Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Nearly 160 adult educators, policy-makers and government officials from all three territories attended the Made in the North literacy forum in Yellowknife last week to discuss ideas about promoting adult literacy in the North.

Each territory sent its own delegates to discuss literacy program accessibility, funding and new ideas to encourage the growth of literacy rates among adults throughout the North.

The forum, which ran from Oct. 23 to 25 at the Explorer Hotel, was hosted by the NWT Literacy Council. It was divided into four subject areas: learning for work; non-formal, community-based skills development programs; do my literacies count as literacy; and formal adult education in the North.

"Literacy is like the foundation of a house," said Helen Balanoff, executive director of the NWT Literacy Council. "If the foundation isn't there, the house falls apart."

Throughout the forum, groups brainstormed, coming together on the final day to share what they believe are areas that need to be looked at to help improve adult literacy rates. Delegates from the NWT identified holistic non-academic outcomes, increased assessment tools, and to a need to create new approaches to existing programs as priorities.

"I really wanted to hear what was happening in the broader sense in education in the North," said Sandra Drost, an adult educator from Tsiigehtchic. "I wanted to see if what I was feeling, other people were feeling."

Drost said one challenge is overcoming a "workforce driven" approach to education and literacy. She feels that while employment should be one educational goal, a job isn't "the only thing in life.

Many conference participants wanted to approach the subject with a less traditional structure.

"(Lutsel K'e residents) They might not have the reading and writing skills, but, on the other hand, they have other skills," said Jessica Enzoe, a program assistant with the Mine Training Society of the NWT, and part-time resident of Lutsel K'e. "They might not need a Ski-Doo manual to know how to fix a Ski-Doo - they can just go and put it together, and they are very innovative."

Funding opportunities and expanding programming where also discussed as was the idea on how does an organization judge success in programming.

"I think there's success on different levels, I think there's success on the individual level," Balanoff said. "The NWT Literacy Council did a research project on barriers to success and what facilitates success, and one of the learners said if there's one person that has improved their spot in life, that's success. I think you have to look at it at an individual level."

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.