Return-Path: <nifl-4eff@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id j3FKrYG25982; Fri, 15 Apr 2005 16:53:34 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2005 16:53:34 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <001701c541fc$ea9c19f0$1ba5c3d8@cattycove> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-4eff@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-4eff@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-4eff@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Donna Curry" <donnac@gwi.net> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-4eff@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-4EFF:2967] Re: EFF terms, etc X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.2180 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; Status: O Content-Length: 5496 Lines: 116 Hi George, Andrea, and others. EFF has always appealed to me because of it makes so much sense - but only if you let go of some of the semantics. The language - the definitions - seem to often get in the way of people understanding the heart of EFF. I think of the Standards as central to what I need to teach. EFF came to those 16 Standards by finding out what we (you and me and our students) need to do in order to be successful. The Role Maps are tools that give detailed descriptions about the activities we engage in as we play those roles. We may use a specific Role Map (for example, the Family Role Map for a student in a family literacy program) to help students better understand the kinds of activities (and therefore, the skills needed in order to successfully perform those activities) that they do - or would like to do. However, we may not need to explicitly use the Role Maps at all. Students may already have a clear sense of how they will use what they want to learn. The Common Activities are just that - activities that are common across the three roles. No matter whether you are in your community, family, or parent role, you gather, analyze, and use information. The ways in which you perform those activities may vary - which means that you may use different skills. Again, the focus is on the skills, but the Common Activities can be useful in helping students see that the activities that they perform in one role can be transferred to another role or situation. The Role Maps and Common Activities help teachers make explicit how what is being learned can be applied in life and can be transferred from one situation to another. I have oversimplified 11 years of work into a few paragraphs, but I think in the past we spent too much time on being explicit about the terminology and not clear enough on how to use those different pieces of the Framework, nor how nicely they all fit. Donna Curry Westport Island, Maine ----- Original Message ----- From: "George demetrion" <gdemetrion@msn.com> To: "Multiple recipients of list" <nifl-4eff@literacy.nifl.gov> Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2005 6:46 PM Subject: [NIFL-4EFF:2961] EFF terms, etc > Andrea, > > The 1997 report EFF: A Reform Agenda for Adult Literacy and Lifelong > Learning (esp. pp. 14-16) is an excellent place to start for the BAR > (Broad Area of Responsibilities) and Key Activities stemming from the Role > Maps. These terms are also defined in the Glossary along with the > Generative Skills, defined as, "Skills or knowledge that are core to the > performance of a wide range of tasks found in multiple roles and that are > durable over time in face of changes in technology, work process, and > societal demands. Generative skills are cross-functional and serve as the > foundation for effective adaptation to changes in role requirements" (p. > 30). The generative skills ultimately became incorporated into the > Content Standards in which their core definition is preserved. If you go > to the EFF link on NIFL a lot of the core pieces of the EFF framework can > be found. > > Juliet Merrifield's EFF Report: Building the Framework, 1993-1997 > provides additional information, especially on the generative skills, and > knowledge domains. EFF Content Standards: What Adults Need to Know and > Be Able to Do in the 21st Century is the best source for information on > the Content Standards and the Common Activities. Check out the NIFL- EFF > archives, too, for additional information. > > If you don't have much background with EFF, there's a lot there, which it > might be better to take in small doses. > > On EFF, think of a holograph in which each part, at least in theory, has a > place in a comprehensive system. Then realize, too, that every part of the > framework has heuristic value** in opening up learning even though there > is nothing in principle to require EFF to establish an effective learning > dynamic with students. It's key pedagogical value is its capacity to > stimulate learning and to direct it in certain channels linked to what > students want to accomplish in a manner that might not necessarily be > self-evident through more "naturalistic" approaches to teaching. In any > event only a small portion of the EFF frame is drawn upon in any learning > situation. Thus, there is that certain tension between EFF as an elegant > theory, and it is elegant in the best sense of the word, and its practical > utility in any given situation, which might only call for the utilization > of a singular aspect of the framework to stimulate what might be referred > to as the learning that matters to a given student at a given time > > For some definitions and applications of the term, "heuristics," check out > this link: > http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&oi=defmore&q=define:HEURISTICS > > George > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: AWilder106@aol.com > Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2005 9:11 AM > To: Multiple recipients of list > Subject: [NIFL-4EFF:2957] Re: Conflicting Paradigms in Adult Literacy > Education > > Meta, George, anyone who is EFF savvy: I would appreciate some discussion > around EFF, the BAR, KA, Generative Skills, Knowledge Domains, and > Standards. I can't even begin to visualize these things and how they > relate to each other. I am really interested in a deep understanding of > EFF. > > Please help me along, here. > > Thanks, > > Andrea > > > >
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