Ready to Change?

Members of the Reading and Writing, and DIversity and Literacy Communities, our LINCS Resource Collection includes the following report:Time for the U.S. to Reskill? What The Survey Of Adult Skills Says (LINCS resource summary at https://lincs.ed.gov/professional-development/resource-collections/profile-730)

The OECD’s international Survey of Adult Skills (2013) aims to help countries secure better skills policies by measuring the basic skills of adults in 24 countries and demonstrating how these skills relate to economic and social outcomes. This report explores the main results from the United States in greater depth.

"The report found that while other countries have been showing improvements in equipping its adult populations with the skills needed to be productive in their society, the United States has remained relatively unchanged in the decade since the last report, thus falling further behind their international counterparts. The findings, in particular, shine a spotlight on a part of our population that has historically been overlooked and underserved: the large number of adults with low basic skills. U.S. data also indicate that our education system is not doing enough to help adults compete in the global market place. Adults who have trouble reading, doing math, solving problems, and using technology will find the doors of the 21st century workforce closed to them. As a nation, we need to be more strategic and systematic in our effort to reach these adults." (http://skills.oecd.org/Survey_of_Adult_Skills_US.pdf)

Devil's Advocate to Accepted Practices: Paraphrasing Einstein, doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results is a  practice in insanity. We know that our adults resist writing, for example, and reading, yes. Most resist it because we teach them in ways that do not fit their learning preferences or interests. We continue to shove rules for essay development down their throats and force them to perform like robots, while encouraging them to be creative and independent! We keep doing the same thing over and over again, expecting them to suddenly get "our picture" of success. There is something drastically wrong with our picture. It is time to change. "But," I hear, "they have to pass the GED! "We have to teach them how to write five-paragraph essays that develop different writing strategies so that they can go to college." 

What if we stopped that nonsense? What if we never mentioned the word "essay" again in our instruction? Would the sky fall?

Your views on the topic are encouraged and invited!

Leecy Wise
Moderator, Reading and Writing Community

Comments

Okay, being a kinesthetic learner and not liking to write, I think  about ways that make it easier for me (and adult learners) to communicate. With the technology that we have now, I wonder if we really need to be able to write (and read). How cool to use video and audio (and doing) to learn! Just thinking out loud.... Why are we locked in to reading and writing?

Hi, Kaye. I hope others will join us here since you brought up good points to consider. My experience working with adults, students or teachers, is that most respond very well to holistic, visual and kinesthetic approaches to learning. They are not linear and linguistic learners.

I often heard said among community-college English teachers, "Our students don't write not because they can't but because they are not familiar with the topics. Their experiences are limited to very personal, family, or immediate community events. In addition, I always say, they don't have experience in organizing thoughts and abstract concepts. 

Video instruction is excellent for many, but they still have to write coherently and read through occupational guides in most cases.

Let's continue this discussion. I would love to hear more on how you have approached reading and writing, especially in your work as a professional developer! Thanks. Leecy