To be most effective, I need to constantly educate myself about the struggles that learners face, how these challenges affect learning, and the role that learning takes in their lives at different times. I can do this by continuing to read the literature that Harm Reduction workers produce, and also by listening to the experts: learners, street-involved users, peer tutors and other Harm Reduction workers (program workers, street nurses, counsellors, etc.).
It is clear from the literature that there is an ongoing debate about when it is best for program participants to engage in programs. Do we invite learners into the classroom before or after they have:
Does literacy and learning happen at the beginning or end of their healing journey, or along the road, off and on? In our programs, and in keeping with Harm Reduction principles, this needs to be the learner’s decision — although we respect programs that cater specifically to people who have already made changes in their lives. We will always invite learners in, and it is up to them what they do with the time, and how long they stay.
Most if not all approaches that work in Harm Reduction are readily transferable to literacy work. The approaches that keep surfacing are: creating a safe environment for learning, teaching and learning in a holistic way that honours the learners’ knowledge and culture, promoting peer workers or tutors and recognizing “literacy moments” as legitimate and useful to learners.