But as a teacher, I also hoped the interaction that happens in focus groups would be more interesting for the participants, and that they would learn from the experience. I think this might have been true for some of the women at WISH. One of the participants commented that:
“It was the first time in a long time that I was able to express this in a legible manner”
(Focus Group #2)
At least six participants began using the learning centre regularly after the focus group meeting, having seldom done so before:
Betsy: I see some faces here that I haven’t seen in the Learning Centre. Can you tell me why you don’t come in?
Jane: Before I didn’t know what was happening here, and I was too shy to come in.
Betsy: Will you come in now that you have met me?
Jane: Yes. (Focus Group #2)
… and she does.
As a Capilano College instructor, I worked with two existing groups at the LifeSkills Centre: the collective that produces the newsletter UpWords and the Documentary Film Group, who were learning video production. With UpWords, I conducted writing workshops and mentored writers. With the Documentary Film Group, I provided one-to-one support in script-writing, proposal-writing, computer use and time management. In addition, I provided three writing workshops for the Women’s Wellness Group, which exposes participants to health information, alternative health practices (massage, aromatherapy, etc) field trips and a community kitchen. The workshops were well received, and provided a chance to connect with women I work with in other centres in the community. I kept records of group activities and group ideas in the form of flip-chart notes and notes taken to accompany the WISH sign-in sheets. I also recorded my ideas in a journal after each session. The first set of data was quite factual, serving as reminders of what actually happened in learning sessions, while the journal notes were more reflective, and made clearer links to the research questions.