3

Discussion /Reflection /
Documentation

3-1 Preparation for the second workshop

After the first national workshop, Frances and I maintained contact with women through frequent mailings, individual phone conversations, a visit to each program, ongoing discussion about their program descriptions and interview transcripts, and regular (or irregular) exchanges of reflective writing. Some women consistently sent journals every week or two weeks. Others wrote regularly, but did not give us what they had written until we visited the program or saw them at a workshop, Other women did not find it possible or helpful to write regularly. They might save their half days for a month or even two, then spend a block of time . on their own, with their partner, or with all the participants in their woman-positive activity. Members of an affinity group from the first workshop circulated reflective writing among themselves.

Each time it seemed as if particular women or programs might be letting the research lapse, a phone call or package of mail would arrive. These contacts showed how much impact the project was having on women's lives. Clearly, not everyone experienced change and development to the same degree. Some women maintained a primarily professional interest while others underwent significant personal and political turmoil. A few women, usually those involved less directly in a woman-positive activity, continued to be supportive and curious about what was happening in their own program. Their interest arose less from our particular research questions than from their own long-term experience in educational programming or community and women's activities.

We sent out a questionnaire about the second workshop, asking women what they would and would not like to do. We also included a series of possible discussion topics based on our conversations with the programs over the last three months. Women indicated their first three choices and added further suggestions. Reading the women's responses, we discovered how much they wanted to hear about others' experiences. Almost all the women set a high priority on beginning with a ten minute report from each program. They especially wanted to know details of the woman-positive activities - what worked, what didn't work, and how both the programs and the women had changed.