I attended a panel discussion this Monday in Washington DC, sponsored by a local program to kick off Adult Education and Family Literacy Week. A major message was, of course, that adults with good language, basic, and academic skills are more likely to raise children with the same.
That this message is true is certainly logical on the face of it, and I do remember some research from the 90s, I believe that showed that a mother being literate was the single biggest factor for predicting a child’s educational success.
I looked around for that study, but couldn’t find it. I did, however find a more recent study that verified the importance of the literate mother/parent:
Sastry, N., & Pebley, A. R. (2010) . Family and neighborhood sources of socioeconomic inequality in children's achievement. Demography, 47(3): 777-800.
As an adult educator, however, what struck me most at the panel discussion was what educating the mother had done for the mother herself.
Let me explain: One of the speakers was a youngish mother, originally from Mexico. She has three children in elementary school. She has taken family literacy and ESL classes at her children’s school, has gotten her high school equivalency, and is gainfully employed. I believe she is also looking into a certificate program at a local community college. In addition, she is now an officer in the school’s PTA, and an advocate for adult education with other adult English language learners in the community. What adult education and family literacy services and instruction helped her achieve was, well, pretty heartwarming, if not astounding.
(By the way, a proof of the wonder and joy of our field, another panelist, a social worker for children in elementary schools, got involved in family literacy in the school she was working in and now would like to enter the field of adult education!)
In honor of Adult Education and Family Literacy Week, I’d like to invite you all to share any stories you might have about how this education has touched the life of some adults you know.
Miriam Burt