I tried many different ways to use this wonderful letter in the text of Opening Doors but decided it was best left to stand on its own as an example of the joys and frustrations literacy workers feel about their work. Thank you Flo, for putting into words so many of my own thoughts.
June 15, 1992
Dear Deborah,
When you asked me what I have learned personally and professionally in the past ten years in the literacy field, I needed to take some time to think about it.
On a positive note, I have learned that through literacy you can change the world but the world you change is usually only one very small world for a small number of people. But I feel alright about that. I remember the words of one student J worked with years ago who revealed his joy and fear upon learning to read with me. "I have no more excuses," he told me. Although I heard great joy in his voice, it was tainted with a hint of fear. As the world opened up for him, he would have to take on more responsibility for his life.
I still feel thrilled when I see that spark that a learner has when something that seemed so hard or so impossible is now possible. The "simple" things in life that we "literate" people take for granted - like writing your own cheque, reading a letter from your daughter or writing a Christmas card to your father - these are the joys I've shared with learners that make my life in literacy the best!
The harder lessons in literacy that I've learned over the past ten years frustrate me to no end. I have always believed that the strength of the literacy movement in Alberta has come from the grassroots movements who may not have been terrifically organized but who had a unity of purpose. Together, we muddled through and learned from each other. We shared everything and anything we knew. As the years passed, we became more organized, more bureaucratic and more isolated.
I am also frustrated with the governments position on literacy and the interpretation of the governments policies. After 10 years of lobbying for literacy, is it any easier for a student to gain access to funding if he wants togo back to school full-time to learn to read?Is it any easier for a single mother to find child care so that she can attend classes?Is it any easier to offer reading instruction to disadvantaged groups like the mentally challenged, slower learners, Natives, humans who lift in poverty? I don't think so. We continue to serve a very small percentage of the population who need and want to learn to read while we spend precious resources on organizing and managing and writing position papers. The political will to really do something about literacy in Alberta and Canada is not there. When cuts to educational funding are threatened, the least vocal group is always the first to feel the cut. Our students are this least vocal group.
I have stayed involved in literacy because I love to teach. (I am currently working asa literacy classroom instrUctor at AVC in Edmonton). I am not optimistic that fundamental change with regard to implementation of government policy will happen until our society is forced to take a close hard look at the whole education system. At present we seem to be moving away from the idea of offering education so that each individual can achieve his potential to reserving education for those who can demonstrate productivity. Those who cannot "measure-up" will continue to be teased with a taste of education through part-time programs which live under the threat of reduced budgets.
I'm sorry to end on such a sour note Deb, but I guess it must be time for another MAL conference where I can be told what a good job we are all doing. In the meantime, I plan on continuing to do a good job with the few students I have the pleasure to work with.
Good luck in finishing your work ... or should I say good luck in finishing this first edition of your work.
Sincerely,
Flo Brokop
Sherwood Park, Alberta