DOCUMENT RESUME ED 362 661 CE 064 633 AUTHOR Ormiston, Liz, Ed. TITLE Literacy Works. Volume 3. Fall 1991-Summer 1992. INSTITUTION Saskatchewan Literacy Network, Saskatoon. REPORT NO ISSN-1183-3793 PUB DATE 92 NOTE 131p.; For volumes 1-2, see ED 343 452 and ED 348 892. AVAILABLE FROM Saskatchewan Literacy Network, Box 1520, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7K 3R5, Canada ($5 single copy; $20 annual subscription). PUB TYPE Collected Works Serials (022) JOURNAL CIT Literacy Works; v3 n1-4 Fall 1991-Sum 1992 EDRS PRICE MF01/PC06 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Adult Basic Education; *Adult Literacy; Adult Reading Programs; Annotated Bibliographies; *Educational Practices; Educational Research; Family Programs; *Females; Foreign Countries; Functional Literacy; Information Networks; *Literacy Education; Numeracy; Program Development; Program Effectiveness; *Resource Materials IDENTIFIERS Canada; *Family Literacy; *Plain Language; Saskatchewan Literacy Network ABSTRACT These four issues of the quarterly publication of the Saskatchewan Literacy Network in Canada are each devoted to a separate aspect of literacy and literacy education. In addition to an editorial and series of articles on the issue topic, each issue includes book reviews and network news. Some issues also include interviews an' annotated bibliographies. The first issue, which is devoted to women and literacy, includes articles on literacy and abused women, women and literacy research, literacy needs of domestic workers, and women and mathematics. Included among the topics discussed in the issue devoted to plain language are the following: development of learner-written materials, clear language in government, advocacy for clear language, plain language and the law, plain language and the literacy community, and white collar illiteracy. Nine family literacy programs throughout Canada and one U.S. program are profiled in the issue on family literacy. The special issue on literacy resource materials includes 11 reviews of resources from the "Literacy Materials Bulletin" of British Columbia (Canada) and 26 reviews by Saskatchewan (Canada) practitioners. (MN) x*uw**ww**.gu,--*x).4****************************) c**.e.:.*************.i.... Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. * ******************************************************************** LITERACY WORKS VOLUME 3 FALL 1991 - SUMMER 1992 SASKATCHEWAN LITERACY NETWORK U.S DEPARTMENTOf EDUCATION Off.Ce ol Educational Research and Improvement PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS EDIJ AllONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproOuced as received from the person Or Ofganization eoginating CI Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality Points of view or op(mons stated .n tn.SCIOCV men) do not necessarily represent official TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES OE RI position or pohcy INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)" 2 1r7 Vol. 3, No. 1 A Quarterly Publication of the Saskatchewan Literacy Network Fall 1991 SO ''AVAWAN D 'THEENERN '1,74,71 1 A 00444 341. 6*j. 1/11111.4447 'I 14: Women and WOW Literacy Price: $5.00 (includes tax) 3 Saskatchewan Literacy Network Membership/Subscription Request Form 1991-92 In an effort to simplify the collection of membership and subscriptionfees, the Network is now collecting only once a year. in the Fall. Please send me a one-year Saskatchewan Literacy Network membership.Membership includes monthly news bulletins plus a subscription to Literacy Works(published four times a year). Our new membership rates are: $20 for individuals and organizations $ 5 for students/unemployed $20 subscription only (Copies of back-issues are available for $5) Name Occupation Address City Province Postal Code Telephone Please indicate type of membership: ID Individual/Organization 0 Student/Unemployed Please make cheques payable to Saskatchewan Literacy Network Mail your completed cheque or maney order to: Saskatchewan Literacy Network, P.O. Box 1520, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7K 3R5 Charitable number: 0896225-21 Contents EDITORIAL: Between Women and Literacy by Lorri Neilsen 2 A Survivor Speaks Out by Valerie Clowater 4 Literacy and Abused Women by Conrad E. Pura 5 Seniors Review Health Mater.ls by Elsie Petch 6 Women and Literacy Research: Moving into the Second Phase by Betty-AnnLloyd. 8 Nannies/Domestic Workers Have Specific Literacy Needs by Luisa Graybiel 10 Women and Mathematics: Getting Past the Fear by Margaret Kaye 12 Literacy and Women: A Bibliography by Ved Arora and Florence Duesterbeck 14 BOOK REVIEWS Something In My Mind Besides The Every Day review by Bonnie Pearson 17 You Can Be Free An Easy-To-Read Handbook for Abused Women review by Wendy Shaw 18 Women Learners Speak Up 20 Saskatchewan Literacy Foundation Announces 1991 Grants 23 Movement for Canadian Literacy (MCL) LINK by Elsie Livingston 24 Network News Fall 1991 26 Across the Network Desk 28 Literacy Works Editor: Liz Ormiston Editorial Committee for this issue: Hilary Craig, Pat Durey, Denise Hildebrand.Rosemary Isfan, Debbie Raton, Dale Carleton Cover illustration by Marcia McMurday: from the book Something in My MindBesides the Everyday by Jennifer Horsman, Women's Press, 1990. Saskatchewan Literacy Network was established in September, 1989.It is a coalition of groups and individuals working for literacy. LITERACY WORKS is its quarterlypublication and focuses on a different aspect of literacy in each issue. The ideas expressed in this publication are not necessarily those ofthe Board or Newsletter Committee of the Saskatchewan Literacy Network. We welcome contributions and responses from students, practitionersor anyone interested in literacy. Articles :And letters may be sent to the Saskatchewan Literacy Network,P.O. Box 1520, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7K 3R5, or to Liz Onniston, Editor, 2349 RobinsonStreet, Regina, Saskatchewan S4T 2R3. For further information, call the Saskatchewan Literacy Network at (306)653-7368 or 653-7178. or call Liz Ormiston at (306) 757-7236. Fax c/o Hilary Craig (306)787-9560 Typing by: Model Office. SIAST Wascana Campus and Computer Skills Class,Bridging Program for Women. Regina, and Wendy Burke Desktop publishing by Lines & Letters. Regina Printing by SIAST Wascana Campus ISSN Number: 1183-3793 SLN Charitable Number: 0896225-21 EDITORIAL Between Womenand Literacy By Lord Neilsen A woman in Halifax wants to attend a responsible for literacy activities in our literacy program but she has no time and culture; and yet. as workers and decision- no money. She hasthree children to feed makers, women have the least access to and clothe, household chores to keep up decision-making and often the lowest with, and a husband who is rarely home. wages? Besides, her husband and her mother Many of us, as teachers, literacy don't think she should be going to school, volunteers, and researchers are seeking anyway. answers to these questions.But the A woman in Africa wants to learn to questions themselves are tangled, mixed read and write, but she must carry water with the flesh, blood, and tears of the several miles every day, and look after the lives of women we know or can imagine. children, the animals and the small crop What comes between women and literacy. near their home. She risesearlier than her it seems, is not simply opportunity. husband and children, and goes to bed Literacy programs are available. Nor is it later, as women do. She is frequently ability, as some women (and many men) pregnant, because death comes easily to believe. We've long since stopped debating infants in. her world. In her culture, if that foolish question. schooling is available, it is the male No, it's much more complex thanthat. children who go first. ;Vhat comes between women and literacy We know that the majority of the are attitudes about the worldthat value world's population of illiterate and poor the fist over the helping hand, money women are of colour. Weknow, too, that over the nourishment ofthe mind, and in North America, the largest groupof winning over the creating of peaceful co- people living below the povery line are existence. In real terms, it means that women (single mothers, inparticular). In countries around the world now spend our culture, just as incultures around over $20,000 a year on asoldier, but less the globe, poverty and illiteracy go hand than three hundred to educate a child. in hand. And the hands thai. havecarried (Think of the financial cost of the Allies' the burden are women's hands. need to win in the recent Gulf War.) It estimates, What comes between women and means that, according to some literacy? Why is a woman's right to read three out of ten women in Canada is her world denied, or placed second to battered or psychologically abused by her men's? What are the cultural mores that partner. It means that w:men in Canada convince a woman, her family, and her make 67 cents for even Iollar men make friends that learning is a gift she must and, worldwide, they make ten cents. It means that, in literacy as inlife, when a always forego for the sake of others? Why of gender as literacy volunteers, person is valued less because are women (or race or other human difference), clerical workers and secretaries, and something about our world is still terribly elementary school teachers primarily wrong. 2 It's easy to lose hope. Especially when we know that, for the cost of a seven-cent treatment administered by a mother who could read the medicine label, the life of a dehydrated child could be saved. Or, for the sake of a few hours a week and a husband who supports her efforts, a woman could earn her high school diploma, or upgrade her skills to find a job. But, fortunately, the values that have been preventing more women from becoming literate are being increasingly challenged everywhere we look. From the Berlin Wall, to Soviet restructuring, to voices raised in support for pay equity and women's right to be free of violence, the spirit of a new world is emerging.