Connected to questions of safety are issues of trust, confidentiality and the creation of boundaries which help both workers and learners remain safe.

3. What would "safety" mean in a literacy program and how is this concept understood by literacy workers?

The third question I plan to focus on is how safety gets constituted for learners and teachers in literacy programs. I am concerned that literacy programs must be a safe place for survivors to learn and teach. I want to explore how safety is understood by literacy workers and learners, as well as their issues and concerns. Connected to questions of safety are issues of trust and confidentiality and the creation of boundaries or limits which help both workers and learners remain safe. This study will explore appropriate ways of seeking to address the impacts of abuse on literacy learning through examining the issue of what approaches are responsible for teachers and learners in the literacy setting. The idea of trying out a pilot project to explore the creation of a literacy program as a "safe place" is one idea which has come up so far but which needs a lot more exploration.

At this point in my study I can only begin to reflect on a few examples. I hope to be writing in more detail soon. At the moment I feel as if I am swirling around in so many ideas and experiences that workers, learners, and therapists have been telling me, that I am not sure how clear I can be. I still plan to talk to more literacy workers, learners, counsellors and therapists.

Are you interested?

If you want more detailed information about the questions I am asking in this study, please contact me. If you have observations, experience or questions you would like to share with me, I would love to hear from you. If you know anyone else you think I should talk to - learners, workers or counsellors (if you/they are in an area where I am not planning on carrying out interviews perhaps we could "talk" on e-mail), let me know. I would also love to hear about any great resources on this subject that you have discovered.
My e-mail address is: jhorsman@idirect.com.
My web site address is: www.jennyhorsman.com