During the first interview, women often laughed when they looked back at their first understandings of the project. They realized how much their interpretation had shifted during the first several months and how they would probably continue to change throughout the research. Those who had had some contact with CCLOW in the past believed we would gather information that would improve women's access to and experience of literacy education. They expected the research to have a feminist orientation and to pay close attention to women's stories, women's voices. For others, a combination of curiosity trust, and desire to talk about women's experiences got them as far as the first workshop in Winnipeg. After that, they had to decide if they should continue. We thought you were a bunch of feminists getting on the bandwagon. (Laughter) Someone in the group said, " Are they really serious about this are they just jumping on the bandwagon?" I said, "No, I don't think so, I think they're serious about what they're doing. I think they're trying to get all this information from women across Canada and do some good with it." The government has to realize something has got to happen for women more than what's happening now. (Shirley Hickey, Rabbittown Learners Program) Many women became involved out of a sense of isolation in their own war , They wanted to become connected to other women fighting the same kinds of battles they faced everyday. For a significant number of women, the process of meeting and talking with other women about their work became more and more important. Content began to take a back seat to process and, sometimes, a professional interest in contributing to literacy education became a personal and political interest in what they might gain from working with other women. Nan Steel (Keyano College) first described how she understood the project. I thought at the time that you were interested in looking at the kinds of literacy activities that women were interested in doing and some of the content that might come out of those literacy activities, some general observations that we can make about things that women want to do in terms of having a voice. When she read the transcript a month or so later, she added this further reflection I think that from a personal perspective (as opposed to a strictly professional one) this was about me finding my voice, too. I am in transition' from a traditional role - at-home mum - to a less traditional role - instructor and consultant. I've faced opposition. The prospect of working with other women who were also in transition offered comfort, support, affirmation. In many ways, I went in needing their ideas every bit as much as they needed mine. This personal motivation complemented the professional motivation. |
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