Doing Freedom: An Ethnography of An Adult Literacy Centre

Pseudonyms

Actual names of people and places are used except where a pseudonym is noted the first time the person is mentioned in the thesis.

Citation Abbreviations

Interviews:
First two initials of the interviewee, capitalized "I", followed by date of interview, e.g. Audrey (AuI 15/03/01)

Group Talks:
Participant quotations from the two group talks are labeled GT1 or GT2 followed by the date (GT2 06/30/01)

Field Notes:
(FN 03/12/01)

Research Journal:
(RJ 09/01)

During each visit I talked with teachers, students and people involved with the Centre. These initial visits gave a useful glimpse into the general nature and operation of the Centre. That knowledge acted as a valuable guide when working through parts of my research proposal, such as interview questions, reciprocity issues and how and when to fit my work into their schedule. During the whole process I was fortunate to be guided through my ongoing communication with Kate Nonesuch, in person, by email and telephone.

Fieldwork

After all the formal approvals for the thesis proposal and the ethics applications were finalized in February 2001, I immediately began my fieldwork at the Centre, making weekly visits from late February until June 2001. Each week I travelled to Duncan by road and by ferry to spend two full days at the Centre, staying the nights at the house of Kate Nonesuch and Evelyn Battell, who is also an experienced literacy practitioner. Every week the three of us met for dinner, sometimes joined by Christina Patterson, and engaged in rich conversations about education, adult literacy, and the Centre.

On March 5, 2001 I gave an initial presentation about my research to the students and teachers during the weekly Monday morning meeting. I spoke about my background and interests, the purpose and a description of the research, and how students could choose to take part. I also explained about the need for the consent form (Appendix B), which asked for consent in four areas: being observed, being interviewed, participation in group discussions and use of their real name.