NIVEL INFERIOR DE INGRESOS
2.4. Cuantas son Mujeres
The RTLP is an intergenerational literacy programme that targets socially disadvantaged families and in particular, parents or care-givers with children aged between 3 and 4 years (i.e. pre-school children). Accordingly,
the programme combines aspects of ECE and adult education in order to address the distinctive literacy needs of the targeted participants.
The programme is based on the underlying principle that the learners and particularly children’s ability to effectively master literacy skills relies on:
■ reading aloud (interpersonal read- ing) on a regular basis;
■ progressive learning of the alpha- bet;
■ the development of phonemic awareness through rhymes, song and games; and
■ the development of sound – sym- bol relationships.
Aims and Objectives
The programme has five clear aims: ■ Create learning opportunities for parents, care-givers and their children in order to combat illiteracy in the State.
■ Nurture a culture of reading and learning within families.
■ Empower parents and care-givers with appropriate literacy skills in order to enable them to effectively nurture the educational and psychosocial development of their children. ■ Create ECE opportunities for all children in order to enhance their school performance as well as to improve the school retention rates for young students.
■ Raise public awareness on the importance of literacy and education as a tool for socio-economic empow- erment and development.
PROGRAMME
IMPLEMENTATION:
APPROACHES AND
METHODOLOGIES
The RTLP consists of two-hour weekly family sessions conducted by qualified ECE and adult education teachers over a period of three school terms. The teachers provide literacy skills training assistance to parents and their pre-school children through the use of a variety of interpersonal and participatory teaching-learning methods (such as songs, games, story telling and discussions) and various learning aides (picture books, local newspaper and magazine articles, arts and crafts). Furthermore, learning activities are usually tailored to children’s levels of psychosocial development. These teaching strategies are intended to use the learners’ everyday life experiences as the basis of learning and thus to promote and sustain their interest in the programme.
In addition, parents also receive specialized training or mentorship in appropriate ECE practices in order to enable them to effectively support their children’s reading and literacy development through home or fami- ly-based teaching-learning activities. Adult participants are also allowed to borrow books for home-based family learning.
MONITORING AND
EVALUATION
Internal evaluation of the programme is undertaken by both professional teachers and adult participants. This occurs at two distinctive levels: Informal evaluation: teachers are encouraged to hold ongoing and open discussions with adult partici- pants in order to gauge and incorpo- rate their views and aspirations in the programme. Informal discussions also
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Learning Families – Intergenerational Approaches to Literacy Teaching and Learningallows teachers to assess the impact or lack thereof of the programme on individual participants.
Formal evaluation: the programme has developed feedback forms which allow participants to evaluate the programme anonymously. Questions addressed by the feedback forms include:
■ How does your child feel about attending the Reading Together pro- gramme activities?
■ What parts of the session do you think they enjoy most?
■ Since they began attending Read- ing Together what changes have you noticed in regard to your child’s com- petence the following areas: Books and Stories, Nursery Rhymes and the Alphabet?
■ How do you feel about the Read- ing Together Sessions?
■ What aspects of the programme do you feel are most valuable?
IMPACT
The programme has created learning opportunities for many families in Tasmania. Currently, the programme benefits more than 175 adults and 200 children per year.
Feedback received from individual participants and schools indicate that the RTLP is having a positive effect on learners and their families. Significantly, many kindergarten and pre-school teachers report that RTLP child-graduates have greater reading capacity and are therefore able to easily master new literacy skills than their classmates who never participat- ed in the programme. Reports from kindergarten and preschool teachers further indicate that former RTLP par- ticipants often have more advanced interpersonal skills and are more enthusiastic to participate in learning activities than their peers. Hence, the provision of appropriate literacy training to children in their formative years has a long-term effect on their entire educational performance. The programme has also empowered parents to play a critical role in the psychosocial development of their children as well as the development of their communities. In particular, parents who attend RTLP classes
reported being better able to assist their children with their school work than before. At the personal level, parents also gained literacy skills which enhanced their confidence and self-esteem.
CHALLENGES
One of the major challenges in the implementation of the RTLP arises from the difficulties of engaging and encouraging adults with limited literacy skills to participate in the programme, as many may consider their situation as a normal aspect of life. In most such cases, the ability of the teacher to develop a relationship with the individual potential partici- pants plays a critical role in sustaining their motivation in attending learning sessions.
SUSTAINABILITY
Although funding remains one of the major constraints limiting the effective implementation of the RTLP, the programme has received political support from the State as well as from political parties. The Tasmanian State Government pledged to fund the programme until 2010 at a rate of AUD150,000 per year in recurrent funding through the «Tasmania: A State of Learning» programme. Additionally, the Tasmanian Labour Party has made commitments to provide a total of AUD 400,000 to the RTP until 2012 under its «Learning for Life» educational policy.
Equally important, over the years, the State Library has also established strong functional relationships with various committed stakeholders who could ensure the sustainability of the programme in the long-term. These include members of the community, child health care centres, kindergar- tens and pre-schools.
LESSONS LEARNED
The following are critical factors which contribute to the success of family literacy programmes: ■ Engagement of professional teachers.
■ Learning activities are tailored to participants’ (both children and adults) level of literacy development. ■ Teachers establish strong function- al and professional relationships with learners and other local stakeholders. ■ Programme activities are based on the learners’ life experiences and also address their distinctive needs. ■ The individually designed pro- grammes have a well-established structure and routine with which children become familiar with, in order to increase their potential for mastering the intended skills.
CONTACT
Mr Hugh Fielding
Senior Project Officer Adult and Family Literacy
Tasmanian Department of Education 91 Murray Street, Hobart,
Tasmania 7000 OR GPO Box 169 Hobart 7001 Tasmania Phone: +61 3 62 33 3634 Fax: +61 3 62 31 0927 Email contact: hugh.fielding@ education.tas.gov.au
Web site: http://www.education.tas. gov.au/