Introduction

The VALTA Project was initiated in 2002 as a means of exploring and addressing the impacts of violence on learning for adults in literacy and community learning programs. The Project emerged from a growing awareness among literacy practitioners of the prevalence of violence in the lives of the women participating in their programs and of the profound impacts of this violence on how women learn. By engaging practitioners in a process of learning and action, the Project sought to extend awareness and understanding about the impacts of violence on learning and about how practice could more effectively address these impacts. In addition to this central goal, the Project set out to raise awareness and understanding about the impacts of violence on learning in literacy programs, other organizations and communities across Alberta.

VALTA was framed as a "research in practice" project, the key elements of which were shared learning and discussion through workshops and online connections, participation in an online course, and design and implementation of a Changing Practices research project. Through these major Project strategies, participants were engaged in a process of reflective practice that aimed to strengthen their ability to address issues of violence and learning. Although VALTA was a broadly based learning project, there was a particular emphasis on exploring and integrating holistic learning approaches as a means of addressing the impacts of violence.

We, Barbara Sykes and Ann Goldblatt, were contracted to evaluate the VALTA Project. In addition to collecting evaluation data, we took advantage of opportunities to be more personally involved in the Project by being present at and participating in workshops. To the extent that we were able, we sought to experience the Project firsthand and to gain a deeper understanding of what it was like for participants. For us, this involvement offered invaluable learning— about the Project, about the impacts of violence on learning, and about ourselves. We are indebted to the Project participants and coordinators for including us in this process and being so open to sharing their stories with us.

This report reflects the learning that emerged through evaluating of the VALTA Project. We acknowledge that there is bound to be learning for participants that was not captured by evaluation efforts. Moreover, data collection yielded a great wealth of material, not all of which can be included here. It is our hope that we have been able to do justice to the profound learning that emerged from the Project.