[NIFL-WOMENLIT:3083] RE: Trends and issues

From: Suzanne Smythe (smythemu@interchange.ubc.ca)
Date: Tue Dec 07 2004 - 16:53:56 EST


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From: Suzanne Smythe <smythemu@interchange.ubc.ca>
To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov>
Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:3083] RE: Trends and issues
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I am not sure if this is the same everywhere, but something I am
experiencing as a mother and researching in a doctoral thesis in Canada is
the increasing pressures on mothers to be 'their child's first educator'.
School reforms are placing increasing burdens of accountability and
responsibility on parents to be 'involved' as teachers in the home and as
fundraisers and volunteers for the school. 

But there are silences surrounding the fact that it is women who do the vast
majority of this work. These expectations create lots of stress when
children have difficulties at school, and even when they don't, as mothers
are often held accountable for their children's successes and failures. 

Much of the parental involvement policies are based on an 'ideal' home where
women's labour is  available to the school. In a context where parental
involvement is now considered essential to children's schooling success,
this creates an uneven playing field as different families have different
access to resources (including time).  And through all this, there seems to
be more opportunities for women to learn how to support their children's
literacy than to pursue literacy needs and interests of their own.

Sounds like a great talk-will you be writing it up? 

Many thanks

Suzanne

Suzanne Smythe
The Weaving Literacy Training Project/
Projet Tisser des Liens
288 East 46th Avenue
Vancouver, BC
V5W 1Z6
smythemu@interchange.ubc.ca

-----Original Message-----
From: nifl-womenlit@nifl.gov [mailto:nifl-womenlit@nifl.gov] On Behalf Of S.
Cuban
Sent: Tuesday, December 07, 2004 1:36 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:3082] Trends and issues

I am going to be giving a talk with Nelly Stromquist on women and literacy
issues in CA this January and I was wondering if members of the
women-literacy listserv could tell me what they believe to be are the major
social, economic, and political trends and issues affecting women's literacy
education today and in the future? I will attribute your responses in the
talk! THANKS so much! Sondra Cuban



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