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The purpose of this project is (1) to identify in ethnographic detail the
literacy-related skills that are required in today's changing workplaces; (2)
to compare the literacy requirements of "high performance" workplaces with more
traditionally organized ones; and (3) to construct innovative ways to introduce
educators to the changing skill demands of work. In the final year of our
research, we will also determine how literacy requirements vary in these
factories, given different types of work organization. Finally, we will
complete and field-test a multimedia database which can be used by vocational
and literacy educators.
This project is cosponsored by the National Center for Research on Writing and
Literacy, and affiliated with the National Center for the Workplace.
This study will yield a final formal research monograph. The report will
discuss the kinds of literacies that accompany work in changing workplaces; it
will contrast the literacy requirements of "high performance" versus
traditionally organized factories; and it will trace the implications of these
findings for vocational and literacy educators in secondary and postsecondary
schools and colleges and for policymakers and researchers. We will develop a
multimedia database in the form of a compact disc--a computer-based compendium
of video from the factory floors; audiotaped interviews with line workers,
engineers, and managers; examples of written documents and schematic diagrams
and other data--which can be used to introduce vocational and literacy
educators, in dynamic fashion, to the literacy requirements of changing
workplaces.
Our intended audiences include literacy and language practitioners in high
schools and community colleges, adult educators who focus on basic skills
instruction, vocational educators with an interest in the skill requirements of
changing workplaces, researchers who specialize in literacy issues, and
ethnographers who focus on workplaces.
One avenue for dissemination will be the NCRVE technical report series, the
National Center for the Study of Writing and Literacy's technical report
series, and journals for researchers and practitioners. The final report will
be distributed through the publication channels of both centers. We expect to
develop shorter articles for practitioners and researchers and to publish those
in appropriate professional journals. Finally, we will report on the research
at national annual conferences such as AERA meetings, and at special interest
conferences on literacy in general and workplace literacy in particular.
In addition to the more traditional dissemination avenues mentioned above, we
would like to launch a different kind of effort with our multimedia database.
Specifically, we would like to convene groups of educators with an interest in
literacy and/or school-to-work efforts, introduce them to the database, and
document their responses. Analyses of teachers' conversations about the
database will provide an interesting window on how well the multimedia tool
functions; information about teachers' conceptions of workplaces and the
process of reimagining curricula in light of work; and suggestions for
companies as well about teaching and learning.
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