The writings on this page reflect
the foundations for the creation of We LEARN. They are sections from the
dissertation Women's
Literacy Power: Collaborative Approaches to Developing and Distributing
Women's Literacy Resources, written by Mev Miller to satisfy requirements
for an Ed.D. in Critical Pedagogy at the Univ. of St. Thomas in Minneapolis,
MN.
Introduction
This dissertation project originated from
my 10 year-old intention to create a non-profit feminist publishing
company committed to producing authentic literacy/reading materials
for women with limited or basic English reading skills. From my perspective
as a feminist bookseller and activist, I believe publishing, like education,
is not neutral. In the United States, sociopolitical and economic discourse
and cultural power exists in and is promulgated through this print-based
medium using standardized English-language. The dominant voices and
viewpoints represented in print medium and those who control what is
published affect the directions of our democracy and the possibilities
for social justice.
Many forms of oppression are maintained
or "neutralized" by what voices and topics exist in print. Maginalized
voices and viewpoints&emdash;typically undeserved, invisibilized, ignored,
or denied in print&emdash;have powerfully challenged this domination.
Though many peoples, knowledges, and identities have historically been
marginalized by print culture, this dissertation focuses on women in
general, and adult women literacy learners in particular. Women's words
and writings nurture the souls and lives of women who have access to
them in print, though women with limited literacy skills generally have
little connection to this sustenance in a print-based culture. Therefore,
women-centered literacy materials and resources provide one form of
women's literacy power&emdash;women learners gaining access to women's
voices, wisdom, knowledges, experiences, and sense of self available
in a basic and readable print-based media.
This dissertation project -- Women's
Literacy Power: Collaborative Approaches to Developing and Distributing
Women's Literacy Resources -- illuminates the lack of women-centered
literacy materials and suggests reasons for their scarcity. It centralizes
the voices of adult women learners and explores with them what reading
materials would enrich or change their lives and experiences as women.
Literacy workers involved in this project also uncover what types of
women-centered literacy materials are needed and would be used in their
curriculum. Additionally, it provides some foundation for building WE
LEARN-- a network of literacy workers, learners, writers, Women in Print
activists, feminists and anyone else interested in working collaboratively
and cooperatively to create, evaluate and distribute women-centered
literacy materials.1
The first section, Claiming
My Place: The Journey of a Reflective Practitioner,
places the work of this dissertation project in the context of my own
journey as a feminist bookseller and activist over the past 10 years.
It reveals how I became interested in women's literacy issues as crucial
for women's liberation, then reflects on a series of personal and community
actions meant to understand and address those issues. This reflection
presents the foundation on which this dissertation project exists.
Something
in My Mind: Paradigms of Literacy & Publishing Politics,
the second section, presents the theoretical/academic background. Here
I review much of the literature that has informed my thinking -- national
U.S. adult literacy policies, functional and critical literacies, Freirean
perspectives of education, literacy as social practices, women's literacy
as related to gender-oppression, participatory and popular education,
adult education and learning theory, feminist and critical pedagogies,
current trends in trade and literacy publishing, and publishing of women's
writings. To make sense of this literature, I outline paradigms of literacy
and politics of publishing to explore why so few women-centered literacy
materials currently exist.
Section 3 -- Dissertation
Framework and Methodological Process
-- outlines the principles of feminist participatory action research
and several tools of qualitative methods used to elicit viewpoints and
knowledges of adult women learners and literacy workers, including librarians.
These principles and methods continue building on the praxis described
in Section 1 and introduces the WE LEARN network and website as the
basis of future actions beyond the completion of the dissertation.
Knowledges
in View: Women Learners (Section
4) and Knowledges
in View: Literacy Workers (Section
5) contain the descriptions of each group who participated; summaries
of the contributions and knowledges they provided; and my reflections
and insights gained from both the process and information, especially
as related to the development of WE LEARN.
The final Section 6, WE
LEARN: A Critical Feminist Pedagogy for Women's Literacy,
presents a review of the process used in the dissertation project and
a synthesis of the insights provided by women learners and literacy
workers. It presents my understanding of the knowledges viewed. The
last part of this section acknowledges the many voices and recommendations
of women learners and literacy workers to propose specific directions
of future strategies and next steps for WE LEARN. The final pages of
this document -- Women Expanding -- reveals how some of these proposals
have already begun to take shape.
Building a network of relationships takes
time and care. I trust the spiraling energy necessary for growing slowly.
In this way, it has become important for me to understand this dissertation
project NOT merely as a finished end product, an accomplished educational
goal. Rather, I view it as a slice of time, a touchstone. It is a piece
of work in a distinct moment and with a clear purpose continuing what
went before while pushing towards what is yet to come. The dissertation
process/project provided an opportunity to reflect on (theorize from)
my professional and activist experiences and actions in order to midwife
a new direction for my contributions to women's literacy. WE LEARN points
the direction for my near future and moves towards encouraging a growing
network of people and organizations to vision the radical and liberatory
possibilities of women-centered literacy materials.
A word about format
In the spirit of critical pedagogy, Freirean
conscientização, and feminist participatory research,
the knowledge and information gained by this research must be made available
to the individuals and groups who participated and shared with the communities
who can benefit from it. Therefore, in addition to the traditional print-based
dissertation format, the presentation of this dissertation project exists
on a website. The website provides the visibility for and on-going connection
with WE LEARN as well as provides better accessibility to the information
for those who may find it beneficial. The website contains the sections
of this dissertation (as listed above), additional supporting
documents, a Resource
List of the women-centered literacy materials
compiled during the course of the dissertation project, and provides
opportunity for on-going
interaction with WE LEARN.
For this reason, the print version interacts
with and refers to the website frequently. A CD-ROM including the website
is located inside the back cover of the bound version and is available
on the Internet located at <www.litwomen.org/welearn.html>. Readers
of the print version are encouraged to explore the multidimensional
and interactive aspects of the website as well as the flatness of the
print text. Because of the website, I veered away from some of the traditional
rules of APA style. Throughout the text, you will see highlighted phrases
indicating a link. These correspond to hypertext website links to a
page on the WE LEARN website, to another section of the dissertation
document, to an appendix, or to some other website of related interest.
For manageability in website linking purposes,
appendixes
are NOT designated as A, B, or C and so on. They have been identified
by keywords and alphabetized. A complete listing of the appendixes can
be found in the print version in the Table of Contents. All of the appendixes
have been placed on the CD-ROM rather than in the back of the bound
volume. However, for the convenience of the reader, a few of the appendixes
needing immediate access have been placed at the end of the bound version.
They are indicated in the text with an asterisk (*), for example, see
*Appendix Complicated Literacies.
Notes
1. This research originates from
and is based in the context of the United States where most of the participants
lived. However, one questionnaire response came from Canada and some
of the email participants were from Canada. Also, many of the titles
on the developing Resource List were published in Canada or imported
from England. Though this dissertation project primarily focuses in
the U.S., the development of WE LEARN and other activities could potentially
open future work and networking to more North American and international
contexts.
This is the Introduction for the
Dissertation Project titled
Women's Literacy Power:
Collaborative Approaches to Developing and Distributing Women's Literacy
Resources
Mev (Mary Evelyn) Miller
Ed.D., Critical Pedagogy, University
of St. Thomas, Minneapolis, MN USA
Copyright © Mev Miller, 2002
Acknowledgements
This dissertation would not exist without
the support of many friends and family.
My deepest and sincerest gratitude first
goes to my dearest Nancy. She offered so much in the way of support,
patience, insight, courage, cooking, cleaning, guidance, and humor.
After listening to my theoretical debates and struggles throughout the
studies and dissertation project, she deserves this doctorate as much
as I do&emdash;so I award to Nancy M. Howard what my sister (Tina, thanks)
has named a doctorate of supportology. I thank her so profoundly for
her willingness to take the financial risk of my returning to school
and doing this dissertation project. Nancy provided more than she knows
and more than I can ever return.
I would also like to thank my dissertation
committee for their willingness to allow me to follow the experimental
course of this dissertation project. I would especially like to thank
Eleni Roulis for being a support, mentor and colleague. Her feminist
spirit and sense of adventure both encouraged me through this process.
She continually kept me from plunging into despair. Her laughter, critical
edge, and friendship have been invaluable. I thank Stephen Brookfield
who, for better or worse, encouraged me to enter into the Ed.D. program
in Critical Pedagogy. His kindness and insight on my work kept me in
the program when I was often tempted to walk away. Lisa Albrecht deserves
a good amount of credit for alerting me to this program. Her sense of
activism and her support for my work as a feminist bookseller helped
me to find my way. From its inception, Lisa provided invaluable insights
at various points in this project that have been truly helpful and directive.
Her friendship and camaraderie has been inspirational. I especially
appreciate the critical-ness and Freirean spirit Marcia Moraes used
to view my work. Her hugs from Brazil kept me going. Elsa Auerbach provided
many positive and practical suggestions for the ways in which I could
manage the conversation circles. She added many thoughtful comments
throughout the work, which helped me to make it stronger and clearer.
I also need to acknowledge my two critical
friends and colleagues, Emma Buffington Duren and Margo Lloyd. I am
extremely grateful to them for their support, insight, thoughtfulness
and friendship. They listened to many drafts and versions from the proposal
to the final draft. We shared good gossip and ate good food. I thank
them for challenging me to continually ask, "How is this a dissertation
in critical pedagogy?"
I want to thank all the women learners
who participated in the conversation circles. Their time is valuable
and I appreciate their willingness to spend some of it on this project.
I especially want to acknowledge the women at the Family Learning program
for their on-going participation.
There are many literacy workers who offered
their insight, time, and expertise. I thank them for their camaraderie:
Pam Ampferer, Kathy Haines, Kristin Keller, Liz Arend, Sally Gabb, Kathy
at ABE, Patricia McLaughlin, Ava Kovacs and Joleen Caron, Teresa Ortiz
Johnson, Donna Lindstrom, and Claudia Bredemus.
I also want to acknowledge the women who
worked with me on Women Leading Through Reading. Their patience and
humor and their willingness to share their knowledge helped me to know
what is possible: Julie Thalhuber Bendell, Dana Huber, Linda Brandt,
Sharon Her, Marge Adkisson, Melanie Haddox, Becky Franta, LeeAnn Wolf
& the Minnesota Literacy Council.
There are several literacy workers across
the country who also deserve recognition. Jane M. Hugo has been a true
friend and mentor. I thank her for her emails and conversations, all
of which have informed me in so many ways. She shares my networking
spirit and that means a lot to me. Thanks to Janet Isserlis who read
through one of the chapters and offered her reflections on it. Also
I'd like to thank Lou Sua who helped edit the questionnaire for librarians
and for Dale Lipshultz who took it to the ALA conference for me. Thanks
to Daphne Greenburg and her energy for womenlit-nifl and for her work
on the International Women and Literacy Conferences. She too has been
a colleague and advisor. I also want to thank Jenny Horsman who offered
some insight for the conversation circles and working with adult learners.
I also want to offer my deepest thanks
to the women at Amazon Bookstore Cooperative: Kathy Sharp, Jo denBoer,
Theresa Hawthorne, Heather Riley, and most especially Barb Wieser. They
encouraged and supported my development of Women Leading Through Reading.
It was their willingness to be flexible with time and schedules that
allowed me to pursue my studies and the dissertation project. They also
saved my back with the generous gift of a good office chair. They are
great amazons who continue to humor yet support my crazy ideas.
I am grateful to the Spencer Foundation
for the Dissertation Fellowship, especially Kim Wright and Jay Braatz.
The financial support along with the workshops and weekends with scholars
helped tremendously.
I want to acknowledge the assistance of
Paul Weaver for his transcription of the tape in Spanish. I want to
thank Ilene Alexander for her willingness to do detailed editing of
the literature review and her general support as well. I also send my
gratitude to Christene Sirois for her willingness to help me with all
the final details to get this dissertation to print.
Thanks to Matthea Smith who covered all
those radio shows so I could travel and meet my deadlines, and love
to Alison (Al Pal) Cunningham for the emails and friendship.
I also want to thank all the members of
the Miller and Howard families for their love, generosity and kindness.
WE LEARN
Women Expanding o Literacy Education Action Resource Network
www.litwomen.org/welearn.html
welearn@litwomen.org
