Spreading the word

Between them Rose Brownen, Pat Ayton and Ann Daly have clocked up almost 40 years experience in adult literacy. They all started out as volunteers to local literacy schemes and, as they became more involved, they moved from tutoring students to organising literacy programmes for their areas.

Over the years all three have taken part in a range of extra-mural courses which they felt might help them do their jobs better and, between them, they have enough certificates to line several walls. The problem is that, because these courses fall into the category of extra-mural studies, they have little academic currency.

Up to now there was no way around this for those working in the 100 or so literacy schemes nationwide. However, the advent of certificate and diploma courses in adult basic education management (literacy) at Waterford IT has changed this.

Brownen, Ayton and Daly were among the first group of 27 literacy organisers who signed up for the pilot courses and they completed their studies last October. The City of Dublin VEC and the Department of Education and Science funded their fees.

Apart from breaking new ground in terms of content, the course is also innovatory from the student-assessment point of view. There are no exams to frighten off potential applicants and, where appropriate, the life/work experience already gained by students is credited.

"I'm not sure if I'd have done the course if I'd been faced with the terrifying prospect of having to remember things for exams," says Brownen. "The system they used combined continuous assessment, assignments, interviews, video taping of presentations and journal writing which was excellent."

The course came about through co-operation between the National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA) and Waterford IT. The need for such a course had long been recognised and NALA had been looking for a college to take it on for about eight years. Four years ago Waterford decided to become involved and the course planning and design began.

The course is run on a part-time residential basis over a number of weekends and subjects covered include practical teaching skills, literacy methodologies, philosophy, psychology and counselling. It takes 18 months for students to reach cert level and a further 18 months to diploma level. A degree is also in the pipeline.

"Because we had all worked in the field for quite a long time, we were able to avail of APEL which is accreditation for prior experiential learning," says Ayton. "Basically this means that we have to prove our competence in a particular area by preparing a portfolio of evidence. Because we were absolutely terrified that we wouldn't give enough evidence to satisfy the requirement we all put a huge amount of work into preparing our material for this part of the course. But it was worth the effort because it meant we had exemptions in certain areas," she says.

Daly feels that the course is very significant: "It has set adult basic learning apart as an area of expertise in its own right. It has put adult literacy training on a formal footing and this can only be a positive development for all concerned but especially for literacy students around the country who will benefit from our being better trained."

Brownen also believes that the course was very valuable in bringing geographically scattered literacy organisers together as a group. "We now have a critical mass of people with a qualification and, from here on in, we can act as a group. Up to this we were not a cohesive group and, by extension, we were disempowered. The course has changed that for the better I hope."

In addition to the training for literacy organisers, a new, standardised training system for tutors has also been set up. Up to now each scheme trained its own tutors separately so the standard and amount of work varied significantly from four hours in some schemes up to 20 hours in others.

"We believe that standardising the tutor training will put literacy schemes on a much more professional footing," says Ayton. "This is important when the schemes are approaching their respective local authorities for funding."

Before she got involved in literacy work 18 years ago, Ayton worked in the ESB. "When I got married it was normal for a woman to give up her job to be at home with the children. I was quite happy to be at home but I wanted an outside interest and decided that becoming a literacy tutor would interest me. I did the training at night and my involvement went from there." She now works full-time with the literacy scheme for the Coolock/Darndale areas of Dublin.

Brownen became involved in adult literacy for similar reasons. "I was at home with a small baby," she says. "I was lonely after the buzz of the bank and being with a lot of people." She has been involved with literacy for the past 12 years and works parttime.

Daly's involvement evolved from her studies as a mature student. "I had left school early and, around the time my last child started school, I heard about second-chance learning opportunities at Colaiste Dhulaigh," she says. "I jumped at the opportunity to do my Leaving Cert.

"I then became something of a professional student doing all sorts of courses. One day my attention was caught by a course for potential literacy tutors which I did and I was subsequently asked to take on a group." Now she works 13 hours a week.

Contact: Literacy schemes nationwide are always in need of voluntary, part-time tutors. They are also always happy to accept new students. To find the nearest literacy scheme in your area, phone the National Adult Literacy Agency at (01) 855 4332.