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Each chapter is divided into 3 sections.

Introduction to set stage for conversation

Testimonials/Conversation

Author's explanation and analysis

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B.A. Writing & Literature, LIU Southampton College

M.A. Adult Education/Literacy, Fordham University, Lincoln Center, 2003

Ed.D. Adult Education/Literacy, National Louis University, Chicago, 2007

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10 years with the Open Book

Over 15 years as Adult Education Practitioner

Now, Part-Time Faculty at NYU

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Critical Pedagogy

Adult Education for Social Change

Participatory Research

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To Inspire Collective Conversation & Policy Change

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To Inspire Collective Conversation & Policy Change

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"The purpose is not to package the 'greatness' of the program and to export it to the field but instead to contribute to a conversation among students and teachers in other programs to show what's possible within their own programs. It is this collective conversation that we hope will lead to policy changes regarding adult literacy" (xxii)

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To Qualitatively Study Student Decision-Making in Adult Ed

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To Qualitatively Study Student Decision-Making in Adult Ed

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"This book, an oral history study, explores the story of one literacy program in Brooklyn, New York, that was rooted in democratic principles and shared decision-making" (vii-iii)

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"One thing we have not done is help students to organize other students… More students need to be leaders, and they need to tell their stories. Programs have to trust students (xi)

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Fulfilling the Need for Qualitative Research in Adult Education

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Fulfilling the Need for Qualitative Research in Adult Education

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"Most programs in New York City that receive public funding through the Workforce Investment Act Title 2 are forced to accept gains on standardized tests as the only legitimate marker of student progress. This reductionist culture that solely privileges test scores has had a devastating impact on adult literacy policy, practice, and discourse. It has largely succeeded in transforming rather than representing what literacy means in these economies" (ix).

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"If we believed that learning began and ended with the students, then it made sense for the curriculum to be planned and negotiated with students, to contain their stories and struggles" (22)

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Dianne Ramdeholl > Faculty > People > NYU Gallatin

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NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study

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"It is insanity that these tests are used as an indicator to mark progress while paying little or no attention to the following questions. Is the student reading whole texts? Is she actively engaged in the process? Can she talk meaningfully about what she read? Is she able to maker inter- and intra- textual connections? Are there vital conversations going on around books in and out of the classrooms at programs? These are much more accurate indicators as to whether a student is on his way to becoming a more proficient reader" (88)

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"we have accepted the basic assumptions behind welfare reform and incorporated them into our curricula and program designs...  We see the issues form the perspective of people who are inside the system and have a stake in its continuance rather than form the perspective of the people who are outside, the students themselves" (56-57)

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Open Book passionately followed the insights of Freire, creating a school where "Students words and dreams were woven into the various levels of the program" (6)

Own Publication of Student Writing (12)

The Gazette Student Newspaper (42)

Four Stories: Oral Histories from the Open Book (28)

Welcome Back, Lucy! (Appendix A)

Numerous pieces of student writing used for analysis as literature

"The Class Story" Soap Opera (28)

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"When students write a play together, they share an opportunity to become authors of knowledge they have co-constructed instead of consumers of someone else's concepts… Writing becomes an act of making space for voices to be heard, voices that have been suppressed or ignored" (26).

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Student participation in curriculum creation (xv)

Student participation in teacher interviews (49)

Leadership meetings fueled by students

Town hall meetings

Counseling group with volunteer therapist (40)

Student-Teacher Council on Saturdays (40)

Weekend retreats with Student-led workshops (41)

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Paulo Freire, Michel Foucault, Shirley Brice Heath, Myles Horton, and Ira Shor

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Conversational transcriptions permitted redundancies
Block structure restricted ability to close read transcripts
Some bias towards administrators like John Gordon

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Progressively focused, but often insecure of negative perceptions surrounding adult education

fostered repetition

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This chapter was devoted to the simple discussion of whether or not John Gordon was the "boss"

resulted in simple praise of Open Book

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Insufficient Funds Silence Dialog & Progress

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Insufficient Funds Silence Dialog & Progress

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"By permanently operating with insufficient funds, the focus shifts to survival instead of a collective dialogue envisioning something better" (94)

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This is a powerful study of an adult school that rebels against traditional perceptions of adult education, specifically quantitative data. Although her study would benefit from close-reading her dialogs rather than presenting them in bulk, Ramdeholl's study ultimately provides teachers, administrators, and funders with strong qualitative data and innovative strategies to give power back to the students.