Case Studies

• Tracy Defoe explored a situation in which a worker asked for a visual rather than a written set of directions for assembling something. In response, someone questioned whether this worker could read.
• Audrey Gardner's project documented a literacy awareness and sensitivity workshop she facilitated at a YMCA.
• Helen Balanoff's case study documented the first trip to a doctor by a pregnant woman in the NWT. Her case study focused on the Aboriginal woman's encounters with institutional literacies.
• Sheila Stewart documented the literacy practices surrounding the abduction and murder of a ten-year-old girl in Sheila's neighbourhood.
• Bill Fagan is the editor of a community garden's newsletter. He documented the community garden as a literacy event.
• Jan Greer Langley documented the experience of using stick-on tattoos as a writing event with a group of learners.
• Bill Day works in a school in which students are invited to share with others once a week. His case study documented one student's sharing.
• Janet Isserlis examined literacy events entailed in the aging, hospitalization, death and dying of her great aunt, Lil.
• Mary Hamilton is working on several case studies, including wedding literacies and the literacy involved in a campaign against the stench from an incineration plant. She is also documenting how people are interacting with the war reporting in the British press.

In discussion, the participants identified many common themes.
They explored what the themes might mean
     for literacy workers?
          for literacy learners?
               in the context of each of the case studies?

 Three themes that infused all the case studies were:
     FEELINGS
     DIVERSITY
     PERMEABLE BOUNDARIES (between literacy and other practices)

Literacy as.........

POWER

Rules           Ritual
Daring, risky           Legacy           Demystifying
Reminiscence           Lifting the veil 

GLUE

Bonding, community process,
community building, culture, life, connection
Personal relationships           Friend           Lifeline

IDENTIFY

Stereotypes           Adornment           Accessory
Display
Assertion of identity           Private/personal
A window on institutional culture and expectations