Reflection on Adult Language and Literacy

Reflection on C0831 / Adult Language and Literacy

One of the last classes that I took to complete my graduate studies is the Adult Language and Literacy course. Professor Gleason facilitated our group of approximately 15 students. We focused on adult language and literacy practices, programs and policies from the viewpoint of adult learners, educators, researchers and bureaucratic officials. Several guest speakers brought vitality to our classroom as they informed us about various forms of adult literacy and teaching methods. We engaged in rich conversation around social, economic, cultural and political matters that affect adult literacy practices. To end the course work, we visited the Consortium for Worker Education (CWE) and for me that experience basically summarized what adult education is really about.

We began the class by reading Terrance G. Wiley’s, Literacy and Language Diversity in the United States. Wiley challenges assumptions, research and educational policies in order to make us look more closely at the practices in American schools. It is obvious that his book was written to critique the status quo. Readings on his research and the statistics from the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) reveal that only 37.1% of Americans complete college with an Associates or a higher degree. Whereas, most educated countries such as Korea, Japan and Canada have college completion rates of 52.8%. This means that the United States is no longer the education leader of the world. While the latter fact is acceptable, the number of people who seek and complete higher education is really substandard.

Two of my fellow graduates and an earlier Language and Literacy, MA graduate did presentations during our class on contextual adult learning and teaching practices. Wynne Ferdinand presented the I-BEST model approach of adult education. Along with Amy Dalsimer, the Director of Pre-college Academic Programming at LaGuardia Community College, Wynne offered invaluable information on multiple programs offered at LGCC Adult & Continuing Education Programs.

Megan Kelley, one of our classmates who is visually impaired did a workshop of Braille literacy. She is very knowledgeable on accessing reading materials for people who are blind. It was great to learn the history of Braille and how it is evolving with new technology. Braille literacy is not a highly recognized term, however it has let to the empowerment and success of Megan Kelly. She is truly a remarkable person and one of her goals is to become a teacher for blind students and exploit the concept. I wish both Megan and Wynne much success on their future endeavors.

Mr. Ruben Rangel, a Marilyn Sternglass Award Winner and MA, L&L graduate of 2005 visited our class to demonstrate a Freirian approach to teaching adult literacy. During his workshop we actively explored key concepts from Freire’s, Pedagogy of the Oppressed. It was a very moving experience that I believe changed the dynamics of our class in a personal way.
Paulo Friere and Mike Rose are the two philosophers that Professor Gleason chose for us to study on issues of access to education and literacy. She could not have chosen any better scholars to demonstrate how social, cultural and political realities impact learners and how we as educators can address them along with the students. These were both powerful reads, ones that I am sure I will revisit infinitely and use as guides throughout my personal and professional lifetime.

Our mid-term assignment was to write a summary of a journal article or a chapter of a book of our choice. I chose to summarize from Peter Elbow’s, Everyone can Write, “Inviting the Mother Tongue.” Elbow proposes ways to make the basic writing classroom an educationally comfortable and more writing safe environment where students can worry less about their language being “wrong” or “incorrect.” He introduces ways to promote writing comfort ability in the classroom by allowing students to write in their native dialect while guiding them towards writing in standard written English. His ideas have intrigued me in such a way that I am eager to further explore his theories. I, not only as an educator, but also as an African-American student who speaks in African-American Vernacular English (AAVE), can understand how this method can have a scaffolding affect on students. I plan to learn more about this technique and practice it in my classroom.

We wrapped up the semester by visiting the CWE. We had the pleasure of meeting with Mr. Joe McDermott, the Executive Director of the organization, who founded it 25 years ago. He is an amazing man who established the CWE to provide adult basic education and workforce specific training to help people to build and maintain careers. Eric Shtob, who is the Assistant director, has worked closely with Joe McDermott for the past 15 years developing educational services through unions, government agencies and community based organizations to serve workers of New York City and State. I was very impressed by these men and the work that they do. I really admire their dedication, compassion and honorable achievements that help non-traditional students like me reach their goals in life. It was such a pleasure to meet them both. However, Joe McDermott’s discussion shifted my view of adult learners during my last few hours of graduate school. He stated, “Society lost the battle (lifelong learning) to schools that focus on a categorized and formal outcome. What about average workers; shouldn’t their work also be recognized? School does not define people!” These are just a few of his words of wisdom that has caused me to adjust my perspective and redefine my understanding of adult education.

The L&L, MA program at City College is a relatively small program in comparison to others at the college. Barbara Gleason occupies several positions in addition to being the Director of the program. For this reason, she has taught several of the courses that I have taken during my graduate studies. These include: Writing Center Theory and Practice, Adult Learning and Development, Theories and Models of Literacy and the most recent Adult Language and Literacy. Professor Gleason does a great job of providing information in ways that are effective for adult learners through literature, research, reports, graphs, presentations, field trips, etc. More impressively, she is able to re-invent herself every semester by teaching in variable styles and making learning exciting. I appreciate Dr. Barbara Gleason and thank her for being motivating, supportive and devoted to her students. My learning experience at CCNY has been an unimaginable one and I could not have done it without her.