On the Screen: A Sourcebook and
Curriculum Guide Bringing Women's
Barriers to Literacy, Learning
and Employment to Light.
A 1999-2000 National Institute For Literacy Fellowship Project
Janet Isserlis janet_isserlis@brown.edu
PO Box 1974/Brown University, Providence, RI 02912
phone: (401) 863-2839
fax: (401) 863-3094 http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Swearer_Center/Literacy_Resources/screen.html
quarterly report: April - June, 2000
During the month of April, the project group met twice; once with Margie Parsons, the trauma counselor hired by the project to provide support and content knowledge, and once as a working group, to review individual and collective progress. The group did not meet again as a whole until June 19th, but individual participants met with me during this period.
On the Screen participated in the development of a critical issues grant through Southeastern New England United Way in order to develop additional funds for the expansion of the library collection and provision of an on-site literacy drop in at the Women's Center of Rhode Island and was funded to begin this work in the late summer of this year. A work plan was established in late June and meetings will begin with Center staff and residents in July.
Having met with the staff of International Institute of RI for an initial discussion during the previous quarter, I returned in April to provide more extensive information about trauma, and particularly focused on immigration law and implications for undocumented women and men. On May 11, 15 and 17, I met with students at the Institute to provide two one-hour workshops/ overviews of domestic violence law and to provide resource and referral information. I was accompanied on 5/15 by two outreach workers from the RI Women's Center.
In preparation for the presentations at IIRI, I made numerous calls to confirm assistance numbers, talk through processes that callers can expect, in order to broaden my own understanding of available services, as well as try to contextualize them for learners and practitioners.
During this quarter, the following dissemination activities have occurred:
web dissemination:
- continued development of shadow site, the address of which is known
only to participants in the fellowship group, containing meeting notes,
archives of email listserv, participants' statements (as part of application
process to participate in the project) and contact information
- continued development of public pages, explaining the work and providing
resources
http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Swearer_Center/Literacy_Resources/proposal.html
- abridged version of fellowship proposal
http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Swearer_Center/Literacy_Resources/screen.html
- print, video and online resources
-- development of a digest on trauma and learning for the National Clearinghouse for Literacy Education (to be made available online and in hard copy).
outreach: Through contact made with Ross Cheit, a professor at Brown, who has himself done work in the area of abuse and development, I was introduced to Peter Loss, who runs sex offender treatment programs at the state prison, and spent two days observing those sessions during the week of April 3.
Met with training director of RI's Department of Children, Youth and Families to discuss the possibility of working with her staff on issues of literacy and its interconnection with DCYF staff interaction with adults. Will present brown bag lunch sessions to begin informal training process with staff in four regional centers during July and August, and possibly develop additional training for DCYF staff later in the year.
submitted proposal to present a workshop addressing findings/fellowship work at AAACE Annual Conference, November 13 - 17, 2000, Providence, RI and also at TESOL 2001, St. Louis.
additional workshops for myself and project participants:
April 27-29, and June 15/16 - sessions of World Educationís Violence
and Learning Institute, attended along with three participants of this
fellowship group; two of whom will be pursuing further action within their
own programs beyond this fellowship year, through the World Ed. Institute.
attended Literacy 2000 - a literacy and prison conference being held in Ottawa, April 30 - May 2.
attended Children as Witnesses to Violence conference at Salve Regina College, Newport, RI, May 25.
Full day with Jenny Horsman, June 19. Three-hour meeting in the morning for fellowship participants and two-hour afternoon workshop open to the RI education/social service community.
co-facilitated a training at the Adult Literacy Resource Institute with Elizabeth Morrish, 1 June.
activities:
continue communication via listserv for project participants; again
open only to participants and archived at a shadow site, as well as postings
to NIFL's women and literacy list
continue reading
Meeting with Fellows and NIFL staff - June 2,3
Adult Correctional Institution, Cranston, RI: continue tutoring two women
plans for next quarter:
-- ongoing meetings with participants and counselor, ongoing communication
with Anson Green
-- continue prison-based tutoring
-- work on Women's Center Literacy grant and DCYF training sessions
-- proactive attempt to invite learners into the discussion (this has
been an ongoing discussion with practitioners - ways in which to involve
learners carefully and intentionally.) One learner, incarcerated because
of an incident of domestic violence has agreed to share her story on tape,
as a sort of oral history/writing project that we will pursue over the
summer months. As well, she recently joined a local organization
comprised of survivors of domestic violence, after having written a letter
to express her interest in the group.
-- complete writing
-- conference: RI participants' full day conference/presentation of
findings - early fall (September 2000)
-- possible additional attendance at/observation of male batterers
group, ACI, Cranston.
-- additional meetings with area adult learning centers and shelters
and work begins on Women's Center literacy grant in July.
-- publication of brief article, Are we doing enough?, in a
Swearer Center (Brown University) publication, PUSH (submitted to
NIFL at June meeting).