Virginie Theriault

Literacy mediation as a form of powerful literacies in community-based organisations working with young people in a situation of precarity

This paper aims at understanding the complex relations between bureaucratic literacies, the lives of young people in a situation of precarity and the work of employees of two community-based organisations in Québec (Canada). Drawing on the perspective of the New Literacy Studies, the focus of this article is around the role of literacy mediators that can play youth workers. It also endeavours to clarify the meaning of the term precarity (précarité) by suggesting a multidimensional perspective on it. This paper reveals that literacy mediation can be a form of powerful literacies that offer opportunities to counteract dominant literacies and support new ways of learning. Finally, it suggests a reflection on the importance of the work of community-based organisations in countering the situation of precarity experienced by some young people. It underlines the fact that these organisations are also experiencing financial uncertainty and insecurity that affect their services.

Book review - Lifelong learning participation in a changing policy context: an interdisciplinary theory

Lifelong Learning Participation in a Changing Policy Context is Ellen Boeren’s first monograph and the culmination of more than 10 years of experience in researching participation issues in adult education. The book’s narrative is deeply rooted in the author’s academic journey, which gives it a personal and easy-to-relate-to quality. It is a short but information-rich book with the ambitious aim of proposing a new interdisciplinary approach to ‘adult lifelong learning participation’, drawing on a wide range of disciplines which include economics, educational research, political sciences, psychology and sociology. The monograph is divided into three parts and nine chapters.

Writing retreats as a milestone in the development of PhD students’ sense of self as academic writers

ABSTRACT Writing retreats are structured events during which a group of people write in the same room over several days. In this paper, we report on findings from a study exploring the impact of writing retreats on PhD students’ writing and their sense of self as academic writers. A second aim of the study was to contribute to the search for appropriate pedagogies to support writing at the PhD level. The data consist of interviews with 19 PhD students who had taken part in writing retreats as well as evaluations and pre- and post-retreat reflections by these students. In the interviews, we discussed the role of writing retreats in the context of the students’ wider biographies as writers and how it relates to their experiences of writing. Our findings suggest that writing retreats can be important events for PhD students positively affecting their relationship with literacy [Besse, J.-M. 1995. L’écrit, l’école et l’illettrisme. Paris: Magnard]. Taking part in a retreat generates pleasure, emphasising the role of emotions in academic writing. Writing retreats and the opportunities they offer students to write and to reflect on their experiences as writers are a valuable part of PhD training.

Accessing a 'very, very secret garden': exploring children's and young people's literacy practices using participatory research methods

Despite the wealth of publications on children’s and young people’s participation in research, the connections between participatory research methods (PRM) and literacy studies remain unclear. The aim of this paper is to understand why it is particularly pertinent to use PRM in literacy studies (particularly New Literacy Studies). In order to capture the complexity and plurality of these methods, we discuss two studies, one conducted with children in Chile and the other with young people in Quebec (Canada). We argue that by using PRM, researchers can support participants in the appropriation of an alternative and potentially empowering view of literacy.