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LEARN
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WE
LEARN Annual (Net)Working) Conference
Presentations & Handouts
2006 | 2005
| 2004 | Return
to Conferences
***
These materials are provided courtesy of the presenters. Please
give them full credit if you quote or borrow from them. These
presentations only represent the work and experience of the
presenters. Their placement here is for convenience only,
and are not necessarily "endorsed" by WE LEARN.
***
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2006
Theme: Women & Literacy... Moving to Power & Participation
Discussing
Racism & Other Difficult Topics with Women
Race is the "big elephant" in our adult
education and literacy classrooms. Because we do not have a common
language or analysis of racism, we often avoid talking about it.
Participants will learn a framework for understanding race and
racism, with suggestions for creating authentic discussion about
a difficult subject.
Margery Freeman
is a life-long educator who has worked in adult education and
literacy since 1995, first as director of a community-based organization
in New Orleans, and currently as coordinator of ProLiteracy America’s
Regional Services system. She also is a trainer/organizer with
The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond. Deahdra
Butler-Henderson—Community activist, organizer
and educator and presently the executive director of the Chahara
Foundation. The organization funds women and girls organizations
in Greater Boston who are dealing with the broad issues of poverty.
** The handout "Tackle Racism First"
is available from "A Community Builder's Tool Kit:
A Primer for Revitalizing Democracy from the Ground Up."
It can be obtained from the Institute for Democratic Renewal,
Claremont Graduate University, 170 E. Tenth Street, Claremont,
CA 91711-6163; tel: (909) 607-1473; www.race-democracy.org**
The
English Comedy: Humor in the TESOL Situation
What can you
learn from a comedian? In this presentation we aim to show the
power of language with a twist of humor in exploring its effectiveness
in ESL/literacy teaching/learning situations for improved language
skills, and its prevailing empowerment for those who participate
in this discourse. The presenters show how humor, cartoons, and
stand-up comedy can help you connect with your students. Let them
laugh, then let them learn!
Trina Hess, M.A. English/TESOL,
Indiana University of Pennsylvania, studied improv acting at Second
City and is a stand-up comic. She is ABD in Adult Education/Workforce
Education at Penn State. Özlem Zabitgil
is a doctoral candidate at the Pennsylvania State University.
She is examining how education (in general) and language and literacy
education (in particular) can be used to promote social justice
for disadvantaged groups such as women, linguistic minority, the
poor, refugees and immigrant population in this country.
A
Southern Woman’s Right to Learn: Empowering Feminist Theory
through Basal Reading Curriculum
This presentation focuses
on best practices used by the basal reading series as well as
those that allow women to reflect upon past experiences without
excluding phonic and structural analysis. Such programs empower
women and improve their reading and writing skills.
Janell Irving is a graduate
student at Purdue University Calumet pursuing a Master of Arts
degree in English. She is also the Program Director at YWCA of
Gary where she initiated S.A.I.L.
You
Can do Magic--A Workshop on Bringing Words to Life
Participants will explore elements of rhythm,
rhyme and repetition, doing writing exercises to share creative
ways to bring words to life, and ways to craft them for the best
effect.
Geraldine Cannon Becker is
an Instructor of English at the University of Maine at Fort Kent.
She teaches writing of various types and has just started leading
reading groups for the Maine Humanities Council through New Books,
New Readers—helping “at risk” readers discuss
their thoughts about what they have read.
2005
Theme: Women & Literacy...Strengthening the Web
ESOL
speaking, listening, reading and writing: Tensions between saying
it right, saying it at all
Building skills in meaningful contexts is critical
to participatory literacy practice. Participants will explore
activities that help learners build skills and offer control over
what to say, to whom, and how. Notes & Websites.
Janet Isserlis, director,
Literacy Resources/RI, has worked in adult literacy since 1980.
She’s explored impacts of violence and trauma on learning,
and works to incorporate that research into ongoing practice.
Everyone
CAN learn: Changing the way violence gets in the way of learning
This workshop is for you if you sometimes struggle
with learning and feel stupid or bad when you make a mistake. In
this workshop you will have a chance to look at how violence can
get in the way of learning and find ways to learn more easily. This
will be a fun workshop - not a place to tell detailed stories about
violence.
Jenny Horsman is a community
educator and researcher with more than two decades of experience
in the adult literacy field in England, Sierra Leone, and Canada.
Currently, her main interest is offering sessions focusing on trauma
and learning. She has several publications including Too Scared
to Learn and Something in My Mind Besides the Everyday.
Internalized
Racial Oppression - Its Impact on Learners and Teachers
Participants will explore the internalized feelings
and attitudes of racial inferiority/superiority that get in the
way of authentic cross-cultural relationships. They will discuss
strategies for overcoming these internalized myths, stereotypes
and feelings. Bibliography & Websites
Margery
Freeman has been an educator for 30 years, and is national
coordinator of ProLiteracy America’s Regional Services system.
She been associated for twenty years with The People’s Institute
for Survival and Beyond, a national, multiracial, social justice
organization that provides training and organizing in “undoing
racism” with diverse organizations and groups across the country
and internationally.
The
Role of Women’s Groups in the Development of Community Education
Panel Presenter on Conference Theme
Ujwala
Samant
is the Director of Learning for Life in London, England. Prior to
that she was a senior researcher at the National Center for the
Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL) at Rutgers University.
Her research foci included immigrant education, ESOL, engagement
by learners in formal education, and cross-cultural communication.
She has been a consultant in the field of development, education,
immigrant issues, and gender.
Research
Roundtable: The
Life of Theory and Teaching
This paper is an auto-ethnography
and narrative inquiry into a novice, non-native ESL woman teacher’s
life history in the North American academic landscape. In this paper
I chose to record and reflect my own confusions and struggles on
my teaching stories in conjunction with my theoretical development
in critical and feminist pedagogies.
Yihuai
Cai is currently a dual title Ph.D. candidate in Language
and Literacy Education and Women’s Studies programs. Her research
interests include feminist ethnography, feminist pedagogy, and critical
literacy in the context of immigrant women.
Research
Roundtable: Promoting
Personal Responsibility: How Adult Basic Education – Family
Literacy Programs Enhance Single Mothers’ Transition From
Welfare-To-Work
Increasingly, working mothers are faced with competing
demands from family and work. Single and low-income mothers who
relied on welfare checks and Medicaid are no longer receiving these
supports.
William
Koomson is a doctoral candidate at the Pennsylvania State
University. He is interested in women's education, and has written
about girls education in sub-Saharan Africa.
Return to top
2004
Theme: Women, Literacy, Resources
Barbara
Neely - Keynote Address (excerpts
- pdf version)
Elsa
Auerbach - Participatory Methods to Facilitate Student Writing
(review of workshop by Susan Wladis - pdf version)
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