Return-Path: <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id e8U1Sl908664; Fri, 29 Sep 2000 21:28:47 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2000 21:28:47 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <005b01c02a7d$457a5ea0$16079ad8@my-computer> Errors-To: alcrsb@langate.gsu.edu Reply-To: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Jenny Horsman" <jhorsman@idirect.com> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:1026] Re: Teach! X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.3110.1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; Status: O Content-Length: 6670 Lines: 125 Hi All, Thanks for sharing your view Andrea. Your description of survivors as having fault lines and vulnerabilities is eloquent. I absolutely agree with you that what teachers should do is teach. I'm not sure what you meant by a safety net - but I certainly think they/we need to be prepared with knowledge about options for counselling/therapy/groups etc. for students and some sort of counselling/therapy support for ourselves as teachers. My argument is that if we don't recognize the impact of violence on learning and support students to understand this impact, learn to believe in themselves, rebuild self-worth and learn to learn, then many students may not succeed in learning what they hoped to learn. Instead they may fail again and judge themselves, believing that they really must be stupid. (And I worry that if we don't have access to some form of supports ourselves as teachers then we are more likely to become exhausted or burnt out.) Having worked with a group this winter - not trying to invite disclosures or to be a therapist, but naming that violence may have got in the way of learning and helping the women to learn to support themselves, gather the strength of spirit, emotions, body and mind to help them learn - I have seen women improve enormously in their reading and writing as well as making concrete plans and moving them gradually into action, for courses and work, volunteer and paid, they plan to take on. This work I think builds on learners strength and enhances it. I found it useful to always remind myself that my focus was on learning - and what would help with learning - but I was fascinated to find that helping women to feel better about themselves, to feel valued, to feel that they did not need to be ashamed of the violence in their lives and gain confidence as learners - helped them to be able to learn. Consulting with a therapist helped me to maintain that focus and be careful about how to do teaching that honoured the experiences learners had been through and didn't ignore my own needs and limits. As I was writing this message, that student who kicked me into this area of work, happened to call. When I told her the message I was trying to write she said that I should say that learners often don't trust anyone and when they hear from someone they trust that they don't deserve to be hurt, then it can help them make changes in their lives. She said that when women are struggling with present violence or past violence "they've got too much on their mind, it keeps going back to the abuse and they can't learn." She reminded me that it is not easy to just take a referral as people with those "big papers", as she calls educated people, can be very intimidating, so it may take time and support before a student can follow up on a referral. I think it is important for teachers to explore how to create safer spaces for learning and help learners feel they have worth - this is essential for learning. I think as literacy workers we often fear that if we break the silences about the issues of violence we will open the floodgates and find ourselves in too deep. My experience was that I didn't hear the details of the violence in women's lives, instead I heard more about the difficulties they have with learning, their worries that may be their memories are no good, their fears that those who told them they were worthless and stupid were right - many things that were getting in the way of learning. Before I end my stint focussing on this issue, I want to ask one last set of questions. My current research looks at what happens when people in literacy programs try to change literacy practice to recognize impacts of violence on literacy. I want to know how you have been thinking about the impact of violence on learning, how you have tried, or wish you could try, to address these issues through changes in your practice. I am curious about what helps and hinders making changes. So far I have been particularly noticing "discourses" (language and practices) that I think hinder recognizing issues of violence in programs I would love to hear from you. If you prefer to email me privately rather than posting to the list feel free. Thanks everyone for focussing on these issues for the last two weeks - hope it hasn't been too exhausting - I'll keep listening in for a while I don't want to miss anything (though I'll be away from email for a few days from Sunday)! I've really appreciated the chance to "talk" with you all and would love to hear more in future as you have further thoughts about the issue. I wish you all well Jenny -----Original Message----- From: AWilder106@aol.com <AWilder106@aol.com> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Date: Thursday, September 28, 2000 9:49 AM Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:1022] Re: Therapy supports >Jenny, > >I feel I should reframe this conversation a little. > >Survivors aren't strong, really. We can do a lot, cope with a lot, but there >are fault lines in our characters that people who haven't been abused don't >have. And we may always be vulnerable to certain kinds of stress, meaning >that memories come back because they are burned into our brain circuits. We >have to learn how to cope with a society which stigmatizes us and people who >are afraid of us if we open our mouths about these things. I happen to be >with a group of people to whom horrible things have happened, to them or >their relatives, and my experiences are no more than a drop in the bucket to >them. No exactly ho-hum, but par for (some) courses. What happened to me >was bad luck. It could have happened to anybody else at any other time, but >I was there at the wrong place and the wrong time with the wrong people. > >The best thing I can say to a teacher is to get the student a referral and >then get out of the way. Teach. Good teachers are highly skilled at working >with all types of students. Respect what we are trying to accomplish and >help us out. Every teacher should put together their own safety net. > >Depending on the degree of damage medical help may be necessary for some of >us. Abuse CAN cause physiological change that medicine helps. It's like a >cast for a broken leg, or a wrist splint. > >I know a lot of teachers don't understand these things and want to help and >don't know what to do. Hats off to them. They'll seek answers, like Daphne >did. And they'll learn to manage their own issues so as to be better >teachers. I did, and so have other teachers who come from a background of >abuse. > >Gotta run--I've got a day job off the list--and thanks for listening. > >Andrea
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