This was designed to be a hands-on workshop that required participants to collect case study data beforehand on a literacy setting and event of their choice. As facilitator I offered guidelines for how to go about collecting this data; a "mapping session" for analysing the data people collected; the opportunity to discuss their data in detail with others in the group and finally advice about how to write up the case study in the form of a poster display and a short written article
In the workshop discussions we explored the idea of literacy practices and events, the practical methodological issues of researching literacy practices and the relevance of all this to learners in literacy programmes.
This workshop was offered as part of Adult Literacy Research: Extending our practice and building networks, An Institute on Research in Practice in Adult Literacy held at Memorial University of Newfoundland, June 17 - 21, 2003. To learn more about this, and other courses offered, see http://www.mun.ca/educ/adult_literacy/courses.html.
To read the conference proceedings, click here.
Bill, Bill, Elsa, Helen, Mary, Sheila, Tracey; organising the data
Course participants, and their case studies
Helen Balanoff, NWT Literacy Council: Agnes's Pain
William Day, Balmoral Centre for Adult Studies: A Mexican Morning
Tracy Defoe, Workplace Education Consultant: Can Louis Read?
William Fagan., MacMorran Community Centre: A Community Garden
Audrey Gardner, Bow Valley College:Literacy Awareness and Sensitivity Workshop
Janet Isserlis, Literacy Resources/RI, Brown University: signing the cheque
Jan Greer Langley, New Brunswick Coalition for Literacy:Tattoos - Where's the literacy in that?
Sheila Stewart, OISE:Holly's Signature
Background material participants received prior to the course; this material includes guidelines to the research process for others interested in approaching similar research in their own contexts.
photos of the group at work, and poster displays, with thanks to Judy Murphy for the photography
page created 2 July, 2003
updated 11 July, 2008