<HTML dir=ltr><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=unicode"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1555" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY> <DIV id=idOWAReplyText37928 dir=ltr> <DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <P><FONT size=2><STRONG><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=3>Hi everyone!</FONT></STRONG></FONT></P> <P><STRONG><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=3>I am posting the following on behalf of Donna Brian, moderator of the NIFL-Poverty, Race and Literacy Discussion List. This upcoming guest discussion may be of special interest to those of you whose responsibilities include developing, implementing and/or monitoring curriculum in adult basic/literacy/ELL learning contexts, as it promises to raise some compelling questions about addressing social justice and activism issues in the teaching and learning process. So do check it out, and enjoy!</FONT></STRONG></P> <P><STRONG><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=3>*************************************************************************************************************  </FONT></STRONG></P> <P><FONT size=2><STRONG><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=3></FONT></STRONG></FONT> </P> <P><FONT size=2><STRONG><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=3>Guest Discussion: Poverty, Race, & Literacy </FONT></STRONG></P> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=3>Monday, August 7-  Friday, August 11</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=3><STRONG></STRONG></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=3><STRONG>Guest: Andy Nash- please see Andy's bio below</STRONG></FONT></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=159453321-02082006><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=3><STRONG></STRONG></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=159453321-02082006><STRONG><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=3>To participate, sign up for the list at <A href="https://tmail.utk.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/Povertyliteracy" target=_blank>http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/Povertyliteracy</A></FONT></STRONG></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=3></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style"></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=2><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=3>Literacy Discussion List</FONT> </FONT>Colleagues,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=3></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=3>Next week, Monday August 7 - Friday August 11, we have the great good fortune to have as a guest on the Poverty, Race, & Literacy Discussion List Andy Nash, Staff Development Specialist at the New England Literacy Resource Center at World Education.  As you can see from her bio below, Andy has experience in lots of different adult education literacy areas, but her overarching concern has been relating literacy to social justice and advocacy for participation in our democracy.  </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=3></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=3>Andy introduces this discussion by asking *us* some questions (see paragraph 2 below).  She intends to learn from us as we learn from her.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=3></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=3>Please read her bio and look up The Change Agent (</FONT><A href="https://tmail.utk.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.nelrc.org/changeagent" target=_blank><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=3>www.nelrc.org/changeagent</FONT></A><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=3>) and<SPAN class=159453321-02082006>, if you would like to participate in the discussion, join the list at <http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/Povertyliteracy> and</SPAN> be ready starting Monday to participate in a lively discussion about literacy and social justice issues!</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=3></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</FONT></DIV> <DIV><BR><BR><FONT face=Tahoma size=3>Andy Nash's bio:<BR>My work in adult education over the past 20 years has focused on building the capacity of adults to use their developing skills to be more informed and active participants in a democracy. I've brought this perspective to my work in ESOL, civic participation, worker education, family literacy, standards-based education, and many years of resource and professional development.<BR><BR>Having just finished editing a new resource about bringing issues of social justice into the classroom (see below), I am interested in thinking about the role such materials can play in adult ed. Do you find resources for talking about issues such as gentrification or globalization useful, or do you think educators should stick to more immediately tangible issues such as advocating for more affordable daycare, interpreters at clinics, etc.? In the short amount of time we have, is it necessary to stick with the "local," which is often speaking up for better community services, or are your students also interested in more general problems such as growing incarceration rates, the war(s), or the current debate over whether a president has the right to sidestep federal laws passed by Congress? In the interest of being as participatory and responsive to students as possible, does it matter if an issue gets raised by the teacher rather than being initiated by the students? And, of course, what does it all have to do with improving basic academic, language, and job skills?<BR><BR>These are all questions we think about when we work on The Change Agent (www.nelrc.org/changeagent), a biannual social justice newspaper for adult educators and learners published by the New England Literacy Resource Center at World Education. It was conceived in 1994 as a tool to educate and mobilize teachers and learners to apply advocacy skills in response to impending federal funding cutbacks for adult education.<BR>The first issue was so well received by teachers that we continued to produce more issues. Now well established as a unique resource within the adult education community, The Change Agent continues to promote social action as an important part of the adult learning experience.<BR>Each issue explores a different social justice theme through news articles, opinion pieces, classroom activities and lessons, poems, cartoons, interviews, project descriptions, and printed and Web-based resources.<BR><BR>"Through the Lens of Social Justice: Using The Change Agent in Adult Education" is a newly published book that celebrates The Change Agent's first decade by gathering its best and most timeless pieces and by offering guidance for educators in how to use the paper.<BR><BR>Chapter 1 introduces readers to the kinds of articles and tools that are available in The Change Agent and how they can be used. These<BR>include: "Ways In," short visual or textual prompts that can be used with students to draw out their experiences, questions, and concerns about social issues; "Issue Analyses," articles that examine an issue (prisons, school vouchers, health care, etc.) by looking at how our systems work and for whose benefit; and "Students Making Change," accounts of students who have used what they have learned to take some kind of individual or collective action outside the classroom. <BR><BR>Chapter 2 provides guidance in how teachers can use the articles to build thematic curriculum units, with sample units for ABE, ESOL, and GED. And Chapter 3 is a collection of articles about the challenges of bringing social justice issues into the classroom and the creative strategies that teachers have used to deal with those challenges. To see sample pages from the book, go to www.nelrc.org/publications/cabook.html<BR></FONT><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR></FONT></DIV></FONT></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV></DIV> <DIV id=idSignature22010 dir=ltr> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>Peggy McGuire, M.A., </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Senior Research Associate, National Consultant, and</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>NIFL-Program Leadership and Improvement List Moderator</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Center for Literacy Studies</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The University of Tennessee</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>111 5th Street, PO Box 16</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Mount Gretna, PA  17064</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>717-964-1341 (landline/fax)</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>215-888-6507 (cell)</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><A href="mailto:mmcguire@utk.edu">mmcguire@utk.edu</A></FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>