With VALTA Project participants and the steadfast support of the conference organizer, we were able to include a series of workshops in the 2003 Provincial Literacy Conference (PLC). Through the workshops, we shared what we had learned from the Changing Practices projects and about using creative approaches. Together these workshops created a presence that helped to draw attention to the issue of violence and learning. Even those who didn't choose to attend the workshops were aware of them.

Aware of the challenges of communicating the importance of the issues of violence and learning to people who aren't already curious about this topic, we also set up a resource room at the 2003 PLC. The room provided an opportunity for conference participants to get a sense of the kinds of approaches that we had been exploring to support learning, to visit with Project participants and us, and to check out reading materials and a broad range of other resources. (More about the resource room is included in the next chapter.) In addition to these activities, Project participants shared what they had learned about violence and learning in their programs and communities in various ways.

Pathways Leading out of the VALTA Project

As the end of the VALTA Project drew near, we began to imagine how the approaches and learning could be woven into the fabric of professional development. We have each been exploring how to create supportive environments and incorporate creative approaches for workshops, focus groups, courses and meetings that we facilitate. We hope that the VALTA course will be offered again in the future, but we advocate that the topics of violence and learning be addressed directly and indirectly at all levels of professional development for literacy and adult educators, and in turn in all learning programs.