Report
on the
First State-Wide California Adult Learner Conference
by
Dr. Carole Talan, Director, State Literacy Resource Center of California

Planning and Participant Selection: A Planning Committee comprised of ten adult learners from throughout the state and representing all provider types was primarily responsible for the planning and conducting of the conference. Adult schools, community colleges, corrections, EDD/JTPA, GAIN, California Conservation Corps, public library literacy programs, the Governor's Office and community-based organizations each had one representative on the Committee. In addition, two members of the Bay Area New Readers Council (which has previously conducted learner conferences in the San Francisco Bay Area) participated on the committee. The Planning Committee began working on the Conference in September 1995 and met regularly over a period of 7 months. With widely solicited input from other learners and program staff, they selected the workshop topics and presenters.

The Planning Committee was also responsible for the final selection of Conference attendees based on specified criteria. Potential attendees were nominated by their local literacy programs. Nomination forms were short but provided such information as time spent in program, commitment to program and community, goals achieved, and reasons for wanting to attend the Conference. The nominating program agreed to help prepare the learner for attending the conference as well as to support the learner's efforts in bringing back and sharing information with other local and regional programs. Over 300 nominations were received, but due to budget and space restraints, only 120 learners were chosen to attend this all expense paid Conference.

The Conference: Beginning with a reception on Friday, March 8, and continuing through lunch on Sunday, March 10, the Conference provided both large group and small group workshops and training sessions for the participants. All general sessions were led by learners from the Conference Planning Committee.

Workshops were led by a variety of different adult learners, only occasionally assisted by literacy staff. Examples of workshop topics included: When English Is Not Your First Language; Action for Children's Education (supporting and advocating for your children in the school system); How to be a Winner; Learners As Partners in Program Leadership; Dealing With the Media; How to Plan and Lead Workshops; Public Speaking; and How to Talk to Your Legislator.

Susan Clark with her staff and volunteers from the Center for Civic Literacy set up a voting fair for attendees. Various booths, games and displays showed learners how and why to vote and become involved in their community. An Easy Reader Voter Guide as well as student workbooks and materials, developed as part of an LSCA Title I grant to Santa Clara County Library, were displayed and distributed. These materials have also been made available on-line through the California Distance Learning Project.

Leslie Shelton with her staff and volunteers from Project Read (South San Francisco Public Library) worked closely with Carole Talan and Venice A. Jenkins of California's State Literacy Resource Center to make the Conference a success. Workshop presenters were trained by Project Read staff while SLRC staff provided the hotel, meal, transportation and registration arrangements.

Teal and black were the colors chosen along with a slogan and logo to help identify Conference attendees. Learners arriving by air, bus or train were sent badges imprinted with the logo so that those waiting to assist them upon arrival could easily identify them. The Planning Committee members and welcoming volunteers wore teal shirts with the Conference logo visibly displayed. Greeters also carried teal and black balloons to help newcomers find them in crowded areas.

A number of adult learners from the Bay Area New Reader Council also assisted with meeting and greeting attendees as they arrived at their airport terminal, at the luggage collection area, at the hotel shuttle pick up points, and at the hotel. Much care was taken to insure that all attendees were met, warmly greeted and escorted from their point of arrival to the hotel. Since a number of the participants had never flown before, this was especially important.

The hotel pre-registered all learners into their rooms and arranged to have a reception staff person at the Conference registration area to give out room keys and explain about the hotel. In this way attendees avoided having to stand in line and deal with the regular hotel registration procedures. This was helpful because many attendees did not have credit cards for incidental charges and the Planning Committee wanted to avoid any embarrassment or misunderstandings.

Saturday, March 9, 1996, was proclaimed Adult Learner Day in California by Governor Pete Wilson in recognition of this Conference and the work and contributions of adult learners in the state. At a banquet that evening learners told their heartwarming stories of struggle and achievement. Both Exemplary Adult Literacy Programs and Outstanding Adult Learners were honored with a group of awards based on a state-wide competition.

Learners chose to honor Governor Pete Wilson with a plaque for his support of literacy. In addition, learners presented Bridge to Literacy Awards to the Los Angeles Times and KTVU Channel 2 in Oakland for providing outstanding media support to literacy.

An evening of open mike and extemporaneous sharing of talent followed the Saturday dinner and awards program. Learners read poems, shared personal stories, played musical instruments, performed stand-up comedy, sang songs and generally had a wonderful time. The amount and diversity of talent in the room was amazing. The energy level was so high that they kept going until early morning!

On the last day of the Conference, learners gathered by region to discuss and plan for future work on local and regional levels. All agreed that a next step might be regional conferences held in the fall or next spring. It was also suggested that the regional meetings be open to all who wish to attend and that each region elect a group of representatives to attend another state-wide conference, perhaps in 1997 or 1998. A list of Conference attendees was to be mailed out to all who attended and to the eight SLRC regional centers to help support future activities.

Special Support: Conference guests included Alice Johnson of the National Institute For Literacy (NIFL) in Washington, DC (http://novel.nifl.gov/) and two adult learners who received NIFL fellowships, Sentilla McKinley of Portland, Oregon and Archie Willard of Eagle Grove, Iowa; Toni Cordell, New Reader Advocate with Laubach Literacy Action in Syracuse; and John Corcoran, former adult learner from California , author and National Institute For Literacy Board member. All five of these special guests also presented workshops.

Some public and private entities helped to support the Conference. Glencoe, a division of McGraw-Hill, provided the opening night reception for the attendees. See's Candies donated attractive gift boxes of truffles for each participant and these were used as centerpieces for the dinner tables on Friday night. The California State Library Foundation provided each attendee a copy of its book about adult new readers, Literate America Emerging. Steck-Vaughn supplied and printed the Conference folders.

An instructor and a team of students from Mt. Diablo Adult School videotaped the entire Conference. Well over 20 hours of tape will now be edited to 15 - 20 minutes as a summary and report of the Conference. A short 5 - 7 minute promotional piece for adult literacy will also be developed from the footage. Both of these should be available by June.

Additional Benefits: The only participants at the Conference other than adult learners were the Project Read Staff, SLRC staff and the members of the State Collaborative Literacy Council which administers the SLRC program in California. The political impact of this Conference on those state agencies which were represented was a very important bonus.

Six high level staff from community colleges, corrections, Employment Development Department/JTPA, California Conservation Corps, and the Governor's Office were present. For each of them the Conference was a dramatic demonstration of just how capable adult learners are when given the encouragement and opportunity. These staff members in turn went back to their agencies with a new commitment not only to literacy but to the active involvement of adult learners in the entire process. Each was visibly moved and newly motivated to work toward further cross-agency collaboration and the encouragement of learners as leaders in the field of literacy in our state.

Another benefit of the Conference was the positive promotion given to not only the Conference but to adult literacy in a broader sense. A number of newspapers carried articles about the Conference as well as the press release from the Governor's Office announcing Adult Learner Day in California. CNN provided special televised coverage of the Conference, taping segments both at the Conference and prior to the Conference at the home of a learner, a local Head Start Center, and at an adult literacy program. The CNN program aired on Sunday afternoon, March 10th. It can be viewed from the CNN Atlanta page.

Results: The level of energy and mutual support at this conference were outstanding. Strangers became friends, shy learners became outspoken and people who once thought they were alone found they had many companions and new friends with similar needs and experiences.

It was especially rewarding to watch the changes in the learners who participated on the Planning Committee. Since only two of them had ever been involved in planning an event such as this, the remaining eight were amazed and awed by the work that needed to be done. They each, in turn, blossomed with the responsibility and admirably completed their assigned tasks. Initially three of the Committee members said they could never speak in front of a large group and yet all ten not only spoke but did so eloquently and movingly.

Learners who attended this Conference returned back to their local programs with a new energy and excitement as well as a renewed determination to help other learners and to support their own programs. Many who had never voted before said that they now understood the process and were anxious to register and vote for the first time in November. Plans are already underway for similar local and regional conferences for adult learners in the state.

Some specific results from the Conference have already been identified. Los Angeles Unified School District reported that one learner who attended from its district came back so excited that the LA SLRC Regional Center called a meeting of ABE and ESL teachers to hear about his experiences. The teachers were so enthralled that they did not want to leave when the meeting time was up! (The Center Manager said this was a first!)

The San Diego Area SLRC reported that a learner had heard of the pending federal budget conferences at the Learner Conference and wanted to contact legislators. This SLRC Regional Resource Center manager was able to find the appropriate information through the NLA listserv on OTAN Online and provided it. She commented that "It's nice to see learners getting involved in the political process."

The SLRC Regional Center in Orange County commented that this was a wonderful opportunity for the person who was selected from one of Rancho Santiago College's ABE classes. The learner was so excited and told her teacher she would never forget this experience as long as she lived.

Acknowledgments: Planning and carrying out this Conference took much work on the part of many people, particularly the adult learners on the Planning Committee, the learners who led workshops, Leslie Shelton and her staff at the South San Francisco Public Library, Dr. Carole Talan and Venice A. Jenkins of the State Literacy Resource Center of California, and the members of the State Collaborative Literacy Council. In many ways it was more work for all involved to delegate the various responsibilities for the Conference to individuals inexperienced in conference planning. Everyone, however, agreed that the results and accomplishments were worth the effort.

Special thanks to the Adult Learners on the Planning Committee:
Adult Schools: Delores Alcoser, Pasadena
Bay Area New Reader Council: Enrique Ramirez, San Francisco & Gloria Ashford, Berkeley
California Conservation Corps: Mirna Medina, Santa Clara
Community Based Organizations: Gudelia Ramirez, Huntington Beach
Community Colleges: Jerry Patterson, San Francisco
Corrections: Jody Henderson, Sacramento
EDD/JTPA: Donna Jones, San Francisco
Governor's Office: Alva Roberson, Chula Vista
Libraries: John Zickefoose, Corona

On a personal note from Carole: For both Leslie and I this conference by and for California adult learners was the fulfillment of a long held dream. Although our work was mostly behind the scenes, the members of the Planning Committee honored and surprised us with beautiful bouquets of roses at the end of the Conference. The learners had collected the money and paid for these lovely gifts themselves. We both felt that the successful results of the Conference were all we wanted, but were movingly touched by the thoughtfulness of these wonderful people who call themselves California adult learners! I still find it somewhat ironic that they are called the adult learners and yet we always learn more from them than they ever learn from us.

An Adult Learner Report of the Conference

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