WOMEN
and
LITERACY |
 |
This page contains links to
sites
relevant to women's issues, particularly in relation to women's work as
learners and literacy practitioners. Please contact
LR/RI with
suggestions
/ information you'd like to share. Also, see the bulletin
to find out date/time for the next meeting of the practitioners'
discussion
group around the topic of women and women's issue in adult education.
The
group meets monthly.
recently
posted:
<>From
PEN
weekly newsblast, May 8, 2009: Against
all odds, Afghani girls learn
Afghani parents who in the past forbade their daughters to attend
school due to societal taboos are once again keeping them at home
because of attacks by militants wielding acid or worse, National Public
Radio reports. Nearly half the country's children do not attend
classes, most of them in the Taliban-rife south, says Afghanistan's
education minister, Farouq Wardak. Hundreds of schools have closed in
Kandahar and neighboring provinces because of militant attacks and
threats. Yet many girls are refusing to give up their schooling, no
matter the cost. The Afghan government, aid groups, and defiant
teachers are operating public schools and secret, in-home classes in a
risky effort to ensure that Afghan girls get an education. Today, the
number of classes exceeds 400, each with about 30 students. To help
coax families into sending their girls, students are given wheat,
cooking oil, and salt. "I want to serve my nation and my country," says
17-year-old teacher Marzia Sadat. "If the militants kill me, so be it.
I pray to God as do my mother and father and that gives me the strength
not to be afraid," she says.
On
the Screen:
connections
between violence and learning: work supported
through a fellowship from the National
Institute for Literacy to examine connections between trauma
and
learning in adult education settings. A site dedicated to the
fellowship work includes
a developing list of resources
(including links to many domestic violence
resources
formerly found on this page) and an abridged version of the
fellowship proposal.
talk about it : Daphne Greenberg moderated a woman
and literacy
listserv.
An archive of the list is available, [to read, without
subscription],
at http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/Womenliteracy
A new list Poverty,
Race, & Women Literacy Discussion List has evolved; join
in. Daphne Greenberg continues her excellent moderation and
support of the discussion.
That list, actually is now the Diversity and
Literacy list. Our good fortune continues; Daphne Greenberg
is its moderator as well.
Women and Literacy special
collection - compilation of resources related to women and
literacy
internationally
About Face a
grassroots effort dedicated to combating negative and distorted
images of women and promoting alternatives through education and action
- and humor. (with thanks to Nancy Cooper of Alphaplus
for alerting me to this site)
ACCESS
for young women in science and technology - from the College of
Science at the University of Utah
AIDS,
Medicaid, and Women, by Laurence M. Lavin. - discusses gaps in
the health care system that prevent persons with HIV, especially women,
from accessing the early care that holds so much hope. 5 Duke J. of
Gender
L. & Pol'y 193 (July 17, 1998). (from NHELP,
the National Health Law Program site)
Adult
Education
and Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Communities
- Trends and Issues Alert No. 21 by Sandra Kerka, 2001.
An Artist in
the Halls of Science - Canadian artist Pam Hall responds to
women's
bodies, medical intervention and space around and in between.
Are
we still talking about gender differences in ABE? - notes for
an
address given by Kate Nonesuch in 1998 to ABE instructors who work for
School Board programs in British Columbia, Canada. Kate Nonesuch has
worked
with, thought and written about women and literacy for many years, and
is literacy co-ordinator and instructor at Malaspina
University-College,
Cowichan Campus, Duncan, BC. She is the editor of Making
Connections (Toronto: CCLOW, 1996), co-author of a series
of
science books for basic readers and inventor of the Never-Fail Writing
Method.
For a review of Making Connections, by Arlene Wells,
from The Literacy Materials Bulletin,
Spring 1998. click
here
Making
Connections: A Literacy and EAL Curriculum from a Feminist Perspective
- available on
line
overview of the text and links to two supplemental documents produced
following a meeting of the facilitators in 1998 - after they had
delivered
workshops focused on using the curriculum. The titles are:Anti-racist/Culture-Based
Approaches
and Guided
Reflections for Facilitators
The
Artemis Project - The Artemis Project was started in the
summer
of '96 by two Brown University students with the mission of enhancing
self-confidence
and building leadership skills through hands-on experience with
computers. Artemis participants are rising ninth-grade girls
in
Providence public schools.
new work : The
Artemis project 2005
Boston
Women's
Heath Book Collective - Our Bodies, Ourselves and other
resources
in English and in Spanish
Creating Change in Literacy Programs by Jenny Horsman
http://www.jennyhorsman.com/articles.html
But
I'm Not a Therapist: Literacy Work with Survivors of Trauma
- Archived discussion postings, as
well
as an opportunity to join in/continue the conversation. Please follow
the
directions below to participate, read archived messages and download
the
paper Jenny Horsman wrote on the topic of literacy work with survivors
of trauma.
Jenny Horsman is a feminist literacy
worker
and researcher whose research showed that violence has profound impacts
on women's ability to learn and to meaningfully participate in literacy
programs. In this on-line workshop, participants looked at the research
together, searching for ways to improve practice and programs to
respond
in ways that support all learners. The workshop was designed for anyone
interested in the impact of violence on women's learning and has access
to the internet, including literacy workers, ESL instructors,
counsellors,
therapists, shelter workers, feminists, academics, students, activists,
and others. Go to http://alphaplus.ca/
Literacy
and Gender by Jennifer Horsman - An online paper posted on the
Alphaplus
site, (c) 1996. Produced as part of the YMCA George Williams College BA
(Hons) Informal and Community Education programme.
Jenny Horsman, a community educator and
researcher,
works with Spiral Community Resource Group, Toronto, to carry out
research,
writing, curriculum development, training and facilitation projects in
adult literacy and workplace training. She is
the author of Something
in my Mind besides the Everyday: Women and Literacy and has
also
contributed to several collections of writing about literacy, including
Worlds
of Literacy, edited by Mary Hamilton, David Barton, Roz Ivanic
(1994).
Jenny's new website is now online at http://www.jennyhorsman.com
The Second International Women and Literacy Conference was held
in Atlanta in January, 1999. Reports from that conference are being
posted
to this site. At present, you can connect to the conference
wrap up; general information is available on line at http://education.gsu.edu/CSAL/.
A third conference was held in January of 2001; check the CSAL site [http://education.gsu.edu/CSAL/]
for information, reports and feedback about that event.
Defining
the other ? - panel with Jenny Horsman, Deanne Bradley, Nancy
Cooper,
Arlene Wells and Janet Isserlis
READING
ABOUT SURVIVING: LITERACY IN TRANSITION HOUSES -report of a
project
promoting meetings of transition house workers and literacy programs to
encourage networking and mutual referrals, by Kate Nonesuch and Evelyn
Battell
On November 19, (98), Marsha Wise,
Director
of Community Services at the Women's Center of Rhode Island, spoke
about
domestic
violence and adult learners and has given us permission to post
some
of the information she shared at that session. To read the handout,
click
here.
To learn more about the Women's Center, contact PO Box 6692,
Providence,
RI 02940, and/or visit On the Screen, a site
focussing on violence and learning, including local and national
resources.
Half
the House - Information about Half
the House, Richard Hoffman's powerful memoir of experiences of
abuse,
and links to Hoffman's writing. Considering the notion of violence and
women, without an awareness of violence done to children and its long
term
effects on them, we lose an important connection to who we are in the
world.
Other sites related to violence : On
the Screen resource page
Cambodian Women
Development
Agency - "dedicated to promoting self-sufficiency and
self-reliance
in Cambodian communities and the advancement of women's economic and
social
rights." Includes literacy and health education information.
Children's
Encyclopedia of Women -
encyclopedia
written by third and fourth grade students at Pocantico Hills School.
The
content is basic and clear, making it accessible to adult literacy
learners
without being condescending.
Critical
issues for women in adult ESOL (Academic Session) TESOL ' 99 Papers
from a colloquium exploring a
range
of issues facing women (both learners and practitioners) in adult ESOL
contexts. Presentations focus on women in the workplace, health and
literacy
education, domestic violence, participatory research with women
learners,
and classroom-community connections. Presenters: E. Auerbach, T.
Goldstein,
L. Hewitt, J. Horsman, J. Isserlis, K. Rivera
Discussion group at TESOL '98: Women,
literacy and learning: Is there an issue? - report of the session
held
in during TESOL '98.
eLit -
Empowerment
through learning information technology: eLIT believes that
an
informed, fulfilled and educated mother is critical for the children of
the 21st century. We provide tools for economic independence, enhancing
self-esteem and assisting women in creating a better tomorrow for their
families. Our goal is to empower socially and economically
challenged
women and children all over the world.
Exploring
women's rights - from Rethinking Schools;
delineates
an elementary school teacher's lesson plan around workers' rights, and
women's rights in particular. While the lesson was designed for
young
students, the process the teacher used to engage her students is one
that
is easily adaptable to adult ABE, ESOL and GED learners.
The
Fairy Tale Project : Exploring women's independence - "Young
girls
growing up with fairy tales such as Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty,
whether
in older classic versions or those created by Disney, form certain
visions
of how their lives are going to, or should, be. The realities of being
a woman in today's society are seldom fairy tale quality, however, and
in most instances can prove to offer significant challenges."
<>Gather the Women
- Women throughout the world are invited to create thousands of local,
regional and national women's gatherings on March 8, 2003. These events
will allow millions of women to participate in a global conversation
and
to support one another in creating positive change through
collaborative
action.
Gender
and Sexuality - online articles from The
Nation, including a piece on the Education
of Women, written in August, 1866.
Gender
Approach to Adult Literacy and Basic Education -Marcela BALLARA
Education, Gender and Development Consultant
Gender,
training and work - Inter-American Research and Documentation
Centre on Vocational Training, a site "site seeks to expose and reflect
about the mainstreaming of the gender perspective on training and
work," containing fact sheets, employment trends and numerous other
resources.
A
History
of International Women's Day in words and images - An Isis
Creation
for the Australian Women's Intra Network by Joyce Stevens.
Her
Story -- Community Center, The Learning Page - photos,
diaries,
timelines for learning about women in US history, literature about
women
and discrimination, African-American women in the
sciences,
women in Muslim societies, Native American women writers, Zora Neale
Hurston,
Margaret Mead, research in women's history, and more.
Institute for Women's Policy
Research
- including information about welfare reform monitoring projects,
child care, domestic violence, work and welfare reform, and links to
informative
policy and other resource sites.
International Issues - from the UN cyberschool bus To
be born a girl - Intermediate School Kit on the United Nations: A
Web
Adaptation. Also, search
the site for other women's issues
WomenWatch - The
UN
Internet Gateway on the Advancement and Empowerment of Women
from the UN
Cyber School Bus daily fax archive
12
Mar 98 Daring Women of Africa
"At a press briefing sponsored by the United
Nations Development
Fund for Women, Inonge Mbikusita- Lewanika, President of the Federation
of African Women's Peace Network (FERFAP) and a member of parliament in
Zambia, stressed the importance of preventing violence in Africa,
adding
that active participation by the people and the promotion of human
rights
were ways of achieving this. She said that some of the African women
"had
done the most daring missions that no government can think about." As
an
example, she said, during the conflict in Mali, women risked their
lives
and got in touch with the rebels and "talked to them until they
collected
all their guns and put them to flame." In northern Uganda, she added, a
minister went to the bush "with just a handbag" to talk to the rebels.
She also said that African women were putting pressure on African
governments
to reduce their defence budgets while also pleading with other women in
developed countries to pressurize their governments to stop the
production
of weapons which are used in conflicts on the African continent."
From: DAILY HIGHLIGHTS,
Friday,
6 March 1998
5 Mar 98 The
Miseducation of Girls
"In much of the world too little attention has
been paid
to the education of girls. Huge gaps persist between women's and men's
educational achievement. Globally, nearly 600 million women remain
illiterate
today, compared with about 320 million men. In certain parts of the
world,
moreover, as many as three in four women are illiterate, and others
have
received no more than a negligible education. This neglect has had
critical
consequences for women's well-being, for their empowerment as well as
for
their reproductive choices and roles. The education of girls is a key
factor
in improving family health, reducing infant mortality, and changing
reproductive
behaviour. With education comes increased confidence and self-esteem.
Educated
women are more likely to stand up for themselves, participate in the
labour
force, and seek health care for themselves and their children." From:
The
State of World Population 1997, CHAPTER 4
The
Journal of South Asia Women Studies - the first journal on/by
Asia
women on the web, includes unpublished articles, reviews, news.
Academic
submissions welcomed.
Literacy
and Social Change: From a Women's Perspective Mi Shiknar: I Will Learn
by Ujwala Samant - Part of the proceedings of the 1996 World Conference
on Literacy
Literacy
for Women on the Streets - documentation of literacy work in
Vancouver,
BC, designed for and with women in the sex trades.
LITERACY
RESOURCE CENTRE FOR GIRLS AND WOMEN
In Collaboration With Asia Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO (ACCU)
Japan
Starting
with Women's Lives: Changing Today's Economy
Making
Connections across culture: Critical reflection on a feminist adult
education
resource - by Arlene Wells. A report on a research project
that
examines the way in which one feminist literacy resource does and
doesn't
accommodate the needs, strengths and cultures of women learning and
teaching
in adult literacy programs. The report moves beyond an analysis of one
curriculum document into a careful reflection of the ways that race,
class,
and gender (among other things) interlock and contribute to helping or
hindering women's learning.
from the National Council on Research for Women - Misinformation
Clearinghouse; information (including the area of education)
about women's lives.
- (A
Facilitator's
Guide to a Visual Workshop Methodology) Suzanne
Doerge
and Beverly Burke. A "how-to" guide for doing a gender analysis
of
today's economy in a visual and participatory way, called "The
Wall".
The methodology uses the image of a stone wall to depict a gender
analysis
of today's economy or a particular aspect of it. The wall image
provides
an opportunity to analyze changes in the economy over the past ten
years
and what those changes havemeant for women.
MUJER
- Mothers United for Jobs, Education, Results -
learner-generated
site from San Antonio, Texas; includes learners' stories and
reflections,
and descripitions of projects. (This link also appears on LR/RI's
learners
page).
National
Adult Literacy Database (Canada)
National Women's Health Information
Center - one-stop gateway for women seeking health
information.
NWHIC is a free information and resource service on women's health
issues
designed for consumers, health care professionals, researchers,
educators,
and students.
Race and Gender
in Adult Education Susan Imel, 1995, ERIC Trends and
Issues
Alert
Rhode
Island Women and Film Project - Pat Salazar's report on her
1998
minigrant project, "My not so Brilliant Idea," a film and
discussion project for women held in Woonsocket, RI.
Strategies
for Advcancing Girls' Education - designed to take a
non-traditional,
multi-sectoral approach to increasing involvement in girls’ education
around
the world, and particularly in developing nations.
A
Tradition That Has No Name : Nurturing the Development
of
People, Families, and Communities by Mary Field Belenky, Lynne
A. Bond, Jacqueline S. Weinstock - a text that comes highly recommended
by a number of women. Read the review on line (at Amazon.com); order if
you'd like or come have a look at LR/RI.
Telling
Our Stories Our Way: A Guide to Good Canadian Materials for Women
Learning
to Read (1990, posted online, 2003) [ Linda Sheppard, Ed.
] "This document is a resource
guide
to good Canadian literacy materials for women. The first of its kind,
the
guide reflects a commitment to both a literacy practice that puts
students
first, and a feminist perspective, which recognizes the need for
materials
that deal with the particular realities of women's lives. It
features
reviews of selected books and pamphlets of special interest to women
learning
to read.
Text Quarterly
from the Center for the Study of Adult Literacy - issues
related
to women and literacy, Summer 1999, Volume 11, Issue 4
Text
Quarterly
from the Center for the Study of Adult Literacy - Fall 1999,
Volume
12, Issue 1
What
did you do in the war, Grandma? - An Oral History of Rhode
Island
Women during World War II Written by students in the Honors English
Program
at South Kingstown High School.
Where there
is Life, There is Hope: Women literacy students and discrimination
- The Samaritan House PAR Group, Manitoba, Canada, 1995.
The
Women's
Fund of the Rhode Island Foundation - New Women's Fund of Rhode
Island promises to 'level the playing field' through grants,
research,
'celebration'
Women's
Health - a special section of the New York Times website,
containing
information about women's health issues and links to other on-line
resources.
Lots and lots about international women's day, from a google
search.
Women
and
Literacy
: Trends and Issues Alert by Susan Imel, ERIC/ACVE,
1996
Women
and
Literacy: Guide to the Literature and Issues for Woman-Positive Programs
Information Series No. 367 by Susan Imel and Sandra Kerka
Women
Work and Literacy - ERIC Digest No. 92 by Sandra Kerka
Women's
Voices 2000 - The Most Comprehensive Polling and Research
Project
on Women's Values and Policy Priorities for the Economy from the Center
for Policy Alternatives
Women and Social Movements
in the United States, 1830-1930 - "consists of editorial
projects
of primary documents that speak to the history of women in reform
movements
in the U.S. We now have a sizable body of documents ...along with some
graphics, links to other educational sites in women's history, and a
search
engine that makes material on the site quite accessible. We are hoping
the materials will be valuable in high school and college courses in
history."
Kathryn
Kish Sklar and Tom Dublin
Department of History SUNY-Binghamton.
Women in Literacy,
Laubach Literacy - "Women in Literacy, a decade-long global effort to
reach
and teach 1.1 million poor women, is the driving force for program
expansion
and new partnership development. As new readers and new leaders, women
improve lives and rejuvenate communities long bypassed by publicly and
privately funded development efforts."
Women's Enews
- resources and news related to women, work, welfare, the economy, and
daily lives; national/international resources and articles
Women Leaders on Line - Women
organizing for change, including links to resources, news, action
alerts
(as well as an action alert email list) relevant to women and social /
political change.
Women Leading Through
Reading - a Minnesota-based initiative to raise awareness about
the particular challenges women face as they seek to enhance their
literacy
skills, and to explore alternative ways for women to improve their
literacy
skills. A resource
list of literacy materials for women is also attached to the site.
and, related to that, WE
LEARN - Women Expanding Literacy Education Action Resource
Network:
WE LEARN values and promotes literacy and literature for all women;
especially those with lower-level English reading and writing skills.
Education
can
become a liberatory opportunity for women disadvantaged by traditional
schooling. Women and girls need and deserve access to a variety of
creative
educational opportunities, programs, resources, and materials at all
levels of readability. Check the site to learn about the
project's
goals, complete a questionnaire, and gather information about and
connections to women working with and within literacy.
Mom's
on Duty with NO Pay: A Radio Program for International Women's
Day, March 8, 2002, - Students in the Family Learning Program, South
St.
Paul, MN, 365/24/7 ] PDF file - The free
Adobe(R) Acrobat(R)
Reader allows you to view, navigate, and print PDF files across all
major
computing platforms. To download Acrobat(R)
Reader clickhere
Women for Women International
provides women survivors of war, civil strife and other
conflicts with the tools and resources to move from crisis and poverty
to stability and self-sufficiency, thereby promoting viable civil
societies.
Women's
immigration issues - by Ed Kissam and Holda Dorsey
California
State University and Hacienda La Puente Adult Education
Instructor information, and lesson plans; part of larger site of
materials
from Latino Adult
Education
Services
Women's Learning
Partnership
for Rights, Development and Peace - Leadership Training and
Empowerment;
including a web anthology entitled Toward
a Compassionate Society, which addresses the importance of cultural
pluralism and women’s role in promoting peace in a rapidly globalizing
world. The issues are examined from a variety of gender-focused
cultural
and inter-disciplinary perspectives including sociology, anthropology,
human rights, philosophy, and religion.
WomensNet
- supports women's organizations locally, nationally and worldwide
by providing and adapting telecommunications technology to enhance
their
work.
Women
of War [Christian Science Monitor, 8 March/2000] "For 30 years,
Eritrean women fought alongside men for independence from Ethiopia.
Now,
the latest border skirmishes with Ethiopia threaten to undo many of the
gains the women of Eritrea have made in a patriarchal society." by
Cheryl
Hatch, ASMARA, ERITREA [with thanks to Julie Nora for bringing this
resource
to light]
Women's
Words: A Change Curriculum for Tutors and Learners - a
project
of the Student Coalition for Action in Literacy Education (SCALE
Women
Work! The National Network for Women’s Employment
Women
and Work - from the PEN
weekly newsblast, May 11, 2007: THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF MOTHERHOOD
If the typical stay-at-home mother in the United States were paid for
her work as a housekeeper, cook and psychologist, among other roles,
she would earn $138,095 a year, according to new research. This
reflected a 3 percent raise from last year's $134,121, according to
Salary.com Inc., Waltham, Mass.-based compensation experts. The 10 jobs
listed as comprising a mother's work were housekeeper, cook, day care
center teacher, laundry machine operator, van driver, facilities
manager, janitor, computer operator, chief executive officer and
psychologist. The study indicated the typical mother puts in a 92-hour
work week, working 40 hours at base pay and 52 hours overtime. A mother
who holds a full-time job outside the home would earn an additional
$85,939 for the work she does at home. Last year she would have earned
$85,876 for her at-home work. Salary.com compiled the online responses
of 26,000 stay-at-home mothers and 14,000 mothers who also work outside
the home.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070502/us_nm/work_mothers_dc
see also, My
Wife Doesn't Work, and another version, here.
Women'space:
Feminist e-zine and Women's Internet Campaign - "A place where
women activists share stories of our adventures in cyberspace and
explore
how the Internet is being used as a powerful tool for women and A
campaign
to ensure women, girls, and women's groups have equal access, equal
participation,
and an equal voice in communication technologies."
responding to September 11 and
resources for critical reflection:
additional resources and information appear on LR/RI's ESOL,
EL/Civics,
On the Screen and intergenerational
literacy pages
Afghan
women fear war's legacy - September 27, Globe and Mail, Toronto
Revolutionary Association of the
Women
of Afghanistan (RAWA) - documents, images, reports from RAWA,
including
a caution that some images are deeply disturbing. RAWA has worked, at
great
peril to its members, for basic human rights, including literacy, for
Afghanistan's
people.
created
January
30, 1998
last
updated May 8, 2009
LR/RI
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