The first purpose of Literacy Teacher’s Workshops is to train literate adults to teach illiterate adults to read and write. Another purpose is to develop a skill which can be used as a tool for witnessing to the love of Christ and aid the spiritual growth of people and churches.

Length of Course

Workshops for Churches. A Church Workshop can be completed in 20 to 30 hours, depending on the participants. Workshops held five days for six or more hours a day have better results. Participants who have jobs or family responsibilities find a longer time difficult.

Workshops in Institutions. Workshops in post-primary schools can be completed in 15 to 20 hours, depending on the theory and material taught and the amount of practice teaching to be required. In some schools, this Guide has been used as the curriculum outline for part of a semester course in Literacy or Adult Education.

In either case above (1. or 2.), the number of hours given is minimal. The ideal is to plan more hours than the minimum, especially since practice teaching and preparation of teaching aids are needed and require considerable time to be effective.

Workshop Enrollment

Who Should Attend? Anyone attending a Workshop should have the qualities of a teacher mentioned in Chapter 6, but participants should also be one of these:

Literate adults who have volunteered to teach non-reading adults to read.
Newly literate adults who have recently reached the functional level of reading.
Persons who have assisted a trained teacher.
Trained teachers who desire or need retraining.

Size of Enrollment. One Workshop Leader can’t teach actively more than twelve participants since practice teaching and making teaching aids require close supervision. At Promotional Meetings explain that only persons who intend to teach should attend the Literacy Workshop. The quality of training received suffers when the Workshop is too large.

Refresher Course. We seldom find a weak teacher who refuses to attend a second Workshop if it is called a Refresher Course. Some adults require two or more Workshop experiences before they can feel comfortable teaching a class. Give first-time participants a first chance at answering questions and in discussions.

Materials Needed for the Workshop

For the Leader. It is helpful to keep a box or bag of materials needed for a Workshop. When you find an item you need for your next Workshop, put it in for the next Workshop. Then you will always have your Workshop materials together. The box or bag can be checked before leaving for each Workshop to ensure that at least the following materials are there:

A copy of this Guide or an outline of the course as contained in this Guide.
Posters showing illiteracy problems, advantages of literacy, literacy songs, etc. (The Leader must make some posters. Some printed posters can be obtained from government and development agencies.)
Samples of literacy primers and post-literacy books are to be displayed and explained. Also, take copies of the primer and teacher’s guide to be used at the Workshop. Use a separate box for these.
Materials for making flashcards and other teaching aids: empty soap or sugar boxes, scissors or blades for cutting, straight-edged rulers, large sheets of paper, and wide or felt-pointed pens.
Workshop Registration Forms.
Letters of Attendance and/or Workshop Certificates to be presented at the close of the Workshop.
A supply of pens, pencils, chalk and a cleaner cloth for the blackboard.

Suggestion: Cut four blackboards from a thin piece of 4 X 8-foot plywood. After cutting the boards, use a large nail to draw lines on one side for manuscript writing. Then paint both sides with black emulsion paint. They are useful for writing extra notes, literacy songs and practice writing for participants.

For the Participants: These contain different categories:

A copybook for taking notes. Participants use the first half of the book for class notes and the last half for practising manuscript writing.
A pen for taking notes and a pencil with a rubber eraser/cleaner for manuscript writing.
A primer and teacher’s guide. The Leader must plan ahead of time to be sure there will be enough copies of the primer and teacher’s guide for each participant to have copies.

Note: The Leader is responsible for ensuring that a supply of primers and teacher’s guides will be available at the end of the Workshop for newly formed classes to use. If possible, find a local person with whom you can leave a large supply of books. An elected official of the association of churches is preferred.

Assure that there will be times when they feel their literacy work is wasted, but stand firm. Encourage them to make this scripture their motto and to read it when they are discouraged.

Note: Each day’s topic and scripture can be written on the blackboard for participants to write into their copybooks. Participants enjoy memorizing the topics and scriptures for each day’s devotional. Evaluation responses usually show that the daily devotional time is a favourite part of the Workshop.

Workshop Outline

At the beginning of the Workshop write an outline of the course on the blackboard for the participants to copy into their copybooks, if it is not possible to give out printed copies. The following items would be included:

Who Are We? (Self-introductions)
Why Are We Here?
Why Teach Adults to Read?
How Do We Teach Adults?
Starting a Literacy Class
Keeping a Class Going and Adults Coming
Teaching the Primer
Teaching Post-Primer Books
Teaching an Adult Reading and Writing Lesson
Testing, Reporting and Recognizing New Readers
Closing Program for the Workshop

Literacy Songs

Everyone has their spirits lifted by lively songs. After learning songs like the ones in Appendix 1, challenge participants to compose their songs. Give prizes for the best songs. Print and distribute them. Later, you will probably hear the songs sung in literacy classes and special literacy services you attend.

Introducing the Workshop: Why Are We Here?

Standing for the first time before a group of Workshop participants who want to join you in helping adults know more about the “abundant life” by reading can be one of life’s highest joys! Your enthusiasm during that first session will set the tone of the entire Workshop. Your spark of joy can become a fire right there in that Workshop room.

Each day write the date, devotional title and scripture at the top of the blackboard. Next, write the session titles and notes. Most times you will need to write on the blackboard anything you expect the participants to write in their copybooks.

Developing the theme WHY ARE WE HERE? During your first session will introduce participants to the need and purpose of the Workshop. Be sure to encourage and use responses from participants as much as possible even during this first session.

Note: The following notes begin in the first person since the Leader will use them as a basis for presentation.

Why Are We Here?

There are at least three reasons why we are here at this Workshop.

Because Illiteracy Is a Problem. This can be categorized into four, namely:

In the World. There are 5.3 billion people in the world. Of this, 1.35 billion (1,035 million) are non-literate. So 20% or 1 of 5 in the world is non-literate. This number represents 29% of all adults.1 Steve Walter of the Summer Institute of Linguistics writes that during the past 30 years, the estimated number of non-reading adults has grown from 400 million to one billion, or nearly 1 of 3 adults. Fifteen countries have a national literacy rate of less than 20 per cent. He further states that it is estimated that the number of illiterate adults will continue to grow from 30 to 50 million a year. This is a serious problem! UNESCO’s Map of Illiteracy in Africa (1979) showed that the majority of rates exceeded 80 per cent. With the increase in famine and political turmoil since 1979, that percentage has not likely decreased.
In our nation, find the illiteracy rate in your country and use it to show the problem. You may want to use a common estimate of 80% in most countries. Using the percentage figure you decide upon, apply it to the total population estimate of your nation to emphasize the problem.
In Our Families. People all around you cannot read and write. Ask: How many of you have family members or adults in your compounds who cannot read enough to help themselves? Would it bring joy for you to teach them?
In Our Churches and Communities. The late President Kenyatta of Kenya once said that an illiterate man is a half-man.4 We would say that an illiterate church member enjoys less than half the benefits of church membership when he cannot read the Bible, read hymns or serve in positions such as Bible Study leader, church secretary or treasurer. The church welcomes the offering and the community the tax of the illiterate, but these persons miss many of the benefits and blessings enjoyed by those who read.

Because We Can, in a Few Hours and with Little Cost, Teach a Skill Which Will Stop Illiteracy. World governments and nations seek solutions to their social, economic and health problems. They offer programs that require large sums of money and highly trained persons. These solutions have not worked. Literacy classes do not require large sums of money or several years of training for their leaders. Literacy education can begin correcting problems directly and quickly.

Because our Lord Calls for Every Person to Enjoy a Better Life Here and Now. In John 10:10, Jesu said He had come so that every person can have life and have it fully. The ability to read signs, medicine labels, health books, etc. leads to a higher standard of life. To be able to read God’s Word for oneself can be life’s highest reading experience.

Conclusion

We have discussed certain reasons for attending this Workshop and the need to revise this article from the beginning to the next session by asking participants to recall facts under each point. This kind of revision should begin each session of the Workshop.