SECTION 2 - EXAMPLES OF MATERIALS
Because we want our examples to stimulate others to engage in the materials development process, we have made efforts to reveal to readers our own process of production. Our aim is to demystify the process so users of the guide will want to undertake projects themselves. For this reason, we have included in each unit the following elements: the source of the material, the rationale for its selection, and the way the material and activities were developed.
Using the units in their own programs with their own participants, instructors will gain hands-on experience with facilitating a process that weaves together the two strands of problem-posing and literacy development.
These units can provide an opportunity for instructors to engage in an experiential process of instructor development in regard to worker- centred union literacy. Using the units in their own programs with their own participants, instructors will gain hands-on experience with facilitating a process that weaves together the two strands of problem-posing and literacy development. Following the processes mapped out in these units will also give instructors a practical opportunity to gain personal insight into what is meant by an emergent curriculum. Thus, the units - and the curriculum guide as a whole - can be used in instructor training.
One way to use this guide in instructor training would be to have a group of instructors first read the Fight for the Living unit as a whole and then discuss it in preparation for using it in their own programs. They would then use it and afterwards come back together to share and reflect on their experiences. The reflection process would include practical instructional issues and would eventually move into an analysis of curriculum and definitions of literacy. At that point, the curriculum framework in Section 1 could be presented and discussed, relating it to instructors' experiences with Fight for the Living.
Next, instructors would read and discuss the Water Watch unit, again in preparation for using it in their own programs. They would go on to use the unit, whole or in part, and then gather once again to share and reflect on their experiences. Through engaging in an action and reflection process of their own, instructors could come to an understanding of the curriculum framework that is both deep and practical. Asa result of an instructor training experience of this sort, instructors might decide to follow-up by initiating materials development projects of their own.