LiteracyExpressCanadian Literacy and Learning Network Spring 2012

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sharing our knowledget h e p r a c t i t i o n e r s ’ i s s u e

Katy Kydd Wright started at the end of January as CLLN’s newManager of Partnerships and Research. Katy comes to CLLNfrom RESULTS Canada where she, as Director of Campaigns,worked regularly on developing top-line messaging, creatingadvocacy strategies and finding the key entry points for issues asbroad as tuberculosis care and education for all.While Katy’s work has primarily been in the international development and political fields, one of Katy’s first passions waseducation. Katy spent time working for the Canadian

International Development Agency developing and delivering anadult education English as a second language program (ESL) in Sri Lanka, taught ESL atCité Collgiale in Ottawa and managed a large 2001 research project on the role of information and communications technology in international education. Katy is respected for her experience in creating strong partnerships to bring diverse individuals and groups together for a common purpose. She is strategic and imaginative infinding ways to achieve common goals. Katy has always brought a social justice lens to thework she does and is passionate about increasing people’s participation, knowledge and access to programs, services, and ideas that can have a real impact in their lives.

LiteracyExpressSpring 2012

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cLLn n e W sin this issue:

cLLn news

editor’s note

neW cLLn research project

Focus: practitioners

4 occupationaL task proFiLes

4 course revieW/pd

4 oLes resources

4 onLine Forum

For practitioners

4 upcoming conFerences

w w w . l i t e r a c y . c a

Meet Katy Kydd Wright

CLLN is core funded by the Office for Literacy and Essential Skills

this newsletter is published by

Canadian Literacy and Learning Network342A Elgin Street

Ottawa, ONK2P 1M6

editor’s n o t eOne of the re-occurring themes of storiestold throughout Canadian Adult Learners’Week, is that of learners’ relationships withtheir instructors. While every learner acknowledges their teachers’ ability to transfer foundational skills, it is the handthey lend, the patience and compassion theyshow, the serious commitment to adultlearners embedded in their approach to thework they do day after day, year after year,that so often has made all the difference.Adult Learners’ week is really also Adult Literacy Practitioners’ Week, I think!As we were preparing to pull together thisissue of LiteracyExpress, checking out PDopportunities, looking for interesting resources, Chris Harwood was conductingher interviews with practitioners across thecountry for a snapshot of occupationaltask profiles. Her daily updates about what

she heard from people she talked to, confirmed one assumption we had entertained for a while: that adult educatorsfeel that there is a definite need to provide acommunication platform for practitioners,so we set one up. (A big ank You goes toAlphaPlus for support and hosting ofCLLN’s parctioners’ online forum).Just as I am about to upload this issue to cyberspace, I find out that Community Literacy of Ontario has made their "Digital Discoveries: Guide to OnlineLearning with Adult Literacy Learners"available as an eBook - making a rathernice segway for me from our last issue ondigital literacy to this one.I really hope you enjoy the read - you’ll findout, there’s lots going on.

Annette Hegel

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cLLn 2 0 1 2 / 1 3 r e s e a r c h p r o j e c t

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We are truly excited to announce that Clln has receivedfunding from the Office of literacy and essential Skills(OleS) to conduct an in-depth labour market survey ofthe literacy and essential Skills (l/eS) workforce. By conducting this research we are responding to a clearlyidentified lack of reliable information related to l/eS practitioners that could befilled by a large-scale survey ofthe profession.

Starting this April, we are embarking on a 17 month project to create a credible, descriptive study of practitionersin the L/ES field. rough alarge-scale survey of practitioners,we will create an understandingof the over-arching human resource issues of L/ES practitioners that may affectCanada’s capacity to achieve better L/ES results for Canadians.

We will collect data through aPan-Canadian survey to create anational picture of practitionerswho work in a variety of capacities in the L/ES field.

Specifically, we will examine:4 the employment

status of practitioners4 the size and types of

organizations employ L/ES practitioners

4 the geographical location of L/ES practitioners and 4 the types of L/ES programs being delivered

In addition, we will be able to compile a demographic snapshot of L/ES practitioners, the type of training and education they have received in the past, as well as what theworkforce sees as current professional development opportunities.

is study will capture knowledge about who adultL/ES practitioners really are. Itwill help inform the field atlarge, as well as policy makers atthe national, provincial and territorial levels.

We are looking forward toworking with a strong AdvisoryCommittee, that will be comprised of leaders in the L/ESfield, human resources sectorand workplace organizations.

We will provide updates overthe course of the study, and besharing the results with L/ESpractitioners, learners and othersinvolved in the field of literacyand essential skills.

For regular updates on progress visit http://www.literacy.ca/research-and-resources or contact Clln’s Manager of Partnerships and Research Katy Kydd Wright at kwright@literacy.ca .

enhancing our Knowledge of the literacy and essentialSkills Workforce: A profile of l/eS Practitioners

LiteracyExpressSpring 2012

Objectives of the study:

Provide a snapshot of who l/eS providers are

Understand how and wherel/eS services are delivered

Create a better understanding ofthe implications,

considerations, trends andhuman resource needs of the

l/eS workforce

e study will employ a large-scale survey togather information and expects to have resultsavailable in August of 2013.

CLLN has undertaken this project to gain a clear picture ofthe current competencies held by the Literacy and EssentialSkills (L/ES) workforce through key informant interviews anddocument reviews of related research in Canada and interna-tionally. e result will be a snapshot of current competencies.

Competencies

Competencies of L/ES educators are the knowledge, skills,abilities, mindsets (tangible/intangible) and behaviours(savoir, savoir-faire, and savoir-être) that lead to learners buying-in to an L/ES program, learning, making progress andmeeting their goals. CLLN’s project will enhance the perception and understanding of the important role of the L/ES workforce. It will give us an understanding of current skills and knowledge. It should help us identify needs and gaps.

Key Informant Interviews

ere is no doubt that the programs delivered by the L/ESworkforce are as diverse as the backgrounds of the people whodeliver them. Key informant interviews are already revealingsome important information. No matter where they work, L/ES educators embrace lifelonglearning and bring a wide range of competencies to their programs. Educators emphasize the importance of beingknowledgeable about adult learning and working with groups. Some respondents expressed the importance of enabling learners to articulate what they are thinking and express it appropriately to their audience, others talked about the importance of learners understanding how they learn. L/ESeducators say they need to be knowledgeable about community resources and able to teach participants how tofind out about local resources for themselves. It was felt that

most blunders by educators were as a result of educators beingscared or failing to discuss, with empathy and sensitivity, the issues that are important in the lives of the participants. Blunders were much less likely to relate to content in coursesbeing offered.Educators need the skills to be able tailor programs to theneeds of participants. Some programs prepare learners for theworkforce and are being run along business lines, with the educator modelling an employer and the classroom being theworkplace. Other programs support participants in acquiringthe skills needed to volunteer in their communities. Programsthat are in store fronts or community centres attract moreAboriginal participants than those that are offered in a collegecampus. ere is constant evaluation of external factors influencing who comes to programs and this results in innovation to programming.It was common to hear respondents talk about the importanceof understanding affective behaviour so that participants understand its effects in the classroom and workplace and as aresult develop appropriate behaviours. Asking good questionsand active listening skills featured strongly in the list of competencies. Educators stressed the importance of really listening to what participants are telling them – the overt andthe hidden messages.All the educators interviewed are knowledgeable about essential skills and deliver programs that include improvingthe essential skills of participants. e core essential skills ofreading, writing, document use and numeracy are alwaystaught but thinking skills were also considered to be extremely important, along with working together. A problem-solvingapproach to learning is common to learning in many of theprograms.

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A Snapshot of Occupational taskProfiles: e Canadian literacy andessential Skills Workforce

Chris Harwood

researchp r a c t i t i o n e r s a

Individualized goal setting and delivery is a keycompetency of L/ES educators. Programs are created to meet the needs of participants. Mosteducators adapt and create activities. When used,curricula are often tweaked to meet the individualneeds of learners. Many educators felt that beingable to collect or create their own resources wasbetter than having a curriculum. It soon became very apparent that the savoir-êtrecomponent of the competencies was extremelyimportant to the respondents. ey were keen todiscuss their characteristics, professional disposition and subject matter expertise. It was evident that all the respondents have a goodknowledge of teaching strategies and techniquesand a comprehensive knowledge of the subjectmatter required for participants to meet theirgoals.Interviewees talked about the importance of needing attributes that cannot be taught. eymentioned the importance of attitude and theneed for educators in L/ES to have humanity, self-awareness, empathy and tolerance. Without these attributes it is unlikely the person would be an effective L/ES educator, either in the communityor the workplace. Respondents talked about mentoring and theneed to consider different ways to implement it,either formally or informally. is is particularlyimportant for new instructors entering the field.e idea of having a group of “master teachers” asmentors was discussed. Observations of experienced educators are considered to be an important component of mentorship. e need toprovide different PD for new and experienced educators was discussed as well as the need forlengthier, in depth PD with an opportunity toimplement what has been learned and then reportback on the experience. One thing that is clear isthe need to carefully select new educators andprovide professional development for existingL/ES educators. Workplace L/ES educators made the point that itis better to come into their field with experienceof working in L/ES in colleges, school boards orthe community. e requirements for workplaceeducators are broader. A workplace educatorneeds to be able to complete organizational needsassessments, identify what needs to be done andcreate programs based on the gaps identified.

ey need to be able to work with the differentneeds of the key players – bosses, supervisors,labour and learners. ey need to be able to meetwith employees and draw them into their programs. Not all L/ES educators make a successful transition from the community to theworkplace because of the lack of structure and thepower shift from campus is hard for many. Employers know they are not experts in trainingand want to hire an expert.The Report

e report will detail the duties that are commonly undertaken by L/ES staff and the responsibilities they have to the participants intheir programs. For the purposes of this study, theterm educator has been used to encompass peoplewithin the workforce with titles of instructor,practitioner, facilitator or other titles that refer toteaching literacy and/or Essential Skills. It will examine the competencies L/ES educators need toimplement L/ES programs.CLLN will use the information to develop a response to the findings of the snapshot of taskprofiles. For example, this could lead to the development of occupational standards and thedevelopment of a NOC profiles for the L/ES workforce. CLLN can also use the report to createsample job descriptions and a bank of screeningquestions that could be used during interviewswith people entering the L/ES workforce. CLLNcan use the snapshot to examine current compe-tencies and those needed for new staff in order tolay a foundation from which to explore the topicof professionalism It will be an appropriate timeto address strategies to prepare new entrants tothe field and examine professional developmentopportunities for current staff. Information fromthis project will feed into the CLLN labour market survey of Literacy and Essential Skills(LES) practitioners. e snapshot will raise awareness of the important role of the L/ES work-force so that educators can be recognized for theskills they have and the impact they can have onCanada’s economic competitiveness.A Snapshot of Occupational Task Profiles: eCanadian Literacy and Essential Skills Workforcewill be available by the end of April 2012, download it at: http://www.literacy.ca/professionals

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After a lifetime of

teaching experience, I

have taught at every

level, I have to say that

working in a Literacy

and Essential Skills

program is certainly

the most challenging

and difficult teaching I

have ever done. It is so

important to have an

understanding of many

different things:

situations and

emotional issues that

students are experi-

encing, accepting

students’ reality and

being supportive and

knowing what services

are available in the

community, knowing

how to motivate and

encourage students,

being aware of the

factors that affect

learning and building

trust so that learners

can learn and

recognize their own

learning styles and the

progress they are

making.

Glenda Oldham

Selkirk Adult Learning

Program

Brandon, Manitoba

I just completed the YWCA life Skills Coach – Phase 1 train-ing in toronto. I had noted this training with interest for thepast 15 years and finally this year I took a week of vacationand began my life skills coach journey. As a 25 year careeradult literacy educator this training is an excellent fit. Ishould have taken it years ago!

e YWCA Life Skills Coach Certificate training programs arerooted in the principles and philosophy of the SaskatchewanNewStart model of adult education and utilize the lesson plan asa template for designing experiential workshops that engagelearners cognitively, physically and affectively. My training was 5 days intensive 9am-5pm. We started as 12 andended as 11 trainees. Days 1-2 focused on learning the methodology in the large group, in pairs, and groups of 3. Days3-5 saw us in groups of three either developing and delivering a 2hour lesson or participating in a lesson delivered by our peers onone of four topics: values, self esteem, assertiveness, and problem-solving. I was in the assertiveness group. And all ourgroups did an amazing job!So just imagine – the methodology was so clear and presented inenough ways experientially that four groups of people who didn’tknow each other at the start were able after basically 7 hours ofallocated group planning time to deliver a lesson following themethodology and engaging our peer trainees. And we did thatwhile going through the group process phases: forming, norming, storming and performing. at’s a great investment oftime with a workable and practical return!On day 1 of the training I learned the difference between LifeSkills and Living Skills – I always thought they referred to thesame thing! e Participant Workbook we received is so well written usingclear language and design principles that I can’t even para-phrasepages 5-6. I present you with copyrighted © content below.

© Life Skills can be defined as problem-solving behaviours responsibly and appropriately used in themanagement of personal affairs. Life Skills lessonsfocus on five content areas: self; family; community;leisure; job/school.

e goal of life skills programs is to develop skills thatwill help a person become a BalancedSelf-Determined individual; that is one who can make decisionsand have his or her needs met while taking into consideration theneed of those around him or her. e way one becomes a Balanced Self-Determined person is by developing generic skillsthat can be transferred to other areas of life. ese generic skillsinclude:

4 Human relation skills (communicationand interpersonal relations)

4 Life management skills4 Critical thinking skills4 Problem-solving skills©

Daily living skills, such as banking, grocery shopping, personalhygiene, scheduling, etc., relate more specifically to personalmanagement and social skills that are necessary for adequatefunctioning on an independent basis. You can see where LivingSkills fit into the generic skill areas covered by Life Skills.

LiteracyExpressSpring 2012

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My YWCA life Skills Coach Certificatenancy Friday

course revieWp r a c t i t i o n e r p d a

© e Life Skills Model presented, practised and discussed during my training is completely compatible with adult literacydelivery within a community-based model as I know it. Whyand how?

4 It is a theoretical model based on adult learningtheory and modern psychology

4 It is a content model that focuses on skill development

4 It is a methodology that provides a frameworkand techniques for effective skills development

4 It is the interaction of all of the above as well as the dynamics that occur when participants are in a group setting

4 It uses a holistic approach to learning, combiningpsycho-motor (physical), cognitive (thinking)and affective (feeling) components

4 It uses an experiential approach in the lesson design to integrate principles of adult education

4 e emphasis is geared more to the process ratherthan the content.

Life Skills uses a coach who facilitates the group process. e ul-timate aim for the coach is to facilitate the PUT system.P See the skills being practised in the groupU Use those skills in the group and in daily lifet Have group members feel comfortable enough with

the skill that they could teach it to someone else.©

e goal is to coach others to become balanced, self determinedindividuals. Hmmm. at sounds a lot like the goals of adult lit-eracy programs to me!e benefits to me in taking this training and becoming a LifeSkills Coach are too many to share here. I can say that as a literacy educator some clear benefits include a lesson planmethodology that I have tried and works, clarity in purpose ofintegrating life skills into literacy delivery, concrete contextualways to frame Essential Skills delivery, and access to hundreds oflesson plan resources located within the YWCA Discovering LifeSkills publications.At the conclusion of our training each trainee received a LifeSkills Coach Training Certificate and was welcomed into the LifeSkills community. Opportunities for further training were pre-sented and our group was even presented with an opportunity toapply for a life skills coach contract at a community agency! We will stay in touch with the pan-Canadian Life Skills community through a newsletter and ongoing if desired interaction with our coach trainer.Click here to check out this opportunity.

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aoLes resourcesp r a c t i t i o n e r s

Nancy Friday is a long-time literacy worker

in community-based literacy programs in

Ontario. She is the Senior e-Learning and

Educational Technology Consultant at

AlphaPlus.

In the big toolbox available onHRSDC’s website, there are two resources that are particularly interesting for practitionerswanting to stay up-to-date withlabour market environments andcurrent skill expectations in theworkplace.

“essential Skills Profiles” is a by industry and professionsearchable database with detailed information and specific skill requirements. 50 of the 350 profiles have recently been updated with revised task statements and new information reflectinghow each occupation is affected by digitaltechnology. Updating for the rest is inprogress. All profiles can be viewed in html.Profiles for Cashiers, Food and BeverageServers and nurse Aides, Orderlies and Patient Service Associates are now also available in print, as part of a pilot projecttesting if there is demand for printed versions.

labour Market Bulletins and labourMarket Monitors provide an excellentoverview of the specific labour marketrealities in every province and territory.e reports are constantly updated and

allow practitioners to reallystay on top of employment issues in their communities.

click on thescreenshots to

go directly to theresources

Here’s the way in:

LiteracyExpressSpring 2012

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acLLn onLine ForumF o r p r a c t i t i o n e r s

Reflecting on Issues and Practice

Research in practice allows for

reflection and many educators talk

about the need for self-reflection. Do

you have adequate opportunities for

collaborative sharing and comparing

with others?

CLLN is now giving you the

opportunity to talk to other

educators. We have set up an

online national forum in Moodle

hosted for us by AlphaPlus.

The discussion will be focused but

with plenty of opportunity to raise

new issues. We will invite experts to

respond to significant issues. We

look forward to keeping the energy

and momentum constant. To do

that, we need you to post your

experiences, reflections and ideas.

Only you can make this work!

Enter the Debate

Self register in the CLLN Forum on

Moodle. There are lots of topics;

comments and trends will be high-

lighted on the CLLN website and in

the CLLN newsletter to share in-

sights widely and encourage others

to join the debate.

Help shape professionalism in L/ES

We are looking forward to

spontaneous responses and

thoughtful, insightful reflections.

CLLN believes that bringing the

literacy field together to debate

issues will show the strength and

commitment of the L/ES workforce.

We will be able to show the

groundswell behind what you think

is important.

Spread the word

It is not that easy to reach the L/ES

workforce, in other words, YOU. We

are lucky, we managed to get to you

and you are reading this now. Maybe

your colleagues haven’t seen this

invitation to get involved. Please

share this information widely and

encourage others to take part. Let’s

show the commonalities and

strengths of the L/ES workforce.

Forward or print this document and

share the information.

Do you think this forum works?

We hope that we have found a good space by using a Moodle course for our forum

but maybe there is a better platform. Please let us have your feedback. We would

also love to know your burning topics. Can we do it? You bet!

But we need your input. E-mail Chris Harwood: charwood@literacy.ca

When educators get together at professional development events, we hear how energized they are and

how much they enjoy the opportunity to interact. When they go back to their programs this momentum is

lost until the next face-to-face opportunity to connect. As a Literacy and/or Essential Skills (L/ES)

educator in a college, school board, community-based or workplace program, do you have a collective

sense of the professionalism of the L/ES workforce but have limited opportunities to have an impact

outside your own practice?

CLLN is inviting you to engage with others in the field every day.

go to

http://educators.alphaplus.ca

Locate, and click on

CLLN Forum

login or register

The discussion areas are arranged

by topic. We encourage you to

read the introduction first and the

posts from your fellow educators.

To get involved in any of the

discussions yourself all you

have to do is click on

and share your views.

Thank you for joining us and sharing

your opinions. We are looking

forward to meeting you online.

Workplace Literacy& Essential Skills:Shaping a NewLearning CultureThe 2012 Summer Institute will consolidatewhat we know about

effective models and measures of workplace literacy and essential skills by weaving strandsfrom Institutes since 2009 with findings from recent studies in Canada, the United States andabroad.While policy attention has concentrated on models, tools and assessment instruments, recent

longer term studies indicate the significance ofcontext and culture for WLES policy and practice.These factors seem to play roles at the level ofcountry, province/state, region and organization.Just how important are they? How can we influence or change them?Share and create knowledge in a collaborativeenvironment with a limited number of participants

hosted by Centre for Literacy,

click here for more info and to register

LiteracyExpressSpring 2012

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conFerences

transLiteracy conFerence - innisFiL, on

summer institute- montréaL

resdac course and Forum - ottaWa

WorkForce one-stop 2012 - torontoapriLto

juneto

juneto

juneto

c o m i n g u p

CLLN Membership

If you aren’t already a member, or haven’t renewed your membership, please clickhere for the membership form on theClln website.We have two types of membership available – general and organizational. Ifyou have any questions about becoming amember, or renewing your membership,please call the office at 613-563-2464 oremail us at clln@literacy.ca.

Connecting the Skilled Workforce with Workplaces and MarketplaceEmployers and educators are looking to do more to prepareworkers for our evolving economy. Workforces are changing:new entrants include immigrants, Aboriginals, people with dis-abilities, and members of other diverse groups. Employers andeducators want to know how these changes can drive betterresults for their organizations. How do we take full advantage

of new technologiy tools for the workplace. Employers oftenneed help to develop the skills of their workers and to ensurethat these skills are effectively applied on the job.This event promises to address these questions and to chal-lenge all involved stakeholders to rethink these issues together.

hosted by The Conference Board of Canadaclick here for more info

Learning communities,

United to Develop Literacy!

A two day course from June 10 to 12, offered in bothofficial languages, will focus on place-based learningcommunities, led by Prof. Ron Faris, University of Victoria,Canada’s leading expert.

The course is followed by the Forum June 12 to 15,

based on the same theme with experiential workshopsemphasizing the principles of learmning communities

hosted by RESDAC - click here for more info

Want to incorporate e-learning and new media intoyour program, but are overwhelmed with the technology? Looking for a hands-on learning opportunity, with instruction on how to find, manipulateand use images, sound and video? Want to find outhow to address twenty-first century learning stylesusing web applications and services in your educational work?

Whether new to the online world or seasoned travelleron the information highway, you will leave the conference with a personal implementation plan, feeling less stressed about e-learning.

To learn more or to register, click here