We are well aware that everything that we undertake in the WISH Learning Centre is full of learning, so it seems funny to isolate learning in this chapter. We are talking about upgrading -presenting opportunities for women to work on improving their literacy, numeracy and general knowledge skills.
Upgrading while living the street life is a tough challenge for women and a tough challenge for literacy workers. Many women want to get their GED, for example. We know this because we always put the GED preparation book on the table with whatever craft or hands on activity we have planned. Women see that book and start talking about their learning dreams. Presenting upgrading exercises amongst other activities is very important for women who want to get more education but are living the chaotic lifestyle of the street. We found that upgrading activities had the highest non-participation rate. In other words, about 50% of the time, women will say they are not interested in doing “brain work”.
Although many women are tired and overwhelmed when they come in to WISH, their natural curiosity and their interest in expanding their skills is still present. In fact, many women feel their brains are underutilized and want to find ways to challenge themselves. Even if it’s for 15 minutes.
We learned to keep all of our upgrading material optional, fun and interesting. Some women come in and collect material that they will look at later. Some women want to do it in a group. Many women want to do crafts, but listen in to the “brain work” activities. Sometimes they jump in when they check it out and know they won’t fail. We always encourage women to do things in pairs or to help each other. Some women have a big distrust of instructors, but will ask their friends for help.
One aspect that literacy instructors need to get used to is that many of the terrific activities you plan won’t work. For some reason, no one wants to do the fun, inventive activity you have slaved over for several hours. Don’t despair! That same activity might work 3 weeks later so don’t throw it away. On the other hand, some activities will go very well and then you will want to create a series of exercises in the same manner. Be sure not to label anything a failure until you have tried it a few times.
There are so many factors that pressure women who live on the street. Being flexible about the time and head space that women have for learning is critical. Every new piece of information or new skill adds to a woman’s power and builds her self-esteem. Women living close to the street are like hummingbirds -they are busy with their thoughts, their business, their emotions and their attention. If you are outside that life, you may think that women are not processing or absorbing what’s going on in the literacy room. This is far from the truth.
We have included five activities that we have used in the WISH Learning Centre with some success. The first two activities were reviewed by our committee and we have included their comments so that you can understand the many ways that women might respond to upgrading exercises.