On the Screen is the title of a recently completed fellowship project, sponsored by the National Institute for Literacy (NIFL). Anson Green of San Antonio, Texas, and Janet Isserlis of Literacy Resources, Providence, RI., both worked to address the impacts of violence on adult learning. (An overview of their work appears at members.aol.com/ansongreen/overview.htm) While Janet and Anson approached the same issue, Janet named these specific objectives:

• To provide adult literacy workers and learners opportunities to link research and practice in a study of the prevalence and effects of violence in the lives of adult learners and educators;
• To bridge gaps in understandings between adult education and human services providers;
• To build leadership amongst adult educators and learners in recognizing and building effective strategies to address education related needs and strengths of survivors and victims of violence;
• To place the effects of trauma on learning on the screen of adult literacy learners and teachers so that trauma itself as a barrier to learning can be addressed in ways that lead to improved learning opportunities for women.

Key research points include the following:

Learning: Adults must feel safe in their learning environments. Those who teach adults must be fully aware of the reasons adult learners come to learning contexts and of factors impeding or assisting learning (e.g., prior educational experiences, work history, immigration and first language literacy, experiences of trauma).

Practice: We need to assist one another in dealing with issues of trauma in the classroom, and in our own lives. This could include giving one another support and finding the means to cope with disclosures of violence made by learners and colleagues so that barriers to learning related to experiences of trauma can be understood, addressed, and reduced.

Policy: We need a systemic change approach to undestanding societal impacts of trauma in order to build systemic responses within adult education, based on the research of Jenny Horsman (see www.jennyhorsman.com) to improve practice, and to build real and enduring supports in programs and communities.

Janet's work, in draft form, is online at www.brown.edu/Departments/Swearer_Center/Literacy_Resources/screen.html. The full report should be available from NIFL within the coming months.

Women, Violence, and Adult Education Resources at World Education
These resources, among many others, are in the traveling library at World Education, 44 Farnsworth Street, Boston, MA 02210. Call Elizabeth Morrish at 617-482-9485 for more information.

Agger, I. (1992). The Blue Room: Trauma and Testimony Among Refugee Women, a Psycho-social Exploration. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Zed Books.

Brandwein, R. ed. (1999). Battered Women, Children, and Welfare Reform: The Ties That Bind. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Copeland, M. and Harris, M. (2000). Healing the Trauma of Abuse: A Women's Workbook. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.

Herman, J. (1992).Trauma and Recovery. New York: Basic Books.

Louden, J. (1992). The Woman's Comfort Book: A Self-nurturing Guide for Restoring Balance in Your Life. New York: Harper Collins.

Saakvitne, K., and Pearlman, L.A. (1996). Transforming the Pain: A Workbook on Vicarious Traumatization. New York: Norton.

Terr, L. (1990). Too Scared to Cry: Psychic Trauma in Childhood. New York: Basic Books.

Van der Kolk, B., McFarlane, A., and Weisaeth, L., eds.(1996). Traumatic Stress: The Effects of Overwhelming Experience on Mind, Body, and Society. New York: The Guilford Press.

Janet Isserlis is project director of Literacy Resources/RI. She's worked with adult learners in the U.S. and Canada since 1980 and has also worked as a teacher educator for the past 10 years. She can be reached at janet_isserlis@brown.edu