RESUMEN
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to extraordinary changes in family literacy instruction, forcing face-to-face programmes to shift rapidly (or "on the fly") to online, remote instruction. This study is one of the few on online teaching and learning in family literacy and, to the knowledge of the authors, the first on emergency remote instruction in a family literacy programme during the COVID-19 pandemic. This article examines how the Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy at The Pennsylvania State University in the United States has responded to the pandemic by converting its face-to-face family literacy classes into emergency remote instruction using online platforms. Serving eight immigrant families in 2019-2020 who live in the State College area in central Pennsylvania, the Family Pathways programme includes adult education, parent education and interactive parent-child literacy activities. The article discusses how teachers created online learning opportunities for parents and children to learn together, the strategies and resources instructors used to teach remotely, how challenges such as discomfort with technology were addressed, and what has been learned from the experience. Although COVID-19 presents unprecedented challenges for educators and learners in family literacy programmes more broadly, it has also compelled instructors in this particular programme to use remote instruction creatively and has revealed the critical importance of family literacy programmes as an educational support system for low-income and immigrant families.
À la volée : adaptation rapide à l'urgence du télé-enseignement dans le cadre d'un programme d'alphabétisation familiale La pandémie de COVID 19 a entraîné des changements extraordinaires en matière d'alphabétisation familiale, contraignant les programmes en présentiel à passer rapidement (pour ainsi dire, à la volée) à un mode d'enseignement à distance en ligne. Cette étude est l'une des rares à aborder l'enseignement et l'apprentissage en ligne en matière d'alphabétisation et, à la connaissance des auteures, elle est la première qui porte sur l'enseignement à distance dans le cadre d'un programme d'alphabétisation familiale durant la pandémie de COVID-19. Le présent article se penche sur la réponse que l'Institut Goodling de recherche en alphabétisation familiale de la Pennsylvania State University (USA) a apporté à la pandémie en transformant, à chaud, ses cours d'alphabétisation familiale en présentiel en cours à distance par le biais de plateformes en ligne. Le programme Family Pathways, qui accueillait en 20192020 huit familles immigrées habitant près de State College, une circonscription administrative dans le centre de la Pennsylvanie, comporte des volets d'éducation des adultes, d'éducation parentale et d'activités interactives d'alphabétisation parents-enfants. Il examine différents aspects de ce programme : comment des enseignants ont élaboré des offres d'apprentissage en ligne pour permettre aux parents et aux enfants d'apprendre ensemble; les stratégies et ressources utilisées par les enseignants dans leurs cours à distance; comment les défis, comme le fait d'être mal à l'aise avec la technologie, ont été abordés et quels sont les leçons tirées de cette expérience. Bien que la COVID-19 pose plus globalement des défis sans précédent aux éducateurs et aux apprenants des programmes d'alphabétisation familiale, elle a aussi obligé les enseignants de ce programme particulier à faire un usage créatif du télé-enseignement et révélé l'importance décisive des programmes d'alphabétisation familiale pour offrir un système de soutien éducatif à des familles immigrées et disposant de faibles revenus.
RESUMEN
This paper uses data from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) to analyze the relationship between self-reported health (SRH) and literacy and numeracy proficiency for immigrants compared to U.S.-born respondents and for Hispanic versus Asian immigrants. The research questions were: (1) Are literacy and numeracy scores associated with adults' SRH? (2) Are associations between SRH and literacy and numeracy proficiency moderated by immigrant status? (3) Among immigrants, are literacy and numeracy scores more strongly associated with SRH for Hispanics versus Asians? Immigrants had significantly lower literacy and numeracy scores, yet reported better health than U.S.-born respondents. Ordinal logistic regression analyses showed that literacy and numeracy were both positively related to SRH for immigrants and U.S.-born adults, and should therefore be viewed as part of the growing evidence that literacy is an independent and significant social determinant of health. Second, U.S.-born and immigrant adults accrued similarly positive health benefits from stronger literacy and numeracy skills. Third, although Hispanic immigrants were more disadvantaged than Asian immigrants on almost all socioeconomic characteristics and had significantly lower literacy and numeracy scores and worse SRH than Asian immigrants, both Hispanic and Asian immigrants experienced similar positive health returns from literacy and numeracy proficiency. These findings underscore the potential health benefits of providing adult basic education instruction, particularly for immigrants with the least formal schooling and fewest socioeconomic resources.