Very Rough Still in Progress Draft-Community Writing Center Work

Posted onAuthorLaKela Atkinson2 Comments

LaKela Atkinson

ENGG 8600

Dr. Will Banks

26 November 2018

Proposal Draft

Introduction

Literacy is a valuable skill in western society so much so that xx of the population is considered literate. Traditional nineteenth century notions about literacy were “more focused on the particular cognitive processes that occur when one reads and writes” (Cushman et al. 6) in formal schooling.  However, since this time, scholars like Brice Heath have shown the value in variation of the definition in her study of how communities in North Carolina have benefits from connecting culture and orality with literacy (10).

In a study conducted by the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIACC), thirteen percent of the American population ages 16-65 was considered at the greatest level of proficiency in 2014. Although this was higher than the international average of sixteen percent, the lowest level was also higher than the international level, which was sixteen percent (NCES).

Studies conducted that connect literacy to employment or professional advancement? Social advancement?

Studies

While I will offer statistics on literacy rates for youth and adults, I will connect the rates specifically to the target population of minority adult rates

Focus will be on literate practices—relationship-building

 

 

Literature Review

Although research on community literacy exists…population and to what extent

Jeff Grabill, Deborah Brandt, Linda Flowers

In her 2014 article, “Investigating Adult Literacy Programs through Community Engagement Research: A Case Study,” Wells discusses a case study based on a community-university literacy center partnership. This article discusses the benefits of Lafayette’s Adult Resource Academy’s (LARA) open-entry open-exit program, as well as the challenges of limited labor and learning resources. While the adults served are from high-crime, low-income environments, the population is unspecified. Further, the locations for LARA are in predominantly white locations. My research aims to focus on adult populations that are predominantly African American and other people of color, as personal experiences and observations have drawn me to consider the resources and challenges that exist for them. Issues of access and opportunity are tied to race, and

 

Method

For this research, I intend to use data analysis from previous research on community literacy center and my experience volunteering at a nonprofit all-boys’ academy. Without IRB-approval, I will refer to data provided to me from previous interviews and submissions for a grant and proposal writing course.

Methodology

WORK IN PROGRESS

Writer’s Reflection

African Americans and people of color have engaged in literacy practices before they were recognized as literacy practices. As a member of the African-American community, I have benefited and experienced challenges with the practices that appear valuable to its members. Therefore, I would like others to acknowledge and understand the value of these practices beyond academic spaces. By introducing yet another perspective on adult literacy, I hope to compel western society to recognize its historical practices—specifically those that have contributed to the ways that various communities voluntarily and involuntarily interact within and outside their communities for self-advocacy. Further, I hope to emphasize a need to support all aspects of literacy. Literacy is multifaceted, and I continue to learn about ways that seemingly innocuous tasks and acts serve as tools to progress groups of people, especially underrepresented groups. I am excited to join other scholars in promoting

I am struggling most with the best method that speaks to the value of adult literacy. While the research primarily focuses on interviews and case studies, I have not allotted for time to obtain IRB-approval and conduct empirical or qualitative research. However, because firsthand narratives from adults about their experiences are vital in determining the success of a program, I plan to use at least one of these methods for my dissertation. As I continue to build upon my research across courses, I hope that I can for now discuss connections between the data and what types of data can inform my future research. Like with my other projects, I find it most difficult to commit to the terminology of “community literacy centers.” For my research thus far, I have used this term because of the wider availability of literacy centers compared to community writing centers. For this project, the term, literacy centers, is probably an acceptable term because of the focus on the practices. Yet, when I explore this term further, I want to shift to community writing centers effectively.

For this work in progress, I want readers to answer questions related to clarity about the project’s intended direction, the value they see in focusing on adult literacy, and how this project might be further fleshed out to address the needs of the target population.

 

Works Cited

Cushman, Ellen, et al. Literacy: A Critical Sourcebook. Bedford/St/ Martin’s, 2001.

NCES (National Center for Education Statistics). “Fast Facts.” NCES,    https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=69. Accessed 27 November 2018.

US News (2016, January 13). Achievement gap between White and Black Students Still   Gaping. US News. Retrieved from https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-  mine/2016/01/13/achievement-gap-between-white-and-black-students-still-gaping

2 thoughts on “Very Rough Still in Progress Draft-Community Writing Center Work”

  1. First, in regard to your very first line, I would suggest including what your definition of “literate” is. What is the threshold of literate vs illiterate for that figure (once it’s more specific than xx, of course)? You give definitions for literacy but I feel like literate has a different meaning.

    I like your justification in your Lit review. It reads as “I know this has been done before, but I want to do it for a specific population I believe the previous research didn’t serve.”

    To your larger questions: I must admit I am a little uncertain as to where your project is headed. You seem to imply that you want to emulate Wells’s 2014 article, but to do so with an African American community, specifically. You say that you want to combine analysis from previous research with your own experience…

    …but then you say that because you don’t have IRB approval, you’ll have to use specific sources for your data: “data provided to me from previous interviews and submissions for a grant and proposal writing course.” With that short explanation, I’m unsure what those sources really are, what sort of information they’ll provide, and how that compares to the kind of data you could have gotten with IRB and/or the kind of data used in previous research.

    That’s my main question coming out of this. Your notes for intro and lit review seem appropriate and on the right track, but the methods and data are a bit unclear to me.

    I hope that helps!

  2. I’m excited about your project, though from your draft I’m not sure exactly what you’re going to analyze or study to explore literacies/literacy practices. I’m a little worried about your using interviews without IRB-approval, but I may not be understanding what you’re really doing here, so I hesitate to say “no” outright about that.
    I realize that for your dissertation you will want to interview and look at individuals who have participated in this program, but I think for this project, you can keep your focus on documents and observations that you do yourself. Documents that are both at the center you’re studying and that are part of their work — the materials will explain how they see their work, how they understand literacy (which may be much more limited than research in the field or may be way more expansive, or may be a combination depending on the different elements), and how they frame their goals through/with/against literacy; the observations you make/have made allow you to look at the embodied literacy practices, the things that are part of the “curriculum” or what gets done each day to sponsor literacies. Neither of those types of data collection would require IRB and would seem to me important for any future project because they offer both the ‘official’ literacies that center values/advocates for based on their own documents and what you see as a volunteer.

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