Women's Literacy Power: Collaborative Approaches to Developing and Distributing Women's Literacy Resources

Appendix Section C

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(Literacy Worker Questionnnaire)

pdf available

Section C: What Additional Women-Centered Resources Do You Use?

(Q1.) What published materials addressing specific women's issues have you been using that are not listed above in Section B? Please be as specific and as comprehensive as possible, including author and publisher.
Spring 2000 - 12 responses	Spring 2001 - 9 responses
American Dreams, Sapphire Carol-Lines, Members of the Caroline Center Changes , Mindy Bingham, Sandy Stryker and Judy Edmondson La Cocina de Vida, Anson Green El Bronx Remembered , Nicholasa The Healing Touch, Janet Dailey Health Education in Plain Language & Curriculum Guidebook Health Education in Plain Language, Women's Network PEI Beyond Prescriptions ~ Meeting Your Health Needs, Health Education in Plain Language, Women's Network PEI Is It Hot in Here? A Handbook about Menopause The Her Project, Deborah Reck The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros I See a Part of Myself, Edami Roa, Basemah Jaber and Ivan Ramirez If You Could See Me Now, Kate Nonesuch and Evelyn Battell, eds. Listen to Women in Literacy, Tannis Atkinson, with Frances Ennis and Betty-Ann Lloyd Mollie's Year, Tana Reiff Our Bodies, Ourselves for the New Century, Boston Women's Health Book Collective Push: A Novel, Sapphire Refugee & Immigrant Women's Project Curriculum, Riding High, Janet Dailey Scholastic's "Dear America" Series, Sex Education Activities, Janet Rizzo Toner Stories from Home, Tacoma Community House ESL Curriculum, Voices of Aboriginal Women, Goyette When I Was Puerto Rican, Esmeralda Santiago Why Did It Happen to Me?, Carla Frenchy Women in the Workplace,	Very little is available for adults We would like a list of materials if you have   We use pieces from various ESL textbooks that cover on women’s issues: Lifeprints 1: ESL for Adults, Christy Newman, New Readers Press Learners’ Lives as Curriculum, Gail Weinstein, Delta Systems Stories to Tell Our Children, Gail Weinstein-Shr, Heinle & Heinle Collaborations, English in Our lives, Donna Moss, Cathy Shank, Lynda Terrill, Heinle & Heinle Stories form the Heart, Linda Mrowicki, Linmore Pres     Morning Glory Press Series: - Your Teen Pregnancy - Nurturing Your Newborn - Babies First Year - Too Soon for Jeff - Detour for Emy New Futures Inc. - www.newfuturesinc.com pregnancy, breastfeeds & exercise book.

(Q2.) What women-centered or feminist materials DO NOT exist (on a topic or in a genre) that you wish you had available to use with your learners? (For example: information on specific health concerns, social relations, short stories, work situations, "issues", women's rights, memoirs, etc.)
Spring 2000 - 12 responses	Spring 2001 - 9 responses
Anthology of Black women’s poetry African-American women as "regular" characters -- not impoverished but not doctors, lawyers   Easy-to-read good short stories   Relationship’s in the workplace &endash; "social skills" &endash; culture of the workplace, etc.   Very easy to read stories about life on welfare, dealing with poverty; Easy-to-read fact book on welfare reform (rules & regs) that are state specific   Basic domestic violence materials in Russian, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Lao, Albanian and ANY women-centered materials in these languages especially covering women’s rights in the U.S.   Materials on sexual lifestyles & choices/preferences, orientations. Heterosexuality, homosexuality, celibacy, monogamy, polygamy, prostitution, etc. Also on GLBT issues and awareness   Issues of child custody and child support   Hispanic machismo / sexism in general that are easy-to-read   Good, comprehensive curriculum that addresses women’s needs as ESL learners in the workplace &endash; language skills needed to navigate childcare, harassment   A lot, especially at very low reading levels   Violence, what it does to families and to learning and being in communities   Un-othering of lesbians, women with disabilities, and other "others"	What doesn't exist in too many cases are the volunteer tutors' manuals. "how to teach it" is critical to our volunteers. Most ABE learners are women. Traditional schools haven't worked for them. It would help if curriculum had some relevance to their lives, provided role models, etc. For ex, when learning about science, why not use the work of women scientists?   Basically, little or nothing exists that is written at the reading level we require. While there are many good textbooks exist that touch on refugee woman's experience, culture shock, expressing feelings, parenting, laws in the US regarding child abuse, domestic violence, etc., they are typically in the backs of chapters and are within a wider textbook meant for both men and women in an ESL setting. short stories, work related issues and situations would be interesting and helpful, also if they were about minorities   I wish I had information on specific health concerns, social relations, short stories, work situations, 'issues,' women's rights, memoirs. etc.   low level materials for young women   I have found it extremely difficult to find non-sexist material for beginners. Pictures are always stereotypical.

(Q3.) Have you found it important to use or have access to literacy materials that touch on or raise issues of specific importance to women? Please explain your answer if possible.
Spring 2000 - 12 responses	Spring 2001 - 9 responses
Obviously anything which relates specifically to interest of particular group will be of interest and better received Women love to read stories that express their experiences. Their center has a small collection on violence which the "women devour" when they first come to class. Using a book if often an easy way to name issues and let women know "I" (the teacher) won’t be shocked if she discloses a situation. Encourages students to resist their oppression and books provide role models. Lack of information in appropriate languages or at a very basic English level&endash;tend to rely on instructors to get info across&endash;specifically info on women’s rights in the U.S. and family law issues (esp. domestic violence) I teach a class called "Female in America" which gives women a chance to explore gender myths, gender roles, self-esteem, communication, assertiveness, sexuality, conception, pregnancy, menopause, contraception, abortion, history of women’s rights and much more. I am always looking for good materials. The curriculum was originally "birthed" by my predecessor, a counselor, and the school nurse. I had a minor hand in its original development as well as the ongoing "refinements." Health information -- like Our Bodies, Ourselves Very important to use these materials. The health stuff the use focuses on women’s issues and motivates participants -- resolve problems and quality of life -- as a result of classes, some women move to d.v. shelters and seek more health services Average ESL curriculums, especially those that are workplace related, are very male-oriented (for immigrants) at the highest level in an effort to support women students in other parts of their life -- but have to keep English [learning] at the heart, though, or students feel "cheated." Yes & NO -- tend to work from learners issues, language experience, writing, and then try to find readings that relate to those topics and/or pose alternative voices/optional perspectives.	Yes, when it comes from the adult learners Learners need examples of people who overcame obstacles. Yes. Women immigrants and refugees have a completely different experience than men. So often their husbands have and all control over their situation. But they need to know that the U.S. has myriad more opportunities for women. While the majority of our students are women, ours is not only a 'women's" program. Many of the issues we might call "women's issues" are important for men as well. For example, family demands in a new culture, dealing with children's teachers, keeping kids out of gangs and drug activity, etc. On the other hand, there are sensitive issues like domestic abuse, health concerns, infidelity, etc. that are of specific importance to women. The opportunity to talk about these issues in a women only setting is scarce, and is complicated with various cultures represented in the classroom. These are sensitive issues in a one culture setting, and having a meaningful discussion with people from all over the world with low English skill can be extremely difficult. We have not found published materials to help us with this endeavor. Often, students have individual needs that we address as they come up, or we can contact our on staff bilingual mental health worker. Yes. materials that are geared to young women are more interesting. Morning Glory novels are very popular Too Soon for Jeff, What about Me, etc. Yes. because women are highly motivated to read these materials We have not considered this issue in choosing materials. We have focused on workplace literacy, life skills and controlled vocab/high interest/low level auxiliary materials. That is not to say women's issues are not important. I will copy this and use the books mentioned as a bibliography for future purposes. no. my students are low level Yes, I have found students really enjoy materials relating to women, especially when the class is all, or nearly all women.

(Q4.) What types of concerns or issues generally surface for the women learners/students in your program? How do they usually tend to surface?
Spring 2000 - 12 responses	Spring 2001 - 9 responses
Issues listed in order according to how often they were mentioned&endash;i.e., those at the beginning were mentioned most frequently. Mentioned by 33-56% or the respondents: Violence: with domestic violence and family violence as the most mentioned concern but also some references to violence in neighborhoods and communities and children’s schools Sexual abuse   Relationships -- esp. with boyfriends or spouses Mentioned by 16-25% of the respondents… Childcare Parenting or children’s issues Lack of money and/or poverty Housing issues "welfare madness" or mistreatment within & by the welfare system Mentioned once though may be related to other issues listed above… emotional/mental health low self-esteem, especially related to not having been in a classroom for years   custody drugs education health transportation children having trouble in school teens and gangs welfare pressures to find work before skill level is adequate to obtain a decent job inequality in mutual responsibility (in the family)   family support issues -- e.g. refugee women are expected to care for old, sick, young AND work outside the home AND do all the housework   lack of knowledge about one’s own sexuality violence in children’s schools unsuccessful arranged marriages "safety" as related to violence in the family   How these topics emerged Once respondent offered the observation that her ESOL classes generally tend to follow the sequence outlived in "Daily Lives" in Making Connections Came out in class via writing assignments or vocabulary   In an immigrant setting, issues on violence only came out after much time and development of trust & relationship with teachers or in "talk" groups   Class discussion   Informal conversation in groups   Writing assignments   Counseling   Private conversation   Included in the curriculum Working with a tutor	How to be a better parent - no role model to show them how Health -- to health care providers where our women receive written information that's above their skill level. self esteem peer pressures healthy choices parenting in the United States (children involved with gangs, disrespect to elders, dating, parents depending on children for their English skills, juggling child care and school/work) domestic violence second & third wives health problems (physical health, mental health from past trauma, or current stress) problems with boyfriends problems with mother/family grades Concerns: wish for a 'better life', i.e. good job, driver's license, GED, solutions to family problems concerning husband/boyfriend or children, bills and money concerns, dealing with medical care system child care, cannot attend classes with no child care available. jobs irregular attendance to ESL classes                How these topics emerged The truth is they often don't surface they're too timid and ashamed to speak up in class. Topics come up in initial interview or in personal conversation

(Q5.) If more published literacy materials on specific concerns to women were available, would you use them? Why or why not?
Spring 2000 - 12 responses	Spring 2001 - 9 responses
Ten (83%) of the 12 respondents answered yes to this question -- some quite enthusiastically. One (8%) answered that "it depends." And one (8%) made no response at all (though I can probably extrapolate a "yes" based on their answers to other questions). These are some of the additional comment: the program is geared towards women. They would use them in reading/writing classes and in the library would use some of them but they often use locally produced materials such as newspapers and resources in the local library (such as the children’s room) would need to be at a low enough level and would even prefer some first language or bilingual materials also needs to be made more aware of what resources are currently available this is a "no brainer" would get them if they had the $$ - but also prefers materials developed within a local context and with local agencie   feels these materials would support their programs in a variety of ways such as offering credibility to and emphasis on certain topics, etc   if reading level and content were applicabl   depends -- best if the materials are not presumptive and were open-ended and had the potential for multiple interpretations. Especially interested in "solid information" such as health, laws, etc. sees they could be useful to their program	6 - yes 1 - possibly 1 - implies no 1 - no response     These are some of the additional comments : But it's tricky. Our classes are generally integrated. We don't mean to completely exclude the men. If the reading level is accessible to our students and the materials addressed issues of importance to immigrant/refugee women, I think many teachers here will use them. We don't always have a women only atmosphere, so that might affect how/when we bring up such topics... Possibly. I would want to present the materials & rationale for use to the specific tutors (we do 1-1 tutoring). It would also depend on the reading level of the learners. Are your recommended materials graded as to reading level? My classes are attended by men and women

(Q8.) Would you use printed materials developed by other literacy programs if you knew about them? What would this depend on?
Spring 2000 - 12 responses	Spring 2001 - 9 responses
The responses to this questions were all "yes but it depends on…" The items most often mentioned for what it depends on included the following (mentioned at least 3-4 times): cost  quality  appropriateness of reading level  quality  context/content Other mentioned issues included: usefulness to the center’s programs if helpful to their learners   especially reflected First Nation (Indian) themes and people who live in small towns o rural areas   if they could have access to some form of review that would help them determine the appropriateness for their women learners in their setting   depending on the availability and if there was some synopsis/review and some examples of learner feedback (quotes)   if it fit into the curriculum   whether or not it was open-ended, open to multiple interpretations, and not too regionally specific   also viewed as an opportunity to have access to the work of other programs, networking, generally connecting to the work of other literacy workers. Wanted to know more about what is generally available but not knowing how to access it	The responses to this questions were all "yes but it depends on…" The items most often mentioned for what it depends on included the following (mentioned at least 3-4 times): Quality and relevancy Cost and awareness of them    Other mentioned issues included:  I have been developing my own materials for years   Absolutely! We are constantly sharing and adapting materials from other teachers and programs. It would largely depend on if the issues were of immediacy to refugee/immigrant women and if the reading level were appropriate for our low literacy ESL adults.   availability of tutors to work with female students

(Q9.) Do you create your own printed materials? Why? When you create your own printed materials, how is this done? Are your learners involved in the process? If so, how? Who pays for the production costs? Do you use them with subsequent learners or classes? Why or why not? Do you make them available to other programs?
Spring 2000 - 12 responses	Spring 2001 - 9 responses
Ten (83%) answered yes to this question. One (8%) answered no and one (8%) made no response. One program mentioned that their entire curriculum is produced in-house because nothing else appropriate and measurable exists for their population (100% immigrant women with low English skills). Most often the reasons included creating materials with more simplified vocabulary or something they can’t find elsewhere (e.g. topic oriented like employment issues as they apply for women). Others couldn’t find appropriate materials and since their process is project-based, creating their own materials was better for their learning process. Most often, the reasons for printing their own materials included curriculum concerns: self-esteem building learners can use a variety of skills such as writing, editing, talking, researching, reading, proofreading in-house publication of their student’s creative writing appropriate content reading levels	Four (59%) answered no The other 4 made the comments below. write / research / produce. I pay for production. Yes, I use with subsequent classes For some classes yes. Resources are difficult to find. The teachers bring in resources (students not involved) ELC pays production. We don't make them available, but if others wanted them we would, of course. Since we serve such a specific population, we have created a parenting curriculum that caters to low literacy refugee women. Parenting class takes place with a bilingual Hmong/English speaker for 1 hour per week. The issues chosen in the curriculum are of particular concern to Hmong residents, although I'm sure many f these issues are universal to the immigrant experience in the U.S. The parenting curriculum includes 8 units: Families and Feelings My Story Child Development School Discipline Health Safety Holidays The units’ focus is two-fold. First they provide the vocabulary and communication strategies to begin to talk about the topic in English. Secondly the provide a forum for discussion and for problem solving (especially since a bilingual teacher teaches the parenting class. The Parenting Curriculum was developed over time and arose from topics that students and teachers expressed interest/concern about. The worksheets/hand-outs are paid for through (name of program) budget and are re-used throughout the year with new groups of students . So far, it is not a ‘published’ form and has not been publicized to other programs. (link to sample sheet on website) Only occasionally when I want to merge several sources of information & condense it. I have done this for tutor in-services. Copied at library as in kind services

(Q6.) If literacy workers wrote reviews about the effectiveness of specific women-centered literacy materials, would you find this useful? Why or why not?
Spring 2000 - 12 responses	Spring 2001 - 9 responses
This question was not asked on this questionnaire. This new question was developed in response to some of the responses from Spring 2000.	4 responses - yes 3 responses - maybe 1 - no answer Additional comments: Other ESL workers opinions are valuable Again, our population is fairly specific. If the reviews included materials made for immigrant/refugee women or for ESL instruction specifically, that would be quite useful. It would put me in touch with more teaching materials. Possibly. I have found that literacy programs & their focus groups vary considerably. Useful if I had the time to access the records. I’m doing better now financially but when I was teaching several different TESOL classes I didn’t have time for much! (Including regularly eating my lunch in the car as I was driving to the next teaching site).

(Q7.) Would you find the comments or reviews written by women learners on reading materials useful? Why or why not?
Spring 2000 - 12 responses	Spring 2001 - 9 responses
This question was not asked on this questionnaire. This new question was developed in response to some of the responses from Spring 2000.	5 responses - yes 2 responses - maybe 1 - no response Additional comments: Men resist. All we hear is what men think. Their feedback is crucial. We only want to teach what they want to learn. Yes, again depending on if the materials were geared to a population similar to the one we serve. Possibly. Human interest always attracts persons to an issue or related materials. I think your organization is great for just that. Giving teachers, who are aware of the negative stereotyping of women and other groups, resources.

(Q10.) Would you use a resource/networking center dedicated to women-centered literacy materials? Please comment on what would work best (e.g., printed newsletter, website, mailing list) and what it should do or include.
Spring 2000 - 12 responses	Spring 2001 - 9 responses
This question was not asked on this questionnaire. This new question was developed in response to some of the responses from Spring 2000.	Newsletter - 5 Website - 5 Mailing list - 4 Email listserv - 1   Additional comments: Yes, if it’s directed to women learners & distributed to them. A 2-page newsletter would be received well by our women. Best of all would be an email list serve or a website with periodic updates by email. Descriptions of other problems, contact information, materials available, and projects that we could collaborate on would all be useful for us. Description of materials needed Disseminate materials on women centered literacy materials. You’ve done it, include a list of recommended resources.

(Q11.) If there are any additional comments you'd like to make about literacy resources or reading materials or curriculum packets and how they reflect issues of specific importance to women, please make them here. Please use additional pages if necessary
Spring 2000 - 12 responses	Spring 2001 - 9 responses
Wants to know what materials are available now on women's issues, what’s being used by others, and usefulness of these materials   Need for books with male characters who are dealing with women who stick up for themselves. Male student therefore gets a role model and shows women students that some men are willing to change. Training teachers (in their case) may be more important than reaching out directly to students Materials on sexuality issues are too advanced reading level and focus too much on issues for younger women (teens)&endash;too much their situations [and not so much for older women] This area needs desperate attention&endash;a lot of good program and teacher produced work could be brought to others&endash;providing access at low cost. Reviews of material is also important&endash;for example, Making Connections is good but much different than what was expected and ultimately disappointed. A review may have helped. Don’t have specific curriculum or books in mind but have a model consisting of: Critical discussion Reading activity Writing activity Group activity Action activity Uses material applicable to students, especially local stuff and context, especially if can be used with these activities.	The attached questionnaire is far more extensive than I have time to offer you....Our female numbers are very small right now. We cannot afford many of the materials that are ‘out here.’ Our primary source is the New Readers Press. Because we are LLI members we receive a discount & that influences the issue as well. We served over 55 learners last year, but that is very small compared to programs in your are. We respond to the personal needs and goals of our adult learners. They bring those to the match. Literacy resources, reading materials and curriculum packets do not reflect issues of specific importance to women   I’m deducing that you assume literacy programs are large, urban and offer classes & open lab time. Our program is rural, has 20 1-1 matches and hires 1 part time coordinator (12.5 hrs/wk). We serve a community of 20,000.