2. Use of the materials in an adult class
The Warmenakor group of preliterate people were highly motivated to become part of the reading community in the church. In the new class, the teachers were encouraged from the
outset, to take complete control and conduct the program in a “model-do” cooperative learning style closely related to a traditional way of learning a new skill. During the two days of training,
the trainee teachers had learned in this “model-do” way; they had observed the Tau prep-school teachers in their classes, the Tau teachers had demonstrated further and explained each lesson,
and had then given opportunity for the trainees to practice. In the Word-Building Track, the readiness activities in Workbook 1 were not included; the instruction began in the primer lessons
in Workbook 2.
After the new class was started, the researcher made three visits to observe, to give encouragement, and to explain further the principles and lessons as needed. On one occasion,
one of the prep-school teachers gave extra help with a demonstration and explanation for the Story Track. Twenty-one people attended this new class initially. On the occasion of the last
visit, sixteen members were present and had been consistent in their attendance.
The new teachers took control and handled setting up the class with very little equipment. The basic equipment was a large blackboard, chalk, some paper and pencils, and a black marker
pen. When the pen went dry, the teachers dipped it in the juice from the seed pod of the Lipstick Tree Bixa orellana which worked efficiently. The men were encouraged to be innovative and
to teach within the basic structure given to them, but they were also expected to adjust it to suit their situation. The dialect was slightly different, so the lessons were taught mostly from the
blackboard in a flexible way with cooperative learning between the teachers and students. The teachers involved the students by writing the material on the blackboard, while the students
interacted by reading each part as it was written, or by suggesting the content of the text to be written. The prepared books were mostly used as a reading resource for the teachers and
students.
The progress that was made after eighteen days of lessons was most encouraging. The class was held intermittently over a period of seven weeks for two to three hours per day. On the
eighteenth day of class, a short test in reading and writing was given by the researcher. The test was given to ascertain the progress that had been made. The students were asked to identify and
read two syllables and three words, and to read a short story of three sentences which contained known syllables and words. The students were also asked to write a story about a louse the topic
of the story they had read. The results of this test are shown in Table M1.
Table M1. Number of participants successfully reading test items after 18 days of instruction
READING ITEMS
Number of items completed Syllable n=14
Word n=14 Sentence n=14 3 -
5 7
2 10 3
2 1 4
3 2
0 0 3
3
Table M1 shows the results of the reading test with three items isolated; syllable, word, and sentence. In the reading, students were asked to identify and read syllables and words in texts.
All of the students showed that they were able to identify and read syllables, but only 79 percent were able to point out and read words. The members of this group were able to read the story
with varying degrees of accuracy. Half of the students read the text correctly, while two more read with some meaningful word substitutes and self-correction. Two students read some words
correctly and were able to read isolated syllables in other words. There was some evidence of meaningful reading with 36 percent reading with phrase contours and 43 percent reading word-
by-word.
The writing attempts were evaluated in a different way. All students were able to write letters well, so the basis for assessing the writing was to note those who understood the notion of
a syllable, a word, a sentence, and a story; accuracy of spelling was not taken into account. The exercise showed that 64 percent of the students had some understanding of how to write
syllables, while the rest had difficulties writing some syllables. These students wrote the vowel before the consonant or left it out. Fifty percent of the students indicated that they had some
understanding of a sentence and wrote up to five words per sentence; the rest wrote generally only two words. Those who wrote connected stories wrote from twelve to fifteen words. Three of
the group wrote new, spontaneous stories with content that had not been covered in the workbook class.
The classes were held three days a week because those involved were also committed to work for the community two days a week. The group consisted of mostly young married people
who had to work hard to plant and tend gardens to gather enough food for their families. There was little time for extra reading out of class so such progress, after only eighteen days in class,
was remarkable. Seventy-nine percent showed that they understood how to read and 64 percent had mastered the material very well. Fifty percent had also grasped the basics of writing and
three attempted to write creatively; one man was writing creative stories in his spare time.
One of the teachers wrote the following about his experience:
I came down to the village … and on Monday I started to teach the adults and they also liked this school. They were not afraid, they really went ahead, They liked it in this way: this school will help
us to read the Bible and write letters to our friends. In no time some of them knew a little about writing and reading. No matter that they didn’t know; they tried their best. And I was very pleased
with them. I thought that later in a year it seems that they would all know how to read and write. I was very pleased about this work. It seems that this work helps many things and also the adults.
This comment relates to how the students felt, what motivated them, and the teacher’s positive response to their efforts to try to do their best. Another teacher explained how he saw the
teaching side:
I thought a lot, “What will I go and do? What? But when I learned I wrote it down. Later I will do what this writing says.” It isn’t a long time and I have done it. All right, I do something and what I
do it teaches me about itself, what is good and what is not good. And it has helped me and I have learned to know more.
This personification of “something” as the teacher aptly covers the concept of teaching and learning by doing. The learner, through doing “it,” is able to discern what is helpful and what is
not helpful, and through this go on to learn more The whole atmosphere of learning in a cooperative way with the teachers—who had virtually no training—shows that the method and
the materials were acceptable to the group, easy to grasp, and easy to use in a way that was meaningful in the cultural setting. In the next section, we consider the comments of the teachers
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