Upcoming articles, in pre-production:
'Phenomenal Women,' Collaborative Literacies, and Community Texts in Alternative 'Sista' Spaces
Beverly J. Moss
Abstract
The work highlighted in this essay focuses on an ethnographic study of a group of African American women, members of Phenomenal Women, Incorporated, who come together not necessarily to read and write, but who, in their “sista space”—their club—often read and write when they come together. In this space, they promote self-help through reading and writing and use their literacy skills to promote civic action and engagement and cultural enrichment. This essay examines the literacy practices in which these women engage in two types of literacy event during their annual Black History Month celebrations.
From the Escuela Moderna to the Työväen Opisto: Reading, (W)Riting, and Revolution, the 3 'Rs' of Expanded Proletarian Literacy
Gary Kaunonen
Abstract
In working class education, one of the primary goals in addition to basic literacy was the formulation of class-based interpretations of society. In the late 19th and early 20th century, as literacy programs began to filter into the lives of proletariat, an attempt to expand the definition of literacy past basic reading and writing skills occasioned the rise of institutions that defined literacy as not only reading and writing, but also knowledge of class and economic theory. Thus, these early proletarian programs developed a broader definition of literacy, past basic reading and writing programs, to class-based educational curriculum.
'It’s Kind of Twisted': Professionalizing Discourse during Youth Documentary Making
Paul Teske
Abstract
This qualitative research article explores how youth create multimodal rhetoric during a service-learning course at a local youth media organization. The study takes a detailed look at how a group of teens wanted to gain access to the Discourse of the documentary-making process but struggled with the confines of conventions of film as was represented by the professional documentary maker who was their instructor. The research combines sociocultural and cognitive research traditions while investigating the teens and instructor’s relationship and interactions concerning the production of rhetoric.
Tactics and Strategies of Relationship-Based Practice: Reassessing the Institutionalization of Community Literacy
Paul Feigenbaum
Abstract
This essay revises Paula Mathieu’s call for relationship-based tactics of engagement over institution-based strategies. Because engaged scholars operate within institutional contexts, they should utilize both tactics and strategies to make the academic institutional paradigm more conducive to relationship-based engagement. In supporting this long-term goal, community-literacy practitioners can adapt Brian Huot’s theory of instructive evaluation to enable collaborative assessment of community partnerships. One possible mechanism for such institutional invention would be the establishment of quasi-strategic, quasi-tactical Community-Literacy Associations.
From Read Ahead to Literacy Coalition: The Leadership Role of the Central New York Community Foundation in the Creation of a Local Institution
Frank Ridzi
Abstract
This paper applies the lens of recent literature on neoinstitutionalism and institutional entrepreneurship to understand the stages of growth in a new community Literacy Coalition. It explores the interactional, technical and cultural phases of institution building identified in other case studies as they emerge in this community study. Finally, it emphasizes the work of local institutional entrepreneurs and acknowledges the involvement of macro-level institutional entrepreneurs that coordinate the approach of communities such as this one and help to bring about the isomorphic qualities seen in coalitions across the nation.
Expectation, Reality, and Rectification: The Merits of Failed Service Learning
Suzanne Kesler Rumsey, Tanja Nihiser
Abstract
Prompted by Cushman and Grabill’s call to “ask and answer the difficult questions” about service learning (Reflections 2009), this article addresses the difficult question of “what happens when service learning goes wrong.” Authors engaged in family history writing and service learning with a local historical group. When the project was unable to be sustained, authors theorized a three-part methodological continuum of expectation, reality, and rectification to articulate the merits of failed attempts at service learning.
Composing Citizens: Epistemic Work in the Interstices of Comprehensive-Planning Genres
Dylan Dryer
Abstract
As cities like “Portstown” comply with statutory mandates to involve citizens in the drafting of their comprehensive plans, community-literacy workers should pay careful attention to the reading and writing opportunities that emerge. This case-study examines how Portstown planners surveyed citizens’ experience of their city and illustrates how citizens translated and resisted the assumptions that infused the survey. I argue that in our efforts to understand the coercive properties of institutional documents, we must not efface the epistemic qualities of the work of composition. Recognizing these qualities, I conclude, means seeing more opportunities to intervene strategically in the development and reception of “public” writing opportunities.
The Sadder the Story, the Bigger the Check: Reciprocity as an Answer to Organizational Deficit Model
Kathryn Johnson Gindlesparger
Abstract
This ethnographic study argues that reciprocity—the attempt to equalize the power dynamics that occur in working relationships—is a way to counteract the widely-used but rarely-critiqued deficit models that dominate the nonprofit landscape. If community work is not done with a near constant attention to power dynamics, programming that is intended to help clients actually replicates and rewards structures that take away agency from those being served in community programs. The practice of reciprocity offers this structure.
A Convergence of Expectations: What Literacy Studies Might Offer Community Partnerships
Grete M. Scott
Abstract
Why, if service-learning has “come a long way,” has it not had the impact on the university or on the community that proponents expected? This article details interviews with eight teachers at Virginia Tech who use service-learning in their classrooms, with particular attention to the convergence of literacies that occurs when teachers, communities, and students all attempt to work together. As we continue to work toward sustainable, reflective community partnerships, literacy studies like Barton and Hamilton’s Local Literacies can help us examine the expectations these three parties bring to service-learning projects.
Adult Basic Education and Health Literacy: Program Efforts and Perceived Student Needs
Michael Mackert, Meg Poag
Abstract
This project examined health literacy efforts among adult basic education providers in Central Texas. Methods: A survey was conducted with all adult literacy providers in Central Texas (N=58).
Results: Most programs provide health-related information. Literacy programs see needs for helping students communicate with doctors, filling out insurance paperwork, and knowing where to go for treatment. Programs express interest in lessons designed to improve health literacy and networking workshops to collaborate with healthcare providers.
Conclusion: Literacy providers recognize the health literacy needs of their students but do not always have the resources or capacity to improve their programs.
Writing Rock Stars: An After-School Community Partnership in Childhood Literacy
Lisa M. Gring-Pemble and Pamela Garner
Abstract
In this essay, we explain the development, implementation, and preliminary findings of an innovative writing program that drew upon a peer collaborative model and a community literacy perspective. Developed as an after school program, this project represented a community-university partnership designed to provide an enjoyable forum for teaching and learning writing techniques and principles outside of the constraints of state curricular guidelines. Preliminary case study data suggest important benefits of this partnership for young children, parents, and the surrounding community.
Books in Motion: How a Community Literacy Project Impacts its Participants
Molly Ness
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore the impact that a community literacy project had on the reading habits of young children and their families. This year-long study focuses on a public library-run program titled Books in Motion, in which community members read children’s chapter book and meet monthly to watch the book’s film translation. Using a case study approach in which I followed six groups of participants over several months, data sources included small-group structured interviews, individual open-ended interviews, written surveys, and field notes and a reflective journal from monthly film nights. The constant comparative model yielded three major themes, including the following (1) Books in Motion impacted community literacy interactions, (2) the program motivated participants in innovative ways, and (3) the program offered participants new literacy resources. Thus, children’s reading continues in engaging and creative formats through programs like Books in Motion. As public libraries seek to influence children’s reading today, Books in Motion exemplifies how diverse community members can benefit from a low-cost community literacy program.
'The English Effect' on Amish Language and Literacy Practices
Tabetha Adkins
Abstract
Using Jack Goody and Ian Watt’s theory of literacy as a normalizing agent, I show how the presence of the English language and “English Only” values and policies have affected the Amish and their home language, Pennsylvania Dutch, and their religious language, “High” German. These changes are seen as detrimental to the Amish who, like linguistic scholars William Labov, John E. Joseph, and Joshua A. Fishman, equate language with identity.
The History and Role of Libraries in Adult Literacy
Alice Horning
ISSN: 1555-9734