Body

Literacy programming needs to be designed and carried out with recognition of the damage to the body caused by trauma which impedes participation (eg. health problems, injuries which making sitting difficult or make a woman embarrassed to attend class), but also with awareness of the potential of the body to enhance the learning process. What happens to literacy programming if the body is taken into account? Program planning and facilitation could be enhanced by a recognition that learners have bodies that take up space. More awareness of the physical space within which learning is occurring and the ways the body can be drawn in to enhance learning would be part of a holistic program. If there are opportunities for people to move and to explore taking up space, as part of the learning process, they may be more able to stay present and learn.

Many survivors talk of the difficulty they have in believing they should “take up space”. In many programs there is little notice taken of the body and the space for the program is inadequate and the prevailing attitude is that literacy programs have to “make-do” with what is available. I wonder whether programs could be more supportive for women seeking to claim the right to take up space. What does it say to women that there may seem to be little space for them even in the program, that the programs themselves seem to have no right to take up space and, in times of financial cut backs, perhaps no right to exist at all. How can we create the sort of literacy learning spaces which will help students feel a right to exist and to learn?

I have been questioning how literacy programming could look different if priority was given to making the centre or classroom a place where learners could feel their right to take up space and feel physically comfortable and safe. Some basics would include ensuring enough space between students so that they feel comfortable, freedom from people walking in or overhearing discussion, space to store their own work (particularly confidential journals). A setting that felt warm and comforting, where learners feel ownership, not like a traditional school classroom, would be especially valuable for those who experienced violence in the school setting.

It is challenging to imagine a broad range of ways to involve the body in the learning process. One possibility might be to include exercises which involve movement. I have found, in workshops and classes, that whenever I get people standing and moving, the classroom comes alive again. Possibilities for expression using modeling clay, paints, music or graffiti could help learners to discharge the tension in their bodies. Even the freedom to get up and go out of the room, or to get a cup of coffee may be a crucial physical movement to lessen stress and discomfort.