MCL has adopted the definition of literacy put forward by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Literacy is the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, compute and use printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning to enable an individual to achieve his or her goals, to develop his or her knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in the wider society. UNESCO
Increasingly, you will often hear the term “Essential Skills”. Essential skills are the foundational skills required to learn all other skills. Everyone needs literacy and essential skills to be able to function effectively at work, at home and in the community. Essential skills are adaptable to all situations. Essential skills help people to be more productive and to more easily learn new tasks. There are nine essential skills:
Click here if you want more information about Essential Skills
Canada is one of the few industrialized countries without a national system for adult basic education. The following information will help you understand how literacy services are currently funded and delivered.
Who is responsible for literacy?
Literacy and adult basic education, like most of the social issues (welfare, health, education, training) fall mainly under the jurisdiction of provincial and territorial governments. However, the federal government plays a role in developing policy directions and in delivering some funds for literacy initiatives through provincial transfer payments, Labour Market Development Agreements, other specialized federally delivered programs, as well as the Adult Learning, Literacy and Essential Skills Program (ALLESP)
The provincial/territorial role in literacy
The delivery of literacy training programs is mainly funded and coordinated by the provinces and territories and their educational systems. This is often done in partnership with not-for-profit organizations, formal educational institutions (e.g. school boards and community colleges), business and labour. However, provinces and territories are under no obligation to designate specific funds in support of core literacy programs. As a result, literacy services in Canada vary considerably in resources and accessibility from one region of the country to another.
How are literacy programs delivered and supported?
Within the provinces and territories, literacy programs may be delivered by various providers including colleges, school boards, unions and community-based agencies. They may deliver targeted services to various population groups including Aboriginal, Deaf (or Deaf-Blind), Francophone, Anglophone, developmentally delayed people, workers, and/or unemployed literacy learners. A significant amount of literacy training in this country is delivered by trained volunteers.
Each province and territory has a coalition that is funded to provide a support network to local literacy organizations within their region. These coalitions in turn send representatives to Movement for Canadian Literacy, which provides a national forum for exchange, collaboration, support and promotion of English literacy issues in Canada. MCL represents over 2500 literacy agencies of all types.
This is a series of two-page fact sheets highlighting literacy and related topics
Fact Sheets are updated continually. Please let us know if we need to make any changes.
For the latest literacy statistics, please check the results of the International Adult Literacy and Lifeskills Survey (IALLS)
Click here for more facts about literacy from Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC)
If you have any questions about literacy, please contact the Movement for Canadian Literacy at:
tel: 613-563-2464 or email: mcl@literacy.ca.
Movement for Canadian Literacy's Federal Literacy Facts Archive
The latest literacy study by Statistics Canada shows that millions of Canadians do not have the literacy skills they need to keep pace with the escalating demands of our society and economy. This loss of potential impacts on the social and economic well-being of individuals, families, communities and our country.
The Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (IALSS, 2003) sheds light on our current literacy challenges and also connects those challenges to some of Canada’s most pressing social and economic issues. The link is clear in this conclusion: “… investments in foundation skills would lead to improved levels of health, increased productivity, reduced social costs and higher growth”.
The full Canadian Report of the IALSS - Building on our Competencies: Canadian Results of the International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey released on November 30, 2005.
Statistics Canada announces highlights from the full IALSS report (The Daily, November 30, 2005)
Statistics Canada announces the provincial/territorial analysis of IALSS(The Daily, November 9, 2005)
Learning a Living: First Results of the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (The OECD report) released on May 11, 2005
Statistics Canada's online catalogue - Publications and products from Building on our Competencies (IALSS)
Literacy and Digital Technologies: Linkages and Outcomes (from IALSS data):
Full report | Highlights
Literacy skills among Canada’s immigrant population (based on IALSS data) - Article in Education Matters
IALSS 2003 - Public Use Microdata available on CD-ROM from Statistics Canada
MCL's background and response
The Federal Government Response:
Key Findings of the 2003 Adult Literacy and Lifeskills Survey: Implications for Human Resources Development Canadaby Satya Brink, Ph.D. - May 2005
A PowerPoint Presentation
ABC CANADA: a response and summary on IALSS findings
www.abc-canada.org/media_room/news/ialss_2005_r3.shtml
Frontier College: a summary on IALSS
www.nald.ca/fulltext/frontier/ialss03/cover.htm
This section includes a list of short forms and what they represent and literacy terms with their meanings
Here’s a list short forms that are used in the literacy field.
| AB |
Alberta |
| ABC |
ABC CANADA Foundation |
| ABE |
Adult Basic Education |
| ABL/N |
Adult Basic Literacy and Numeracy |
| AGM |
Annual General Meeting |
| BC |
British Columbia |
| CAILC |
Canadian Association for Independent Living Centres |
| CCL |
Canadian Council on Learning - www.ccl-cca.ca |
| CLC |
Canadian Labour Congress |
| CNIB |
Canadian National Institute for the Blind |
| CPHA |
Canadian Public Health Association |
| ESL |
English as a Second Language |
| ESOL |
English for students of other languages |
| FLD |
Family Literacy Day |
| GED |
General Educational Diploma (high school equivalency) |
| HRSDC |
Human Resources and Social Development Canada (part of federal government) |
| IALS |
International Adult Literacy Survey |
| IALW |
International Adult Learners Week |
| KC | Knowledge Centre (Aboriginal Learning, Adult Learning, Early Childhood Learning, Health and Learning, Work and Learning – created by CCL) |
| ILD |
International Literacy Day |
| LAN |
Learners Advisory Network |
| LD |
Learning Disabilities |
| LLC |
Laubach Literacy of Canada |
| MB |
Manitoba |
| MCL |
Movement for Canadian Literacy |
| NALD |
National Adult Literacy Database |
| NGO |
Non-government organization |
| NLS |
National Literacy Secretariat (now replaced by OLES) |
| NILA |
National Indigenous Literacy Association |
| NB |
New Brunswick |
| NL |
Newfoundland and Labrador |
| NT |
Northwest Territories |
| NS |
Nova Scotia |
| NU |
Nunavut |
| ON |
Ontario |
| OECD |
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development |
| OLES |
Office of Literacy and Essential Skills (part of HRSDC) |
| PE |
Prince Edward Island |
| PLAR |
Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition |
| QC |
Quebec |
| RSVP |
Repondez s’il vous plait (please reply) |
| SK |
Saskatchewan |
| SIN |
Social Insurance Number |
| TDD |
Telecommunications Device for the Deaf |
| TTY |
Telecommunications Device for the Deaf |
| UNESCO |
United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization |
| WLKC |
Work and Learning Knowledge Centre http://www.ccl-cca.ca/ccl |
| YT | Yukon Territory |
Here’s a list of words often used in the literacy field
| Word | Definition |
| accountability | responsibility for actions, products, decisions, and policies – to stakeholders (funders, staff, volunteers, clients, etc.) |
| acquire | get |
| affect | influence, make something happen |
| agree in principle | agree with the ideas, but maybe not the exact wording |
| ambitious | taking on a lot of work – maybe too much for the organization to cope with |
| blurb | short description of a book, usually on the back cover |
| capacity building | actions that improve non-profit effectiveness |
| caucus | a meeting to discuss policy and make plans |
| civic | rights and duties of citizenship |
| coherence (coherent) | the same, agreement, harmony |
| collaborate | work together to produce something |
| coalition | a group of people or organizations who get together for joint action |
| condensed | shortened |
| confirmed | agreed |
| constructive | positive - leading to improvements |
| core | the most important (part) |
| core purpose | a mission statement states the core purpose of the organization – why it exists. |
| create | make |
| dialogue | discussion |
| embedded | an essential part of something |
| empowering | to give the skills and capability |
| environmental scan | identification of changing and new issues or situations, and the pitfalls that may affect an organization's future. |
| envision | imagine something that is not there yet |
| essential | must have, absolutely necessary |
| essential skills | the skills people use to do tasks at work and in their daily lives |
| expertise | skills and knowledge |
| fine-tune | to adjust (small changes) to make things better |
| focus group | a small group set up to study a particular problem |
| forum | a meeting for discussion about topics |
| goals | target, what needs to get done |
| guiding principles | values - what is important in the way we do things |
| hinder | make it difficult |
| identified | found |
| inclusive | including everyone |
| indigenous | native to a particular place |
| interactive | often refers to activities that you work on by using the computer but also means two-way communication |
| learning disabilities | various conditions, such as dyslexia, caused by difficulties in processing and using information. They interfere with a person's ability to learn |
| literacy | an essential foundation for learning, including the many different types of ability needed to understand and make critical judgements about information |
| literacy field | people involved with the advancement of literacy |
| literacy sector | the groups that are served by literacy, for example, Anglophone, francophone, native and deaf |
| mission statement | states the core purpose of the organization – why it exists |
| mobilization | get something moving |
| operational plan | states details about doing work in the strategic plan – usually each year |
| partnership | one or more people who do something together |
| perspective | point of view - a way of thinking about something |
| plenary | the opening session of a conference, attended by all participants |
| priorities | the most important things |
| prioritize | to list the most important tasks in order of importance |
| proactive | get involved and take an active role |
| recall | remember |
| sectors | groups that are joined by a common goal |
| specific | particular to one |
| strategic | what is important in a plan |
| strategic plan | states who an organization is, where it is going, and how it is going to get there |
| strategy | a plan for doing something |
| thriving | doing very well, improving |
| values | what is important in the way we do things |
| vision | how you want the future to look |
| vitality | strong and full of life |
Let us know if you have any more to add to our list!
Check out ABC Canada’s family literacy website for information about ways to celebrate family literacy day.
http://familyliteracyday.ca
You can find a Family Literacy Day event in your area from this link:
http://www.abc-canada.org/
en/fld/2010/
Employees in the UK will soon have the right to request time off work to attend training. The right to request time to train was included in the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act, which received Royal Assent in November 2009. The introduction of the right will be phased and will be made available to employees in organisations with 250 or more employees from April 2010 before being extended to all employees from April 2011. For more information go to http://www.bis.gov.uk/time-to-train.
June 28-30, 2010, in Montreal
The Centre for Literacy of Quebec's next Summer Institute will continue to explore issues in workplace literacy and essential skills. Key questions will include:
For more information go to www.centreforliteracy.qc.ca.
MCL has just published In the Works, A compendium of projects from across the country. Click here to download a copy. Please share this link with anyone you think would be interested in the information or put a copy of the link on your website or in the next issue of your newsletter.
If you would like to have project information added to the compendium email Lindsay Kennedy and she will send you our guidelines.
Get the latest literacy news, highlights and events from across the country!
• The National Adult Literacy Database Headline News
• The Federal Government's Essential Skills website
