Monday, September 8 2008

THE GREATEST myth about reading is that it is easy. Reading and writing are communication skills valued alongside speech, but unlike talking, they do not develop naturally. Reading is a complex skill and much current research focuses on how the brain actually reads. As with all skills, some of us find reading easier to master than others.

In the Adult Literacy Tutors Association (ALTA) classroom, trained volunteer tutors and students work together to overcome the problems that stymied their childhood learning. To both these groups literacy represents power — the tutor holds the power to change and improve someone else’s life while the student gains the power to control his or her life in a society that depends upon the written words. In this “Age of Information” where the printed word has replaced the spoken word, you cannot get by without reading.

One of the many factors that has prevented one in four of ALTA adults from mastering reading and writing is the inadequate provision in schools for those with learning disabilities. There are only a handful of mainstream primary schools with a trained remedial teacher and programme.

Unsurprisingly, a disproportionate number of ALTA students are dyslexic. Recognising this, ALTA’s methodology uniquely combines the learner-centred approach of adult literacy using material relevant to the student’s life with the structured, sequential approach and multi-sensory focus developed for teaching dyslexics.

The classes are designed to engage and encourage students who have been disillusioned by the neglect or misunderstanding they encountered in school. All learning material is created by ALTA using everyday local material that students can relate to and the classes work with the language students already know - Creole English - and build on this in a comparative way to learn Standard English.

Tutors make learning accessible by moving around the classroom and interacting with students. Most classes have several teachers with a six to eight students per teacher ratio maintained in order to give students individual attention. The atmosphere is co-operative rather than competitive allowing students to meet their personal goals.

Presencer, an ALTA Level 3 graduate (2005) from Talparo Village says, “At ALTA, the tutors make you feel relaxed and comfortable. They relate to you one-on-one so they don’t make you feel as if you are less than them. Also, the entire experience of learning was fun. Now I feel more self-assured and good about myself.” After ALTA, Presencer went on to get her School-Leaving Certificate and National Examinations Council Certification in geriatrics, where she graduated top of her class.

The aim of the tutor and student is the same — to improve the student’s quality of life by giving them the skill to read and write. Lovena, a Level 3 Graduate, started ALTA classes because she needed a school-leaving certificate to be made permanent in her job as a cleaner. Her childhood circumstances made regular schooling impossible. “My mother died when I was six and things were tough because my dad sold the land to take care of her. There were 14 of us and my dad did the best he could. When he could afford it, he would send us to school. On those days he would carry us to the standpipe with a bucket and cloth and wash and dry us. He would iron our uniforms with an iron heated over a coalpot,” she recalled. Now, after successfully completing the ALTA course, she said, “To me, these certificates are like having a university degree.”

It is their hope for the future, their children, that compels many adults to turn to ALTA. Level 3 graduate Rhonda said: “I taught Shelly, the youngest of my five daughters, whatever I learnt at ALTA and in no time she was able to read very well. Her prospects look better than the rest. Maybe she will go to university.” Level 2 student Fitzroy, who started as a beginner, says: “Although I wanted education for my children, I really couldn’t press them because I wasn’t doing anything myself. Now I could press them because I did something about my education. They even encourage me and I encourage them. Also, before I came to ALTA, when my son would ask me anything for school or books, I would tell him ‘Go away. I am busy. Stop bothering me.’ I knew he felt bad, but I didn’t want him to know I couldn’t read. Now I’m not hiding any more.”

ALTA classes have given their students faith not only in themselves, but in future generations.

• Classes are FREE and open to persons of all reading levels over the age of 16.

• Classes are located throughout Trinidad.

• Registration for new students is at public libraries once a year — Tuesday September 9 and Wednesday 10, 2008.

• Call 624-ALTA (2582) or 664-ALTA; See our website www.alta-tt.org