According to Dr. Anne Whiteside, an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher at CCSF, the conference is the only one of its kind. Attendees could choose between sessions on topics such as “Gender, Power and Print Literacy in a LESLLA Classroom,” “Non-Literate Finnish Learners and a Ten-Month Challenge” and “Making Literacy Compelling: Embedding Literacy in Livelihood and Opportunity.” Other events included a presentation by Nigerian-born artist Victor Ekpuk about his use of Nsibidi, a graphic system from his native country; and a talk by Dr. Norma Guillard from the University of Havana about participating in the Cuban National Literacy Campaign, followed by a movie about women literacy workers in Cuba, “Maestra.”
