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WE LEARN
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651-646-0097 |
Name
Address of organization
Date
I am working on a research project concerning women-centered literacy materials and curriculum resources. For the past 2 years, this project has involved literacy workers. Now I want to include adult women learners who are currently working to improve their English literacy skills. I am writing to briefly describe this project and to invite you, your adult women learners, and your program to participate the process.
First, allow me to introduce myself. In 1995 I co-founded Women Leading Through Reading (WLTR), an initiative co-sponsored by the Minnesota Literacy Council and Amazon Bookstore Cooperative. Women Leading Through Reading primarily provides book discussion groups for adult women reading at low/ basic reading levels. These groups create an environment where all participants share an equal role and provide a unique opportunity for adult women learners to build reading skills and a sense of community as well as develop social and conversational skills. In addition to my coordination and development of WLTR, I am also a worker-owner and book buyer at Amazon Bookstore Cooperative in Minneapolis. I've been working in the various aspects of the book industry and in feminist publishing for close to 20 years. Currently, I am a candidate for an Ed.D. in Critical Pedagogy from the Univ. of St. Thomas School of Education and working on my dissertation.
This research project directly connects to observations I've made throughout these experiences. I have noticed a scarcity of basic level reading materials that address issues and concerns of specific interest to women or that help women understand their situation as women. For the past several years, I have been discussing this problem with literacy workers, many of whom agree with my observations. I now want to broaden the conversation to include the women who might be interested in or would use such reading materials. I'm also addressing this concern as part of my dissertation research.
The primary activity for this participatory research will be to involve adult women learners in conversation circles about the types of reading materials they want, need, enjoy, or would ever use. Learners will be encouraged to list specific titles or examples of readings materials they have found useful to them and say why they like or don’t like them. They will be asked to describe and define what makes "good" reading matter, and to generate a list of topics of interest to them as women and suggest ways to address these topics. They will then be encouraged to actively narrate, write or depict all or part of a summary of their conversation and evaluate whether it accurately reflects the spirit of their conversation. I will be talking with women learners in a variety of settings, encouraging them to work with me to participate in whatever ways they feel comfortable. This will be a learning process for all of us. Anything that's written or recorded by way of summary will made available to all participants in ways best suited to their skills or needs.
I would like to discuss the possibility of having conversations with a group of women learners connected to your program. It would be ideal if the women participating had higher ranges of basic skills (mostly pre-GED or GED), but this point is flexible and negotiable. Though I prefer to facilitate the conversation circles with small groups of women that will be tape-recorded, I am open to whatever format would best work for your setting. Possibilities could include: part of a class period integrated into the curriculum, one-on-one conversations, a pre-arranged open meeting for interested women who want to attend, email conversations, or some other format. With each group of women learners that participates, I'd like to minimally meet once, preferably twice, first to discuss reading and materials that interest them, and second to prepare a summary.
I want to be clear to avoid doing traditional research about 'those' people that only gets reported back to academics. I'm designing a process very much participatory and collaborative in nature that will have long-term benefits for adult learners and literacy workers. One goal of this research project is to develop a process for working collaboratively with adult women learners and literacy workers in order to eventually create accessible and abundant basic reading materials that will enrich all women's lives, regardless of their reading skills. I have taken initial steps to start a non-profit resource network that will develop, publish, review, and distribute women-centered literacy materials and curriculum, created in collaboration with adult women learners and literacy workers.
If you'd like a preview of this work, I've been designing a website that will continue to develop as these projects develop (www.litwomen.org/WLindex.html). On the site, you'll see links to a resource list already underway, as well as a questionnaire to which you and your colleagues are welcome to respond. (Hard copies of the questionnaire are also available.)
Thanks for your time and consideration. I look forward to discussing these possibilities with you. I will phone you within two weeks to learn of your interest and hopefully set-up a time to meet.
Sincerely,
Mev Miller
www.litwomen.org/welearn.html
welearn@litwomen.org
