Links, addresses, personnel, email addresses, and other items or information in this issue may not be current. This is an archived issue and is to be used for that purpose ONLY.
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Equipping Adult Learners For The World Of Work
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Project IDEA CornerWorkforce Literacy in a Homeless ShelterPutting a Face
on the Homeless
Maria came to class at Footprints in the Sand, the homeless shelter/transitional
living center where she lives, forty-five minutes late. She was carrying
her usual breakfast of a donut and a cola. Leaning against the doorway,
she asked plaintively, "Miss Jane, do really have to be here?" She
had just gotten her five young children off to school, gave her abusive
husband money to take the bus to look for a job and had to somehow get
to an appointment with her Food Stamps worker that afternoon. Maria is
an intelligent woman who quit school in the seventh grade because she
was pregnant. She and her family have been in and out of Footprints in
the Sand four times in the past two years due to infractions of various
shelter rules. Maria wants a better life for herself and her children,
but she gets overwhelmed at the daily round of tasks she faces. Sometimes
she retreats to her bedroom and spends the day watching TV because, "I
just don't know where to start".
Facing the Challenge
People who experience homelessness do so for a variety of reasons. Some
of them have made poor life choices, some are involved with alcohol
or drugs, and some are part of the system of generational poverty
in which poor life skills are handed down from one generation to
the next, resulting in an entire culture of people who do not know
how to take advantage of the educational, cultural or employment
advantages available to them. Some of the homeless are also those
who may have had some education, a job and a place to live, but without
a "safety net" of family or friends to help them through
a difficult time, found themselves evicted from their apartment after
they lost their job or had a financial crisis. The challenge for
adult educators with such students is to try to match what we offer
them with what they can do and with who they are. What kind of educational
program works with women who are already stressed and discouraged
about being homeless and who have few job skills and little education?
The answer to this question came for me, in part, when I became a
Project IDEA teacher in 1998.
Project Description
I had been working at Footprints for about two years when I attended
the first Teacher Action Research (TAR) meeting. I realized that
some of what I had been doing already was project-based learning!
At that meeting, I learned that identifying a problem, choosing a
project, doing research to prepare for the project and coming up
with a final product were the key components. Identifying a problem
for us was the easy part! The women needed money. It was as simple
and as difficult as that. We decided to do a craft project in which
they could earn some money. The final product would be their craft
and a project log in which they documented what they had done for
possible use by other homeless shelters.
What happened in the course of our initial project continues to amaze both my students and myself. Largely due to the skill and dedication of our craft teacher, Esther Galindo, the first products, Christmas bears, were so well made that the demand for them exceeded our ability to supply! We sold thirty bears that first year. In January, we brainstormed about what had been the strengths and weaknesses of our initial project. The women identified lack of childcare and not enough time as problem areas. They devised a childcare co-op in which each woman worked with me to plan the day's activities for the children. We also worked hard to develop a production schedule. They divided into teams based upon individual interests and abilities, with some concentrating on sewing and some on computer production of a brochure and project log. With their second craft, Easter rabbits, they were able to produce a much more difficult-to-make craft more efficiently and made twice as much money as they had at Christmas. We had to keep track of expenses and profits, make a time line and calculate what each woman's earnings would be based on the amount of time she spent on the project. By this time, the women seemed to see that what they were doing was significant. They worked with a professional writer for several sessions to produce text for a brochure to accompany their crafts. The learned Power Point and produced a presentation about their project to show to others in the homeless community. This year the women made and sold 93 Christmas bears and are currently producing more Easter rabbits than last year. They are also learning a spreadsheet program (and more math to go with it) so that they can transfer project data into that format. This summer they will update both the brochure and Project Log, incorporating the spreadsheet information into them.
Workforce Literacy-Learner
as Worker/Citizen
Learning to use a sewing machine and workplace vocabulary and acquiring
computer skills have been easy for these students, compared to the challenges
of learning to work as a team, to communicate effectively and to follow
through on their goals. It became clear that one of their greatest barriers
to becoming successful members of the workforce was learning the soft
skills it takes to keep a job, once you get one. To address some of these
issues, we began to have bimonthly business meetings. I made up an agenda,
using new vocabulary such as agenda, quality control, etc. We would sit
at these meetings, dictionaries in hand, and often before we could discuss
an agenda item, we would have to look up the definition! I had vocabulary
lists for the ESL students, which covered sewing, computer, and business
terms.
EFF at Footprints
When I did my final report for Project IDEA, I used the thirteen common
activities provided in Equipped for the Future (EFF) as a framework.
I was frankly amazed at how well they fit. In further evaluation,
we realized that the four core knowledge and skills areas were applicable
as well.
This year the Christmas bears went to several cities in Texas, as well as to New York, Virginia, and England. A homeless program in El Paso is now using our rabbit pattern to do a similar project The Power Point presentation has been shared at a state education meeting and at the national meeting of Women in Communication. The families at Footprints are currently working on a show for public access television in which they will share stories about their lives at Footprints and their craft business. They now believe that they can communicate in such a way that their message is understood by others.
What I Learned
The most important thing I learned was to remember to see each student
as the individual they are - not as "homeless" or as a "single
parent." I also learned to invite collaboration so that my students
could benefit from the gifts and talents of others. I learned that
it's O.K. for me as the teacher not to always be the expert. I learned,
along with my students, how to make the crafts, how to set up a micro
enterprise, and I sat with them in class as others taught us how
to use the various computer programs.
Benefits to the Workplace
Employers are looking for people who can function as team members, communicate
effectively and be reliable, responsible employees. The women grew
in these skills because of the intrinsic motivation they had to see
their own project succeed. They saw that if someone came late or
not at all, production for that day was diminished. They learned
that if they didn't communicate their ideas in a way that others
could receive, they would not be heard. They learned that profit
is related to production, that they had to meet the production goals
they set or make less money. They learned that if they didn't cooperate
in providing childcare the children would suffer and so would that
days' productivity. In other words, they "learned by doing" the
skills for which employers are looking. They now have some experience,
some vocabulary, some knowledge of the world of work which they can
take with them from the shelter out into the wider world to become
self-sufficient members of society.
About the Author
Jane Huntington is a counselor/teacher for Harris County Department of Education in Houston. She has worked with the homeless for the past three years, teaching literacy classes, counseling and developing programs of family services. She also teaches an ESL I class and does BEST training. The current love of her life is her first grandson, born just two months ago. [Author's Note: The start-up money for this project was a $1,000 "Making a Difference in the Lives of Families" award received from Practical Parent Education.]
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Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-4477
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