La Vergne Rosow

This is an online cautionary note about setting up perameters for learning and teaching approaches.

PAULO FREIRE had a profound influence on my view of literacy and the world.

Notions of learner-centered instruction and expanding the language to expand the world of the learner may appear intuitive, but Paulo put that theory into words.

When Paulo died in 1997, his passing was mourned around the world. More so was the loss of his wise counsel.

The National Literacy Advocacy (NLA) discussion group provided one forum for remembering this powerful educator/philosopher. The NLA has closed, but archives to those discussions should appear online soon.

This link is to my message of May 4, 1997.

NLA MESSAGE TO AN
ADULT NEW READER

From LRosow at aol.com Sun May 25 13:32:37 1997
From: LRosow at aol.com (LRosow@aol.com)
Date: Mon Mar 1 23:47:40 2004
Subject: NLA Discussion: Adult Learner Leadership
Message-ID:
<199705252225. SAA26655@ europe.std.com>


David, and Archie Willard,

Your point about the importance of having the learner at the center of the
policy discussion is well made.

While many California library literacy programs (and those of other states,
too) have adult learner board members, learner advocacy groups and learner
conferences, and while Literacy Volunteers of America national conferences
have a long-standing tradition of a learner strand as well as key program
parts designed and presented by the adult learner members, there are many
literacy, language, and Adult Basic Education programs that follow a more
traditional curriculum.

Whenever learner-specific events are mentioned on any of my lists, I forward
the information to those learners, tutors, teachers, and program directors
who I know do not have electronic access to it. (Email and internet access
will be the next divide between haves and have-nots, if it isn*t already so.)


You are right, we must keep remembering what our work is about. When we fail
to put the power into the hands of the adult learner, we are simply repeating
mistakes that have gone before--the kinds of mistakes that cause literacy
problems to self-perpetuate.

Thanks for the wake up call. It has been duly noted and forwarded. Your
promised adult learner contact list is also much anticipated.

But please keep in mind that all of us tend to do what is familiar (and
convenient) first. That means we may forget your call to include the
customer in the campaign.

Please plan to ring the bell again...and again....

La Vergne

La Vergne Rosow, Ed.D.
Literacy!

Independent booksellers have provided me, along with thousands--hopefully millions--of others, with countless hours of discovery and shining moments of serendipity.

It is in the stores where the booksellers are as engaged in the loving of books as they are in the selling of them that small treasures await discovery. So, those are the places I love to go hunting for what I don't know I don't know about.

I will always remember the kindness and caring Norman Brock showed a scrawny, freckle-faced junior high red-head. His cave-like San Antonio maze of musty shelves was a wonderland. He took great effort to respond to my first query, leading me down ancient stairs and around and around to one little old book that cost almost nothing and was exactly what I was looking for.

PLEASE REMEMBER NORMAN BROCK If you have any memories you would like to share, I would love to hear about them. Just send me an e-mail by clicking on the La Vergne Rosow on the far right hand side of this page to respond.

In more recent times, Patty and Ren Taney of Bookman Too, Randy McDonald of Sandcastle Books, Larry and Birthe Wagner of The Book Junction, and Davis Dutton of Dutton’s Books have enriched my literary life immeasurably.

CURRICULUM CHAIR Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD). The work of this committee is to provide academic courses that serve the needs of students at each of the 9 colleges in the LACCD, the largest community college district in the world. Part of the challenge is to achieve consensus for campuses that have very different student populations, all of whom are served by one mission.

DIRECTOR, TEACHER PREPARATION ACADEMY (TPA)
California has experienced a severe teacher shortage and anticipates more shortages as waves of retirement pull experienced teachers from the classrooms over the next few years. To help solve the problem, some community colleges are offering programs for future teachers. Currently, I direct one of those programs.

I teach education, reading, and English as a second language classes.

The books listed in the "Annotated List of Good Books" of In Forsaken Hands and annotated in Light 'n Lively Reads and Accessing the Classics are the same as those I use in my classes...authentic literature. For more on this topic, see "Authentic Text" on the My Works pages.

TEACHER - WATTS MIDDLE SCHOOL

When I returned from Thailand, I thought I would put myself out of the adult literacy business by getting closer to the root causes.

I began teaching 6th grade at a middle school in WATTS. The reading scores were below the tenth percentile.

On the first day of school, there were over 50 children in my classroom designed for fewer than 30. None read above the third grade level. There were not enough desks.

Because there were not enough of the assigned out-of-date texts, the children had to share them.

We had block scheduling and team teaching. I taught English and social studies and my teammate taught science and math. For two hours I had the same students for English and ancient world history. Then my first group went next door and my teammate's students came to me.

During one 9-month period I had five different teammates and, because of structural problems, I had to change classrooms five times.

I have not written this book yet, but I do miss those children…every day.

FOUNDER BEAUMONT LITERACY PROGRAM

As founder of the Beaumont Library District Adult Literacy Program in Beaumont, California, I designed a program that allowed community volunteers to become tutors of adults

• who were just learning to read for the first time or

• who had always had a hard time understanding printed words or writing them.

The tutors learned the reasons behind reading problems and taught those theories to their adult students in one-on-one sessions. Every tutor/learner pair was a new experiment. The adult learners were actively involved in literacy research.

Eventually we added a family literacy component. But, I was often asked to help home schooling parents with reading issues.

The library computer system now allows members of the public access to many answers anonymously.

FIRST TEACHER FGCC
I was
The First Teacher of
The First Class of
The First Global Community College in
Nong Khai, Thailand.

In Thailand I am called Dr. La Vergne. Until recent times, the Thai people used only first names.

One of the most enriching opportunities of my life came when I joined the California Community Colleges Fourth Delegation to Thailand.

In Nong Khai (that's in the Northeast just across the Mekong River from Laos) I became the first teacher of the first class of the First Global Community College (FGCC).

This rainforest region, with magnificent trees, gentle water buffalo, majestic elephants, and the warm waters of the Mekong make up what can only be recalled as Paradise.

During subsequent visits, I conducted teacher education seminars all over the country and taught English at Khon Kaen University.

My studens from the First and Second Classes had an opportunity to study in the Computer Science Department at Khon Kaen University (KKU).

At KKU, I taught my First Global Community College students, KKU senior, and KKU faculty.

Before coming home, I designed an Internet composition and research class. Then I taught my students, who were at their computers in the Northeast of Thailand from my computer in California.

I continue to correspond with those Thai citizens, some of whom have moved to the US and elsewhere.

PS If you have a chance to visit or teach in Thailand, take it. If you go, be sure to find your way to Nong Khai and to go across the Mekong River to Laos (pronounced Lao). The Thai people are gentle, kind, and welcoming. The rainforest is spell-binding. The temples are inspiring.

ACADEMICS

Making good my escape from high school when I was 16, I never intended to return to school again. I swore off after every degree, too.

Probably the most important part of my formal education has been at the community college. For a reasonable cost a student may try out options, make mistakes, and continue with lifelong learning. So it is that I think my AA degree from Orange Coast College has made all other academic work possible.

At Chapman College (now Chapman University), I earned a BA in art and education an got interested in photography right at the end of my program. So I went to California State University, Long Beach, where I earned an MA in photography and instructional media.

In my book In Forsaken Hands I give the long story about literacy volunteerism. Here I will simply say that it led me back to school, the University of Southern California, where I earned both a master degree in teaching English to speakers of other languages, MSTESL. And then a doctorate of education, Ed.D., as a major in intercultural education with an emphasis in language teaching and family literacy.

I continue to work on my lifelong learning. I’ve taken geology in Yosemite National Park, studied endangered California plants in the mountains, wilderness survival in Costa Mesa, and opera as literature and scriptwriting at a community college.

In celebration of the 2005 wildflower bloom bonanza—the result of record-breaking rains, I accompanied some science profs to the desert region called Anza Borrego and found fantastical photo opportunities.

Recently, I took a geometry through paper folding course. Why wasn't I taught that way before?

I have my eye on a math class, but that calls for a bit more courage.

The design of this website is also a work in progress. If you discover any errors or have any suggestions, please use the e-mail link on the right to send me a message about it.