Foreword

The AFL-CIO Working for America Institute is pleased to make available this revised edition of Worker-Centered Learning: A Union Guide to Workplace Literacy, first published in 1990 by the AFL-CIO Human Resources Development Institute.

Why did we change the name of our Institute and revise the title of the guide? In short, to reflect the significant changes in education, training, and the economy which have occurred in the last decade and the challenges these changes present to unions today.

The Institute was given a new name by the AFL-CIO in late 1998 to reflect our broader mission. The Working for America Institute is expanding its efforts to build strong communities and economies which increase the availability of quality jobs while we continue HRDI's three decades of experience with job-related training and worker education. Today's unions know that workforce development efforts will achieve the goals of workers, employers, and the larger community only when they're combined with economic development and other strategies.

We revised the title of the second edition to reflect what we've learned about workplace and adult education since 1990. Many educators and trainers from unions, companies, community-based organizations, and a wide range of education institutions praised the first edition (we've included some of their reviews and comments on the back cover of this edition)-- but there was disagreement about the word "literacy." This edition continues to focus on literacy, but after much discussion we've chosen to use "basic skills" so that we might reach new audiences for our worker-centered approaches.

Finally, this second edition reaffirms the AFL-CIO's commitment to lifelong education. While some workers may need to meet higher skill demands for their jobs, all workers and their families are in need to learn more about a wide range of issues raised by our increasingly complex democratic society. Everyone should have the opportunity to achieve the educational goal or credential of their own choosing. We believe that only a lack of will-not the lack of a high school diploma or basic skills-should block the road to lifelong and higher education.

Special thanks should go to the authors of the first edition, Tony Sarmiento and Ann Kay, who worked to create this updated and revised edition. Tony has returned to the Institute from the AFL-CIO Education Department, and Ann is now on staff with the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust. All of us thank many others (listed in Appendix A) who generously contributed their ideas and skills to advance a worker-centered vision of learning.