Charting the woman-positive ripples -
A journal of discovery

Karen Bergman-Illnik Arctic College,
Arviat, NWT

I wrote a journal for seven months as part of my participation in a program- based action research project sponsored by the Canadian Congress for Learning Opportunities for Women (CCLOW) and funded by the National Literacy Secretariat. With women from twelve other programs across the country I agreed to reflect on and document my experience based on the following research question: What happens when some women in an adult literacy program decide to do something they consider woman-positive?

I had taught the Women's Upgrading Program at the Arctic College Learning Centre the previous two years and would be teaching again in the 1992 January to April term. Besides writing the journal, which I sent off to Betty-Ann Lloyd (a coordinating researcher) every two or three weeks, I attended three national workshops with the women from the other programs, and I met with Betty-Ann twice. During these visits, we had taped conversations about my experience during the research.

The sections of my journal included here tell one story of what I discovered both in myself and in the women's upgrading class. Some names and details have been changed.

November 16, 1991

My story started a couple of years ago. Lynn Fogwill, a friend and literacy worker from Yellowknife, asked the Learning Centre if we wanted the Arviat Women's Upgrading Program included in a national research project. We agreed and Lynn soon called to say a researcher would be up to see us in the fall of 1990. Of course, we didn't know what to expect or rather, we expected the stereotypical researcher to show-up.

Betty-Ann Lloyd came and fit into our activities and lives as if she was a long lost sister come home for a visit. She sat and listened and talked to whomever invited her to talk. She made few assumptions about us (that we knew about) and was content to drink tea in the fading sunlight of autumn. Was she really researching? She must have been because a while later came the first draft of Discovering the strength of our voices. the report outlining the exploratory phase of this research.

A while later something came from CCLOW saying it was time to put names forward for the second phase. We called right away. I called for lots of reasons. Joy Suluk, my boss, said, "Yes, of course we should call." I do research in other areas and am always looking for new and better ways to do it. I knew I could learn a lot from this project.