Sometimes those people come in with depression, very poor lives, with many problems because many people they saw in their country killing of their mother, brother, or sister. They saw that and they have that in their minds. Sometimes when the teacher talks about something close to that, they start crying. The people start crying. It’s hard.

The people learn. They’re old. They need to learn slowly. The people need help and more time. It’s very sad in the heart. It’s terrible. Sometimes it makes me mad with the pressure, work, work, work. But they need more time. If we can find a way to fix that, it would be very good. It would make many people happy.

Cora, who served as a VISTA volunteer in her GED program and took an active role in helping senior citizens, stressed the importance of patience on the part of stakeholders.

I just ask that the Board of Education would be a little bit more patient. Slow down. I know that this is a fast paced system we live in, but if you keep going at the pace you’re going, you’re not going to help as many people as you think you’re going to reach out there and help. You start the program to say you want to help the people that have fallen through the cracks; but if you keep going the pace you’re going, the people that fell through the cracks, they’re going to still be there because you’re moving too fast. Patience is what we need because I think the world is running out of patience. We are just hurting each other with not being patient.

Problems of Professionalization

The problems inherent in the present push for professionalization were addressed by three participants. Anna was hired last year by her adult learning center as Director of Support Services. She is concerned with the lack of social workers in adult education programs and the absence of a stable career path:

There are not too many social workers in literacy. So when I go to conferences and all of that, I am the odd ball. I’m the social worker. There are not too many social workers in the literacy agencies, and it’s very well-needed... You work with any non-profit literacy agency. It’s a one-year, continual contract. Who knows where I’ll be next year or the following year. I know that they have just gotten a nice grant that is going to pay my salary for next year. But beyond that, I don’t know.

Florine is employed as a Student Services Coordinator at a community-based organization with a case load of over 400 students. She switched her major from education to mental health and social services four years ago when she was bumped from her teaching position because she did not have certification. She is concerned about teacher turnover at her agency:

The turnover is extraordinary, and I’m not sure if it’s good or what. It’s not good for the clients. If I’m their teacher, they grow to like me. When I leave, half the class leaves. Because they’re putting this big thing on degree. A lot of teachers who have degrees don’t want to work for the pay they’d get here.

When I first started here they had quite a few people who were program participants who had graduated from this program, who had come through it, and who were teaching. At one point they decided to let go of all part time people and they wanted all full time people and all full time people should have degrees if they were teaching.