Advocate & Influence - Reflections on How Adults Use This EFF Skill

"Where every man is a sharer in the direction of his ward-republic, or of some of the higher ones, and feels that he is participator in the government of affairs, not merely at an election one day in the year, but every day...he will let the heart be torn out of his body sooner than his power be wrested from him by a Caesar or a Bonaparte."¹⁰
-Thomas Jefferson

"I realize that my vote is my voice in my community. As a citizen, it is my responsibility to exercise that right. I understand that I can make a difference in my community by getting involved in what is happening. I can participate in the neighborhood block watch. I can volunteer in the school systems, serve lunches or help in the classroom...I've experienced a lot through the years and I should let my voice be heard."¹¹
-Deborah Johnson

Insights From Field Research:
Using the Standard to Guide Teaching and Learning

Cindy Sloneker
Mt. Diablo Adult Education, Concord, CA
ESOL; In-class activity.
Teacher data from the first round of field review, 1997-1998
(Adapted from Equipped for the Future Content Standards, p. 42.)

What are the student needs or goals that you hope to address?

• To help students realize the value of being an "active" community participant.
• To help students feel comfortable and confident participating in democracy through letter writing.

Look back at your original plan for this activity. Describe what actually happened and how learners responded and participated.
We wrote letters to a newspaper. The newspaper wanted to know how adults learned English; it's doing a feature article on this because of discussions to eliminate bilingual education in California Schools.

The students were comfortable and eager to write these letters. Their body language revealed their comfort level: people were smiling and animated during the small group discussions. They showed interest in the others in their groups as they shared their experiences. They were ready to share their findings with the rest of the class when we went to the whole-class discussion.

During the writing process, they knew how to get started; I didn't have to prod or make suggestions as to how they could begin writing... I was a little surprised by their willingness to participate. They were not intimidated by the idea of having their ideas and writings published in the newspaper. The activity went more smoothly than I anticipated.
A student response form from this activity

Describe as specifically as you can what evidence you saw/heard/collected that students could use this skill.

• The students expressed their ideas in appropriate language, and these ideas were well organized.
• They listened to others' contributions and added their ideas.
• They wrote their stories in appropriate language, in a clear, understandable way.

If you have named a product as part of your evidence, please describe what about the product shows evidence of effective skill use:

• Stories to editor were clearly written. The stories gave precise examples of how they have learned English: by watching cartoons, talking to native speakers, reading the newspaper, writing new words in a notebook and reviewing these words.
• The letters were succinctly written, requiring little editing.
• The letters were written in appropriate style, tone, readability level for a newspaper audience.
• The students supported one another during the small group discussion by volunteering information, by listening actively to the others.
• They evaluated what the others said and added their own experiences to support information the others noted.
• They laughed and showed animation in the discussion, revealing their engagement.