Community literacy workers are special. I wince a bit as I say that because I know it sounds trite but I still believe it to be true.
Lets take a look at some recent statistics which tell us about literacy workers (coordinators, tutors and instructors). The 1990 Report on the Alberta Literacy Inventory highlights information such as gender, marital status and age.
| Coordinators | Tutors | Instructors | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 93% | 88% | 68% |
| Married | 90% | 65% | 76% |
| Age: 30 - 39 years | 40% | 24% | 35% |
| 40 - 49 years | 33% | 25% | 43% |
| Education: some post-secondary | 91% | 81% | 99% |
In summary, the report reveals that most literacy workers are female, most are married, most are in the 30 to 50 year old age range and almost all have some post-secondary education.
In the first two chapters of Opening Doors you have been introduced to 10 literacy workers. They very closely fit the statistics: 90% are female, 70% are married, 70% are in the age bracket of 30- 39 years (30% are over age 40) and 70% have some post-secondary education. Statistics give us a frame of reference but they don't give us the whole picture.
To get a broader sense of the people I interviewed for Opening Doors, I asked each of the interviewees to fill out an Information Sheet about themselves. I asked the question, "What are your greatest strengths?" The three most common answers were:
Also high on the list were:
Another question I asked was, "What do you love to do more than anything else in the world?" The number one answer was, naturally, "I love to read." The second strongest response was "to spend time with my family." The third was "to teach," with other popular answers being: "to participate in physical activities", "to visit and be with friends" and "to travel."
I also asked, "What previous experience/education did you have that has helped you in your literacy work?" I learned that 35 of the 88 people I interviewed have a teaching degree and that another 29 people have unrelated degrees in areas as diverse as Ancient Languages to Home Economics. Many people cited their past volunteer experiences as invaluable to their work in literacy and another 10% stated that their own personal life experiences (including motherhood) were what gave them the strongest credentials for their current responsibilities.