1. Participants were in a state of "readiness" to engage in a project focusing on the impacts of violence on learning. This state of readiness was marked by:
   • Heightened awareness of violence as a social issue, widespread and pernicious awareness of a connection between violence and learning
   • Wondering, questioning, curiosity about the relationship between violence and learning and about how practice could effectively address this relationship
   • Awareness of a gap in understanding and practice, recognition of something missing
   • Readiness to engage in a learning process but uncertainty about what this would entail.

There are many situations in which learners have come into my office and I've known that there is more to the story than what they are saying. I've had questions about how I could facilitate literacy learning in a way that deals with the issues people are carrying with them, including issues of violence. The Project seemed a perfect opportunity for me to do this.

2. Participants were engaged by the Project because it resonated with their own experiences in working with learners who had experienced violence. For some participants, engagement was reinforced by their personal experiences with violence and the relevance of the project to their own struggles and successes in dealing with violent relationships.

I was motivated to participate because of the experiences of the students I've worked with. They have revealed the most amazing things about violence in their lives. I have seen so many students who did not learn to read well in regular schooling, and many of them told stories of violence in their backgrounds—from bullying at school, to beatings at home, to incest. These stories were not revealed immediately but came up after time and trust had been established. I knew there was a connection between the violence and their learning but I couldn't be clear about it. I knew that I needed information and skills and the VALTA Project seemed like a wonderful opportunity.

I've come to see that almost all our students have some experience with violence. Through the ESL programs I've been doing, I'm aware of the extent of state violence and control that many people have experienced.

Also, there was my own personal experience with violence which was a catalyst, and the work I did to get through it. I thought that if I could do that myself, I could help others to do it.