What works in workplace literacy?

1. Heide Spruck Wrigley, Ph.D. Workforce Summit, Austin TX 2008 What works in workplace literacy?

2. Numbers and Needs The Perfect Storm (See ETS Report)

3. Using Immigration Data to Make your Case http://www.migrationinformation.org/datahub/acscensus.cfm

4. What Works: Lessons Learned Components Actions Policy Start with demand positions; get employers on your side – link adult education to pre-employment and incumbent worker training Funding Be brave - show how little difference you are currently able to make and lobby for new models that will get people jobs that can sustain a family LEP and Adult Ed Rethink the sequential system and offer a multi-track system that creates a community ESL and family literacy track that is separate from basic ESL for work and training Job Training Work with adult ed to create models that combine basic skills education and occupational skills training – combine funds from ED and DOL Instruction Teach in portable chunks and provide enough time on task for the most important “take aways” for students.

5. Workforce Literacy and ESL Promising Practices

6. Work-based Learning in theAdult Literacy Classroom

7. What Works • Get to know the perspective of the workers (Toyota) • Include both social language – and (sub)-technical language • Focus discussion of behaviours on cross-cultural differences – allow students’ different perspectivs to emerge (Hmong) • Invite students to demonstrate to you and to themselves (what can you do now, that you couldn’t do before?) • Use Can-Do Lists

8. Find out what matters to supervisors (“What’s the one thing that drives you crazy?” • Ask employees (“if you can only learn one thing in this class that will help you at work, what will it be?”) • Start with what people are expert in (their own lives and their work) – • Invite students to tell their story – (Your First Job) in multiple ways (sketches; story boards; digital pictures; posters) • Involve supervisors and staff – ask workers to conduct simple surveys and interviews and present their findings

9. Teach Listening Comprehension • Present mini-lectures on interesting topics (cool news; technology; famous companies) • Present a scenario or critical incident • Use PowerPoints or pictures to illustrate • Focus on • Global listening (“what’s going on here?”) • Listening for details • Instructions and sequencing • Take advantage of YouTube video clips

10. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdYEkZL9KPM

11. Tales of Mere Existence Using YouTube for Listening Comprehension http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdYEkZL9KPM

12. Curriculum Resources

13. Curriculum Resources Work-related ESL A few that I’ve been involved with: • LaGuardia Community College Curriculum • Hotel T.E.A.C.H • Texas Learns: Industry-specific ESL • May I Help You? (e-mail Heide for free electronic copy the scenarios might give you some idea) • Communicating in the Real World (Wiley and Wrigley, Prentice Hall)

14. Keep in Mind • Consider the demand of the workplace and get lots of examples and samples of the most critical needs in terms of • Functional literacy • Communication skills (social and technical) • Phone skills • Customer interactions • Peer interactions • Socio-cultural issues • Work-related vocabulary • Problem solving and decision making • Team work

15. Include Objects that Represent the Work(The Log)

16. Working with Tools and Artifacts • Students bring in tool that’s been in their family for a generation or more • Show others and discuss the relationship of the tool to their family history • Answer questions about the tool, such as • What is it? • Who used it? • What does it do? • What do you want your children to know about it? • Students create an in-class show case where they demonstrate the tool and ask each other questions • Teacher creates unit on tools that links traditional tools to new jobs and tools (e.g., lasers)

17. Scenarios for Work-based Problem Solving

18. Literacywork International Teaching with Scenarios An Integrated Strategy-based Approach to Teaching Work-based ESL Tips for Teaching

19. Lesson Flow Interactive Teacher Presentation Preview Story Map Discussion Think-Pair-Share Comprehen-sion Check Retelling Shared Reading Discussing Options Create Dialogue and Role Play Language and Vocabulary Practice Culture Notes Literacywork International LESSON FLOW

20. Telling the Story

21. From Listening Comprehension to Reading

22. Model Both Task and Language for Level 1 Learners Speak Slowly, Demonstrate and Repeat

23. My First Job

24. Community Projects Focused on Work Displaced workers from Socorro, TX decide to fix up a broken down school in El Faro, Chihuahua, Mexico

25. Integrate Language Development Link Vocabulary, critical thinking and project ideas

26. Community Improvement Projects Connecting Drawings, Vocabulary and Projects

27. Tools for Change Students use digital cameras to document process and study vocabulary

28. Take a Multi-Media Approach Speak Slowly, Demonstrate and Repeat

29. Put the Technology in the Hands of the Learners • Have students take pictures of their work stations, put them on overheads and invite students to explain what they do; help students to create “personal dictionaries” for the words that are particular to their job • Invite students to create How To segments, using story board, digital pictures of video • Involve students in projects and have them present results to supervisors (What was our First Job?), using PowerPoint • Have students act out silly scenarios – video-tape them and put them on YouTube (get releases!)

30. Money, Money, Money