BM Thinking Out Loud

February 2, 2009

We met as a group for the first time to get to know each other. I am very happy about my team. Each of us has widely different experiences, but it seems that our shared interest in the project will knit us together. We are all on the introverted side and no one is interested in pushing their own views forward above the others. We shared our backgrounds verbally, as well as in written form on the group wiki page. Some of us are very organized and will keep the team on track, others are very hands on and like to get personally involved in the tasks at hand. I have high expectations for this group.

            As we shared our educational and work histories along with our different learning styles I was impressed with the collaborative feeling that each member or the team reflected. Each of us mentioned that we are willing to do whatever needs to be done to accomplish our tasks. We talked about a few of the immediate tasks that we needed to accomplish and each of us volunteered for the things with which we felt most comfortable. I think that the energy and determination of this group, as well as the flexibility and consideration the teams demonstrated are going enable us to tackle the work at hand.

            We met with our client (Carol Holmquest) at her office on January 29^th. Carol is personable, experienced, and focused on adult literacy. She did a wonderful job of informing us about the work of the READ Center and of the problem with which she would like us to work. She asked us to share with her about our work and background. She mentioned that she was happy that we were able to approach the problem with ‘fresh eyes’ and perhaps would be able to come up with some innovative ideas.

            I must admit that I am a little overwhelmed at the monumental obstacles that this organization faces. To begin with, the learners come with such challenges. Most are working adults with families and many outside responsibilities. They come to the READ Center voluntarily to better prepare them for work and career opportunities. Carol said that up to 80% of them have learning disabilities, which is why they were not successful in school. The clientele includes people of ages ranging from eighteen to people in their seventies. The fact that a majority of them work at lower paying jobs means many have to work rather unyielding schedules and ever work at two or more part-time jobs. They have issues with child care, transportation, and time constraints. Many are also very mobile and often move around. This, of course all works against their making huge strides in their education.

            Carol also talked about the fact that the many of the participants have goals of achieving their GED or even getting into college as a result of their work at the READ Center. However, most are at such a basic level of literacy and have such disabilities that often those goals are unrealistic. At least unrealistic in the time frame that many of the participants anticipate.

            This point led us into a discussion on motivation. While many participants begin the program with high motivation based on their goals, as they become aware of the distance they must go to reach those goals, their drive wanes. Some participants have been working with the READ Center for as much as eight years, which I find just amazing. Yet many only attend sporadically and this deters the achievement of their goals even more.  We did ask about any recognition and reward that participants might receive for accomplishing milestones along the way. It seems that they have a group picnic each year and that there are sometimes small forms of recognition for learners along the way. However, Carol admitted that the issue of motivation was still one that she was working on.

            We talked about visiting sites and observing tutoring and teaching sessions, as well as our desire to interview students, tutors, and teachers. We were more than welcomed to do that when we could. Carol did mention that the learners were quite accustomed to having visitors during their classes because volunteer tutors often observed in preparation for working with the learners.

            At our meeting with Carol, we did have the opportunity to ask many questions in order to learn about the work of the center and to help clarify the problem with which we were being presented. Carol was very thoughtful and helpful. She gave us some materials to read and some ideas on relevant research to review. She seems genuinely excited about having our team work on this issue. I am confident that we will have a good working relationship with her as we move forward.

            Our team did not have an opportunity to reflect with each other following that meeting. I am looking forward to using action learning and questioning to reflect on that meeting and the challenges ahead. I know I have a lot to learn about using questions to solve issues, but I am looking forward to it. I realize that this post is more of a play-by-play of our meetings thus far, as opposed to an insightful reflection of what I am learning, but I am sure I will progress towards that in future posts.