Useful Introductory Readings About Adult Literacy

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Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 469] book recommendation
From: Daphne Greenberg ALCDGG at langate.gsu.edu
Date: Fri Feb 9 16:42:33 EST 2007

I have been asked the following question and hoped that someone on this listserv has a good recommendation:
A director of a literacy program wanted a suggestion of a good book to read that would introduce Board members to the field of adult literacy. Any ideas?
Thanks,
Daphne

Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 469] book recommendation
From:Janet Isserlis Janet_Isserlis at brown.edu
Date:Fri Feb 9 16:52:38 EST 2007

this is a great question. Nothing jumps to mind yet, but I hope, as we ponder this, we might think not only about books, but also about articles (popular press included) or essays.

I know that there was a recent discussion on this and/or other lists about films - but a question about a text to help board folks think about adult literacy is really interesting to contempalte..

Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 471] Re: book recommendation
From: Muro, Andres amuro5 at epcc.edu
Date: Fri Feb 9 17:16:08 EST 2007

Slightly out of date, but Rethinking Literacy Education by Allan Quigley is pretty good and easy to read and a classic. Our friend's (George Demetrion) book, Conflicting Paradigms, is also an interesting read and more up to date. But it is a little more technical. Jonathan Kozol's book Illiterate America also, slightly outdated but very interesting and moving and also a classic.

A little more out there are Literacies of Power by Macedo, and the Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Freire and Reading the World and the Word by Freire and Macedo which are two classics. These last three are a very political.

Andres

Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 473] Re: book recommendation
From: Andrea Wilder andreawilder at comcast.net
Date: Sat Feb 10 10:14:38 EST 2007

Yes, One book, very readable = Other People's Words, Victoria Purcell-Gates. Written for general audience and professional alike.

I'd still go for the VP-G book. Here's why: it's about a family, it describes the sociological issues in how this family came to be illiterate, it shows how remediation is possible, it talks about the child's progress and the mother's progress and demonstrates with evidence, the language is Plain English, and it is as simple to read as a story yet covers all the bases in adult literacy.

Andrea

Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 474] book recommendations
From: Daphne Greenberg alcdgg at langate.gsu.edu
Date: Sat Feb 10 20:43:04 EST 2007

Thanks for the book recommendations. I think that I need to clarify. The person who is looking for the recommendation, is really looking for a basic introduction to adult literacy that lay people not involved in the field would find interesting. She is not looking for philosophical, instructional, or academic types of books. Her Board members are people in the business community who would benefit from being exposed to what adult literacy is all about. The book would hopefully motivate them to want to fund raise, to want to give money themselves, and want to be committed to advocating for adult literacy needs.
Any ideas?

Daphne Greenberg

Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 475] Re: book recommendations
From: Ryan Hall ryanryanc at yahoo.com
Date: Sat Feb 10 21:23:07 EST 2007

Daphne,
Maybe something that Tom Sticht has written would be helpful. Several of his articles can be downloaded from the following link: http://library.nald.ca/research/browse/author?name=Thomas+G.+Sticht
Ryan

Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 476] Re: book recommendations
From: Susan Reid sreid at workbase.org.nz
Date: Sun Feb 11 00:38:23 EST 2007

Daphne
this may be a bit off the mark but how about George Dawson's book Life is Good which tells the story of a man who learnt to read at 98 and who found it was hard work it is an inspiring tale and gives some of the reasons for low literacy

Susan Reid

Subject: [PovertyRaceWomen 478] Re: book recommendation
From: Chlup, Dominique dchlup at tamu.edu
Date: Sun Feb 11 21:43:20 EST 2007
I would add to Andres' great list Allan Quigley's new book Building Professional Pride in Literacy. Quigley writes in the preface, "Teachers, tutors, administrators, counselors, and those in the many adult literacy support roles who are relatively new to the field are considered the main audience."

Best,
Dominique


Dr. Dominique T. Chlup
Director of the Texas Center for the Advancement of Literacy and Learning (TCALL) &
Assistant Professor of Adult Education
Texas A&M University

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