Daphne, was there much giggling?  : )

Seriously, what a brave thing to do!  Good for you.

On Fri, Jul 25, 2008 at 9:26 PM, Daphne Greenberg <alcdgg at langate.gsu.edu>wrote:


> A number of people have emailed me off line about my previous posting

> regarding the importance of teaching words such as vulva, labia, clitoris,

> testicles, etc. in a health literacy classroom. They thanked me for posting

> these words so publicly, and told me that they found it difficult to read

> those words. Some add that it was too uncomfortable for them to even think

> about writing about them in a public arena such as an electronic list. I

> wrote back stating that I understood. Even though the above words are parts

> of our body, like our pupils, our nostrils, our toe nails, we are taught to

> feel uncomfortable labeling certain parts of our body.

>

> What is the solution? Do we ignore teaching our learners these words?

> Aren't they entitled to learn these words, just like the other parts of the

> body?

>

> However, what do we do about the lack of comfort that many feel-both

> teachers and learners?

>

> I think that one way to do it is not to call attention to it, but to infuse

> the words into other lists of words. So for example, instead of planning to

> devote a unit to female sex organs, instead have a list of a few words that

> are taught on different days. So for example, on Monday teach "v" words:

> vagina, vulva, vein, vagus nerve, valve in the heart, etc. Have pencil

> drawings of each, and run through them as you would teach any word. At first

> this will be difficult, but if it becomes a routine, people will start

> noticing it less intensely.

>

> Many years ago, when I worked with the developmentally disabled, I insisted

> that a group of adults with mental retardation could learn how to use a

> condom to prevent AIDS when they were having sex. People didn't believe that

> they could learn this. So after I taught them (using a model penis), we

> decided to show the staff what they had learned. I was concerned that once

> the skit began, and the clients pulled out the model penis from the shelf to

> put on the condom, people would be shocked by the model and not focus on

> what the clients wanted to show them. So I decided to have it in the middle

> of the table so that it was the first thing that everyone noticed when they

> first walked into the room. Yes, there were many loud reactions of shock

> when people walked in. But, most importantly, by the time it was appropriate

> for the clients to show the staff how to put the condom on the model,

> everyone was used to it. I think that this type of approach could be helpful

> for our adult learn

>  ers who deserve to know how read, spell, pronounce, and understand the

> names of the male and female sex organs.

> Daphne

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-- 
Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt
www.LuxuriousChoices.net
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