"I have a student now who is just starting to look things up for himself in the encyclopedia when he doesn't know the answer to a question. I think that is a very powerful step. "

I asked Rita about self-esteem and the role she thinks it plays in a student's progress. "It's kind of a cliche to talk about 'low self- esteem' in the literacy world. A student can have low self-esteem and be in Grade 13 and still get good marks. Or a student can have great self-esteem and never get past Grade 5."

"Five years ago I would have agreed that a person can learn better when their self-esteem improves but I can't say that now. It's bigger than that. Many of the students who come here have never really been taught how to learn. They have never been given the tools so they really don't know how to learn."

"I have one student, who after being here for a few months, is still trying to grasp the idea that you can learn about something by reading about it, not just by experiencing it."

Rita sees tutoring as a shared learning experience. "No one cakes full responsibility. You can both make mistakes and talk about that." She believes that the sharing she is able to do with the College administration is equally important to her own learning as a tutor.

"People are people here - there's no differentiation between who is who. The tutors are important to the College. The administrators see themselves as part of what we're doing. And we can be part of the decision making. It works. I enjoy being part of my own learning. It's just common sense. And we in turn involve the students in their learning process and that works too."

Just before I came to talk to AGNES JUNEAU, another tutor with the literacy program, I heard people talking in the reception area about a fire that had destroyed the family home of one of the students in the program. I asked Agnes how the news had affected her students. "We have a lot of sadness here; each student has had his share. But the students really support each other. That's one of the nice things about a classroom. The students don't work together a lot but they at least are in the same room together."

Agnes is a 62-year-old grandmother who was openly warm and caring as she spoke about the students. She has been a tutor in the classroom for 3 years, volunteering as a tutor with ESL students before that. "Sometimes I think it helps that I'm older because I've dealt with a lot of crisis in my own life. Maybe that helps the students cope; I don't fall apart easily and try to keep things in balance. Basically, my life experience is what I rely on most because I don't have a professional background."

I asked Agnes if she ever gets discouraged and she smiled and said, "I guess that's another good part of being older - I don't get discouraged an awful lot. The hardest thing for me is when I see a student getting frustrated."

"I have one student right now who is having a hard time. I don't know whether she chinks she should be learning faster or if I should be teaching faster but it's hard because she is very conscious of the fact that she is Indian. She feels somehow that if she were white it would be easier. She is very clever but I know she still has quite a way to go."

"A lot of times the students can do it, they're just afraid of making mistakes. I had one student in particular like that. I told her once that 'nothing will happen to you if you make a mistake'; she's been different ever since." Agnes was quiet for a minute then said, "I've never really thought about it but I guess that's something I've learned in my life too."