A new name for our field

Reading and Writing colleagues,

Deborah Kennedy, the Executive DIrector of the National Coalition for Literacy, and I, in my role as Steering Committee member of the Open Door Collective, have co-authored an NCL blog article about the development of a new name for our field, "Adult Foundational Education". I encourage you to read and share a link to the article with your colleagues. I also welcome your comments here, or directly to me, about the name and the proposed definition that you will find at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BTroPf5NCwcQIy_drWO5pzd44GE2fbmWNp71VyrqZCc/edit?usp=sharing

One clarification: this name is not proposed as a new name for programs or adult schools in the field but rather as a name for the field itself that currently goes by several, often confusing or ambiguous names. Deborah and I feel that a new well-defined name would serve many purposes. Read the blog article for more about that.

I welcome your comments and questions about the blog article, the proposed name for the field, and about the definition of the name. If you are interested in the process that led up to the proposed name that involved feedback from the field, an extensive discussion began in January 2022 in the LINCS Teaching and Learning community. You will find that at https://community.lincs.ed.gov/group/30/discussion/what-adult-foundational-skills-education

David J. Rosen

djrosen123@gmail.com

Comments

Hi David,

Many thanks for sharing this work that you've been involved with for some time. I do like Adult Foundational Education for several reasons:

1. Our field has a number of names (adult basic skills education, college and career readiness, adult literacy, etc.) and unifying behind one name certainly has its advantages. 

2. The basic in adult basic education can be taken negatively. Foundational well describes the skills we wish to build in our students. 

As always David, you are to be commended for your tireless efforts on behalf of our field! 

  • I am curious to hear what others think about this new name, Adult Foundational Education.

Thanks in advance for your comments! 

Steve Schmidt, Moderator

LINCS Reading and Writing Group 

Thanks Steve.

Everyone, here are some thoughts about how, if you wish, you can advance the use of this name:

  • When you are writing, use Adult Foundational Education instead of other names for the field, and asterisk or footnote the new name with this definition (The definitiion is still open for suggested additions, clarifications or questions.)
  • Ask colleagues to consider using Adult Foundational Education as the name for our field
  • Add a short piece to your organization's e-newsletter about this new name for our field
  • Write a blog article about why you have decided to use this name (and share a link to it here!)
  • Create a slide deck (or ask me for mine) on why we need this new name for our field
  • Be prepared with a one-minute response to "What does that mean?" that describes what Adult Foundational Education includes
  • When talking about education, reference the three fields: Pre K-12, Higher Ed, and Adult Foundational Education
  • Use the acronym AFE for short

Do you have other ideas about how we can advance the use of this name?

David J. Rosen

djrosen123@gmail.com