The landscape of the face tells many stories, anxieties and hopes and defeats.
Courage to try again.
These are the faces of people in adult basic education.
People learning reading and arithmetic to better understand and deal with the places like community centers, hospitals, union halls, churches, buses, prisons, homes, labor camps and schools.
Places called learning centers.
For people in adult basic education, it means another chance.
These are men and women who never reached the eighth grade.
Their numbers are impressive.
24 million.
Some are employed, some are not.
Those that are usually work at unskilled jobs with commensurate pay.
Those that are not frequently have to resort to some form of welfare subsidy.
11 million live in extreme poverty.
Those with unskilled jobs find these diminishing at a rapid pace.
Those on welfare suffer demoralization and despair that feeds back to family and community.
Bleak and unstable islands in the midst of an affluent society.
Adult basic education exists to counteract these trends where undereducated adults find themselves relegated to second class citizenship by their inability to function within the changing economic and social framework of the electronic age.
To do this effectively, adult basic education must with due haste provide the incentive and the conditions for utilization of the most efficient and dynamic techniques for speeding the process toward acceptable levels of literacy.
Adult basic education is increasingly urgent, but need is outrunning time, both socially and by the lag inherent in traditional approaches to pedagogy.
Techniques have emerged for speeding up the learning process while adapting method to the needs and capabilities of each student.
The new technology is being put to work to deal with problems created by the growing gap between educational demands and teacher supply.
It relieves the instructor of mechanical processes, permitting his energies to be directed to the more meaningful tasks of teaching.
Adult basic education is committed to bringing up the rear of the nation's educational curve to the realization of new standards and goals, which are for each person his wings and for the nation its strength.
Programmed learning assures the student that he will not fail.
There are no arbitrary goals.
Each person has his own starting point, which is determined by tests made at the time of enrollment.
From this, he proceeds with instructional materials gauged to his level.
Program materials enable him to advance in small steps and check himself out at each interval.
He works when he can, without pressure of competition, and at his own speed.
He may work independently and then with a group.
He is assured of teacher help when he needs it.
The instructor, freed of more routine tasks, is able to take time to familiarize himself with each student's performance and provide personal attention where and when it is necessary.
Educational materials are selected not only for general quality, but with a concern for the maturity of its content.
What is right for children learning to read may be completely undesirable in an adult class.
Students are sensitive about subject matter.
Reading must relate to matters of the adult world, and in particular, to the world of these adults.
Tell something about what you do when you go shopping for food for your family.
Well, at first I try to find the sales that it's on, and then milk and eggs and butter things that are on sale.
What is the most expensive item really on your shopping list? Meat in general, right? Yes, and fish is even expensive.
That's right.
Today I think fish is more expensive.
It's more expensive than some of the cheaper cuts of meat fish is, because some fish cost as high as 98 cents a pound, and you can get a hamburger for less than that a pound.
That's true.
Sometimes the discussion is of a private sort between teacher and student, or a counselor and student.
Staff people respect the adult status of the pupil, understand his background as an individual, and as a member of the community.
A positive relationship is vital to the student's encouragement.
For now the family is all right.
Everything is going all right in my house.
And the baby is okay now? Yes.
And wife is all right? Yes, she's working for now.
Oh, she's working too? Yes.
Who takes care of the baby? Well, we pay the babysitter.
I see.
The babysitter takes care of the baby.
And so with that and what you're working on.
A learning center is where people gather for instruction.
It takes many forms.
When people cannot come to the center, the center goes to the people.
It is there for those hours when they can free themselves of other responsibilities.
It may be one hour or several.
At the Armstrong Learning Center in Washington, D .C., students work independently, though the room may house many diverse activities.
Music In the learning laboratory, students use a scanner.
They control the speed of movement, increasing it gradually to condition faster word recognition.
Music Rochambeau Learning Center in White Plains.
Dedicated administrators and teachers, as much a part of the adult basic education program as the curriculum itself.
A spirit that permeates the classrooms and turns on response measurable in students' zeal and excitement.
Music Visual aids lend a change of pace.
Student involvement is kept at high level, whether in the group or in private work.
Sue, what are your plans for the future? Well, I would like to go in and try to get my high school diploma and go into service.
I would like to work in the post office.
That's a very good idea.
Okay, how about you, Joan? Nursing for me.
Nursing is for you.
That's right.
Very good.
We need nurses.
Well, I think practical because I have two children, so it will have to be practical.
I can't wait to go through college and then on.
Right now it's just getting out of this class and into the high school.
You would need that to go on to the licensed practical? You have to have at least 11th grade, so I'll go all the way through to get a diploma.
I think I'd like to work in grasslands, but I want to be with the old people.
I remember my great -grandparents so well, and I think that's the best part, either that or crippled children.
Talk about ambitions and plans is rewarding on several levels, not the least of which is defining objectives for realistic appraisal and mutual encouragement.
Policeman.
Good.
Policeman.
Policeman.
Good.
Boots.
Boots.
Boots.
I don't know.
Steep.
Steep.
At Jackson Adult Basic Education Center in Chicago, people helping people is a common sight in classes.
It challenges the student in a more active role and encourages friendly exchange.
The student is at home in such an environment.
Window.
Ice cream.
Ice cream, eh? To me, it's like a leg.
Child care is offered during class hours to make it possible for mothers to attend the program.
Do.
Do.
Not.
Not.
Don't.
Don't.
Photograph 106.
Which way do we go? Which way do we go? Left of the corner.
Evaluation of equipment and materials is an ongoing part of adult basic education.
At a special demonstration center in Virginia, the curriculum calls for the use of a number of audiovisual devices.
Their performance is tested in terms of pupil stimulation and as a teaching aid.
How far is the store? Okay.
Now, on far, the R in Spanish, your tongue touches the roof of your mouth, but in English it doesn't.
Therefore, pull the tongue back.
Do you understand me? So pull the tongue back.
How far? How far? Okay.
How far is the store? How far? In Arizona, where the population is widely dispersed, videotapes are being broadcast for home learning to Spanish -speaking adults.
Programs are produced as an adult basic education special project at the University of Arizona.
El Centro Hispano Americano in Milwaukee.
Located in the midst of the community.
Concerned with the whole person, it serves its people in a myriad of ways.
Men and women drop in for conversation, counseling, reading, social gatherings, dental attention, participation in various programs, classes.
Adult basic education is a part of the center.
Many of its enrollees come in off the street to discuss personal problems and are referred by the priest or another agency.
The program stresses command of English as a way to self -improvement and economic goals.
Teachers come up from the ranks of the people.
The only professionals are the director and her assistant.
All teachers are housewives trained by the director.
Their vitality and rapport with the student is an inspiration.
Subject matter for language exercises appeals to the practical concerns of adults.
Health, family, jobs, legal and political awareness.
When adults are unable or reluctant to attend classes, the instructor goes to the homes where families congregate for lessons in English.
These tutors are in the field seven days and nights a week.
The impact on the young of the household is a fringe benefit and profoundly affects attitudes towards school.
A development and demonstration project for adult migrant workers in Florida.
Developed by the National Education Associates for Research and Development, this project encourages the migrant to participate in adult basic education classes as a means to self -improvement and better jobs.
NERAD is concerned as well with developing approaches to teaching methods and the use of materials that are rooted in the special needs of the migrant worker and will stimulate him to effective learning experiences.
How to contend with classes in days of exceptionally long working hours.
How to bring learning centers within physical reach of students in widespread rural areas.
How to implement an educational program that will provide the necessary continuity for adults caught up in the occupational patterns of a constantly shifting work trail.
Men and women are tested for aptitudes and placement levels, which serve as the basis for an individualized plan of instruction.
In addition to regularly scheduled classes, programmed learning enables the student to work at random hours, which do not conflict with the demands of his job.
Materials that are part of his living experience and which are adaptable to word and mathematic concepts are especially effective.
Visual aids and adult -oriented subject matter assure added interest and function.
Mobile classrooms are planned to reach those people who do not have transport means.
Community organizations and agencies invited to cooperate in this total effort offer a wide range of assistance to migrant workers.
Facilities, medical attention, legal counsel, food, clothing, shelter, job placement.
Private counseling affords NERAD personnel a more intimate awareness of individual problems and needs on which to base professional guidance.
The adult -micron student information system will compile computerized records and updated pertinent data for every student.
His master file will then be directed to each successive State Department of Education as he moves to changing job locations and thus provide a guideline for his continued educational progress.
The most urgent objective is to help each person become qualified for an upgraded permanent job, which will enable him to sustain himself and his family outside the migrant stream.
Follow -up visits by NERAD administrators encourage the workers and demonstrate interest in the mutual satisfaction between employee and employer.
This is a small segment of the adult basic education diorama.
The drama is endless in human terms.
A new self -confidence, a way to a better job, the enrichment of reading, understanding, and participating as active citizens.
The dignity of filling out a tax form instead of answering to a welfare questionnaire.
Coping with the daily confrontation of the written and oral word.
The excitement of knowing.
The security of knowing how.
Thank you.
