Beginning A Literacy Program
by Nancy Woods
Director, Adult Literacy Action
Pennsylvania State University

 

BEGINNING A LITERACY PROGRAM ASSESSING THE NEED PROGRAM STRUCTURE BUILDING A PROGRAM MONEY MATTERS RECRUITMENT PROMOTION TRAINING HORIZONS

TRAINING A literacy program is only as good as its staff and volunteers; this makes good training critical. Most programs find it convenient to train volunteers in a workshop setting. The training workshop brings another benefit, too: it helps to build friendship and cohesiveness among volunteers. Once tutors leave a training session and are matched with students, they are more or less 'on their own." Therefore, training workshops should be as complete as possible, and should include: An introduction to the reading materials which your program will use An operational overview: the location of tutoring sites and a contact person for each site; staff person to contact if problems arise; how to obtain materials and texts; reporting procedures; hours in preparation; hours teaching; student profile Community resources available to supplement tutoring: role of the library; role of the local schools; role of the religious community Literacy issues, nationally and locally: how the program interfaces with other educational opportunities Sensitivity training: understanding adult students; how to realize a student's individual goals; procedures for addressing problems; suggestions for a positive approach to learning (Tutors are not feeding students wisdom, but rather encouraging them to develop their own minds.) The educational process: student entry evaluation; ongoing evaluation and recordkeeping procedures; how to integrate the student's need and interests into the curriculum and lesson plans; supplemental classes available Some time in the workshop should be spent talking about volunteer skills other than tutoring. Volunteers can serve in many different capacities, including: Teaching crafts Teaching small classes Doing specialized testing As office help In fund development On speakers bureaus Computer assistance In recruitment and outreach On the newsletter team There are trainers affiliated with specific literacy organizations (Laubach Literacy Action, Literacy Volunteers of America and others) whose skills may be utilized, an /or you may want to involve local teachers and reading specialists. It is also possible to develop a unique training program with advice from groups like the American Society for Training and Development. Ideally, training workshops are supplemented with inservice training. Staff, tutors, students or circumstances may suggest topics for these sessions: in a high unemployment area, for example, it may be important to hold a session on how to teach someone to fill out a job application form. Tutors in communities with non English speaking citizens may need an ESL class. Another class might demonstrate how to help a young parent help children learn to read. Spelling and grammar may be other concerns.