I also wanted to provide opportunities for project participants to explore new settings in order to broaden knowledge and language. Change in settings would also be a chance to see how women carried themselves outside of the regular meeting room, and to allow them the security of the group while engaging in a new activity.

I also hoped that the project would be a way to share power in the literacy program. In working with learners, I had noticed that they frequently exhibited a blind trust or a position subordinate to me. I felt this way of relating to me reflected their self-concept. In many instances learners in literacy programs have felt powerless in their lives. I felt certain that the most detrimental thing I could do was to make a learner uneasy with herself. By supporting the person and recognizing and supporting the development of a positive selfconcept in each of them, I hoped that learners would have a better chance of finding success within the program. So I knew I needed a way to share the power in the program. I wanted the participants to know we were in the project together, and that I was learning too.

Involving Participants in the Project

I originally thought I would create a project group with an entirely new group of learners—specifically with those who had experienced violence in their lives. Then, at one of my meetings with my writing group, I spoke about my project, thinking that one or two of the women would be interested in participating. As it turned out, they had all had relevant experiences, including living through war, the personal tragedy of rape or knowing the pain of parental or spousal abuse. While the experiences were as different as the women themselves, the effects were similar: violence had shaped all of the women's lives.

I decided it was beneficial to the project to involve the women who had already developed trust with each other and me. We would be able to skip the step of getting to know each other and developing the relationship where we would feel comfortable speaking of the ways violence had influenced lives and shaped self-concept. I invited women from the writing group to take part in the Changing Practices research project.

Before starting the project, I conducted private conversational interviews with the potential participants. I wanted to take the time with each woman to explain the research I was doing, as well as provide each with the private opportunity to decline taking part. One individual did in fact choose not to join; she felt that participating would jeopardize her personal safety.