Identifying
Effective Personnel
for Family Literacy Employment
Although federal legislative mandates (most notably the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001) list specific academic qualifications for employment of instructional personnel, many of the critical attributes necessary to determine effective family literacy hires remain unidentified. Academic qualifications being equal, these attributes include caring, genuine respect for other people, cultural awareness, and a sense of personal efficacy. These are traits I have found to be indispensable in working effectively with the educationally and economically disadvantaged populations that often comprise family literacy programs.
James Banks, University of Washington professor and author, once said, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Dr. James Comer, a noted educator and Yale professor, put this observation another way when he said, “No significant learning will occur without a significant relationship.” Over the years, I have found these maxims regarding the importance of caring, to be true whether one works with children or with adults. Arguably, caring is a non-negotiable attribute of an effective family literacy employee. It can be a favorable tipping point in developing successful staff/family relationships, particularly when dealing with families from poverty typically served in family literacy program settings. Usually, families and adults from disadvantaged situations are accustomed to dealing with people and institutions that may not evidence caring. Because their association with such agencies is survival/needs driven, they are prepared to continue to interact with the agency or individuals regardless of the social climate. On the other hand, schooling, although valued, is not usually perceived by families as a basic need; therefore, it is expendable. Caring staff can mean the difference between families who attend sporadically and families who participate regularly because they feel connected. Additionally, caring bonds staff to families in symbiotic ways that motivate staff to vigorously pursue efforts to recruit and retain families, and in ways that motivate families to be voluntarily accountable to program staff. Gaining access to the home for the purpose of instructional visits by program staff can often be a matter of being perceived as a caring, non-judgmental person who accepts the families’ living environment as is. While it is possible to teach a new employee many job-specific skills, caring is one trait that is not readily transmitted.
Genuine respect for other people is also an indispensable characteristic of an effective family literacy worker. Respect goes beyond caring in that it recognizes that all families, regardless of social or economic disadvantages, have inherent value and strengths. Building on the strengths of a family makes for more socially positive and educationally productive relationships. The presence of respect can translate into better communication through shared definitions of what the family’s goals are and how literacy staff can assist the family in attaining them. Because family literacy programs impact the entire family in some way, respect must be evident in communication with each family member. A lack of respect for the partner of a participating adult can have negative implications for the family’s continued involvement in the program. One consequence may be that the “offended” spouse will overtly prevent the participating partner from attending, or will covertly make it difficult for the other person to continue in the program. A perceived lack of respect for the children in the family can become a source of discontentment for parents, many of whom may be experiencing some degree of separation anxiety themselves.
Closely akin to respect for the individual is cultural awareness and appreciation. Acceptance of other cultures is often dependent on the degree of awareness and acceptance one has of his or her own culture. Culture has implications for family literacy programs in that it can affect family values; parenting styles; roles of individual family members; attitudes toward education; teaching and learning styles, and overall belief systems. Cross-cultural competence can be acquired provided the predisposition to learn is present. An attitude of openness toward other cultures and willingness to learn are good foundational attributes upon which to build.
Finally, the aforementioned attributes must be possessed in conjunction with what can be called “personal efficacy” - the sense of oneself as a person who can make a difference and who has the skills and will to do so. This trait is assessed primarily by reviewing past evidence of the potential hire’s demonstrated ability to orchestrate positive advancement in his or her own life. If this information is not available in the application, it may be elicited in the interview process though questioning. Questions about the extent to which the applicant has reasonably influenced or coached positive development in others—including family members and friends—can provide valuable feedback regarding a person’s own self-efficacy development. Staff who themselves, do not feel personally empowered cannot reasonably be expected to promote independence and self-efficacy in the families they serve.
While “putting first things first” in determining staff academic qualifications is required by law, responsibility for ensuring that the best candidate is selected still rests with the program administrator. Administrators have an ethical obligation to their program’s families to go beyond “the letter of the law” to employ staff that fully embody and embrace the spirit of unqualified success we want for our families, for our programs, and for ourselves.
About the Author
Dr. Helen King recently retired from Huntsville ISD, where she has been Even Start Coordinator since 1998. Before becoming involved in family literacy, Dr. King’s field was community education. She served on the state board for community education. In total, she has been in public school administration for 26 years. In her retirement, Dr. King plans to pursue writing in the field of Christian Education.
