I have long been a supporter of the work done by ILA ((international Literacy Association) and not only appreciate but have extensively used the research that it distributes to improve literacy instruction, starting early in life. ILA originally IRA (International Reading Association), has announced its ILA Intensive: Nevada in Las Vegas, NV, June 21-22, 2019.
The announcement for this event included the following statement: "ILA's stance is that all educators, regardless of personal beliefs, have an ethical obligation to meet the needs of all students."
What do you think about that statement? Leecy
Comments
Leecy,
Did you mean Las Vegas, NV (not NC) ?
David J. Rosen
Indeed, I did mean Las Vegas, NV. That "C" is too close to the "V" on my keyboard! Thanks for catching that, David. I've fixed the error in my original message. Leecy
Leecy and all - I completely agree with the statement that we have an ethical obligation to meet our students' needs. The question then is: what are those needs and how can we meet them?
I have been teaching English to Spanish speaking adults for over 25 years. Usually the students who attend class are low-income, mostly mothers in their 30s and 40s who also work. Often these students do not have much education, but a good percentage have gone to college.
Very often these students cannot attend classes at the local community college for a variety of reasons. The main reason, of course, is that they are very busy and often tired. In addition to which English is not easy to learn.
To help them learn English basics, I first developed a series of bilingual texts written with a phonetic guide. Years ago I also make CDs to accompany the texts.
The phonetic guide was important because English pronunciation causes a lot of problems and actually blocks learning.
I now teach in two libraries and my classes are "open" - that is, there is no attendance requirement. I use WhatsApp groups to keep in touch and to send "homework", such as online lessons and songs, etc. People like "studying" like this, and I am sure that it helps a great deal in English aqusition.
So I would say YES meeting the needs of students is critical. We all need to learn how to be "student centered" a opposed to "teacher centered".
Paul Rogers
Thank you, Leecy, for reminding us of this. Yes we need to go beyond the classroom. To some it may appear to be too much to do. I agree. It could be overwhelming.
So I decided to begin by simply finding online and other resources for the students to access. For example, I made a list that contains information on food banks, online drivers' test prep, test prep for certain jobs, legal clinics, etc.
Now the social climate is more intense, so I invited someeone to talk about the legal impications across the board.
There is a lot to do...
Thanks again for adding this