The movement for "whole language" teaching is very prominent in literacy work.139 In particular, many programs emphasize writing at least as much as reading, both as a powerful entry into literacy for individual learners and as a medium through which learners can engage with one another.140 There are widespread efforts to develop and distribute learner-produced material, valuable for its readability and relevance to other learners. Hundreds of programs reproduce student writing for local use. Some programs have established publishing outlets.141 One commemoration of International Literacy Year has been a Book Voyage, the circulation of a growing collection of student writings throughout at least 300 programs around the country (indeed around the world).142 Bibliographies of learning materials that emphasize student writing are now beginning to appear.143 The prevalence of student publishing is in a sense an achievement of the "literacy for liberation" view (described above), since it emphasizes the knowledge and assertiveness of learners themselves. It also allows for somewhat easier discussion between this view and traditional skill-focused tendencies in literacy work, which have themselves been moving towards a greater emphasis on learner-centredness.144

139 Cf. Joyce White and Mary Norton, Whole Language: A Framework for Thinking About Literacy Work with Adults, Ottawa, National Literacy Secretariat, 1991.
140 A valuable discussion of these practices is provided by Sally McBeth, "Creating Curriculum: A Learner-Centred Approach," in Maurice C. Taylor and James A. Draper (eds.), Adult Literacy Perspectives, Toronto, Culture Concepts, 1989, 145-53.
141 Notable examples include the New Start Reading Series from East End Literacy Press in Toronto, and Voices magazine from the Invergarry Learning Centre in Surrey, British Columbia.
142 For a selection of writings from across Canada, see Movement for Canadian Literacy, Learners' Voices: The Book Voyage, Ottawa, 1990.
143 One noteworthy example is the project of the Canadian Congress on Learning Opportunities for Women, Telling Our Stories Our Way: A Guide to Good Canadian Materials for Women Learning to Read, Toronto, 1990.
144 Some, however, do argue that ideological battles should be tenaciously fought, between those who see learner-centredness and learner-produced material as useful techniques and those who see them as weapons for political change.