Dr Jenny Horsman: Looking at learning and violence from a new perspective
Dr Jenny Horsman and Nadine Sookermany, from the Spiral Community Resource Group and learningandviolence.net, are co-presenting ‘Rethinking Learning/Teaching – Groundbreaking Tools for Colleges and Community Programs at the Literacy and Learning Symposium 2011.
Dr. Horsman, a renowned community-based educator and researcher, has spent the last decade focusing on the impact of violence on learning: carrying out research, presenting, leading workshops, teaching, and now, with a team of supporters, developing resources and the website www.learningandviolence.net. She is putting her energy into creating new resources to help learners and teachers of literacy and essential skills overcome the barriers violence can put up.
“If we really take a closer look at the impact violence has on learning, we can take steps out of a dance many learners do – like always feeling stupid, or distracted,” said Dr Horsman. “When we start paying attention to issues like violence and learning, we will come up with new solutions.”
Once violence is identified as the issue, this changes things and leads to ‘creative conversations’ and a shift in ideas take place, she added. When a student and teacher understand behaviours related to violence in a learning environment, then they can collaborate on options.
“The students’ learning tool is designed to move the conversation to students’ behaviours so they can understand and identify ways to help themselves,” added Dr Horsman. “The kit for community colleges looks at daily practices which may be creating learning barriers to survivors of violence. We want to open up the conversation with all people who interact – from the registration desk, to the classroom, to groups.”
“The community-based learning kit questions the practices we take for granted,” she said, “and may justify practices that work.”
Her focus is to get the set of tools launched and used across the country.
Dr Horsman is teaming up with Nadine Sookermany, a Community Literacy Worker and Professor with the Assaulted Women's and Children's Counselor/Advocate program at George Brown College for the Rethinking Learning/Teaching workshop at the Literacy and Learning Symposium. The workshop focuses on two of three new Interactive Tools, available on the Learning & Violence website.
The trainers feel participants may be surprised, and inspired, by these tools. They hope the workshop will inspire people to go back to their own settings and ‘walk through one or more aspects of your delivery system’ in the shoes of your students.
Learning and Violence is also producing videos to support their endeavor. Watch the Learning and Violence Awareness video on their site, for an introduction.
Dr Horsman is working closely with Literacy Alberta’s Berniece Gowan on the Taking Shelter with Literacy Project.
