After the midterm sharing of field work students, during which professors and cooperating agency representatives were present, Prof. Dazzle Rivera, the coordinator for the Field Instruction Program of the Women and Development Studies Department (DWDS) at the University of the Philippines College of Social Work and Community Development (CSWCD) in Diliman, invited me along with the ladies of the LITNUM class to guest on the radio show of the UP CSWCD on DZUP “Sikhay-Kilos” hosted by herself and Prof. Matt Wamil. LITNUM class representatives  Virgie and Luz of Bagong Silangan and Sitio Veterans Communities granted the radio interview.

The discussion covered the LITNUM program, the LITNUM women’s thoughts on renewed learning, and what they view to be the benefits for themselves, their families, and their communities,

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I met the women who were going to be attending the Literacy and Numeracy (LITNUM) Class on January 18 at the Gabriela building in the Sitio Veterans community. The women all hailed from Barangay Sitio Veterans and Barangay Bagong Silangan. They are grassroots women from urban poor communities who had been teenage mothers, and now have school-age to teenage children of their own. They were all members of SAMAKANA / Gabriela, and as such all acquainted with one another.

Our first meeting began with them formally surveying me from a distance, proceeded with storytelling and tears, and ended with much excitement and the promise of weekly meetings for enjoyable learning. View the pictures →

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This paper was written as a final requirement for my field work with the Center for Women’s Resources from November 2012 to March 2013.

It was my honor to have carried out the LITNUM (literacy and numeracy) program that they had developed and started years ago, and to have also conducted the organization’s first analysis and review of  the LITNUM modules created for the past classes. View the pictures →

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Feminist Literacy and Numeracy: A Path to Empowerment for Grassroots Women

by

Chona Rita R. Cruz (CINDY) 86-16518, MA Women and Development Studies

2nd Semester AY2012-2013 View the pictures →

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1             Center for Women’s Resources

CWR Activities from November 2012 to December 2013

2             The Fieldwork Plan

3              Conceptions of Literacy: Review of Related Literature View the pictures →

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The Center for Women’s Resources was founded in 1982, within the period of the Marcos dictatorship and martial rule – a period that had been marked with social and political unrest, an unstable economic condition and civil and political repression. During this time, many women actively involved and engaged themselves in the Oust Marcos Movement. View the pictures →

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Principal Objectives

• To develop critical analyses of the situation of women and men
• To implement interventions; and
• To develop specialized skills in organizational and program management and other aspects of development work View the pictures →

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When the question “What is literacy?” is posed, the answer seems simple enough to divine, but the ensuing grapple with concepts and complexities assures us that the answers to this question are anything but simple. The following discussion outlines the general development of concepts of literacy and some of their critiques. View the pictures →

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As a teacher, I have always viewed the whole language philosophy to be most characteristic of the principles that frame my teaching and define my teaching space, whether that be an actual classroom, a makeshift multi-purpose shed beside the train tracks, a clearing under a tree. It is a set of beliefs around which swirl much controversy and many debates. It is largely misunderstood because it espouses progressive ideas that may seem unacceptable to many teachers, even in today’s modern context.

 Whole language teachers are guided by instructional practices based on the recognition that “children learn most readily when View the pictures →

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