Attending:

Dottie Dunford, Suffolk County House of Corrections
Ann Lynch, Notre Dame Education Center, South Boston
Bonnie Nadler, Haitian Multiservice Center, Dorchester
Susan Viskin, Watertown Public Library
Theresa Haley, SCALE, Somerville
Samson Wong and Richard Goldberg, Asian American Civic Association, Downtown Boston
David Rosen and Steve Reuys, A.L.R.I.

The topic of this session was: Challengesand opportunities in providing staffdevelopment forpart-time staff.

Challenges and Solutions

1. Part-time staff who have not worked in adult basic education, who
have worked primarily in private industry, higher  education or public
schools for example, may have preconceptions about what adult learners
need.

Possible solutions: program orientation, SABES 15-hour orientation to the
field

2. Part-time staff don't have enough time to come to staff meetings, to
participate in staff-development activities.

Possible solutions:

a) pay staff to attend meetings, staff development sessions;

b) meet for short period (under an hour) before classes;

c) offer staff development in the evening with paid release time;

d) provide Saturday trainings (with food);

e) close down the program for several days or for a week between cycles,
for planning, curriculum development, and/or evaluation. During this time
provide paid staff development time for: meetings, working groups, sharing
groups. Include part-time and substitute teachers;

f) when part-time staff are hired, set the expectation that they
will have a specific number of paid staff development, and they will be
expected to use these well, and to document how they use this
time;

g) use staff meetings, e.g to preview new curriculum materials;

h) have staff-to-staff demonstrations of teaching/learning strategies,
where everyone is required to do a presentation to others in the program;

i) explore staff members' abilities which may not be teaching basic
skills (e.g. Powerpoint, Access database, etc.) which they could use to
teach other staff;

j) use anywhere/anytime (distance education) learning strategies such as
e-mail, e-lists, Web boards, Instant Messaging (electronic water cooler)
and videoconferencing.

k) take advantage of various A.L.R.I. services, such as program-tailored
staff development activities and mini-grants.
 

4. Part-time staff miss opportunities to make connections with others in
the field like attending Network or MATSOL (annual statewide adult educatyion and ESOL conferences)

Possible solutions: Could Network or MATSOL offer an evening session?

5. Part-time staff need support from their colleagues, an opportunity to
bond with others at the program, to feel a part of the community at the
program to learn from and share with colleagues

Possible solutions: (see above)

6. Space is a problem for some programs -- no place to meet

Possible solutions: pot-luck meeting at peoples houses or meetings at restaurants nearby.