On Saturday October 22, 2016 ALTA hosted its annual training for new and returning ALTA Coordinators. Coordinators ensure that their respective ALTA classes around the country are run efficiently.
The day began with a welcome and the dissemination of Mental Health guideline booklets to all coordinators. This was a suggestion coming out of our Mental Health workshop earlier this year and detailed how coordinators and tutors should respond to any mental health concerns in the ALTA classroom.
Coordinators also had the opportunity to examine the newly revised Tutor Book 1B and make recommendations. This was followed by a session led by Paula on the Refresher trainings which were completed prior to the start of the academic year. Feedback provided from tutors who attended the refreshers was examined and recommendations made where necessary. ALTA’s Programme Manager Joanne Phillips also conducted a session on ALTA’s database which proved to be quite useful for the coordinators.
After lunch, coordinators examined the Reading Circle program and came up with ways to encourage students to join the program and to encourage an open line of communication between the ALTA Community Classes and the ALTA Reading Circles. This was followed by discussions on present and potential issues coordinators may have in their regions and a plan of action and regional agenda were created to be implemented going forward.
The day ended with a panel discussion moderated by Paula. On the panel were four longstanding and experienced ALTA Coordinators – Gloria Ferdinand, Jeanette Williams, Veronica Fongyit and Lystra Hazarie who shared advice on effectively carrying out ones role as an ALTA Coordinator. The panel was extremely informative and enjoyed by all. Some of the suggestions and comments coming out of the discussion were the importance of being a part of the team and treating everyone with respect. Jeanette Williams also stressed that coordinators should see their role on two levels- as a coordinator for tutors and students – “both students and tutors must feel comfortable to approach you” she said. Jeanette also stressed on the importance of showing appreciation to our volunteer tutors who give so much of their time to ALTA and said that the interest of ALTA students must be a coordinator’s priority. Encouraging tutors to identify and understand specific literacy issues which individual students have, was another area Jeanette identified as being important to ones role as coordinator.
Bernadette Nathaniel one of our new coordinators shared her thoughts on the training session:
“As a new coordinator, the training afforded me the opportunity to learn from more experienced coordinators who provided valuable insight into what it takes to be effective and professional. The session with Joanne with regards to the database was also very useful as sometimes, as a tutor, you do not explore all the available resources. The Reading Circle exercise was informative as was the session with the amended Book 1B as this will help with structuring classes in a more efficient way. Overall, the training will assist me in carrying out my role as a coordinator efficiently and effectively.”
When Hurricane Ivan ravaged Grenada in 2004 it also dismantled ALTA’s programme there which began in 1999. In 2014, ALTA revisited the foundations which had been laid and trained tutors with the intention of restarting the programme in Grenada. Despite low student numbers and funding and venue challenges, classes began.
This year for the second time we were able to train tutors in Grenada via Skype linking up to our Belmont tutor training course. The five newly trained tutors were able to plan and execute student registration in Grenada and began classes for a second year in September. The tutors have launched an organisation called The Adult Literacy Initiative of Grenada (ALIG) which is supported by ALTA. Jill Patterson of ALIG shared some feedback on classes thus far:
ALIG is conducting both Level 1 and 2 classes this term, and we are already off to a great start. Our returning students were eager to resume classes, and have ecstatically shared their reading experiences over the break. They are excited about the new term and seem to have retained the skills learned in Level 1. Our new students were very open about sharing their challenges with reading and have indicated their various reasons for starting literacy classes. Although it has been a bold step for them, they have displayed sheer commitment and desire to completing tasks ahead. We have already established a strong rapport with the new students, and the entire class is building community spirit, as we conduct both classes in the same room. We look forward to what’s ahead and are grateful to be serving the Grenadian community in this way. Thanks to ALTA, we can make this a reality!
Keep up to date with ALIG on Facebook!
It seemed as though we just couldn’t close the registration list on Saturday 1 October, when 47 reading guides attended the 2016 Reading Circle training at our Belmont office.This was a record number. Guides poured in and enthusiasm was high at the session as they pledged to take the structured reading skills back to their reading rooms.
Reading Circle coordinator, Lilian Ramsaroop gave guides the administrative tour of their role and responsibilities to their students, as well as the relationship that must develop between guides and literacy tutors.
Especially for the new reading guides, ALTA Founder and CEO, Paula Lucie Smith’s explanation of the components of reading as taught in the literacy classroom and their direct links to the structure of the guided reading lessons was explicit. For all guides this made it clear that reading is complicated.
It’s a Funny Game, the factual and humorous book modelled by Lystra Hazarie, ALTA National Coordinator, introduced guides to several of the tools that comprise the guided reading concept that ALTA has been exploring for the past several years with Wallis Wyke.
In turn, guides got the opportunity to be teachers and students using ALTA library sets from different literary genres. Judging from their reactions, the newly trained guides were enthusiastic about having to demo a book. Many of them said that the training was much more interesting than they had imagined.
At the end of the day regional coordinators met with their guides to discuss the start-up challenges and strategies, and library sets were distributed to the 16 active reading circles across the country.
Article first published in The Northerly titled ‘Testing, Testing 1,2,3 and…?’
Particularly for young children, examinations can be very stressful. So how many do we really need?
In one study in the U.S., an educational researcher set out to examine whether standardized testing for 7-8 year-olds was really necessary. In the state of Arizona, which has such mandatory tests, he asked the Arizona State Department of Instruction and district personnel why this was done, and was told that it was so they could learn which children needed help and which did not. He asked if they could get that information from teachers, but was told that such information would not be “objective,” that teacher ratings were “untrustworthy.”
He decided to personally test that theory by asking the teachers themselves. In a simple study, he asked teachers to rank the students in their classes in terms of how they would do on the state’s No Child Left Behind accountability test.
Of the 36 teachers that participated, reporting on nearly 1000 students, the researcher found that the teachers’ ranking of their students’ performance showed a strong positive correlation with the students’ rank on the state test. In other words, teachers are quite capable of providing the authorities with information about who needs help and who does not in about 10 minutes.
“In many districts, standardized exam results have become the single most important indicator of school performance. As a result, teachers and administrators feel enormous pressure to ensure that test scores consistently rise. Schools narrow and manipulate the curriculum to match the test, while teachers tend to cover only what is likely to be on the next exam. Methods of teaching conform to the multiple- choice format. Education increasingly resembles test prep”
Although these observations relate to the U.S., there is no doubt that a similar situation exists here in T&T. The Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) pressure now combined with the Nationalized Standardized Tests in Standards I and III, filters all the way down to preschool level. It is now common for three-year-olds to be given homework every day, in order to “prepare” them for primary school.
In a widely-read recent article by Dr. David Bratt, entitled “SEA is child abuse!”, he states that “Our curriculum is far too focussed on tests. Thers is no balance in the curriculum. It lacks arts, music and PE and areas of learning that are vital to physical and emotional health and balance in life.” He notes that for young children, play is far more important than rote learning: “Play develops creative thought and expression…Creative thought enhances problem solving. Creative thought, whether adult or child has its roots in play. When young children use their imaginations in play, they learn to be more creative and therefore perform better at school tasks.”
So will we soon see a system which prioritizes play over rote learning? Don’t count on it, so long as the education system in T&T continues to be designed by bureaucrats rather than educators.
Snapshots of our 2016 anti-stigma and student recruitment campaign
Armed with the knowledge that stigma, fear and shame have stopped thousands of non readers around the country from coming to ALTA’s free community classes, we decided to execute a campaign aimed at reducing stigma associated with non readers in Trinidad and Tobago. The campaign entitled ‘My Story’ also doubled as a means of spreading awareness of our recently concluded Student Registration. The campaign was a success as we were able to spread awareness, tackle stigma and register hundreds of new students.
With help from Pepper Advertising and sponsorship from the Citizen Security Programme (CSP), our anti-stigma team planned and executed an integrated marketing communications campaign. Pepper’s expertise is transforming our ideas into media tools, the first of which was a radio ad campaign entitled ‘My Story’ which told stories highlighting the feelings of freedom, usefulness, pride, connectivity and achievement our students feel. In an effort to increase public empathy and understanding, it also examined why people may not have acquired reading and writing skills when they were younger. These ads were broadcast on local radio stations.
We also produced a television commercial with a twist which reached a wide audience when broadcast on TV6 and at Movie Towne and shared on our social media pages. We got many positive comments on our short videos of current and past students telling their stories and encouraging non-readers to come to ALTA.
Heartfelt thanks to:
Advantage Advertising
Bernadette Nathaniel
CL Communications
Garryn Ferdinand
Graphikos TT
IBN TV
Jeanette Williams
Kim Belmonte
Lennox Austin
M’aisha Thomas
Marios Pizzeria Ltd
Merle Carrington
Movie Towne Cinema
NALIS
Pepper Advertising
Shiva Boys’ Hindu College
Trinity TV
TV6
WACK Radio 90.1
Warrenville Regional Complex
Judith pictured on the left at the evening of tea and readings
ALTA’s Port of Spain West region has our very own author. ALTA Tutor and Ambassador, Judith Theodore, was recently one of the feature guests at the Paper Based Bookshop’s Evening of Tea and Readings. She was called upon to read an excerpt from her collection of short stories edited by Jeanne Mason and Ian. F. Ali.
An alumna of Wayne Brown’s writing workshops, Judith is also an artist, playwright and actress. She may be remembered for playing the role of Sandra Webb in the T.V. series Westwood Park which ran in 1997.
Judith has been a tutor in her St James community at the St Agnes venue since 2007.
Congratulations to Judith!