Sharing the Flame: Adult Learning

Recognizes programs that encompass a broad spectrum of learning activities ranging from formal to informal learning and located within diverse development and delivery contexts

Aboriginal Women for Tomorrow

The Aboriginal Women for Tomorrow program (AWFT) is a collaborative, client-centered approach to foster the greater participation of Aboriginal women in their community and the Canadian economy.  The program consists of a series of participatory and interactive workshops that empower Aboriginal women by providing an opportunity to build on and to develop their personal, leadership and business skills.

A program of the Canadian Executive Service Organization (CESO), AWFT was first initiated in 2003. It has grown into a national program of workshops delivered across the country, at the request of Aboriginal communities and organizations, by volunteer facilitators.

The AWFT series consists of the six workshops in both official languages:

  • Building personal and job search skills
  • Communications skills
  • Starting your own business
  • Governance: skills development for boards and councils
  • Financial management
  • Health and wellness
Objectives
  • offer a unique, culturally sensitive approach to engage Aboriginal women in Canadian economy though training that is developed specifically for Aboriginal women
  • provide participants with practical knowledge for increased health and wellness and personal success
Contact

Rebecca Nepinak
National Program Coordinator
Canadian Executive Services Organization (CESO) Aboriginal Services
700 Bay Street
Suite 700
Toronto, ON  M5V 1Z6

Tel: 416.961.2376 ext. 256
Fax: 416.961.3987

E-mail: rnepinak@ceso-saco.com
Website: http://www.ceso-saco.com/
Quebec Construction Industry Program for Vocational Training

The Commission de la construction du Québec (CCQ) has been active in the professional development field since 1987.  Their program for vocational training ensures the industry enough skilled workers to meet its needs.

The program’s structure allows workers to continue to acquire new skills in their trade throughout their careers.  It is based on the principle that the best way to ensure the continued professional development of the labour force is to make such development easily accessible.
Objectives
  • encouraging the development of a new generation of skilled workers
  • supporting the progress of apprentices
  • encouraging further training by the industry’s workers
  • maintaining and improving mechanisms that respond to the specific training needs of workers and employers
Innovation
  • organizational flexibility
  • complete industry control of all the steps involved in the professional development of its workforce
  • the creation of two training funds that now contain more than $180 million thanks to employer contributions of .20 per hour worked and declared
Benefits

  • Of the 137,400 Quebecers working in the construction industry in Quebec, 15% participated in training activities in 2007-08. The CCQ believes that the foundations of a culture of vocational training and upgrading development in Quebec’s construction industry have now been solidly laid.

Contact

Chantal Dubeau
Director of Professional Development
Commission de la construction du Québec (Quebec Construction Commission)
3530 Jean-Talon West
Montreal QC  H3R 2G3

Tel: 514.341.7740 ext 6617
Fax: 514.736.6742
E-mail: chantal.dubeau@ccq.org
Website www.ccq.org
Reading Advantage

In fall 2000, the Calgary Public Library began an exciting new volunteer-based program called Reading Advantage. This free one-on-one program allows adults with low literacy skills to improve their reading and writing, changing the direction of their lives.

Dedicated and skilled volunteers are matched individually with learners and together they work on goals specific to the learners’ lives. This includes learning how to use a phone book or dictionary, reading the newspaper or restaurant menus, helping children with homework, acquiring new jobs, understanding phonics and improving spelling. The program also addresses personal goals such as improving communication, understanding learning styles and developing a love for lifelong learning.
Objectives
  • support adult learners in their quest to improve literacy skills, life skills, confidence and self esteem in a positive, non-threatening and inclusive environment through the involvement of caring, skilled volunteers committed to lifelong learning 
  • expose learners to public library resources and services
  • provide volunteers with a meaningful contribution to society
Innovation
  • program values and encourages learners and volunteers to continue their involvement in the program for several years
  • operates on an ongoing basis until learners’ goals have been reached (as opposed to using a semester-type format or requiring re-registration each year)
  • by providing volunteers with extensive training and professional development opportunities, the program ensures a bank of committed, skilled volunteers
Benefits
  • improved literacy skills
  • learners are more confident and self-assured
  • learners’ children witness first-hand that it is never too late to learn and that reading and writing practices are for everyone
  • by creating more confident parents, program creates more active and involved members of community, in this generation and the next
Contact

Emily Robinson LeClair
Program Coordinator
Calgary Public Library
616 MacLeod Trail SE
Calgary, AB  T2G 2M2

Tel: 403.260.2729
Fax: 403.260.2737
E-mail: emily.leclair@calgarypubliclibrary.com
Website: www.calgarypubliclibrary.com

Turning a New Page

The Turning a New Page program at Westmorland Institution in Dorchester, New Brunswick is a research-based literacy program involving incarcerated adults. The focus of the program is to assist struggling adult readers to become competent readers by recording children’s books on CDs for distribution to classrooms in local elementary schools. 

Since May 2000, the program has assisted these adult readers to develop reading fluency, comprehension and vocabulary through practice-readings and final audio recordings of children’s books. The program also serves to reinforce positive social values and social responsibility among a segment of Canada’s population typified by disaffection and social isolation. Turning a New Page offers an opportunity for these individuals to contribute to rather than take from society.
Objectives
  • re-engage reluctant adult readers whose previous experiences with education have been marked by failure and frustration
  • validate the results of the program through pre- and post-program testing
Innovation
  • program motivates adult readers and helps them overcome their reluctance to read children’s books
  • establishes a bond between different generations of developing readers
Benefits
  • adult readers who have convinced themselves that they will never be able to read become motivated to actively engage in reading and recording children’s books on CDs
  • school children listening to the CDs while reading the books benefit from hearing and reading the stories at the same time
  • as an additional benefit to both children and adults, the children write thank-you letters to the adult readers   
Contact

Paul Ropp
Senior Vice-President
Excalibur Learning Resource Centre
25 Markland Street
Kingston, ON  K7K 1S2

Tel: 1.888.801.5494 or 613.549.5494
Fax: 613.549.8568
E-mail: propp@excalibur.ca
Website: www.excalibur.ca

 

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