Positive repercussions:  A learner had been away for a while, and when I tried to call, I found the number was out of service, so I lost contact. I ran into her at the grocery store, and reconnected.  She had been thinking that she had missed too much, and was "kicked out" and I was able to assure her that she was still welcome in the class, let her know what was happening, etc. and she came back the next day.  This happened often, and was the primary positive repercussion. 
Sometimes the mall was a recruiting office.  I'd run into someone who was an old student who had not attended for a couple of years, and ask how to get back in; or someone would talk to me about a sibling or friend who wanted to go to school, and ask how to get them started.  This was really just me acting as a friendly and encouraging face, representing the program in a public space that was comfortable for the learner.

Negative repercussions: Sometimes I would see students who were doing things they didn't do at school, or didn't talk about at school, for example, being drunk or picking up soda cans, or yelling at their kids. They would sometimes be embarassed to be seen by me, and would excuse themselves, and I would have to deal with a situation which was outside of the bounds of the relationship we had agreed to.  Sometimes their embarassment would carry over into class the next day.  I felt pressure to resolve the situation to have the most positive outcome for them, but I didn't always like to have to do it on my own time and in a public place.   
The strongest negative repercussion of meeting learners and former studnets everywhere in town was on my own freedom of movement and sense of privacy.  I sometimes felt I needed to dress up a little before I went into town. (For example, if I was painting at home in my cutoffs and old T-shirt, I probably would put on something more "respectable" before I went in to the hardware store to pick up somehting I needed, whereas if I were able to move more anonymously in town, I wouldn't have bothered.)  If I was in town in a grumpy mood, or day dreaming, and I came across a learner, I felt pressured to respond to him/her and consider his/her needs before my own, whereas I might say to a friend I bumped into that I was having a bad day or that I didn't want to stop to talk.   
   
Kate Nonesuch
Victoria, BC
kate.nonesuch at viu.ca



From: Daphne Greenberg
Sent: Wed 10/14/2009 9:40 AM
To: diversity at nifl.gov
Subject: [Diversity 1114]  running into students outside class


Kate,
You wrote:

"When I have taught in a city, I never met learners outside class. In a small community, I was always running into them, with both positive and negative repercussions."

I am curious about this. Can you give any examples of positive and negative repercussions?
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