Education
Goals
By the Year 2000, every adult American will be literate and
will possess the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in
a global economy and exercise the rights and responsibilities
of citizenship.
A community that embraces intergenerational education will
by its nature be one where adult literacy and lifelong learning
are revered. Programs that encourage youth to teach older adults
can play a key role in creating such a community. Libraries
are essential components and can serve as sites for meetings
and programming. Community-wide commitment is also important.
A community that dedicates itself to learning sends a message
to all who live in it: that whatever one's age, reading and
learning should be daily activities.
"Working together to support and improve education for
all children, we supply connecting links between all generations."
Joan Cosgrove, President Illinois PTA
"Today's complicated an demanding lifestyles have created
a society in need of more cooperative co-existence among generations.
Through involvement in intergenerational programs in both the
public and private sectors, people young and old can thrive.
George H. Ryan Secretary of State
1. Adult Learning: Literacy, Skills Training
Vital to Nation's Future
By Marcia Escott, Illinois State University
Scenario 1: A junior high classroom
Rowdy adolescents, three to five years behind grade level in
reading, work side by side with older adults, maybe retired
teachers, but more often simply older citizens wanting to contribute.
The older adults are helping the youngsters improve their reading
skills.
Scenario 2: The cafeteria of a local
business or industry
Workers who are about to be displaced because they lack basic
skills necessary to keep up with technological change work alongside
students from the local high school. The students are helping
the workers with math and reading.
The learning in most intergenerational programs goes both ways.
Whether the youth are teaching adults, or vice versa, we all
benefit. We have better educated youngsters with stronger self-esteem.
We gain a better educated workforce that can remain competitive.
And we have happier, more involved senior citizens who stay
in touch with younger generations.
Learning is essential throughout the life cycle. It does not
take place at a given stage in the human development process.
Rather, it is an ongoing condition of existence, inseparable
from our roles as citizens.
Yet illiteracy threatens our society. Estimates of adult illiteracy
range from 17 million to more than 60 million. Some cannot read
or understand written language at all, but more often the problem
is less severe. Many people have only a fourth to eighth grade
skill level; some have learning disabilities; some need to upgrade
skills to meet more demanding workplace requirements; some have
the skills but they are rusty because they are so rarely used.
What does this mean for our work force? The workplace is changing.
Jobs that require more education, especially in the service
sector, are projected to make up 90 percent of new jobs through
the year 2000. Only 27 percent of new jobs will fall into low-skill
categories, compared to 40 percent of jobs today. The Bureau
of Labor Statistics predicts that more than half of all new
jobs created between 1984 and 2000 will require some education
beyond high school, and almost a third will require a college
education.
Needed: Skilled people
to fill demanding jobs
Further, the decline in population growth will mean an older
work force, with the average age of workers increasing from
36 to 39 by the year 2000. Between now and 2000, more than half
of all new workers will be minorities, nearly three times the
current figure, and women are expected to contribute 64 percent
of the total growth in the labor force. An additional 20 percent
will be nonwhite or immigrant men.
A new study produced by the Departments of Labor, Commerce,
and Education indicates that American workers are not keeping
pace with the demands of today's jobs -- and the gap is widening.
More workers are entering the job market with serious educational
deficiencies; many will never catch up. Our economy, stability,
and power as a country are threatened.
Each of us can make a difference by working to help more adults
become readers. This goal has its well-known advocates: First
Lady Barbara Bush has made literacy her pet project, and Illinois
Governor Jim Edgar has made it a priority. While less well-known,
the youth and adults who take part in intergenerational programs
can play a critical role in raising the nation's literacy rate.
For more information, contact Marcia Escott, Ph.D., Director
of Adult Learning and the BroMenn/ISU Center for the Study of
Aging,
Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois, 61761, (309) 438-8691.
"The intergenerational way of life
should serve as an example for all of society, showing us how
people of different generations can live in harmony, sharing
resources and nurturing each other. In these tight fiscal times,
intergenerational and interagency cooperation is imperative
in order to help frail and vulnerable people of all ages."
Victor L. Wirth, former Director Illinois Department on Aging
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2. Senior Studies:
College Courses Where Young, Old Interact
By June Heinrich, Triton College
The Senior Studies Program at Triton College offers a variety
of courses designed mainly for those 60 and older, but open
to all ages. The program is viewed not as a place of age segregation
but as a bridge to opportunities for students of all ages. Intergenerational
learning is encouraged by offering courses likely to appeal
to both younger and older students, and then promoting them
without age labeling.
The innovative Lifelong Learning Program in liberal arts offers
special credit, a certificate, and a Lifelong Learner key pin
to attract senior citizens to more challenging learning experiences
and to regular credit courses. Among the Lifelong Learner Program
courses that have been the most successful in bringing together
younger and older students are World Religions, Beginning Piano,
and Floral Design. Younger and older students strongly approved
of the mixed-age classes. In an evaluation of the World Religions
course, an older student wrote, "All classes should be
intergenerational. Both generations profit." A younger
student commented, "I think the intergenerational experience
is invaluable . . . we all give to each other."
Older people have much to learn from their juniors, and as
one participant wrote: "Younger people can learn from older
people who have lived through the history that young people
can only read about or see and hear in audiovisual experiences.
People of all ages--as well as of both sexes and of many racial
and ethnic backgrounds--need to think and talk together, not
only about the past but about the future."
For more information, contact Dr. June Heinrich, Program Director,
Senior Studies Program, Triton Community College, River Grove,
Illinois, 60171, (708) 456-0300, Ext. 599.
"Intergenerational activities and
programs give us the tools to promote meaningful experiences
shared by the generations." Janet S. Otwell, Regional Director
American Association of Retired Persons
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3. Building Literacy: To Succeed,
All Must Become Involved
By Elio DeArrudah, Chicago Public Library Literacy Program
Illiteracy is no longer the problem of only a few people or
of a small minority. The problem belongs to all of us because
we live in an increasingly interdependent society. The sooner
we all start thinking about a solution, the better it will be
for all. The sooner we introduce ourselves to this challenge,
the more chances we will have to get somewhere with our literacy
efforts. Given the interdependent, the intergenerational, and
the interracial dimensions of illiteracy, it is only reasonable
that we start thinking of a multigenerational, multicultural,
multiethnic, and multidimensional dialogue in which all parties
must participate.
Adult non-readers are not empty headed; they do have something
relevant to say, even though they cannot read. Literacy students
are prospective partners in the lifelong learning endeavor.
We expect our adult literacy learners to be providers, as well
as recipients; active, rather than passive; exchangers of dialogue
rather than "mummy-like" features in our literacy
centers; writers, as well as readers; and knowledge producers
in addition to knowledge consumers.
Essentially, we want them to share -- by speaking about and
writing down their issues, aspirations, concerns, hopes, sufferings,
visions, dreams, pains, and whatever else they deem worthwhile.
Reading is the first step to writing, and public readings are
a way to spread excitement about literacy. Last spring, the
Guild Complex in Chicago invited us to share our voices with
its associates, friends, and supporters. In a series of public
readings in Lincoln Park, our "community poets and writers"
presented their literary creations for the first time outside
their neighborhoods. The following are a few examples of the
work coming from the Literacy Program.
"Linking the resources and the
potential of older persons and youth is key if we are to make
any meaningful progress in improving education and social services
in our communities across the state. Vincent Lane, Chairman
Chicago Housing Authority
Reaching to the Sky
By Sanda Hinton Henry Horner Homes
There is a big world out there.
And there is no such thing
That I cannot do
Do not let anyone
Tell you
What you can or cannot do.
The sky is the limit .
. .
If you keep on
At something
You are bound
To get it
So, get it!!!!
We the People
By Faye Clark* Henry Horner Homes Literacy Initiative
We the people must
Come together as one.
We the people must
Unite and come together
All the time for all.
We the people must
Establish ourselves as
Sisterhood and Brotherhood.
We the people should
Love each other as one.
We the people must
Come together to be together
To be stronger
And closer to the absolute power.
We the people must
Help each other to get along
So that this world of ours will be
A much better place for you, me, and
Everybody else to live.
Thinking of you
By Timothy Roberts Henry Horner Homes
I think of you both day and night
Remembering you in my prayers
So I know you both are alright
For they show a love
So very surprising
For it's never
Fake or disguising
When I'm away for so very
long
They can even keep in touch
By telling me what's been going on
For the love I show
Can never be torn
For I've been with them
Since the first day
They were born
For the love they've shown
Dad
Is so very willing
Yet I thank the almighty God
For my two beautiful, wonderful children
* Faye Clark started in the Henry Horner
Homes Literacy Initiative as a student. Soon, she was bringing
along her children and engaging them in the learning exchange.
She went on to become a peer tutor and also a member of the
Henry Horner Homes Literacy Initiative Council a year later.
For more information, contact Elio DeArrudah, Chicago Public
Library, 400 S. State St., Suite 95-11A, Chicago, Illinois,
(312) 747-4162.
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4. A Lifelong Learning
Community: One Village's Commitment
By Len Sirotzki, Bensenville
Educational reform efforts over past decades have generally
proven to be less satisfying than reformers had hoped. Innovations
have come and gone, frequently consuming considerable resources
and energies. The more we tried to change, the more we seemed
to remain the same.
Efforts have been unsuccessful in part because many view the
school as if it existed in some kind of vacuum rather than within
a community. Schools do not lead society, they reflect it. Any
community that fails to regenerate its value system will harbor
a school system with no place to go.
Learning cannot be equated with schooling. Learning begins
at birth and continues through life. A school experience typically
lasts for just 13 years, and while those years are important,
every student who begins kindergarten has already experienced
considerable learning, and every graduate will continue learning
for throughout the life span.
For these reasons, In February, 1991, the Bensenville Intergovernmental
Group (BIG) unanimously adopted the resolution, "Bensenville:
A Lifelong Learning Community." The resolution invited
every individual and every group within the community to enjoin
one grand vision which emphasizes the value of learning.
The members of BIG committed themselves to a series of Saturday
morning skill-enhancing seminars. Besides listing their individual
and group learning needs, they have begun to design marketing
strategies for an initial set of action items. The leaders have
publicly agreed to set aside personal agendas in order to reach
for learning-related, common goals to strengthen families, improve
the outcomes of schooling, reestablish the efficacy of teachers,
develop partnerships among family, education, business, labor,
and government, and renew the sense of community.
For more information, contact Dr. Len Sirotzki, Director, DuPage-Kane
ESC, 421 N. County Farm Road, Wheaton, IL 60187, 708-682-6955.
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Retiree Mentors: Sharing
a Passion for Learning
by Mary Simon and Vivian Snyder, Southern Illinois University
at Carbondale
"We walked into the room and the students looked at us
in amazement. 'What are all these older people doing in our
class?' "The freshmen students soon discovered they were
in for an interesting semester of nontraditional activities
embracing basic skills. When the students talked about time
effectiveness, the mentors helped them plot their activities
noting that study should have a place in each daily plan. The
students and retirees conducted mutual interviews sharing their
experiences of growing up, dating, and their perceptions of
world and local issues. When the semester was completed, the
students made comments about their mentors: "They have
worked at this campus and understand all the problems you now
face." "It (the program) gave me a sense of support;
my mentor, was very helpful--I enjoyed it a lot!"
The retiree mentoring program is a part of University 100,
a non-credit course which meets two hours each week. In the
first hours, the instructor focuses on the presentation and
discussion of a basic skill; in the second, retired faculty
mentors lead a laboratory session that provides time for students
to practice and review the material prior to a weekly quiz.
Mentor-student interaction was predominantly in a group setting,
although one-on-one mentoring was built into the plan. The students
and mentors seemed to prefer the group setting and the opportunity
to develop support systems among their peers. The mentors often
acted as catalysts to link students to information about housing,
jobs, and ways to enhance their learning experience.
For further information, contact Vivan Snyder, Center for Basic
Skills, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Carbondale,
IL 62901, 618-536-6646.
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