May be that's one of the reasons I didn't talk about it. I didn't want anyone to stop me. (Interview, Farmington, Maine, May 2001)

I would like to understand more about what has enabled some literacy workers to "know" that issues of violence are part of their work as a teacher, in spite of the discourses that lead them also to "know" that the issues are not part of literacy work and should not be discussed with colleagues.

Many literacy workers, even those who had heard many stories, said they had not previously paid attention to issues of violence or thought about how violence might impact on learning. Several workers said they had simply thought about violence as part of poverty and not taken account of it separately. One experienced literacy worker at a workshop mused about how obvious the issue seemed as soon as she began to think about it in the workshop. She was surprised at herself and her own organization for not having recognized and addressed the issue previously. But she also commented that many teachers who usually attend professional development sessions were absent from this workshop on the impact of violence on learning. Some may be willing to learn more about the issue as soon as they come to recognize it, others may avoid learning more about it. One teacher told me that she was worried about attending my workshop, thinking it would be difficult but was relieved to realize it was possible to address issues of violence without hearing detailed stories of violence. At many workshops one or two participants have been quite angry about the content of the workshop. Unfortunately, even though I created detailed evaluation forms hoping to elicit feedback on aspects they disliked and learn whether the problem was the issue, my approach, or something else, they rarely offered any more information.