Powerful Listening
A Practitioner Research Project
on Story and Difference in Adult Literacy

We are a Toronto research team. Most of our practice is community-based. We range in age from late thirties to early sixties. Our time in literacy work varied from four years to over twenty-five. One researcher is Anishawbe, two are of Caribbean background, and six are white.

Mary Brehaut, Andy Noel and Nadine Sookermany work at Parkdale Project Read.
Parkdale Project Read (PPR) is one of Toronto’s oldest community-based literacy programs, started by the librarians in the Parkdale Library in the early 80s and becoming a separate program in 1986.  It is one of the few literacy collectives and programs with its own board of directors. 

Sally Gaikezhenyongai and Michele Kuhlmann work at Davenport Perth Neighbourhood Centre.
Davenport Perth Neighbourhood Centre (DPNC) Literacy Centre was begun with the help of Project Read in the 1980s.  It was originally called Adult Learners for Action (ALFA) and was managed by its own board of directors.  In June 2003, the program became part of the Adult Services unit of the DPNC. 

Guy Ewing and Sheila Stewart work at the Festival of Literacies/OISE/UT.

Tannis Atkinson is the publisher of Literacies and Maria Moriarty works at the AlphaPlus Centre.

Learn more about each researcher - who they are, what they bring to the research, what they learned and what they think about the project - by clicking on their names.