Building learning communities for adult literacy educators: Meet Tracey Mollins

Have you met Tracey Mollins, an AlphaPlus team member and our professional learning specialist in education and technology? Tracey is our internal lead for professional development and training. She’s the driving force behind many of the in-depth learning series and professional communities we facilitate for adult literacy educators.

Tracey and Guylaine Vinet (see our Q&A with Guylaine and Christine Pinsent-Johnson) are preparing to host a series of gatherings exploring information literacy in June. Check out this interview to get to know Tracey and learn more about what to expect from the gatherings.

Community of learning: Interview with co-lead Tracey Mollins

Tracey, how would you describe your role at AlphaPlus?

I’m here to support teachers looking to expand or enhance their practice in some way: by learning new things, reflecting on current practices, sharing ideas with others — or all three. I try to learn what teachers want to learn and how they like to learn it and then experiment to figure out what’s actually possible. In many ways, I bring my experience as a literacy instructor to the work I do now.

What’s your approach to creating learning spaces?

I aim to create an experience where teachers can engage in activities and reflect on them from a perspective they haven’t considered before. I try to create a shell for them — a guided process for reflection that will be helpful, allow for open outcomes and, hopefully, move their practice somewhere. I enjoy the balance of making the container tight enough that everyone has a good, supported experience but loose enough that surprising things can happen.

Why is it important to bring adult literacy educators together?

Any time you get adult literacy teachers together to talk about their practice, it’s an interesting time. They’re very thoughtful about their work and focused on creating good learning experiences for the huge diversity of people that come into their programs or our field as a whole. We want to encourage and make space for that to happen.

Why did you select information literacy as the topic for the upcoming sessions?

We know that adult literacy educators want to talk to learners about information literacy. But because the topic is constantly changing, it’s really hard to navigate and maintain your expertise on it.

We’ve discovered a suite of valuable online information literacy curriculum resources designed to support teachers’ work. We decided to offer an exploratory, conversational experience where Ontario adult literacy educators can examine the materials together and discuss how to use them.

How will the upcoming community of learning be structured?

First, participants will experience the information literacy curriculum materials as learners. Then they’ll step back and think as classroom teachers and instructional designers. We’ll reflect on questions like:

• How would I want to approach this topic with the learners I work with?
• Would these materials work for them?
• What would I have to do to make them work?

We’ll meet once a week over four weeks, with space between each session for the information to settle and gel, and for participants to reflect and think things through.

How will participants benefit from the experience?

At a minimum, participants will learn something new about information literacy, which will be fun. This will also be an opportunity to have a conversation with their peers about teaching — a chance they don’t often get. However, the biggest benefit we’re hoping for is for participants to return to these curriculum resources when information literacy questions arise. They’ll be ready to review specific topics as co-learners in the classroom. They don’t have to be experts.

Participants can attend for any one of these benefits. Come and see how it goes!

How will your expertise and experience shape these sessions?

Guylaine and I will be collaborating to deliver these sessions. Guylaine is a librarian at heart. She really understands information literacy as well as equitable access to good information that helps us understand and participate in our communities. She’s also an amazing facilitator. As a teacher, my excitement and energy come from being in a room where someone is learning something new or grappling with a challenge. With Guylaine’s librarian experience and my classroom experience with literacy learners, we’re a good complement to each other.

What else do you want participants to know about these upcoming gatherings?

These sessions will take place in June, when we’re getting ready for the summer. So come and spend these four weeks with us in a delightful atmosphere of thinking about something new or in a different way. Let’s share that space with each other and create something new for ourselves.

Get the full details and register for our upcoming community of practice: Empowering Educators with Curriculum. If you have questions, contact Tracey or Guylaine directly — they’ll be happy to help.