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Happy Holidays from CCL
The holiday season is traditionally a time to reflect on the past year, and we at the Canadian Council on Learning are no exception. The past 12 months have been eventful for us, with many of the CCL ‘family’ travelling across the country—and, in some cases, the world—in our ongoing efforts to spread the word about the value of learning throughout our lives.
In 2008, our Principal Researcher Fernando Cartwright was invited to Germany and Italy to help the Bertelsmann Foundation establish a learning index for Europe modelled on CCL’s Composite Learning Index (CLI). In May, we published the third annual version of the innovative CLI, which meant that for the first time we were able to analyze learning trends. In addition to being featured on CBC Television’s The National, the CLI landed on the August 27 cover of Maclean’s magazine where it was the focus of a 10-page feature that raised the profile of the importance of lifelong learning.
The past year also saw CCL Senior Research Analyst Jarrett Laughlin travel high—to Inuvik in the Northwest Territories—and low—to Melbourne, Australia—in response to an invitation to expound on CCL’s Aboriginal Lifelong Learning Models; three interactive, online tools that graphically illustrate how learning occurs in First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities. To learn more about the models, which were developed in collaboration with the Aboriginal Learning Knowledge Centre, please see CCL’s report Redefining How Success Is Measured in First Nations, Inuit and Métis Learning.
Meanwhile, on the west coast our Vancouver staff spent much of their summer spreading the news from the 2007 Survey of Canadian Attitudes toward Learning (SCAL), CCL’s annual attitudinal survey of more than 5,000 Canadians.
At the conference for Canadian Society for Studies in Education, the team—led by Principal Researcher Tracy Lavin—presented the results from the popular survey, which included the headline-grabbing finding that one in three parents had hired a tutor for their children.
In July, CCL released its second annual State of Learning in Canada Report (SOLR) which provides Canadians with a comprehensive overview of the state of learning in all stages of life, from early childhood to the adult years. Senior Research Analyst Erin Mills left her Ottawa offices to present the report’s major findings to curious audiences in St. John’s, Montreal and Winnipeg.
And recently, CCL evaluated the Ontario Ministry of Education’s Student Success/Learning to 18 Strategy. Research Analyst Julie Bélanger travelled extensively between Vancouver and Toronto to conduct focus groups, interviews and surveys with Ministry, school boards, school staff and students—ultimately producing a report with positive results for the Ministry.
Of course, this is just a sampling of the many achievements made by CCL’s dedicated and diligent staff members in 2008. To find out more about what our talented ‘family’ has been up to recently, go to our website for highlights of CCL’s contributions to learning in the last few years and a peek at what we have in store for the future.
On behalf of CCL’s Board and the Executive Team, we would like to express our appreciation to the entire staff for all of their hard work over the past 12 months. In addition, on behalf of everyone at CCL, we would like to thank you for your interest and support and extend our collective best wishes for the holidays to you and your family.
- Paul Cappon, Robert Giroux
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