Adult literacy in action - The Tolton Center

The Tolton Center is an adult literacy center located in the West Garfield Park neighborhood of Chicago, a low-income neighborhood that, according to a Tolton Center brochure, was actually profiled by the Chicago Sun-Times as one of the deadliest in Chicago for adults and children. Driving through the neighborhood’s crowded streets, one can see the dilapidated buildings and boarded-up businesses that Tolton Center students see every day. According to many of the students at the Tolton Center, gang activity and violence are common occurrences in the neighborhood. Furthermore, West Garfield Park is a neighborhood that lacks opportunities for upward social mobility. It is plagued by underperforming schools and few job opportunities. According to the Cook Country Clerk’s Office, 35% of people in West Garfield Park live below the poverty line. In this neighborhood, literacy and education are not considered the status quo: close to 24% of residents of West Garfield Park do not have a high school diploma. The curriculum of the Center focuses primarily on GED preparation.

I interviewed some of the students that I tutored this quarter about their thoughts on literacy, its worth, and its uses. I’ll be sharing those interviews in the posts that follow. Along with the interviews, I will also interject relevant information from literacy scholars as well as my understanding of where literacy scholarship and adult literacy acquisition agree and clash.

Caveat: Although I attempted to transcribe the interviews staying as close to what the students said as possible, my transcriptions are not perfect.