HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1978-05-25, Page 19Sheila Fink of Goderich (centre) chats with Frerda
MacDonald (left) and Terri Porter, two of the first volun-
teer tutors with London's Adult Basic Education (A.B.E.)
program. The two women were in Goderich last Monday
night speaking to Knox Presbyterian Church's Arthur.
Circle group about the problem of functional illiteracy in
° Canada and how the A.B.E. program is helping to alleviate
this problem in the London area. Mrs. Fink is a qualified
tutor since taking a course 'in A.B.E. and will offer the
program to those in Huron County who can neither read or
write and now want to learn. (Photo by Joanne Walters)
Yvette Wardrop of London (seated) has been enrolled in
London's Adult Basic Education (A.B.E.) program for
about a year and a half now and has reached the fourth
grade reading level with the help of her tutor Greta
Wakeling (standing). It's hard to believe in this
technological day and age that there aee thousands of
functional illiterates in Canada. Those illiterates in the
London area are now being helped by the A.B.E. program'.
This program may also be spreading into Huron County
with the help of Sheila Fink of Goderich. (Photo by Joanne
Walters)
131-21
tOd@r1
SIGNAL -STAR
THURSDAY, MAY 25, 1978
SECOND S ECTION
Reading - a truly
vital human skill
A.B.E. teaches Canadians to read
BY JOANNE WALTERS
When Isobel decided to enroll in
London's Adult Basic Education
(A.B.E.) program nine years ago, she
was a middle aged woman with a seven-
year-old son. Yet, she couldn't read the
word POISON on certain products nor
could she, read the instructions printed
on the labels of medicine bottles.
It was difficult for Isobel to shop for
groceries. She couldn't read grocery
labels. She could only go by the picture
symbols on the products. Every meal
she prepared was a surprise. She
couldn't follow recipes and imagine her
embarrassment when she opened up a
can of peaches thinking they were
sweet potatoes! (The next time you go
shopping, pretend you can't read and see
how much these two picture symbols
look alike.)
Isobel lived on Social assistance. She
,could write her first name but' not her
last and she certainly couldn't fill out a
job application form.
Isobel was living in a gray world. She
had been hit by a truck when she was
young and she could barely remember
having been in school. Through no fault
of her own, she had been unable to
complete her education and she was now
one of thousands of functionally illiterate
Canadians. •
After nine years with the A.B.E.
program, Isobel can budget better since
she can now read about bargains in the
newspaper. Although she may never sit
down- and read a whole newspaper, she
can read the things of importance to her.
Isobel has also learned to tell time.
Her young son has more respect for her.
Mom can sign his notes for school now.
When Isobel goes to the grocery store,
she can spot others who cannot read and
she is now in a position to help them find
the products they are looking for.
A high point in Isobel's life was when
she was able to hold down a job, earn her
own money and get off social assistance
for one of the first times in her life.
As she learned to read and write, those
who knew Isobel could see a change in
her. These days Isobel is standing
straighter with new dignity and self-
respect. No longer is she laughed at or
derided. She is proud of her ac-
complishments and this, to the0people of
the Adult Basic Education program, is
success. It's people touching people on a
gut level.
Isobel's story is just one of the many
success stories of the A.B.E. program.
The tutors of the program like to relate
these success stories with pride and
happiness.
HOW IT BEGAN
The adult Basic Education Program in
London, which has now branched into
Huron County with the help of Mrs.
Sheila Fink of Goderich, had its
beginning in October 1969. Mrs. Beryl
Treloar, a member of the London
Council of Women and Mrs. Miriam
Stevens, a community worker with
London Family and Children's Services,
initiated the idea. Mrs. Stevens, in her
capacity as community worker, had met
so many people who could neither read
nor write and she felt that if these people
could just do so many of the things that
the rest of us take for granted, such as
filling out job application forms and
reading about bargains, they would have
a better chance in life.
A call over CFPL's Open Line radio
program invited a volunteer to assist
two women from London's core area to
improve their reading skills. This call
was answered by Mrs. Freda
MacDonald, a qualified teacher who had
moved recently to the London area.
Within two weeks, Mrs. MacDonald
had her first student --Isobel.
"As we became friends," says Mrs.
MacDonald, "I realized that Isobel was
one of the most beautiful persons I'd
ever met. She was full of wisdom and
con mon sense."
Mrs. MacDonald said she didn't know
where to start teaching Isobel.. Today the
tutors have instruction books but at that
time there were none. So, Mrs.
MacDonald made up a food chartcon-
taining the nanies of groceries to help
Isobel shop more wisely. ,
By the beginning of 1970, four ad-
ditional adults had requested to come
into the program, and in June, a second
volunteer tutor, Mrs. Terri Porter,
joined the organization. A.B.E. was on
its way!
Today there are 108 students in Lon-
don's A.B.E. program and 82 tutors. The
aims and objectives of the A.B.E.
program are to give individual in-
struction from a pre -reading level
through to Grade 8; to give assistance to
anyone first, second, or third generation
Canadian) who wishes to upgrade his or
her education but who has no other
avenue of learning; to keep the learning
situation in a very informal and relaxed
.atmosphere (usually over coffee and
conversation) ; and' to encourage
students to continue their education and
later, if possible, to proceed to night
school or some other learning program.
It should be noted that A.B.E. does not
duplicate other Adult Education
programs in the city.
LOOSELY KNIT
The Legion Memorial Boys' and Girls'
Club in London have provided free ac-
commodation twice weekly in Lopdon
since the commencement of the
program. But A.B.E. is a loosely knit
organization and it's possible to "go
wherever needed". •Mr's. MacDonald
says ' A.B.E. can be taught in homes,
chutch basements, library corners or
whatever space is available. The place
of teaching is not important she told
Knox . Presbyterian Chui c.h'5.....Arthur
Circle group in Goderich last Monday
evening. What is important, is the idea of
people touching people. There is one
tutor per student and each one takes a
real interest in the student he or she is
tutoring. Not only are the tutors helping
adult students to upgrade their reading
and writing skills, they show real con-
cern for the students' well-being. They
empathize not sympathize.
"The tutors are dedicated people with
big hearts. All the tutors are volunteers.
The 42 evening'tutors all have full-time
jobs during the day. They come to teach
in the evenings because they want to
help, they want to be there, " says Mrs.
MacDonald. "Besides knowing .what
they must do," she continues, "they
must be able to hear between the lines
and have empathy."
A real life example of this last
statement occurred one .day when a
studentcame to her tutor for a lesson.
The tutor noticed that she was visibly
upset and encouraged her to talk about
what was bothering her before beginning
the lesson. The student, as it turned out,
had just sprayed her relatively new
couch with oven cleaner thinking it was
upholstery cleaner. She couldn't read
and the two cans looked the same so she
had bought one thinking it was the other.
The tutor and the student talked out the
upsetting incident before starting into a
lesson about long and short sounds.
Nothing works like this one to one basis,
say the organizers of A.B.E.
FUNCTIONAL ILLITERACY
•
WIDE -SPREAD
Besides having admiration for the
tutors who•»teach two hours a night for
two nights, Mrs. MacDonald says she
has great admiration for the adult
students as well. It's'not an easy thing to
admit that you can't read or write. And
'yet, functional illiteracy is a problem
which stretches from one end of Canada
to the other and from one end of North
America to the other. It is not a problem
restricted to the fifth world as some
people would think.
The television program• Firth Estate
recently documented the illiteracy
problem showing that one in 13
Canadians do not qualify for a Grade 7
and 8 reading level. It's hard to believe
in this highly technological day and age
but they are probably right here in
Goderich with this problem. They do not
have the problem because they come
from a foreign country or. because they
are retarded in any way. They are
people just like you and me who, through
no fault of their own, were unable to
complete their educations.
There's a distinction between being
functionally illiterate and simply being
illiterate. Functional illiterates, for
example, maybe can't read road signs
but they can recognize them by their
shapes. They can maybe work out in-
dividual words in a newspaper and read
them but they can't understand the
story.
Just think of how many of .your daily
activities depend on your literacy or
ability to read and write. Simple tasks
are difficult if not impossible if you
can't do so. Illiteracy not only takes its
toll in economic terms but a few years
ago one man even died because he was
unable to read the instructions for
opening the newly developed safety lid
on his medicine bottle.
Thousands of Canadian adults cannot
read newspapers, fill out forms of any
kind, shop wisely, read information sent
home from school, read recipes or want
ads, read instructions on machinery or
appliances or read labels on medicine.
However, Mrs. MacDonald says,
"Many of the people who come to us are
holding down full-time jobs, raising
families and doing just beautifully.
Many of them fit in well with others.
Nothing labels them that says. they can't
read or write."
PROBLEMS ARISE
But problems arise because of the
inability to read and write. A birthday
card is going around the factory. A
fellow worker asks the illiterate person
to sign his name for him. The illiterate
person pretends not to' hear and only
signs his own ',same because of his
inability to spell.
A middle-aged woman stands at a bus
stop and asks another person at the stop
if the approaching bus will take her to
her. destination. .','What's the ,matter,
cant ybu read," the other person snaps
back. The illiterate person ignores the
remark.
Someone passes around a joke or
cartoon at work. The illiterate person
-stares at it blankly and feigns a. laugh he
hopes will be convincing.
A young man at the Manpower office
asks officials to help him fill out the
application form. He pretends to have
forgotten his glasses..
The functionally . illiterate can make
up a hundred excuses to hide his or her
handicap but all the while, he or she is
curling up inside and at the same time
remaining too embarrassed to ask
anyone for help.
John, for instance, was holding down a
full' -time job as a custodian when he
enrolled in th'e A.B.E. program in
London. Because he couldn't read, he
had all his cleaning supplies arranged by
order of smell. Ingenious. John couldn't
believe at first that someone was ac-
tually willing to ,give their time to him so
he could learn to read. He was suspicious
for awhile but later his faith in humanity
was restored.
PROMOTIONS
PASSED OVER ,
Lena was mother to 12 and 13 -year-old
daughters. She had a job cleaning tables.
She was a punctual, well-groomed,
pleasant looking woman and her boss
felt she had potential for more than just
cleaning tables and he asked her if she
would like to be a waitress. Lena was
forced to decline even though the
promotion to waitress would mean more
money. She couldn't read or write and
being a waitress would involve both
skills. She didn't tell her boss why she
declined because she was too ashamed.
"This happens all the time," says Mrs.
MacDonald. "In factories, many people
are offered promotions but don't take
them and are too embarrassed to say
why. The boss just thinks they are lazy,
unambitious or uninterested."
Lene enrolled in London's A.B.E.
program and eventually got her
waitressing job. Then she got a chance to
make even more money by serving
drinks over the noon hour. Her tutor
gave her a crash course on how to spell
the,different drinks' names so she could
accept the job.
WRITES TO M.P.
"Leonard was about 60 years old when
he came to us," says Mrs. MacDonald.
He was set up with a tutor and made
good progress. He had always wanted to
write a letter to his M.P. because he had
some excellent ideas on public housing.
He had sailed all over the world since he
was 12 -years -old but would not talk
about his ex'titing travels because he felt
he couldn't express things right, ac-
cording to Mrs. MacDonald.
When Leonard eventually did learn to
.say things the way he wanted to, he
wrote that 4etter to his M.P. It was a
happy day for Leonard when the M.P.
wrote back.
Recently Leonard went to visit his
Turn to page 15A •