A Living Legacy: Recognizing Kate Nonesuch's Influence on Adult Literacy

Was it the ”inhale” and “exhale” rooms that Kate Nonesuch and Evelyn Battell ran for their college upgrading students that first inspired me? That freedom for students to work in the “exhale” room on something they wanted to complete, or the “inhale” room to learn about something new. An offering of both structure and choice—such a rare combination!

Or perhaps it was sitting with students in Kate’s “Never Fail Writing” workshop that really convinced me of Kate’s brilliance. As we each selected, then read aloud, a sentence we found powerful in a student’s writing, several of us chose the same sentence. Slowly, as we turned our attention to each student’s work, I felt deep in my body the strength of focusing only on what was working in the writing, the sense of community as many of us shared the same choice of “favourite” sentence. A space entirely free of critique, where writing was communication—that shouldn't be rare!

Or perhaps my favourite story was the time when a student, anxious about reading her writing aloud at a public event, could barely speak above a whisper. Kate didn’t stand beside her as many of us might have. No quiet encouragement from the student's side. Instead, Kate moved to the back of the room, where the student could see her, and speak loudly directly to her. Kate’s methods, always steeped in respect, made success possible. 

These are only a few examples of Kate’s “choices,” always so obvious to her that she had to be prompted to include all the details of exactly what she did in her blog posts. I can’t imagine Kate’s approaches, her writing, will ever be out of date. Kate’s work challenges educators to question assumptions and avoid judgments. My favourite “rule” in her classroom was: “Refuse to be bored.” You will have to read Kate’s blog to know just how much spaciousness this opens up. “Neither kind, nor patient,” she wrote about her teaching. Kate liked to surprise and challenge us, her readers, invite us to look again at how to build respect into the core of all we do as educators, and as a field.

When I discovered Kate's blogs, long after I stepped into this field, I realized that so many of the core beliefs I came to hold about this work, about positionality, vulnerability and the meaning of language, were shaped by hearing others talk about Kate and Jenny Horsman’s work.

This is aspirational work...but it is the aspirations of the humans who choose to step into programs that lead the work. As Jenny notes, Kate demonstrates respect and confidence in a student’s ability, affirming that there are things to teach and learn, and it is a partnership.

Kate's research and practice always seemed anchored in the work that was in front of her. The challenges that surfaced in the teaching and learning space prompted her to rethink her approaches.

The transparency of her emotional work in responding to these challenges was so important for me to read. It is less fraught to challenge students about their assumptions that get in the way of learning than to challenge our own assumptions that get in the way of supporting others to learn.

Kate’s “writing” belief guides her to give feedback that focusses on what she wants to see more of in learners' writing. She deliberately creates opportunities to identify examples of good writing and to practice them together with learners. This is so different from the red-pen, grammar and spelling and syntax tyranny that so many of us grew up with. Is that why we fear putting pen to paper...even for something we love?

What Kate’s work has meant to me and how it has impacted my practice:

I first met Kate at a Research in Practice gathering in Edmonton in the summer of 2001. Her name was mentioned with great respect by two other literacy legends, Mary Norton and Jenny Horsman. When I found myself joining Kate in a small breakout group, I was quite awed to be in her presence.

Years later, Corrie Rhyasen Erdman introduced me to her blog. Corrie was using a few of Kate's blog posts for reading material as part of the curriculum for Strengthening Literacy Practices. When I became the lead for Strengthening Literacy Practices, I continued to use several of Kate’s blogs: Trigger Warning series, Who’s in Charge Here, Reading from Life and A Healthy Disrespect. Kate’s blog posts fit so well with concepts covered in the Strengthening Literacy Practices curriculum. Each year, Kate’s writing introduces a new cohort of CALP staff and volunteers to ideas that continue to shift mindsets and shape practices in the field of literacy.

I had the privilege to work with Kate as she presented the Never Fail Writing Method to CALP staff in a four-week training event with Berniece Gowan from Calgary Learns. With the support of the Peter Gzowski Literacy Grant, CLN collaborated with Kate to capture her Never Fail Writing Method into an e-learning. Once again, I was privileged to work with Kate on this project, as she generously distilled her wisdom and learning into an e‑learning resource that can now be accessed widely.

Kate’s approach to working with learners offers an honest reflection of the good, the bad, and the uncomfortable learning edges of being truly learner-centred.