Dear all 
 
If you remember at the end of Barbara Tondre-El Zorkani's question about
workplace literacy, I invited some of our international participants to
give us some insights into the broader picture. In this post, Susan
Reid, a colleague from New Zealand, explains various efforts going on
"down under." She also includes a note on NZ's  adaptation of the work
that Ireland has been doing. 
 
 
Here is Susan's Note: 
 
Hi Heide 
 
At the end of your post you talk about PD options for those who want to
integrate literacy numeracy and language skill development into
vocational or workforce or other forms of training. 
 
Australia has a long history of integrated literacy training ( started
in the mid 90s) and it has over the last few years been picked up in the
UK under the title 'embedded literacy' mainly as a method to increase
reach and scale. 
 
In New Zealand this has for some years been recognition that low levels
of literacy numeracy and language skills are not going to attended to
just by specialist literacy practitioners. So last year a new
qualification was developed for tutors ( in NZ this is not used just for
volunteers as it is in the US) who are delivering vocational courses or
industry training courses or workplace training programmes ( not
literacy but focussed on specific workplace skills). 
 
http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/nqfdocs/quals/doc/1253.doc
 
 
The main part of the qualifcation is  what we call a unit standard (
competency standard) called 21204 . 
 
http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/nqfdocs/units/doc/21204.doc
 
 
The critical aspect of integrated literacy is the concurrent development
of the two sets of skills together. The literacy skills that are to be
developed are defined by the context of the vocational course and are
therefore confined by that context. There needs to be sufficient
teaching time and acts of teaching so that literacy can be integrated
into the other course. 
 
 There are a number of models for delivering integrated literacy - one
is team teaching where there are two tutors in the room - the literacy
teacher and the vocational teacher. This is a resource hungry model and
often depends on additional funding which may not be sustainable. 
 
 Unit Standard 21204 is based on another model - that vocational
teachers themselves can be trained to develop their learners' literacy
skills to a certain level. Teachers are not expected to develop the
skills of someone who is at a very low level - people with low level
skills need a specialist literacy tutor but we believe that vocational
tutors can make a difference to learners' literacy skills.  
 
 At Workbase we have started to deliver this National Certificate  this
year. I am currently working with a group of teachers who train students
who are acquiring skills and qualifications in dairy farming. The
literacy skills of the students of  these vocational teachers range from
those who can easily cope with the literacy demands of the job and their
vocational course to students who are really struggling. These
vocational teachers are finding that a lot of actiivities they are
currently using in their teaching can easily be used to teach and
develop literacy skills - in some cases it is just a question of making
it all explicit. 
 
 In the UK they have tended to focus on the team teaching model. They
have also invested millions of pounds in developing really excellent
'embedded learning materials'  for awhole range of occupations see
 
 
http://www.dfes.gov.uk/readwriteplus/embeddedlearning/cfbtgeneralinfo.cf
 
You a re right too that NALA in Ireland has done some really good work
on integrated literacy - they developed a really useful guide about the
systems and processes needed to set up an integrated programme 
 
http://www.nala.ie/publications/listing/20020628161601.html
 
with NALA's permission we adapted their guidelines for the NZ context (
particularly the pre employment context) 
 
http://www.workbase.org.nz/Document.aspx?Doc=Integratingliteracyintoothe
rcourses.pdf
 
If people are interested we have what we believe is the largest
collection of international online resources about integrated/embedded
literacy on the New Zealand Literacy Portal 
 
www.nzliteracyportal.org.nz <http://www.nzliteracyportal.org.nz/> 
 
just type integrated or embedded into the search function - otherwise
you can just type in 21204
 
 if there is something else you know about that isn't on the portal
please let us know 
 
 Kind regards Susan Reid 
 
Manager Learning and Development 
 
Workbase the New Zealand Centre for Workforce Lireracy Development 
 
www.workbase.org.nz
 
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen
Sent: Saturday, April 14, 2007 9:21 PM
To: specialtopics at nifl.gov
Subject: [SpecialTopics 290] What Works Adult ESL/ESOL Study
 
Special Topics Discussion Colleagues,
 
This has been an enjoyable discussion, and I want to thank our  
guests, Heide Spruck Wrigley and Larry Condelli, for joining us this  
week and helping us to better understand the What Works for Adult ESL  
Students study.  I will leave the discussion open for a few more days  
in case others want  to add comments, but Heide and Larry may not be  
able to continue to join in, or answer every reply. Our agreement was  
that their participation would only continue through today.  Of  
course, they are welcome to continue if they wish.
 
I have a comment on the study and the discussion.  The study has  
impressed me with what we know as a result of this research but, like  
a good appetizer, it has whetted my appetite for more adult ESL/ESOL  
research. There are so many questions that yet need to be answered.
 
 
David J. Rosen
Special Topics Discussion List Moderator
djrosen at comcast.net
 
 
 
 
 
 
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