I’m almost 60 and want to become an adult literacy teacher – how do I qualify?
I’ve been a freelance film-maker working in television and education in the public and voluntary sectors. Technical change is non-stop and, as I near 60, I feel my age is starting to count against me. But I have writing and editorial, as well as technical, skills and have always enjoyed “explain-y” projects as much as the simply creative ones.
In the 1990s, I helped one of my sound assistants with his literacy. (It had been constrained by his chaotic childhood in care.) From having no school qualifications, he went on to get a history degree.
It was hard to find materials to work with, but it was such a straightforward and purposeful thing to do and so rewarding, I’m wondering how to do it again. There must be a way to train and then teach literacy to adults, but the obvious searches haven’t got me very far. I’m not expecting to earn much, I never have, but the mortgage is paid and we have no children.
Jeremy says
I think you may have abandoned “the obvious searches” rather too soon. I found that a quick Google search (“teaching literacy to adults”) summoned up lots of leads – training, opportunities and recommendations for teaching materials. Don’t rush your search and do be prepared to follow even faint leads.
I’m not surprised you found your 1990s experience so rewarding (and so unforgettable). You must be right to see if you can replicate it. Given the nature of one-to-one tuition, which it’s most likely to be, you’re probably going to find what you’re looking for locally. So don’t just rely on the internet: make inquiries at your local council offices, schools and hospitals. There may well be an existing local charity that specialises in helping adults who, for whatever reason, have never fully mastered reading and writing.
I have one offbeat thought. All your experience is in film-making and education and you’ve always enjoyed “explain-y” projects. As and when you find your way back to helping adults with their literacy, keep your mind open to the possibility that your film-making skills could be put to good use. There must be many repetitive elements involved in such teaching – could a good video or two usefully replace them? It would be a wonderful way for you to combine your interests and experience.
Readers say
• Why not advertise yourself as a tutor? I don’t think you need any formal qualifications for this. I regularly see ads from people in their 60s offering to teach children a foreign language for an hour or so at the weekend or during school holidays. I can’t see it being that different to tutoring adults. FatherChewyLouie
• You could apply to be a teaching assistant in a college setting and go from there – initially, you might have to offer general support but you could specialise if you get on well with your boss. smithathon
• Have you considered working in prison education? There are always huge literacy issues in most prison populations so it’s an important aspect of education programmes, and an enthusiastic, proactive tutor would be a rare, terrific thing. lewislewis
Suddenly my manager doesn’t like me, but won’t tell me why when I ask
I started work in a department about a year ago. I was told that if I demonstrated a commitment to the job I could progress. I worked hard, contributed to team meetings and up-skilled at every opportunity but got no feedback from my line manager or the other member of the team.
My line manager said she had “an informal style of management” and only gives feedback “if you do something wrong”. But she wouldn’t give me any indication of what sort of training I should do to progress in the department. Then I found myself excluded from team meetings and upcoming projects without any reason being given. In fact, no word at all.
Then, to my utter amazement, my manager printed out a job advert for another organisation and gave it to me during a monthly one-to-one. She said I should look on the website and think about the other job, adding: “What kind of manager would I be if I did not tell you about other jobs out there?”
Before you say it, yes, I can take a hint! I asked point blank if she had a problem with my work but to my astonishment she said no. To make matters worse, the other job is in a different field and does not reflect the work I have been doing.
I reported the incident to HR (her line manager) and they have said they see nothing wrong with what happened.
The stress of the situation is getting to me (I am still being excluded from everything and am only being given menial tasks). Yes, I could just move on. But I just wish someone would give me a straight answer because all my confidence in applying for another job in the same field has been shattered.
If there’s something wrong with me or my work I need to know. How can I get to the truth?
Jeremy says
I’m sorry to say this, but I don’t think you’ll ever get to the truth, or at least in the sense of obtaining a useful and detailed assessment of your strengths and weaknesses. I can think of no explanation for your manager’s (and HR’s) behaviour other than this: for reasons that even they haven’t formulated precisely, they have decided that you somehow “don’t fit” in their department. It’s almost certainly nothing to do with performance and all to do with intangible things such as chemistry and personality.
So they have neither the reason to fire you nor the integrity to face you with their problem. Instead, they’re taking the cowardly way out. They’re trying to make your working life so unbearable that you’ll leave of your own volition, thus saving them the awkward (and possibly expensive) business of terminating your contract when they have no objective reasons for doing so.
It’s despicable behaviour and you have every right to be fiercely angry about it. But you must try hard not to let it affect your confidence. These are people whose opinions are worthless. The sooner you free yourself from their influence, the sooner you’ll find your feet again. Whatever you do, don’t for one second allow yourself to feel that you’ve in any way failed. Other people have failed you; it’s time you fired them.
Readers say
• Although her behaviour seems odd, could it be that there are redundancies in the pipeline, your job is in the firing line and she can’t tell you about it? Or she’s just a weirdo who enjoys freaking people out. Either way, it’s probably time to dust the CV off. swgirl
• Sounds like poor line management skills combined with you just don’t “fit” – perhaps with the team, or a one-on-one personality clash. Evelynsmee
• You are being bullied and the HR department is complicit in this bullying. Get another job somewhere else, leave on pay day and start your new job the following day. You owe these people nothing. VSLVSL
Do you need advice on a work issue? For Jeremy’s and readers’ help, send a brief email to dear.jeremy@theguardian.com. Please note that he is unable to answer questions of a legal nature or to reply personally.
