vikki's+page

vikki please put your stuff here (copy and paste is easiest)

I've put this up for Vikki - she would welcome comments - chris

I have had a fairly quick read through this and found it reaqlly interesting. The only little typo I picked up was in the second set of bullet points - about point 5 or 6 I think some words have slipped a line. Hope you don't mind me pointing that out. Joyce

Hi Vikki, I've also read your essay, I found it easy to understand and there didn't seem to be anything that needed changed, Elaine

Hi everyone, at last I'm here. Thank you for the comments, much appreciated. Have re read my efforts again. After discussion with Chris, I haven't changed anything but think I'm ready to be published! Many thanks Vikki I am going to discuss how language and literacy can be supported through family learning. I will explain my experiences as a literacies practitioner using Storysacks as a strategy to improve literacy. I will discuss the political backdrop which informed a social practice model being used for literacy provision in my area and how through literacies an improvement in parenting and citizenship has been achieved. I will conclude by reflecting on what I have learnt and how this will inform future literacies practices.
 * Language and Literacy through **
 * Family learning **

I first became aware of Storysacks when Neil Griffiths came to Lochter Centre, Inverurie to give a presentation on the idea in 2002. He described how children at the school where he was Headmaster seemed to be struggling with literacy skills, reading in particular. The impetus behind this strategy came about from Griffiths’ own reflection on how best to extend literacy awareness to provide encouragement and support for both the parents and the children. His answer was the Storysack. A Storysack is a large cloth bag containing a children’s fictional book, a relevant themed factual book, soft toys of the books main characters, a CD of the story, a language based game and a booklet containing questions to ask and ways in which to extend the word activities. Griffiths (2004) states “An adult models storybook language and story conventions”.

As a direct result of this training I started to use Storysacks in several group sessions. My early observations were that I had · identified the pleasure, fun and entertainment it brings into a group in a non threatening manner · acknowledged the strong impact on language and literacy development · recognised the usefulness in parents promoting children’s early literacy skills and modelling literacies for a future generation. The value of positive parenting is undoubted in terms of the impact a home environment can have on strongly influencing a child’s behaviour and attitude. Parents have a key role to play as a child’s first educator and role model. Bonci (2008) states we should “Aim to raise parent’s awareness of the difference they can make”. For instance Storysacks get carers and children interacting together to simulate language, literacy and learning.

I felt this project would be a great way to build a community of practice not only for the parents but for the wider community too. Storysacks are a positive non threatening way to approach a local community in an inclusive manner, breaking down barriers and helping to create community spirit whilst at the same time helping to raise parent’s confidence, self esteem and extend their own literacies. I discussed this idea with my Surestart colleagues; we could all see huge advantages for individuals by promoting language skills through this interactive activity and also to extend the wider community spirit by encouraging multi generational groups for the creation, distribution and use of the Storysacks.

My colleagues and I held a mind shower session to pre-empt any barriers that may hinder the project, we wanted the project to be as socially inclusive as possible. As a result we decided to · provide a crèche facility, for the younger children · we organised a car pooling rota for those more rurally isolated · allowed a budget for a taxi · over time a youths girls group formed ( some of their parents were already involved) and they decided to build a Storysack of their own choice · new sewing machines were purchased to assist building the bagsby carefully · choosing the possible books to be used we ensured that parents with very low literacy levels were able to get involved · we promoted the use of books with no words at all · we identified parents who we knew would be very keen and asked them to spread the word to the harder to reach parents as a way of championing our project and including traditional non-participants.

I visited several settings, including parent and toddler groups, the Women’s Institute, the Rural, the church members, Libraries and the Handicrafts club. At each venue I described the success stories already happening in other communities, detailing the positive influence of community participation. I was approached by several volunteers and a group was formed.

The group used Aberdeenshire Council’s Learning Evaluation and Planning Document (LEAP) as a tool for defining our aims and objective- although this is not a literacies tool it greatly assisted the group to plan together. The group jointly discussed and negotiated the aims of the plan focusing on an identified need, what they hoped to achieve, by what process they were going to achieve their goals, any resources required and how they were going to evidence their work. Furthermore, we considered how we would collect feedback from parents.

Whilst working together with these parents it soon became apparent their Literacy skill was at a lower level than I had envisaged. At the end of each session I would update my reflective diary. Over time it came to my attention several of the parents showed a lack of literacy skills, I had never witnessed these parents reading either a newspaper or to their children. In fact on visits to their homes I noticed very little reading materials available. I asked the parent’s to share their views on their own literacy capabilities, several of whom had little positive experience of books and indeed the education system.

I then began to look upon this project from two perspectives; being involved with the Storysack project would provide a good start to the children’s literacy levels and improve parent’s literacy as well. When reading to our children at an early stage we are leading by example and helping to set a lifelong behaviour pattern. Reading would be seen as a valuable and worth while activity as the parents become prime reading role models. By using children as the “hook” we embedded this project in the social practice approach utilizing the parent’s interests and hobbies as a way of helping them to look at and choose appropriate books e.g. one dad was very interested in steam engines so he was set the task of choosing two books from the Thomas the Tank engine range. In order to do this we encouraged him to join the library and to access as many books as he could read to his child and then decide which two books his child enjoyed most. These books were then used to put together a Storysack. This embedded social practice approach was a great success as parents felt comfortable talking about and reading books they were interested in. As the project progressed parents were asked to cost the Storysack, making calculations as to the budget allocated for the project, and then broken down into individual Storysacks costs.

Several of the mums started meeting up out with the group, I felt this was a great breakthrough as a few of these mums displayed greater knowledge and understanding of the world. I hoped they would be a positive influence on the lives of others and lead by example. At the request of the group I organised the Surestart Speech and language therapist to help me run “You make the difference” a parent and child intervention programme based on literacy skills. I let the Speech and language therapist take the lead role as I wanted to play a helpful role but not that of the educator. As the learners abilities changed so did the dynamics of the group. Through frequent consultation with the group and at their request appropriate referrals were made to relevant partners resulting in both Health and Safety and also First Aid accredited courses. I believe these courses assisted in providing motivation to the mums and the belief that they could successfully participate and achieve in learning. We then progressed to providing workshops for these parents giving guidance on how to make the best use of the sack. Using Corbett’s (2004) stages as the focal point of these workshops the adults worked on storytelling skills focusing on three main themes: The necessity has never been greater to acquire literacy skills to deal with the everyday technological and sociological changes within our society. For instance we need to be ICT literate we need to have the knowledge to install the Nintendo Wii, which button answers your mobile phone instead of cutting people off, how to set the clock and then record using the video player. If a learner is not equipped to be financially literate she cannot be expected to work out “buy one get one free” comparisons, if a “family pass” is a cost saving, or to fill in an official form for tax credits and other benefits. To alleviate these concerns and to use the Storysack budgeting as a working practice the group invited a member of a credit union along to share her knowledge and give guidance.
 * Imitation, using literate patterns of language to form whole sentences.
 * Innovation, taking a known story adding extra information or making changes to put a different slant on the original.
 * Invention, utilising narrative building blocks, using relevant vocabulary and good sentence structuring to concoct stories from the imagination.

Without the human benefits of raising self esteem and empowerment it would not be possible to become an active citizen. We need the confidence to write a letter of complaint, join a group or a committee to express our opinions and stand up for what is right. You don’t have to be political to vote this is your legal entitlement. Realising the potential implications of health benefits can be huge, knowing when to seek medical advice, administering medication dosages, receiving immunizations and making informed decisions about family planning. Other benefits include giving learners the social space to grow in confidence and critically engage in society as a full and active citizen.

As time has evolved the term literate has transformed from the simple “x” as a signature, bible reading, attaining the ability to read and write, to the current day whereby people acquire the amount of literacy skills they require as highlighted in UNESCO (1975). Monte Mor cites the work of De Castell, Luke & MacLennan (1989) they stated “if the term literate used to be applied to characterize one who was able to read a simple message and decode his / her own name in the past, it has nowadays been applied to describe the individual who uses reading and writing within and for a social practice.” Highly competent, literate people were seen to have better employment opportunities, leading to a higher standard of living and consequently were in command of their lives. Often these people would come from privileged backgrounds and they held the reins of power. Paulo Friere (1972) saw lack of education as a way of suppressing the masses through its unequal power structure. For him education should be a process of liberation.

The ALNIS Report 2001 evolved as a result of the International Adult Literacy Survey. The report sets out Scotland’s approach to literacies which aims to double the amount of adult learners, raise awareness of adult literacies and improve provision of such facilities with free and local delivery. In 1998 The International Adult Literacy Survey demonstrated strong plausible links between a country’s literacy rates and their economy. The survey suggests vast differences between affluent countries and those less prosperous. As a result of these findings the Scottish Office commissioned the Adult Literacies in Scotland (ALIS) project; in 1998 the City of Edinburgh Council started the first of three phases to survey the scale and nature of literacy and numeracy provision within Scotland. Literacy and Community Education, Adult Literacy and Numeracy and Adult Literacy and Numeracy in Scotland (ALNIS). The main findings advocated a community education approach recognising adults as lifelong learners whose use of literacy would change and develop throughout their lives; the learner would build up knowledge, skills and understanding to equip them to deal with each and every event; an update on the definition of literate was also released. Literacies is now recognized as complex capabilities which encompasses the knowledge, skills and understanding that an individual needs to effectively function and participate in all areas of their life, e.g. personal, work, family and community.  As a direct result of the ALNIS report nationally recognised training was introduced (PDA itall Award); establishments could now be inspected by HMIE, this increased the level of recording, evaluating and reviewing. A self evaluating tool was introduced by Edinburgh Council, the Literacies in the Community (LIC) pack. The Literacies in Community Pack can be seen as a good practice framework for the delivery of literacies across Scotland. This new approach rejects a deficit model of literacies provision and instead focuses on what a learner can do and then looks at ways of building on existing skills. By contrast, literacies provision in England has not evolved in the same way. English provision continues to use the same learning system; sending literacies learners to college, to attend certified courses. In Scotland the social practice approach can be understood as being learner-centred with literacies needs being negotiated and contextualized to the learner’s life; hence our local Storysack strategy.

Aberdeenshire Council has also prioritized the importance of literacies with a recent modification of roles; literacies will now underpin the practice of all staff, not just specialist literacies staff. Low literacy rates are associated with social exclusion, poor health, low educational attainment, unemployment and lack of access to training and skills. In the past employment for those with low literacy levels would have been labouring, physical work. Where once a person could hide behind their vocational skills and shy away from any paperwork nowadays people are expected to fill in job applications online and complete time sheets. Basic training can consist of health and safety, first aid or manual handling courses. The Scottish Government have both active citizenship and social inclusion at the heart of their policy for inclusion. “Literate societies are better geared to deal with developmental challenges” UNESCO

Evidence in The National Literacy Trust “Literacy changes lives” suggests adults involved in Storysack projects are motivated to take up opportunities to continue to advance their own skills through further study. Within Aboyne Community School Network the local community based adult learning classes offer an IT class and a handicrafts club now attended by our original volunteers. An adult reading group has also been set up with the support of the local Library Services. Many local authorities have built Storysacks into accredited courses for adults. At this present time Aberdeenshire are yet to follow this lead.

To conclude, Storysacks have highlighted to me we need to continue to up skill parents so they in turn can support schooling of their children, this will have a long term positive affect on literacy skills for both parent and child. To accurately reflect the social practice I asked the parents to share their views on their own literacies skills now, the responses I received were positively focused on self confidence, self esteem, self worth and inclusion. Their attitude towards reading is now positive - they use the library, don’t leave mail for their spouse to deal with and can write notes to the school coherently. The learners are aware through real life experiences of their own the benefits of internalising patterns to maximise the learning potential and now have a greater cognitive competence. They have actively promoted lifelong learning through their Storysack learning experiences. The physical attributes of each and every one of these learners have been remarkable. They continue to grow in strength and confidence through self determination to achieve their aspirations. They have each been on an individual journey for some that must feel like an expedition. For me it has been a learning curve too, as this has highlighted what a vast challenge people are prepared to face. Seeing how far some of these ladies have come and will continue to go has been remarkable. We took a local service and made it as effective as the group wanted it to be. Through active participation and negotiation with the learners the concept has encouraged, motivated and promoted self directed and independent learning. Along the way we reached out to some of most rurally isolated, deprived individuals and families. We helped them to help themselves, making friendships, gaining confidence, raising self esteem and becoming a deserved participant within a community with lots of spirit. Yet statistics show one fifth of the world population are still illiterate, (UNESCO, 08). It is our intention to help improve this issue and reduce this figure.

If I am in the position to set up a similar group again I would investigate [|www.readingchampions.org.uk] as they provide guidance specifically targeting dads. We had little take up from men although I am aware forestry, estate working and husbandry are among the main industries within our area.

Word count 2,811

Bibliography

// ALNIS Report //, 2001, page 7 : HM Inspectorate of Education.

Bonci, Angelica, 2008 “//The centrality of the family to children’s literacy// // Development” //, National Literacy Trust. ( [|www.literacytrust.org.uk/familyreading/Centralityoffamilyreport.pdf] )

Corbett, Pie, 2004 “//Imitation, Innovation and Invention//” Literacy Today issue 39.

Friere, Paulo, 1972 “//Pedagogy of the Oppressed//” Penguin.

Griffiths, Neil, 2004 “//So you want to tell a story//” Literacy Today issue 40.

LEAP, 2007 “//Storysacks//” Aberdeenshire Council.

Monte Mor, Walkyria, “//Investigating Critical Literacy at the University in Brazil//”, University of Sao Paulo – Brazil. ( [|www.criticalliteracy.org.uk/images/journal/v1issue1/montemor] )

UNESCO, 2008 “International Literacy Statistics.- //A// //review of concepts, methodology and current data//” : UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Montreal.