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

> http:/

/www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/professionaldevelopment

> Email delivered to steve at lingq.com

>

> Professional Development section of the Adult Literacy Education

Wiki

>

>

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

>




-- 
Steve Kaufmann
www.lingq.com
604-922-8514
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/professionaldevelopment/attachments/20091030/82d3463c/attachment.html