Adult educators provide essential Adult Basic Education programs in cities and towns throughout Massachusetts. Often these programs are underfunded, with little to no budget for professional development. First Literacy addresses this shortfall by providing free workshops for these educators, training them to provide the most current, impactful lessons for the adult learners in their classrooms.
Gaining New Skills Through Innovative Workshops
Doris Lowy is an educator with over twenty-five years of experience teaching middle, high school, and college students at both public and independent schools. However, when she started teaching English Language Learning at Project Literacy six years ago, she had no formal training in the subject or in Adult Basic Education. Like many adult educators, Doris turned to First Literacy for “concrete, practical and essential tools that [educators] can adapt and use immediately to the benefit of [their] students.” Since then, Doris has participated in over a dozen workshops at First Literacy, which bolstered her professionally and connected her to others in the adult education community.
Each year, the portfolio of First Literacy free Professional Development offerings include subjects that address fundamentals, technology, socio-emotional learning and advanced topics. In addition, input from adult educators informs the annual schedule allowing educators to participate in workshops that are unique and tailored to their specific needs.
“First Literacy’s positive impact reaches far beyond our individual classrooms. I believe it’s really an investment in all our future students and in our communities!”
This year, Doris attended AI-Assisted Lesson Design: A Step-by-Step Guide which, in her words, “was an excellent introduction to using AI tools to perform a range of tasks, such as generating ideas for class activities, materials and even basic lesson plans. It provided me with a clear framework for experimenting purposefully with AI”.
Doris is one of 207 adult educators who attended a First Literacy workshop during the 2024-2025 academic year. While these educators learned new skills and strategies to bring to the classroom, they also positively impacted the education of over 7,600 adult students throughout Massachusetts.
“The workshops provide concrete, practical and essential tools we can adapt and use immediately, to the benefit of our students.”
First Literacy Professional Development workshops also offer participants the opportunity to be part of a community of educators where they can network, learn from each other, and share ideas.
“I enjoy meeting, collaborating with and learning from other educators who share many of the same challenges that I face in the classroom.”
The Adult Basic Education landscape is constantly evolving to keep up with current events and new teaching concepts. First Literacy Professional Development workshops, and educators like Doris, are essential to ensuring that adults in communities across Massachusetts receive the highest quality classroom experiences available while working towards their educational goals.