tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25910957911715271682024-03-13T11:05:46.058-04:00literacy enquirerrisky mousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00077610678672970330noreply@blogger.comBlogger77125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591095791171527168.post-33246939546630266952016-05-01T18:08:00.001-04:002016-05-03T09:01:59.522-04:00Something for all of us<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wUF93UyA49s/VyZ7LR8oW0I/AAAAAAAAGm0/1YRHW47u4EMc2oib4MUJCO-M6MaYvHyKACLcB/s1600/paulo_freire_educador03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="212" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wUF93UyA49s/VyZ7LR8oW0I/AAAAAAAAGm0/1YRHW47u4EMc2oib4MUJCO-M6MaYvHyKACLcB/s320/paulo_freire_educador03.jpg" title="" width="320" /></a>As promised, here is the Reading List from Maria Moriarty.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"<i>Education either functions as an instrument to...bring about conformity or it becomes the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world</i>."<text-align: right=""></text-align:><text-align: right=""></text-align:><text-align: right=""> ~Paulo Freire</text-align:></blockquote>
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<text-align: right="">Some of these are linked and some are available at the library or for purchase. </text-align:></div>
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<text-align: right=""><b>Pedagogy of the Oppressed</b><br />
Paulo Freire (1970; 2007)<br />
(Pedagogy of the Oppressed – what it is and why it’s still relevant<br />
<a href="http://www.practicingfreedom.org/pedagogy-of-the-oppressed-what-is-it-and-why-its-still-relevant/" target="_blank">www.practicingfreedom.org/pedagogy-of-the-oppressed-what-is-it-and-why-its-still-relevant/</a><br />
___________________________________________________________<br />
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</text-align:><text-align: right=""><b>Local Literacies: Reading and Writing in One Community</b><br />
Barton, D. & Hamilton, M. 2012 2nd Linguistics Classics ed. London: Routledge<br />
___________________________________________________________<br />
<br />
<b>Powerful Literacies</b><br />
Jim Crowther, Mary Hamilton, Lyn Tett NIACE, 2000<br />
___________________________________________________________<br />
</text-align:><text-align: right=""><b> </b></text-align:><br />
<text-align: right=""><b>More Powerful Literacies</b><br />
Tett, L. (ed.), Hamilton, M. (ed.) & Crowther, J. (ed.) 2012 Leicester: NIACE<br />
___________________________________________________________<br />
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<b>Challenging Representations: Constructing the Adult Literacy Learner Over 30 Years of Policy and Practice in the United Kingdom</b><br />
Mary Hamilton and Kathy Pitt<br />
(Reading Research Quarterly Volume 46, Issue 4, pages 350–373, October/November/ December 2011) </text-align:><br /><text-align: right=""><a href="http://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/54011/1/Hamilton_and_Pitt_RRQ_2011.pdf" target="_blank">eprints.lancs.ac.uk/54011/1/Hamilton_and_Pitt_RRQ_2011.pdf</a>
___________________________________________________________<br />
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<b>Situated Literacies: Theorising Reading and Writing in Context </b>(2005)<br />
by David Barton (Editor), Mary Hamilton (Editor), Roz Ivanic (Editor)<br />
___________________________________________________________<br />
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<b>The Social Uses of Literacy: Theory and Practice in Contemporary South Africa</b> (1996)<br />
Edited by Mastin Prinsloo and Mignonne Breier<br />
___________________________________________________________<br />
<br />
</text-align:><text-align: right=""><b><b><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z6uW1qVLKyY/VyZ8gHtNq-I/AAAAAAAAGnM/oONmgZE9gcM-UPOjcUO3iRYTZxVfY4fQwCLcB/s1600/ChN_zsuXEAAUH1X.jpg_large.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z6uW1qVLKyY/VyZ8gHtNq-I/AAAAAAAAGnM/oONmgZE9gcM-UPOjcUO3iRYTZxVfY4fQwCLcB/s320/ChN_zsuXEAAUH1X.jpg_large.jpg" width="320" /></a></b>The New Literacy Studies: a point of contact between literacy research and literacy work</b><br />
Guy Ewing<br />
<a href="http://literacies.ca/literacies/1-2003/analysis/2/1.htm" target="_blank">literacies.ca/literacies/1-2003/analysis/2/1.htm</a><br />
<br />
<b> </b></text-align:><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<text-align: right=""><b>Tensions Between Policy, Practice and Theory: International Perspectives on Adult Literacy</b><br />
CASAE 2010 Conference Proceedings<br />
<a href="http://casae-aceea.ca/~casae/sites/casae/archives/cnf2010/OnlineProceedings-2010/Individual-Papers/Gardner%20Hamilton%20Pinsent-Johnson.pdf">casae-aceea.ca/~casae/sites/casae/archives/cnf2010/OnlineProceedings-2010/Individual-Papers/Gardner%20Hamilton%20Pinsent-Johnson.pdf</a><br />
___________________________________________________________<br />
<br />
Publications by <b>Mary Hamilton</b><br />
<a href="http://www.research.lancs.ac.uk/portal/en/people/mary-hamilton(97ff2128-fed7-4c53-858f-1e7066ab82e2)/publications.html" target="_blank">www.research.lancs.ac.uk/portal/en/people/mary-hamilton(97ff2128-fed7-4c53-858f-1e7066ab82e2)/publications.html</a><br />
___________________________________________________________<br />
<br />
Publications by <b>David Barton</b><br />
<a href="http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/linguistics/about-us/people/david-barton" target="_blank">www.lancaster.ac.uk/linguistics/about-us/people/david-barton</a><br />
___________________________________________________________<br />
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Publications by <b>Tannis Atkinson</b><br />
<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tannis_Atkinson/publications" target="_blank">https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tannis_Atkinson/publications</a><br />
__________________________________________________________<br />
<br />
<b>The Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning</b> (Portland State University)<br />
Stephen Reder <br />
<a href="http://www.lsal.pdx.edu/reports.html" target="_blank">www.lsal.pdx.edu/reports.html</a><br />
___________________________________________________________<br />
<br />
<b>Adult learning and Literacy in Canada</b> (2001)<br />
Linda Shohet <br />
<a href="http://www.ncsall.net/index.html@id=558.html" target="_blank">www.ncsall.net/index.html@id=558.html</a><br />
___________________________________________________________<br /> </text-align:><br />
<text-align: right="">here is an older reading list from Maria - <a href="http://www.greedymouse.ca/enquirer/summerread05.htm" target="_blank">www.greedymouse.ca/enquirer/summerread05.htm</a></text-align:><br />
<br />
<text-align: right="">and here is a little list I (Tracey) started up a while ago - <a href="http://www.greedymouse.ca/papers.html" target="_blank">www.greedymouse.ca/papers.html </a></text-align:><br />
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</text-align:>risky mousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00077610678672970330noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591095791171527168.post-71468982073428230962015-10-04T14:49:00.001-04:002015-10-04T14:56:41.374-04:00Filling the glass?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zwS4iP3pQi4/VhFqmkMxllI/AAAAAAAAGkY/E2Uh639LPig/s1600/SubstandardFullSizeRender.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zwS4iP3pQi4/VhFqmkMxllI/AAAAAAAAGkY/E2Uh639LPig/s320/SubstandardFullSizeRender.jpg" width="164" /></a></div>
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In <a href="https://www.academia.edu/1506784/Negotiating_gaps_Adult_educators_between_policy_and_practices">Negotiating gaps: adult educators between policy and practices</a>, Tannis Atkinson says,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Around the world, adult educators need to find creative new ways to highlight global inequities in ‘economies of literacy’ (Blommaert, 2008) and to unsettle long-standing patterns of dominance and exclusion. We can start by asking about the origin of our belief that literacy will lead to social inclusion, and that government policies will address inequities. We can also ask how we ourselves benefit from social relations that privilege specific culture- and class-specific literacy practices. But perhaps we also need to ask how we can work towards a world in which it is much more common to ask whose literacies are de-valued, and why. </blockquote>
In Canada, we are looking for partners that will support us in this work. I posted about the <a href="https://brigidhayes.wordpress.com/2015/09/08/international-literacy-day-its-time-to-get-back-on-track/" target="_blank">Declaration</a> and questions for political parties in <a href="http://literacyenquirer.blogspot.ca/2015/09/the-half-full-glass.html" target="_blank">September</a>.This network is asking the political parties running in the federal election how they see government policies addressing inequal access to education and their vision of how adult education promotes social inclusion. <br />
<br />
The literacy network has received two replies so far.<br />
<br />
The first one arrived on September 24 and was from the NDP. They <a href="https://brigidhayes.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/cdeaf-en-0918151.pdf" target="_blank">responded</a> in broad terms about the importance of literacy and how they would ensure that <a href="https://brigidhayes.wordpress.com/2015/04/17/literacy-and-essential-skills-spending/" target="_blank">money committed to literacy</a> would actually be spent on literacy - no more <a href="http://literacyenquirer.blogspot.ca/2013/11/money-wows.html" target="_blank">lapsed funds</a>.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Literacy and basic skills are central to the enjoyment of health, job opportunities and community participation. ...</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
An NDP government will make adult literacy and skills development a priority, ensuring that the funds devoted to these important programs get spent and working with stakeholders to ensure that Canadians have access the to the skills training and literacy programs they need. ...<br />
<br />
Under the guise of directing money to where it was needed most, the Conservatives cut funding for literacy organizations. They argued that resources were being wasted on administration and research, but the reality is that the Conservatives simply allowed a large portion of literacy funding to lapse instead of redirecting it towards new projects. </blockquote>
On the questions of federal leadership and supporting research and professional development, the NDP pledged to return to a model of community development and asset building.They showed that they were familiar with the <a href="http://literacyenquirer.blogspot.ca/2014/06/counting-research.html" target="_blank">Conservative arguments for cutting funds</a> and pledged to reverse the cuts. <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The NDP recognizes that effective literacy programs require a wide range of activities, including research, information sharing, innovating, and scaling up best practices. We also recognize the reality that organizations have overhead costs, and that without funding for administration many essential tasks can simply not be done. That’s why an NDP government will reverse the Conservatives short-sighted approach to funding and will work with the sector to ensure that core funding is available for the full range of programs necessary. </blockquote>
On September 30 the Liberals <a href="http://cdeacf.ca/sites/default/files/editor/reponsesplcelections2015_lpcanswers.pdf" target="_blank">replied</a>. They see literacy as a route to jobs and global competitiveness. They do not mention the role of literacy in community and social participation.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
It is critical that Canadians have the opportunity to improve their skills and work credentials, to help meet the needs of a modern economy and to ensure that Canadians have good-paying, middle class jobs. <br />
<br />
Lifelong learning and literacy must become a Canada-wide priority to both enhance our standard of living and economic competitiveness in the years ahead because these skills are vital to ensuring employability and success in today’s society. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Today, there are too many hard-working Canadians who are looking to upgrade their skills and find better jobs, but do not have access to the training that they require. A Liberal government will make it easier for adults to get the additional skills they need to acquire and retain good jobs throughout their working lives. </blockquote>
They speak about restoring and increasing funding to the Labour Market Agreements that was cut when the Conservative government implemented the Canada Jobs Grant program.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A $200 million annual increase in funding to be delivered by the provinces and territories and focused on training for workers who are not currently eligible for federal training investment. This will undo Stephen Harper’s cuts in 2014 to the Labour Market Agreements, which help Canadians outside the labour market get the basic literacy and numeracy skills they need to find a decent job.</blockquote>
All the other funding they mention is also tied to employment outcomes.<br />
<br />
It is difficult for this party to speak about federal leadership and supporting research as they are the party that closed the <a href="http://www.literacies.ca/literacies/10-2009/pdf/hayes.pdf" target="_blank">National Literacy Secretariat</a> and it seems their thinking hasn't changed since the last time they were in power. They even mention their old cost-cutting justification - accountability - in their response.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<br />
Liberals understand the fundamental role that the not-for-profit sector plays in both policy development and program delivery for Canadians. The Liberal Party of Canada is committed to renewing the federal government’s partnership with civil society.<br />
<br />
A Liberal government will work in collaboration with non-governmental organizations, including adult education providers and researchers, to explore more effective ways to provide funding for the important work you do. Our party understands that we must improve funding delivery mechanisms to support the not-for-profit sector to achieve accountability, while at the same time providing adequate, predictable, and stable funding.</blockquote>
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The federal Liberals and the Ontario Liberals seem to be on the same page when it comes to literacy - that publicly-funded literacy is for those who are focused on employment outcomes and that while the sector is welcome to pursue research and professional development, we are to do that on our own dime.<br />
<br />
The parties weren't asked about exclusion of certain literacies from the dominant discourse but they were asked about the linguistic rights of francophones.<br />
<br />
The NDP responded with a commitment to linguistic rights and talking about the abolition of the Court Challenges Program.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The NDP is fully committed to complying with the Constitution and to protecting the linguistic rights of Canadians. For Canadians to be able to exercise those rights, the federal government needs to ensure that the proper resources are there. The NDP has called on the government to increase its support for the Roadmap for Canada’s Official Languages which includes funds for access to education in the minority language. <br />
<br />
The NDP was strongly opposed to the abolition of the Court Challenge Program. This program provided essential resources to ensure the protection and enhancement of minority language rights. We also voiced our concerns with the Languages Rights Support Program, as it seems to respond only in part to communities’ needs.</blockquote>
The Liberals made a similar commitment to linguistic rights and talked about cuts to the CBC.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Canada was built on the idea that Francophones should be able to feel at home in this country, regardless of the province in which they live. It is largely due to our duality that we have become a society in which people from diverse cultures, origins, and religions can come, live, and feel at home. ...<br />
<br />
Further, a Liberal government will look for opportunities to promote French language and culture, both in Québec and also for Francophones and francophone communities across the country. CBC/Radio-Canada is also a vital national institution that brings Canadians together, promotes and defends our two official languages, and supports our shared culture. Our public broadcaster reflects minority communities and is a vital voice throughout the country. </blockquote>
They were also asked about using a literacy lens for cross-sectoral policy-making.<br />
<br />
The NDP focused their response on working with Indigenous peoples.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Certain populations struggle more with literacy and basic skills than others. Literacy levels and training are certainly of great concern among Indigenous peoples, for instance. That’s why an NDP government supports policies to increase literacy and basic skills among Indigenous peoples, including support for education and <a href="http://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=5151&lang=en&db=imdb&adm=8&dis=2" target="_blank">ASETS</a>. We will also ensure that literacy and essential skills are considered in other sectors as required. </blockquote>
The Liberals spoke about working across juridictions rather than across sectors and included Indigenous governments as one of those jurisdictions.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A Liberal government will work in partnership with provincial, territorial, municipal and Indigenous governments to integrate literacy and essential skills development into sectoral policies, where relevant. </blockquote>
So what is it to be literacy people? How should we try to <a href="http://literacyenquirer.blogspot.ca/2015/09/the-half-full-glass.html" target="_blank">fill our glass</a> on election day?risky mousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00077610678672970330noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591095791171527168.post-86593958297543984692015-09-10T12:03:00.000-04:002015-09-10T12:06:00.792-04:00The Half Full Glass<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XcXkAdjYxPY/VfGpbhNSmuI/AAAAAAAAGjw/qhaAWG5HBu4/s1600/frida_literacy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XcXkAdjYxPY/VfGpbhNSmuI/AAAAAAAAGjw/qhaAWG5HBu4/s320/frida_literacy.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
It looks as though there is something optimistic in the air these days.<br />
<br />
I had lunch with some literacy friends and in the midst of talking about the number of literacy program closures and lapsed funds we suddenly started to see opportunities again. We started to talk about how the election might bring us new federal allies and that we need to dust off the work we were doing to build a pan-Canadian network for literacy workers and learners and for literacy research in practice (see below).<br />
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The Canadian Union for Public Employees (CUPE) launched their new book <i>Transformations: Literacy and the Labour Movement</i> and the website <i>Learning in Solidarity</i> (<a href="http://learninginsolidarity.ca/" target="_blank">learninginsolidarity.ca</a>) this week. The book looks at the past, present and future of how the labour movement and the literacy movement work together. I, sadly, could not attend the launch but I have heard that the conversation quickly turned to the future and how labour can speak to power (policymakers) about the importance of literacy work in building equity in all facets of life, not just as a tool to ensure labour market participation.<br />
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Some people have written a <a href="https://brigidhayes.wordpress.com/2015/09/08/international-literacy-day-its-time-to-get-back-on-track/" target="_blank">Declaration</a> that "calls on parties to take a stand on seven proposals and to reveal their plans for putting adult education back on track in Canada." I don't know if they were thinking about the <a href="http://www.greedymouse.ca/PDF/persepolis.pdf" target="_blank">Declaration of Persepolis</a> but I like to think that they were because that was written at another optimistic time.<br />
<br />
And Suzanne Smythe, one of the Declaration signatories, has written a <a href="http://www.policynote.ca/whos-not-coming-to-school-this-september/" target="_blank">policy note</a> for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives about what happened when the federal government dismantled any semblance of a pan-Canadian literacy network and shifted funding into private hands through the Canada Jobs Grant.<br />
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It is looking good out there. Our people are getting their mojo back. The <a href="http://literacyenquirer.blogspot.ca/2014/01/an-icy-alexandria.html" target="_blank">ice</a> is cracking. We are hoping for an early spring. We are getting ready to seize the moment.<br />
<br />
Here are some of those earlier works on pan-Canadian networks:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://library.copian.ca/item/712" target="_blank">Building a Pan-Canadian Strategy on Literacy and Essential Skills: Recommendations for the Federal Government</a> (2002) <br />
<br />
<a href="http://library.copian.ca/item/631" target="_blank">A Framework to Encourage and Support Practitioner Involvement in Adult Literacy Research in Practice in Canada</a> (1999) <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.en.copian.ca/library/research/framewk/framewk.pdf" target="_blank">Developing a Framework for Research in Practice in Adult Literacy</a> (2005)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://library.copian.ca/item/6796" target="_blank">Focused on Practice: A Framework for Adult Literacy Research in Canada</a> (2006)risky mousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00077610678672970330noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591095791171527168.post-17642226396225576412015-07-31T12:57:00.000-04:002015-07-31T12:57:41.909-04:00Hoist by their own petard?Here is some financial literacy from Unifor for the long, hot election campaign.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6a0DgSWa48E?rel=0" width="400"></iframe><br /></div>
<br />
You you know that old literacy equals GDP trope that has become the bane of our existence? Perhaps it is true after all and the Harper Government™ financial management woes are a result of <a href="https://brigidhayes.wordpress.com/2015/04/17/literacy-and-essential-skills-spending/" target="_blank">lapsing so much of our literacy funding</a> - bwahahahaha! <br />
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The PDF of the report is here: <a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Ciframe%20allowfullscreen=%22%22%20frameborder=%220%22%20height=%22225%22%20src=%22https://www.youtube.com/embed/6a0DgSWa48E?rel=0%22%20width=%22400%22%3E%3C/iframe%3E" target="_blank">http://www.unifor.org/sites/default/files/documents/document/909-harper_economic_critique_eng_0.pdf </a>risky mousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00077610678672970330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591095791171527168.post-88121653317777502342015-06-22T12:27:00.003-04:002015-06-22T12:53:57.117-04:00Conviviality in the Face of Zombies<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--RmM3z3GMm8/VYgt8M5GdyI/AAAAAAAAGjE/BGw9PkCm-4k/s1600/Zombie%252BEconomics%25252C%252Bas%252BCartoon%252Bby%252BACEMAXX-ANALYTICS%25252C%252BOct%252B6%25252C%252B2011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--RmM3z3GMm8/VYgt8M5GdyI/AAAAAAAAGjE/BGw9PkCm-4k/s1600/Zombie%252BEconomics%25252C%252Bas%252BCartoon%252Bby%252BACEMAXX-ANALYTICS%25252C%252BOct%252B6%25252C%252B2011.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">from <a href="http://acemaxx-analytics-dispinar.blogspot.ca/2011/10/zombie-economics-updated.html" target="_blank">here</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
T<span id="goog_339187842"></span><span id="goog_339187843"></span>he Toronto Star has published <a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2015/05/23/the-myth-of-the-skills-gap.html">an article about Canada's imaginary skills gap</a> in May and it just came to my attention today - finger on the pulse as usual :)<br />
<br />
The article is by Sachin Maharaj who is a graduate student at OISE (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education). <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
If we really had a large skills gap, wages in STEM fields would be very high and unemployment would be very low relative to non-STEM fields. But there is almost no evidence of this. In fact, the median salary of science and technology grads is actually lower than those in non-STEM fields, and the unemployment rate in STEM and non-STEM fields is virtually identical. The report therefore concludes that contrary to popular opinion, “Canada appears to have a well-functioning labour market, where individuals are choosing fields of study and occupations based on factors such as market signals and personal preferences.” <br />
<br />
That so many people continue to believe in existence of a skills gap, despite the facts, is why Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman has dubbed it a “<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/opinion/paul-krugman-zombies-of-2016.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=c-column-top-span-region&region=c-column-top-span-region&WT.nav=c-column-top-span-region&_r=0" target="_blank">Zombie Idea</a>,” an idea that should be killed by evidence, but refuses to die. Krugman pins the blame on the fact that influential people and the media have kept repeating the skills gap narrative for years now, to the point where it has just become accepted wisdom. He thinks part of the reason for this is to divert attention away from widening income equality and so that workers can be blamed for their own struggles. But while I doubt that is a major motivation among government and business leaders here in Canada, that does not make the skills gap story any more real. So perhaps it is time to put this myth to rest and focus our efforts on more pressing issues.</blockquote>
<br />
We talked about this Zombie idea in <a href="http://literacyenquirer.blogspot.ca/2014/04/snakes-and-ladders.html">our post about the Temporary Foreign Worker program</a> and you can find links to more articles about the skills gap myth there. <br />
<br />
The trope of blaming workers for their own struggles - especially when it comes to people who are viewed as needing to upgrade their literacy skills - is not new of course.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
... the influential Jump Start report of 1989 stated, "There is no way in which the United States can remain competitive in a global economy, maintain its standard of living, and shoulder the burden of the retirement of the baby boom generation unless we mount a forceful national effort to help adults upgrade their basic skills in the very near future (p.iii)." <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
from <a href="http://nald.ca/library/research/sticht/dec00/dec00.htm">International Competitiveness to International Inequality: <br />
New Perspectives on Social Justice From the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) Research Note 12/13/00 </a></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
by Tom Sticht</div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The IALS discourse also acts as an important disciplinary mechanism of neoliberalism. Its framing of literacy is used to convince people who live in the Global North that economic competition is inevitable, that each of us is responsible for our nation’s GDP, and that some people in our midst—usually racialized people who are not fluent in an official language—are a drain on our individual and national prosperity. It is used to convince ‘good citizens’ to fear unproductive people who are hampering the economy, and to blame themselves rather than the structures of capitalism if they become ‘unproductive’ or unemployed. Finally, literacy as it has been constructed in IALS has been used as justification for undermining the social safety net: one of the most recent reports based on IALS data (Coulombe et al, 2005) concludes that investments in ‘human capital accumulation’ are more beneficial to national economies than policies that support social infrastructure. <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
from <a href="http://www.academia.edu/1506778/Commodifying_literacy_justifying_inequality_Timely_relations_in_the_International_Adult_Literacy_Survey_IALS_">Commodifying literacy, justifying inequality: <br />
Timely relations in the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS)</a><br />
by Tannis Atkinson (SCUTREA Conference, July 2009) </div>
</blockquote>
<br />
As Tannis says:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In Canada, government departments which support adult literacy insist that programs focus on a narrow range of literacy outcomes tied to a framework of Essential Skills that articulates key competencies identified by the OECD through PISA and IALS. Increasing numbers of practitioners experience a profound disconnect between the real needs of learners in their classes and the demands placed on them by state funders. In addition, they now feel pressured to spend more time on paperwork than on working with the adults who the programs exist to teach. <br />
<br />
Practitioners often respond to this predicament with dismay, puzzlement and frustration. They bemoan the fact that policies and funding seem driven by accountability rather than attempts to meet the needs of people who are marginalized because they lack basic education. Practitioners feel that the government policies are irrational, and most do not believe it is possible to effect change. While some may be aware that these pressures result from the past decade of neoliberal economic policies, the field as a whole has been unable to respond effectively to the poisoned environment in which they now work. </blockquote>
I met up with some literacy workers at a work event the other day and we were talking about how we might have to start again - unfunded in a basement library as they did in Parkdale, Toronto many years ago.<br />
<br />
Later that week, I went to a poetry reading where one of the founders of that program was reading and another was attending. We talked about the program briefly and <a href="http://comm-org.wisc.edu/papers2000/beckwith/bull.htm" target="_blank">Arthur Bull</a> started talking about the <a href="http://www.learningcircles.ca/index.htm" target="_blank">Learning Circles Project</a> and how what we learned there informs his work now. The other founder, <a href="http://www.greedymouse.ca/festival/story/people/michele.htm" target="_blank">Michelle Kuhlmann</a>, was a researcher on the <a href="http://www.greedymouse.ca/festival/story.htm" target="_blank">Powerful Listening Project</a> and her work there and in a community based literacy program keeps our field connected to the needs of learners.<br />
<br />
We cannot return to the old days and we cannot shake the zombie ideas. So what can we do? How can we keep community development and asset-building approaches alive in our work? Here are some ideas from those founders:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
We called our time together deep listening. We needed this experience and we were very open about how we entered this time with each other, looking for what would emerge each time, and cherishing the time together. This is a very personal reaction to a research project, but I was also aware how it related to the field we work in everyday. There was this lingering feeling about how unusual our research situation was compared to the experience of keeping up with our daily life in literacy. When feelings of discomfort and difference arise in our work we are on the spot and have to choose the best response for the moment but can be left with disturbing feeling and questions that are not resolved even for years. These feelings and experiences surfaced and lived in our storytelling. I don’t mean that we “used” the stories as much as we experienced them together.</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
by Michelle Kuhlmann, <a href="http://www.greedymouse.ca/festival/story/people/michele.htm" target="_blank">Powerful Listening</a></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
there is a hard-to-define element that seems to be a prerequisite for any successful learning circle. This is best described by the word conviviality; that is, the enjoyment people take in each other’s company. Again and again, when asked why they come to a group, people expressed the idea that they like spending time with the other people in the group. All of the above elements - safe place, peer learning, self-determination, group thinking - contribute to this atmosphere of enjoyment. It is also something that has a life of its own, that the group itself can create and nurture. Of course this is not something that can be made into a rule, or produced on demand. Nevertheless, it should never be far from our minds as we think about learning circles.<br />
<br />
How are these elements of the group dynamic created? There are undoubtedly many factors, but the overriding one seems to be the role of the facilitator. Clearly this is different from the traditional role of the teacher or instructor. It involves a number of different facets. ...<br />
<br />
Another feature of facilitation that we noticed in a number of the cases is that the facilitator was thoughtful about being, and acting like, an equal with the participants in the group. The leadership role of the facilitator seemed to be to all about leading the group to where they take over.<br />
<br />
At the same time, we observed that the facilitator’s role in fact shifts within the group, and sometimes even during a single session. The facilitator is almost always the person who has the responsibility for the overall life of the group. As such, he or she is always paying attention to what is happening in the group, and adjusting his or her role accordingly. This role might shift from time-keeper, to storyteller, to peacemaker to teacher, to traditional facilitator. This attention and adaptability seems to be at the heart of what makes a good facilitator in a learning circle.</blockquote>
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://www.learningcircles.ca/docs/v+p/HTM/LCv+p-work.htm" target="_blank">Inside the Learning Circle: What Makes it Work?</a> by Arthur Bull</div>
<br />
<br />risky mousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00077610678672970330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591095791171527168.post-53123361607358950752015-06-10T09:00:00.000-04:002015-06-10T11:42:42.285-04:00Balancing Acts<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eY1ee67TbG4/VXdOZZe0bPI/AAAAAAAAGio/fb0MUunuhdY/s1600/balancing-act-0013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eY1ee67TbG4/VXdOZZe0bPI/AAAAAAAAGio/fb0MUunuhdY/s320/balancing-act-0013.jpg" /></a></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
We know that our conditions of life are deteriorating. ... Interesting jobs are sliced up, through digital Taylorism, into portions of meaningless drudgery. The natural world, whose wonders enhance our lives, and upon which our survival depends, is being rubbed out with horrible speed. Those to whom we look for guardianship, in government and among the economic elite, do not arrest this decline, they accelerate it.<br />
<br />
The political system that delivers these outcomes is sustained by aspiration: the faith that if we try hard enough we could join the elite, even as living standards decline and social immobility becomes set almost in stone. But to what are we aspiring? A life that is better than our own, or worse?</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jun/09/aspirational-parents-children-elite?CMP=fb_gu" target="_blank">Aspirational parents condemn their children to a desperate, joyless life </a><br />
by George Monbiot, <i>The Guardian</i>, June 9, 2015</div>
<br />
For some reason this article made me think of all I have been reading about the precariat lately.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Guy Standing is a scholar at Soas, who was once a high-up at the UN's International Labour Organisation. In his vocabulary, to be at the sharp end of modern capitalism is to be a member of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/jun/01/voice-for-emerging-precariat" target="_blank">the precariat</a>: a split-off from the shrinking working class, and one which is growing in size, though not yet in influence. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
His 2011 book <a href="http://www.bloomsburyacademic.com/view/The-Precariat/book-ba-9781849664554.xml" target="_blank">The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class</a> set out its story: the term was originally used in 1980s France to denote temporary and seasonal workers, but now, with labour insecurity a feature of most western economies, it is the perfect word for a great mass of people, "flanked by an army of unemployed and a detached group of socially ill misfits", who enjoy almost none of the benefits won by organised labour during the 20th century. In Standing's view, they increasingly resemble denizens rather than citizens: people with restricted rights, largely living towards the bottom of a "tiered membership" model of society, in which a plutocratic elite takes the single biggest share, while other classes – the salariat, free-ranging "proficians", and what remains of the old working class – divide up most of what remains.</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/apr/09/precariat-charter-denizens-citizens-review" target="_blank"><i>A Precariat Charter: From Denizens to Citizens</i> – review</a> <br />
by John Harris, The Guardian, April 9, 2010</div>
<br />
This is not a new phenomenon of course<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
What these harsh economic conditions have produced in Canada, as they have in other capitalist nations like the U.S., is a split in the working class between a relatively better-paid, more secure stratum (but one that is not immune to the effects of recession, as the present period is demonstrating), and a large "surplus population" of unemployed and underemployed workers, forced either to fill low-wage Jobs or to remain idle, waiting to be called up during a period of exceptional economic expansion. ... While in the Marxist sense all productive workers face exploitation, members of the surplus population face an extra measure of it in that they receive a significantly smaller portion of the product of their labor than other workers-- often below the amount required for normal standards of subsistence. They are what has been termed "superexploited".</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://en.copian.ca/library/research/chap/index.htm" target="_blank">Illiteracy and Poverty in Canada: Toward a Critical Perspective</a><br />
Master Thesis by Harold Alden, 1982</div>
<br />
but we are all <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surplus_labour" target="_blank">surplus labour</a> now.<br />
<br />
Here is Andrew Cash on the issue of the precariat in my neighbourhood:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-5MTa6iOWoY?rel=0&showinfo=0" width="420"></iframe></div>
<br />
In 2013 Cash put forward a private member's bill <a href="http://andrewcash.ca/read-the-text-of-the-national-urban-worker-strategy/" target="_blank">C-542</a>, the Urban Workers Strategy Act, designed to grant urban workers greater access to social support mechanisms and basic labour standards. (Read the Rabble article by Ella Bedar - an intern! - about the Bill <a href="http://rabble.ca/news/2015/05/precarious-labour-debated-parliament" target="_blank">here</a>.)<br />
<br />
According to Cash, you are an urban worker if your source of income is vulnerable or precarious because you work without benefits, workplace pensions or job security in the following circumstances:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
(a) as an employee on a short-term contractual basis, whether continuously or intermittently;<br />
(b) as a self-employed individual;<br />
(c) as an employee on a part-time basis; or<br />
(d) as an intern.</blockquote>
The McMaster University study, <a href="http://www.unitedwaytoronto.com/document.doc?id=90" target="_blank"><i>It’s More than Poverty</i></a>, was prepared by the Poverty and Employment Precarity in Southern Ontario (PEPSO) research group, a joint university-community initiative.<br />
<br />
The United Way follow up to the 2013 study, <i>The Precarity Penalty</i>, can be found <a href="http://www.unitedwaytoronto.com/document.doc?id=307" target="_blank">here</a> and an overview can be found <a href="http://www.pressprogress.ca/9_charts_show_the_hidden_cost_of_precarious_employment_in_canada" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Lewchuk's study shows that nearly 44 per cent of working adults face some level of precarity, a fact that Statistics Canada labour force data doesn't always show. While roughly half of this group work in temporary or contract employment, the other half work jobs that might on the surface appear stable, but in reality contain many of the characteristics of precarious labour, such as irregular and inconsistent scheduling and a lack of any benefits beyond basic wages.</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://rabble.ca/news/2015/05/new-study-points-to-new-normal-job-insecurity" target="_blank">New study points to a new normal: Job insecurity</a> </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
by Ella Bedar, <i>Rabble</i>, May 22, 2015</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The longer-term trend points to more insecure employment, said Prof. Lewchuk. “Each time there’s a recovery, the level of security is a little bit lower than the previous boom. I think this is because the competitive pressures are greater – firms are looking to cut costs … technology has changed, and there’s an infrastructure where they can go to temp agencies, and get not just unskilled workers, but they can get CEOs now.”</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/jobs/precarious-employment-still-rising-in-toronto-and-hamilton/article24531959/" target="_blank">'Precarious employment' still rising in Toronto, Hamilton</a> </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
by Tavia Grant, The Globe and Mail, May 21, 2015</div>
<br />
This is not a Canadian phenomenon. In May of this year the International Labour Organization published <a href="http://www.ilo.org/global/research/global-reports/weso/2015-changing-nature-of-jobs/WCMS_368626/lang--en/index.htm" target="_blank">The World Employment and Social Outlook: The changing nature of jobs</a>. <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="236" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gEIAn4p8vVE?rel=0&showinfo=0" width="420"></iframe></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
What was once viewed as a passing crisis now seems to be the new normal, producing deep psychological unease within the workforce and growing inequality between those with stable incomes and those without.<br />
<br />
Global financial officials are worried to the point they've again started using the term "hysteresis," borrowed from physics, to warn that long-established unemployment is becoming "structural" and therefore harder to correct, as the jobless lose skills and companies grow addicted to cheaper, temporary labour.<br />
<br />
The Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, often called the developed world's think tank, describes this ugly phenomenon as the rise of the <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="precariat"><i>precariat</i></a> — a play on the working-class proletariat and meaning those trapped in precarious lives with neither material nor psychological welfare.</blockquote>
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/rise-of-the-precariat-the-global-scourge-of-precarious-jobs-1.3093319" target="_blank">Rise of the 'precariat,' the global scourge of precarious jobs</a></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
by Brian Stewart, CBC News, June 01, 2015 </div>
<br />
So what does this have to do with literacy work, literacy workers and adult education policy?<br />
<br />
Many literacy workers and adult educators have been members of the precariat for as long as we can remember. A small group of us actually approached a public sector union in the late 1990s to see about how we could work together for "greater access to social support mechanisms and basic labour standards" but the union was not ready work with us. Maybe they will get ready now. <br />
<br />
As we have mentioned a few times on this blog, on this <a href="http://www.ncsall.net/index.html@id=656.html" target="_blank">contested ground</a> that is adult education, the battle for a system that is accountable to learners has been lost. The primary "customers" for adult education and training are employers. Governments at all levels and in all jurisdictions try to design training that meets the needs of employers and programs are assessed by their ability to meet labour market outcomes instead of educational ones. However, the labour market outcomes expressed by these bureaucrats and policy makers - a permanent, stable, well-paying job - are not possible for most workers and are at odds with the needs of employers "addicted to cheaper, temporary labour."<br />
<br />
And this is where we fit in.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
As anyone who’s watched a TED talk, read a David Brooks column, or attended an Aspen Ideas Festival can tell you, there’s hardly a single issue currently vexing Americans that the 1 percent doesn’t think can be solved with more “education.” Urban poverty? Education! Stagnant wages? Education! Police brutality? Education! ... If you can think of a problem that might be at least mitigated by redistribution, you can bet that there’s some sage of the plutocracy out there insisting that we focus on education instead.</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://www.salon.com/2015/06/04/the_1_percent_is_right_heres_how_education_could_reduce_inequality/" target="_blank">The 1 percent is right! Here’s how education could reduce inequality</a><br />
by Elias Isquith, Salon, June 4, 2015</div>
<br />
So how are we going to fulfill our mandate? <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In response, the Westminster [British government] consensus insists that [the precariat] should be subject to regimes that are not just cruel, but dysfunctional. In other words, it doesn't actually matter if so-called welfare-to-work programmes actually help people, or just screw them up: the point is that they visibly punish them in pursuit of a political dividend. In that sense, the precariat is not only at the cutting edge of the economy, but at the receiving end of a postmodern politics that values the manipulation of appearances much more highly than reality. </blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/apr/09/precariat-charter-denizens-citizens-review" target="_blank"><i>A Precariat Charter: From Denizens to Citizens</i> – review</a> <br />
by John Harris, The Guardian, April 9, 2010</div>
<br />
Are we going to continue to design "boutique" programs that profess to prepare workers to be "nimble" and "flexible" enough to meet the mercurial needs of capricious employers? Or will we be adherents of the critical perspective<br />
<blockquote>
while liberals see literacy education as a technical process of compensating for cognitive skill deficiencies among the poor (to permit them to better adjust to the needs of the economy), adherents of the critical perspective view such efforts both as ineffective - because they do not deal with the root cause of poverty - and as oppressive - because they better accommodate the poor to the structures which exploit them. For their part, they would make adult basic and literacy education a vehicle for the awakening of critical social consciousness among members of subordinate social classes and a means of support for collective efforts to radically transform the class system.</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://en.copian.ca/library/research/chap/index.htm" target="_blank">Illiteracy and Poverty in Canada: Toward a Critical Perspective</a><br />
Master Thesis by Harold Alden, 1982</div>
<br />risky mousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00077610678672970330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591095791171527168.post-48142394113091417052015-02-02T14:55:00.002-05:002015-02-02T15:02:11.890-05:00Colouring inside the lines<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-49zix2JpsJA/VM_WCNW8erI/AAAAAAAAGgM/-m8S1KTrG3A/s1600/colouringinsidethelines.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-49zix2JpsJA/VM_WCNW8erI/AAAAAAAAGgM/-m8S1KTrG3A/s1600/colouringinsidethelines.jpg" height="232" width="320" /></a></div>
After <a href="http://literacyenquirer.blogspot.ca/2014/06/counting-research.html" target="_blank">slashing funding</a> to literacy organizations and chastising the field for not being prepared for the cuts and for way it has frittered away taxpayer dollars on "countless" research papers, the Office of Literacy and Essential Skills (OLES) has put out a <a href="http://www.esdc.gc.ca/eng/jobs/les/funding/cfc_les.shtml#background" target="_blank">Call for Concepts</a> for Innovative Training models. As Brigid Hayes <a href="https://brigidhayes.wordpress.com/2015/01/21/oles-has-launched-a-call-for-proposals/" target="_blank">points out</a>, it is the first call in two years.<br />
<br />
In her <a href="https://brigidhayes.wordpress.com/2015/02/02/proving-innovation-in-the-absence-of-information-and-evidence/" target="_blank">most recent post</a> Brigid documents how difficult it is to assess proposals for innovation when the field has very little information about what projects have been funded and the outcomes of those projects. <a href="https://brigidhayes.wordpress.com/2014/06/" target="_blank">OLES has not done a very good job</a> of posting details and outcomes of the projects they fund.<br />
<br />
In any case, as the first of the "innovative" training models involves replicating proven programs in a new place or for new people and the second is about integrating Literacy and Essential Skills (LES) into existing programs, it is only the third option that would allow for any innovation at all and as that model is tied to labour market outcomes rather than educational ones, it is a fairly boxed-in innovation.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Concept Papers must fall under one of the following <b>Innovative Training Models</b>: <br />
<ul>
<li><b>Expansion
of a proven LES model</b>: this would include models that have been
successfully applied within Canada or outside of Canada that could be
replicated in a different region or with a different target audience
and/or increased in scale; </li>
<li><b>Integration of LES into other programs</b>: application of LES into an existing employment and/or training program; or</li>
<li><b>New LES model</b>: development and testing of new approaches with the potential to improve labour market outcomes for Canadians.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<a href="http://literacyenquirer.blogspot.ca/2014/01/an-icy-alexandria.html#OLESfunds" target="_blank">Always with the labour market outcomes</a>. Long gone is the idea that literacy is about culture, self-directed learning and community development.<br />
<br />
I don't have much more to say. The main point of this post is to tell you to follow Brigid on this issue just in case you missed her blog.<br />
<br />risky mousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00077610678672970330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591095791171527168.post-78839662581206054532015-01-26T14:42:00.001-05:002015-02-02T11:40:22.295-05:00Your City, My CityI was hesitant to read the Maclean's article, <a href="http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/welcome-to-winnipeg-where-canadas-racism-problem-is-at-its-worst/" target="_blank">Welcome to Winnipeg: Where Canada’s racism problem is at its worst</a> because the headline seemed like click bait to me and I am not sure if Maclean's is the best source for lessons on racism - <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maclean%27s_%22Too_Asian%22_controversy" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Steyn#Canadian_Islamic_Congress_human_rights_complaint" target="_blank">here</a>. (Full disclosure: my father was an editor at Maclean's from 1984 until 1996.)<br />
<br />
Also - I wondered by what measure is Winnipeg the MOST racist city (it seems tweets is one and overhearing racist comments is another) and how is labelling it such helpful to what we need to be doing about racism in ALL Canadian cities ... and towns and villages. <br />
<br />
That said, the article focuses on the unspeakable violence and discrimination faced by Aboriginal people and is a harrowing read.<br />
<br />
After the article appeared, the mayor of Winnipeg called together some civic leaders and held a <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Canada/Manitoba/ID/2649489776/" target="_blank">press conference</a>.<br />
<iframe src="http://www.cbc.ca/i/caffeine/syndicate/?clipId=2649437737" width="620" height="348" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
When I watched this <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/ID/2649437737/" target="_blank">video</a>, I couldn't help thinking about my own city and what might have happened if Toronto had been labelled the most racist city - the article does say that Ontario is second only to Manitoba in hate crimes.<br />
<br />
The article says that the people of Winnipeg elected a mayor who is Metis without knowing it.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In the days after
the election, Bowman was anointed the city’s first Metis mayor by local
media, although his heritage came as a surprise to most Winnipeggers.</blockquote>
Well, we all know now.<br />
<br />
The article says he is reluctant to address racism in his city<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
[Winnipeg Mayor Brian] Bowman, in an interview with <i>Maclean’s</i> shortly after his
swearing-in, took pains to downplay talk of a racial divide in the city:
“Racism affects many communities around the country,” he said. “I don’t
like the tag—‘divided.’ It predisposes that everyone in different
groups thinks a certain way. That’s just not the case.”</blockquote>
though this anecdote and quote appear later<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="entry-content" itemprop="articleBody">Just before his official swearing-in, on Nov. 4, Bowman made a
last-minute addition to his speech. He chose to open by acknowledging
that council had gathered “on Treaty 1 land, and in the traditional
territory of the Metis Nation,” a simple, but deeply moving nod. ...</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="entry-content" itemprop="articleBody">“I see a real
opportunity right now—with the level of engagement over these very
serious and difficult issues—to make a difference,” Bowman told <i>Maclean’s</i>.
“If my own family’s heritage can assist in building bridges in various
communities in Winnipeg, then that’s an opportunity I fully intend on
leveraging. I want to do everything I can.”</span></blockquote>
<span class="entry-content" itemprop="articleBody"> </span>In the press conference he speaks like the mayor of the second quote. I guess time will tell. <br />
<br />
Over here in Toronto, we have replaced <a href="http://torontoist.com/2014/07/on-rob-fords-bigotry/" target="_blank">a mayor who was openly racist</a> with <a href="http://torontoist.com/2014/10/why-we-must-talk-about-white-privilege/" target="_blank">one who cannot acknowledge white privilege</a>. Or male privilege - <a href="http://o.canada.com/news/john-tory-says-women-are-paid-less-because-they-dont-ask-for-more" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://rabble.ca/news/2014/10/olivia-chow-can-win-torontos-mayoral-race" target="_blank">here</a>. Our openly racist former mayor continues as a city councillor.<br />
<br />
Another way that Winnipeg is different from Toronto is that <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/devon-clunis-sworn-in-as-winnipeg-police-chief-1.1227693" target="_blank">they have appointed a police chief who is Jamaican Canadian</a>. He is the<a href="http://sharenews.com/jamaican-makes-history-as-canadas-first-black-police-chief/" target="_blank"> first black police chief in Canada</a>. That in itself does
not mean that Winnipeg policing is less racist than here of course, <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Tyler Henderson, a 28-year-old Ojibway nursing student at the University of Manitoba, says he feels racism every time he walks out his front door. Henderson says Winnipeg police stopped him 15 times last year. “You fit the description,” police tell him when he asks what he did wrong. Once, police claimed he’d pulled to a stop a few inches beyond the stop line. “It makes me mad,” he says. “But there’s nothing I can do.” Some young indigenous men are stopped twice per month in the inner city, according to University of Manitoba criminologist Elizabeth Comack.</blockquote>
but Chief Clunis, according to the article, is encouraging Winnipeg address the issue of racism<br />
<blockquote>
...on Dec. 5, the city’s police chief, Devon Clunis, delivered more surprising remarks, calling on Winnipeggers to engage in a “difficult” conversation on the city’s ethnic divide. He asked residents to recognize white privilege, suggesting their “affluence” resulted from historic inequity. “Some people simply feel indigenous people choose to be a drunk on Main Street or they choose to be involved in the sex trade. No. We need to have those specific conversations—and try to understand why those individuals are living in those conditions.”</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
In Toronto, we have a police chief who had to be <a href="http://torontoist.com/2015/01/bill-blairs-vanishing-card-trick-isnt-good-enough/" target="_blank">brought kicking and screaming</a> to suspending the <a href="http://torontoist.com/2014/11/police-chief-bill-blair-rejects-damning-report-on-carding/" target="_blank">hated and hateful police carding procedures</a>. <br />
<br />
I guess we all need to have some of those "difficult" conversations - and then do something.<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/5_F8z7kRZ90?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>
risky mousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00077610678672970330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591095791171527168.post-45016625699569103752015-01-22T12:44:00.000-05:002015-01-22T12:47:12.601-05:00Mind the Gap<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EajmQECXVD8/VMEyhUFxa8I/AAAAAAAAGfo/fB5QmlDUkSk/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-01-22%2Bat%2B12.23.49%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EajmQECXVD8/VMEyhUFxa8I/AAAAAAAAGfo/fB5QmlDUkSk/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-01-22%2Bat%2B12.23.49%2BPM.png" height="131" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="tr_bq">
The <a href="http://www.fraserinstitute.org/" target="_blank">Fraser Institute</a> is at it again. In their mission to</div>
<blockquote>
measure, study, and communicate the impact of competitive markets and government interventions on the welfare of individuals</blockquote>
they have released a study <a href="http://www.fraserinstitute.org/uploadedFiles/fraser-ca/Content/research-news/research/publications/comparing-government-and-private-sector-compensation-in-british-columbia.pdf" target="_blank">Comparing Government and Private Sector Compensation in British Columbia.</a> <br />
<br />
The introduction states:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
While British Columbia’s government has returned to an operating surplus, the province still faces fiscal challenges as it continues to borrow to pay for capital expenditures, thus increasing government debt. In fact, a recent study warned that the province’s fiscal position could become unsustainable unless the government restrains spending in the future (Wen, 2014) [This is another Fraser Institute study called <a href="http://www.fraserinstitute.org/uploadedFiles/fraser-ca/Content/research-news/research/publications/capital-budgeting-and-fiscal-sustainability-in-british-columbia.pdf" target="_blank">Capital Budgeting and Fiscal Sustainability in British Columbia</a>.]<br />
<br />
As the BC government struggles with growing debt and looks for ways to restrain spending, now is an opportune time to examine the compensation levels of government employees, particularly in light of ongoing collective bargaining negotiations between the government and its public sector unions.
</blockquote>
The report concludes that <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The empirical analysis of wage data and a survey of available non-wage benefit data [there is insufficient data to calculate or make a definitive statement about the differences in non-wage benefits between the public and private sectors in British Columbia, the available data suggest that the public sector enjoys more generous non-wage benefits than the private sector. (p. 28)] for British Columbia indicate that government workers in the province enjoy both higher wages and likely higher non-wage benefits than their private sector counterparts. Specifically, British Columbia’s public sector workers (including federal, provincial, and local government workers) enjoy a 6.7 percent wage premium, on average, compared to private sector workers, after adjusting for personal characteristics such as gender, age, marital status, education, tenure, size of establishment, type of job, industry, and occupation. When unionization is included in the analysis, the wage premium for the government sector in British Columbia declines to 3.6 percent.</blockquote>
Could this be an argument for more unionization of private sector workplaces? Considering the Fraser Institute's vision is<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
a free and prosperous world where individuals benefit from greater choice, competitive markets, and personal responsibility. </blockquote>
probably not. It is more likely that they are recommending that the provincial debt can be retired by cutting the public sector 6.7% "wage premium."<br />
<br />
But the <a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/" target="_blank">Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives</a> portrays the situation differently.<br />
<br />
Using data and analyses from the CCPA study <a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/National%20Office/2014/10/Narrowing_the_Gap.pdf" target="_blank">Narrowing the Gap: The Difference That Public Sector Wages Make</a>, one of the authors, Kate McInturff, in an article titled <a href="http://behindthenumbers.ca/2015/01/20/who-gets-paid-more/" target="_blank">Who gets paid more?</a> points out that<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
wages are higher in the public sector precisely for those groups of
people who experience the greatest discrimination in the private
sector—because the public sector goes further in correcting those
discriminatory practices. Salaries are <i>lower</i> in the public sector for the groups least likely to experience discrimination on the basis of race and sex.</blockquote>
She proposes that in order to bring public sector compensation in line with the private sector, public sector employers would need to<br />
<ul>
<li>lower the wages of women,
Aboriginal workers, and visible minority workers </li>
<li>raise the wages of
the highest paid employees</li>
<li>shrink or eliminate non-wage compensations
for workers who have accepted a public sector
wage penalty because the public sector offered benefits
such as pensions</li>
<li>spend more money on compensation for
the workers at the top end of the scale. <br />(The highest paid public sector workers see their salaries top out at
just under half a million dollars annually while the top private sector
workers receive compensation packages worth twenty times that much. <a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/National%20Office/2015/01/Glory_Days_CEO_Pay.pdf" target="_blank">The CEO</a> of Rogers Communications makes a base salary of $1.1 million, has a
pension worth $1.9 million and receives additional benefits totalling
$23.8 million) </li>
<li>react
to market volatility and economic shocks by laying off workers (oil prices fall, nurses get
laid off)</li>
</ul>
The picture that CCPA paints is one of a public sector that is making moves to increase pay equity and shrink the pay gap.<br />
<br />
Most public sector jobs are unionized and wages and benefits are collectively bargained by elected representatives who are accountable to their membership and representatives of elected governments that are accountable to their constituencies. This accountability structure means that the people at the bargaining table must balance budget constraints, long term community and economic health, individual rights, and fair employment standards. <br />
<br />
The accountability structure in the private sector is much different and these reports show us that the outcome for workers, especially in non-union workplaces, reflects that difference.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Uvtjcrwbpao/VME2UrvnsBI/AAAAAAAAGf0/mVBoLO8Uf-w/s1600/Canadas_Pay_Gap.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Uvtjcrwbpao/VME2UrvnsBI/AAAAAAAAGf0/mVBoLO8Uf-w/s1600/Canadas_Pay_Gap.png" height="285" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />risky mousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00077610678672970330noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591095791171527168.post-45769006136052310432014-10-06T16:43:00.000-04:002014-10-06T16:43:24.106-04:00It was a hoax...<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nRsZcGWhpb4/VDL74ho9oaI/AAAAAAAAGeU/6pMotEPP1Rc/s1600/Black%2Bmusic%2Bnotation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nRsZcGWhpb4/VDL74ho9oaI/AAAAAAAAGeU/6pMotEPP1Rc/s1600/Black%2Bmusic%2Bnotation.jpg" height="200" width="133" /></a></div>
Parents need to stop raising
their children on the principles that they must beat everyone in their
class, that their school needs to rise up the league tables, or for
their country to defeat every other nation on Earth in global education
rankings. </blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/oct/04/we-need-stop-pushing-our-kids-parents" target="_blank">We need to stop pushing our kids</a>, by <span itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"><span itemprop="name">Tanith Carey, </span></span>The Guardian<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
I read this earlier today and immediately thought about those of us in adult education and our battles against the reduction of student achievements to the human capital profit margin. Here are some excerpts from <i>A Layperson's Guide to PIAAC </i>by Brigid Hayes that explain how this process works in Canada.</div>
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
We live in an age of accountability, performance measurement, the adage that whatever can be measured matters. PIAAC and its predecessor surveys define what matters for literacy practice in this country. ...<br />
<br />
In this country, we seem to have an extraordinary emphasis on the five levels to the exclusion of alternative ways of measuring progress demonstrating progress. Literacy discourse relies heavily on questions of literacy levels, how many hours will it take to move somebody from one level to another. ...<br />
<br />
Over the past 10 years, we’ve seen a shift to have benchmarks that speak almost exclusively of literacy as a work-related practice. Now I would agree that work is where many of us spend most of our time and that workplace practices can contribute to or inhibit the development of literacy practice. But the political discourse in this country has placed literacy as only a workplace and economic issue. Literacy’s role in social cohesion and societal stability is ignored. Other venues for literacy practice and growth, venues such as the community and the family, appear undervalued. ...
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
We’ve set up a dichotomy between literacy as a social good and literacy as an economic good. Here in Canada, with the jurisdictions split between federal and provincial responsibilities, we have the federal government leading the charge on the economic value of literacy with the provinces focusing on literacy as a form of adult or second chance education. Provinces have been dividing responsibility for literacy from responsibility for workplace training, the latter which is now, more often than not, focused on essential skills. <br />
<br />
At the national level, government is focused on results, not necessarily educators or practice. It seems more important to show movement from one level to another. For example, we have funders asking that curriculum focus on one essential skill at a time. <br />
<br />
IALS was easy to understand – it mimics grade levels. Levels resemble the grade system that certainly policymakers understand. When I was in government I had a director general say to me, and I quote, “IALS is the ultimate report card,”– he was planning to use it as a means to determine whether we had been successful. ...<br /><br />PIAAC puts the attention on the individual. Yet the environment in which we are being asked to use the skills is just as important as the skills we have. I could have all the skills in the world only to find that the work environment or personal environment do not demand that I use them. In that case, I am not going to value those skills. By the same token, it’s imperative that we not create barriers of unclear writing and unnecessarily complex text. It’s not just about the individual.<br /><br />PIAAC and its focus on the individual give short shrift to the challenges faced by adults who are trying to improve their skills. This is not some sort of mechanical process. We need quality programs that are accessible with sufficient funding, teacher training,and resources. Learners need support such as income replacement, childcare, transportation. We need adult friendly programming and institutions. The culture here in Canada values youth education and formal education. This is why adult education sits at the margins. This is why informal education is not valued. </blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://brigidhayes.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/brigid-hayes-speech-centre-for-family-literacy-sept-29-2014-with-slides.pdf" target="_blank">Layperson’s Guide to PIACC</a>, by Brigid Hayes, <a href="http://brigidhayes.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">As I was saying..</a>.</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="//www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/ERbvKrH-GC4?rel=0" width="400"></iframe><br />
<br />
<a href="http://alanwatts.com/" target="_blank">Alan Watts</a></div>
risky mousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00077610678672970330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591095791171527168.post-37442685762568330332014-09-25T13:31:00.001-04:002014-09-25T13:33:33.353-04:00#bringbackcopian - They did!<div class="tr_bq">
<a href="http://en.copian.ca/" target="_blank">Copian</a> is back!</div>
<br />
It came back in a somewhat reduced state, but it is back.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v2xGQN1qjKE/VCROqzATVKI/AAAAAAAAGd4/ITZwKYvkw0I/s1600/back.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v2xGQN1qjKE/VCROqzATVKI/AAAAAAAAGd4/ITZwKYvkw0I/s1600/back.png" height="237" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
And thank goodness for that. I finally heard back about <a href="http://literacyenquirer.blogspot.ca/2014/07/bringbackcopian-writing-to-minister.html" target="_blank">my query to Jason Kenney's office</a> on Friday but the letter was a quite disheartening I did not share it with you.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Dear Ms. Mollins: <br />
<br />
On behalf of the Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Multiculturalism, I am responding to your email of July 27, 2014, concerning funding for Copian and access to a doctoral thesis. <br />
<br />
Until recently, a portion of the Office of Literacy and Essential Skills’ (OLES) annual budget was allocated for core funding that supported several literacy organizations. In order to enhance transparency, maximize the impact of available funding and level the playing field for stakeholders, OLES has shifted from core funding to project-based funding. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9xT5NkCr_SY/VCRNunrqLdI/AAAAAAAAGdk/_V0lhupTEGk/s1600/workers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9xT5NkCr_SY/VCRNunrqLdI/AAAAAAAAGdk/_V0lhupTEGk/s1600/workers.jpg" height="225" width="320" /></a>Please be assured that Employment and Social Development Canada remains committed to helping Canadians develop the literacy and essential skills they need to succeed at work and to contribute to a strong and competitive Canadian economy and prosperous society. OLES continues to accept proposals that support this objective. In 2014-2015, Employment and Social Development Canada has allocated approximately $27 million to support projects that lead to Canadians improving their literacy and essential skills to get and keep a job and be successful in the workplace. <br />
<br />
In addition, please note that the paper you are seeking, Illiteracy and Poverty in Canada: Towards a Critical Perspective, is available from the University of Toronto Library. <br />
<br />
Thank you for writing.</blockquote>
<br />
I'll just leave this here for now. I think all the readers of this blog will understand immediately how it demonstrates that the Minister is not interested in working with the not for profit sector on adult literacy education or creating a pan-Canadian literacy strategy that provides "<a href="http://literacyenquirer.blogspot.ca/2014/08/bringbackcopian-writing-to-jinnysims.html" target="_blank">all Canadians with the support and empowerment that so many of us take for granted</a>" without me parsing every line. <br />
<br />
Jobs, jobs, jobs!<br />
<br />
And readers of Brigid Hayes' blog will know that the Harper government has allowed <a href="http://brigidhayes.wordpress.com/2014/03/24/federal-government-continues-to-lapse-literacy-and-essential-skills-funds/" target="_blank">allocated literacy funds to lapse</a> year after year.<br />
<br />
But for all of us who do not have access to the University of Toronto library, <i>Illiteracy and Poverty in Canada: Towards a Critical Perspective</i> is again available <a href="http://en.copian.ca/library/research/chap/index.htm" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<br />
Joy, joy, joy!<br />
<br />
Copian still needs our help. Instead of buying a <a href="http://onesearch.library.utoronto.ca/alumni" target="_blank">University of Toronto reader card</a>, I donated a bit of dosh to Copian. The literacy community is not a good place to find extra funds these days - or ever :) - but if you have any rich friends, send them over <a href="https://www.canadahelps.org/dn/10320" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<br />
And just to cheer us up, I'll also leave this here. It starts on <a href="http://en.copian.ca/library/research/chap/chap4/c4_p2.htm" target="_blank">chapter 4, page 2</a> of <i>Illiteracy and Poverty in Canada: Towards a Critical Perspective</i>:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<b><u>A Critical Perspective</u></b><br />
As we have seen, both the liberal and conservative perspectives see deficiencies and shortcomings of the poor as a primary cause of poverty and unemployment. According to this "deficiency model", labour markets and the economy in Canada distribute success and failure more or less 'fairly' based on effort, abilities and qualifications. Therefore, the difficulties experienced by individuals in achieving adequate employment and income can in large measure be attributed to their personal shortcomings, which in the view of liberals mainly consist of lack of basic education, life skills and job skills ("human capital"), and in the view of orthodox conservatives consist of more fundamental deficiencies which cannot be easily or efficiently corrected, if at all.<br />
<br />
In contrast, the critical perspective rejects the personal deficiency model. Its adherents share the view that the Canadian economy and its labour market are far from fair, and that in fact they constitute the primary source of poverty and unemployment. In effect, a new explanatory variable--i.e. the capitalist economic structure--is introduced into the discussion of illiteracy and poverty. For example, Canadian adult literacy specialist Anthony R. Berezowecki argues: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Much attention is given to the characteristics and deficiencies of the disadvantaged themselves .... Little or no consideration, on the other hand, seems to be given to what effect the operation of the existing Canadian socio-economic system has on the disadvantaged.... far greater attention must be paid to the hypothesis that the existence of such a large number of economically disadvantaged people in a rich country like Canada is the direct or indirect result of the present socio-economic system</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Paul Belanger of the Institute Canadien d'Education des Adultes
in Montreal suggests that the Canadian economy is based on what he terms a
"structure of inequality". On one hand, there are adults with
opportunities to pursue their academic and occupational goals. On the other
hand there are those adults who inhabit a "socio-economic desert". For example,
Berezowecki cites statistics which show that the national income share of the
latter group actually shrank between 1965 and 1971. The top 20% of income
earners increased their share of the total income 'pie' in Canada from 45.% to
48.5%, while the bottom 20% of income earners lost part of their already meagre
share, dropping from 3.7% to 2.9%.<br />
<br />
<b>Reflection</b><br />
Belanger recognizes that there is indeed a high correlation
between illiteracy and poverty, but he questions the interpretation put forward
by the liberal perspective, i.e. that it is a causal association:<br />
<blockquote>
A high proportion of illiterates was... revealed in many ...
reports on poverty and social inequality.... It was felt that, if there was
unemployment, it was because the workers lacked the necessary skills. Hard-core
poverty was attributed ... to poor social integration and the absence of
channels of communication with society as a whole. The answer was clear:
massive literacy and occupational programs.... But are education and training
the answer?</blockquote>
He argues that illiteracy does not cause inequality;
rather, it reflects it, and to some degree helps to reinforce it. He says,
"cultural handicaps reflect, rather than produce, structures of
inequality,"<b> </b>and
"...illiteracy is not a causal factor, but rather, a symptom of a more
deep-seated problem: that of maintaining the structures of inequality.</blockquote>
Plus ça change...<br />
<br />
<br />risky mousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00077610678672970330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591095791171527168.post-60406434802392749992014-09-08T16:07:00.002-04:002014-09-08T16:07:58.401-04:00Language Wars Update: Bias and Neutrality<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DLiknI10eGM/VA4IRTihO5I/AAAAAAAAGc8/xuYkJU6lDWY/s1600/paulo_freire.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DLiknI10eGM/VA4IRTihO5I/AAAAAAAAGc8/xuYkJU6lDWY/s1600/paulo_freire.jpeg" height="162" width="320" /></a></div>
In the <a href="http://literacyenquirer.blogspot.ca/2014/07/language-wars.html" target="_blank">Language Wars</a> post, I wondered why think tanks had not yet been subjected to the Canada Revenue Agency audits that many see as targeted harassment of organizations that do work in contradiction to various Conservative doctrines that usually contain some version of "you're with me or you're with the pedophiles/anti-semites/communists..."<br />
<br />
It seemed that I might have been mixing up categories of organizations that are eligible for charitable status and that think tanks are in a category that do not have to help the poor in order to retain their status.<br />
<br />
Last week the <a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/" target="_blank">Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives</a> was singled out for a CRA audit because <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"A review of the Organization's website, as well as the previous audit
findings, suggests that the Organization may be carrying out prohibited
partisan political activities, and that much of its research/educational
materials may be biased/one-sided."<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/cra-audits-ccpa-think-tank-due-to-alleged-bias-1.2752966" target="_blank">CRA audits CCPA think-tank due to alleged bias</a></div>
</blockquote>
Hmmm.<br />
<br />
That led to questions about whether right-wing think tanks are also undergoing audits and having their activities questioned.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Among right-leaning or pro-business think-tanks in Canada, two — the
C.D. Howe Institute in Toronto and the Macdonald-Laurier Institute in
Ottawa — have confirmed to The Canadian Press they are not currently
under audit for political activities. Two others — the Fraser Institute
in Vancouver and the Montreal Economic Institute — have declined to
comment on the matter. <br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/cra-audits-ccpa-think-tank-due-to-alleged-bias-1.2752966" target="_blank">CRA audits CCPA think-tank due to alleged bias</a></div>
</blockquote>
On Friday, the <a href="http://www.fraserinstitute.org/" target="_blank">Fraser Institute</a> president, Niels Veldhuis, claimed that the work of his think tank <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/09/05/thinktank_says_it_was_targeted_with_tax_audit_because_of_its_politics.html?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed" target="_blank">is not biased but data based</a>.<br />
<br />
Hee hee.<br />
<br />
Press Progress <a href="http://www.pressprogress.ca/en/post/right-wing-fraser-institute-now-claims-it-not-right-wing" target="_blank">published an article today</a> that deftly disputes the claim that the Fraser Institute is unbiased.<br />
<br />
Neo-liberalism has taken a strong hold over policy debates in Canada and other G20 countries - we cannot talk about anything from education to health care to the environment to transportation to foreign policy with out including discussions of the positive impacts of privatization, free trade, open markets,
deregulation, and reductions in government spending in order to enhance
the role of the private sector in the economy. Neo-liberalism has become our political lingua franca. Perhaps the Fraser Institute people do not see the bias in their work because of this.<br />
<br />
I wonder what Brazilian adult educator <a href="http://www.freire.org/paulo-freire/" target="_blank">Paulo Friere</a> would say to Niels Veldhuis. Perhaps he would say this: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“The educator has the duty of not being neutral.”<br />
From <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Make-Road-Walking-Conversations-Education/dp/0877227756" target="_blank">We Make the Road by Walking: Conversations on Education and Social Change</a> (1990) </blockquote>
Or perhaps:
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Washing
one’s hands of the conflict between the powerful and powerless means to
side with the powerful, not to remain neutral."<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
From <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0897890434?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creativeASIN=0897890434&linkCode=xm2&tag=rosemarieberg-20">The Politics of Education: Culture, Power, and Liberation</a> (1985)</div>
</blockquote>
Or he might speak to us instead:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Our advanced technological society is rapidly making objects of us and subtly programming us into conformity to the logic of its system - to the degree that this happens, we are also becoming submerged in a new "Culture of Silence".”<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
From <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pedagogy-Oppressed-30th-Anniversary-Edition/dp/0826412769/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y" target="_blank">Pedagogy of the Oppressed</a> (1968)</div>
</blockquote>
<br />
Hang in there CCPA - we need your kind of bias as we foster a Culture of Noise!<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<embed src="http://swf.tubechop.com/tubechop.swf?vurl=Jk4RLyFNDi8&start=62&end=98&cid=3561842" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div>
<br />
<br />risky mousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00077610678672970330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591095791171527168.post-88484636294548858992014-08-13T13:58:00.000-04:002014-08-29T11:09:06.992-04:00#bringbackcopian - Writing to @JinnySimsI wrote to <a href="http://jinnysims.ndp.ca/" target="_blank">Jinny Sims</a> and <a href="http://sadiagroguhe.ndp.ca/" target="_blank">Sadia Groguhé</a> on July 4, 2014:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Hello there,<br />
<br />
I looked up the NDP shadow cabinet and saw that you are the Employment and Social Development critics.<br />
<br />
I am sending along a link to Carol Goar's article from today about the cuts to the adult literacy database at Copian because she has collected a lot of interesting information there: <a href="http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2014/07/03/mainstay_of_canadas_literacy_movement_topples_goar.html" target="_blank">http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2014/07/03/mainstay_of_canadas_literacy_movement_topples_goar.html</a><br />
<br />
That is me quoted in the column. I know that there is little hope of getting the government to reverse this funding decision but I want as many people as possible to know about it.<br />
<br />
I am sure you are following this issue and may already know about the article but I also know that you are very busy people. Thanks for that by the way. You may not hear it a lot but we appreciate it. I cheer along every time I hear Jinny on Power and Politics.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Cheers,<br />
Tracey Mollins</blockquote>
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VyoaaqeYGdQ/U-ul68H3y-I/AAAAAAAAGbo/mXijxF_s7cs/s1600/simsj-web-squared.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VyoaaqeYGdQ/U-ul68H3y-I/AAAAAAAAGbo/mXijxF_s7cs/s1600/simsj-web-squared.png" height="200" width="200" /></a> And Jinny wrote back on August 7 (sorry - I have been away):<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Tracey,<br />
<br />
Thank you for writing to me and passing along a copy of that article. I sincerely apologize for not responding earlier. <br />
<br />
I have already written to the Minister with my concerns over the number of organizations I have heard from who have faced funding problems because of delays and cuts. The organizations provide invaluable services to youth and new immigrants, who often find themselves even more alone and in need of greater support with literacy. We all too quickly overlook the services that are crucial for providing all Canadians with the support and empowerment that so many of us take for granted. <br />
<br />
Again, thank you for bringing the article to my attention. Please feel free to contact me again should you have any other comments.<br />
<br />
Sincerely,<br />
<br />
Jinny </blockquote>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m-4s4GwLkww/U-umz_WS4SI/AAAAAAAAGbw/5K6fLuA2tEY/s1600/24quickrest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m-4s4GwLkww/U-umz_WS4SI/AAAAAAAAGbw/5K6fLuA2tEY/s1600/24quickrest.jpg" height="145" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://joshuaromestudio.com/Select_works_pages/quickrest.html" target="_blank">A Quick Rest by Joshua Rome</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Ah yes ... support and empowerment. Remember those days... <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />risky mousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00077610678672970330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591095791171527168.post-5767856152592750272014-07-30T12:58:00.001-04:002014-08-29T11:09:06.988-04:00#bringbackcopian - Writing to Minister Kenney<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0h8qqBSARHU/U9kooJ3JdfI/AAAAAAAAGbQ/FSKPuLPH0ns/s1600/Parliament_Hill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0h8qqBSARHU/U9kooJ3JdfI/AAAAAAAAGbQ/FSKPuLPH0ns/s1600/Parliament_Hill.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I took up <a href="http://literacyenquirer.blogspot.ca/2014/07/bring-back-copian.html" target="_blank">Tracy Defoe's suggestion</a> and sent a message to <a href="http://www.jasonkenney.com/" target="_blank">Jason Kenney</a> with a cc to my MP, <a href="http://literacyenquirer.blogspot.ca/2014/07/bringing-copian-to-question-period.html" target="_blank">Peggy Nash</a>.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Hello Minister Kenney,<br />
<br />
I hope this message finds you well.<br />
<br />
I am looking for a copy of a paper called <a href="https://www.blogger.com/" target="blank">Illiteracy and Poverty in Canada: Towards a Critical Perspective</a>, a doctoral thesis by <a href="http://www.tcu.gov.on.ca/eng/training/literacy/assessmt/assess.pdf" target="blank">Harold Alden</a> who worked for many years for the Literacy and Basic Skills Program at
Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. This paper was
formerly housed at <a href="http://copian.ca/federal-literacy-funding" target="blank">Copian</a>.<br />
<br />
I
understand that funding cuts by ESDC have resulted in the closure of
the online library. Can you please tell me how I can find this resource,
and others, now that Copian is closed? My online search has come up
empty.<br />
<br />
Regards,<br />
Tracey Mollins<br />
<br />
I included my address but won't post that part on the internet :) </blockquote>
<br />
I have heard back from workers in Peggy Nash's office and Jason Kenny's office.<br />
<br />
Jason Kenney's office go back to me on Monday and told me that my
message has been forwarded to the people at Employment and Skills
Development Canada who can help me. I'll let you know when I hear from
them.<br />
<br />
A person from Peggy Nash's office got back to me on Tuesday. She told me
that she had had searched the web for the paper and also been unable to
find it. She called Copian to see if there was any other way to get
the paper. She found out<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Unfortunately at this time, the Board of Directors has not decided what
they are going to do with the materials they used to house – if they are
going to make them available another way, for example. I suggest that
you contact them for further information. I called their toll free
number, 1-800-720-6253, and found them very helpful. </blockquote>
She let me know that<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I have taken the liberty of forwarding your email (without your street
address) to [a staff person] at Copian. [The Copian staff person] wanted
your email to show the CEO of Copian, as the Board is deciding how to
go forward after the loss of funding. I have also shared your concerns
with Jinny Sims, the Official Opposition Critic for Employment and
Social Development.<br />
<br />
Please don’t hesitate to contact Ms. Nash, [my colleague] or me if there
is anything else we can do on this issue. If you do get a response from
Minister Kenney, we would be interested in seeing it, if possible.</blockquote>
I certainly will.<br />
<br />
We have seen a lot of losses in our field over the past few years
(<a _blank="" href="http://literacyenquirer.blogspot.ca/2014/01/an-icy-alexandria.html" target="_blank">An
Icy Alexandria</a>). <br />
<br />
I was the publisher of <a href="http://www.literacies.ca/" target="_blank">Literacies</a>
and we lost eligibility for funding with the demise of the
National Literacy Secretariat.<br />
<br />
The editor - Tannis Atkinson - and I looked at ways to keep the
journal going but found none. One of our concerns was that, as a
journal that brought information about research in practice
projects to our community and our international partners, with the
cuts to research in practice that accompanied the closing of the
NLS, our pages would be a little bare. We wanted to keep a focus
on the Canadian context and as the Canadian government has opted
out of the international conversation on this (<a href="http://literacyenquirer.blogspot.ca/2014/06/counting-research.html" target="_blank">Counting
Research</a>), it was not just a funding issue for us.<br />
<br />
We now realize we should have been in touch with the <a href="http://www.ndp.ca/" target="_blank">NDP</a> a lot
sooner :P<br />
<br />
Thank you NDP for supporting a community building
approach to literacy learning and political engagement.risky mousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00077610678672970330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591095791171527168.post-90974724471600013022014-07-30T02:06:00.001-04:002014-07-30T02:21:53.712-04:00You have the right to go to school<br />
<br />
This video was made in 2008. I think it is a good time to watch it again. There is probably a good reason every day to be reminded about what the best of us strive for but there are times when that need feels especially pressing.<br />
<br />
Here is the bit about what we do:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>You have the right to go to school.</i><br />
<br />
<i>Education should strive to promote peace and understanding among<br />
all people.</i></blockquote>
Not a word about productivity or a firm's bottom line :) <br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/hTlrSYbCbHE" width="480"></iframe><br />
<br />
Aung San Suu Kyi is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ang_San_So_Kii#2010_release" target="_blank">no longer under house arrest</a>. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Pages/Language.aspx?LangID=eng" target="_blank">The Universal Declaration of Human Rights</a><br />
<br />
Article 26<br />
<ol>
<li>Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the <u>elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory</u>. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit. </li>
<li>Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.</li>
</ol>
<br />
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/YUdxBRxEXEc?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/DM1XNac--3w?rel=0" width="420"></iframe>
risky mousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00077610678672970330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591095791171527168.post-65702181254973250432014-07-28T19:58:00.000-04:002014-07-28T19:58:02.894-04:00Saluting Thérèse Casgrain<div id="fb-root">
</div>
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<br />
<div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/NDP.NPD/photos/a.482158681820342.93977.190502667652613/722508891118652/?type=1" data-width="466">
<div class="fb-xfbml-parse-ignore">
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/NDP.NPD/photos/a.482158681820342.93977.190502667652613/722508891118652/?type=1">Post</a> by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/NDP.NPD">Canada's New Democrats / Le NPD du Canada</a>.</div>
</div>
risky mousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00077610678672970330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591095791171527168.post-67382943372383497092014-07-28T10:00:00.000-04:002014-07-28T14:42:57.590-04:00Language Wars<br />
<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RQD58OS_C7M/U9PspX3ypiI/AAAAAAAAGas/DPnkMz-orGc/s1600/Humpty_Dumpty_Tenniel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RQD58OS_C7M/U9PspX3ypiI/AAAAAAAAGas/DPnkMz-orGc/s1600/Humpty_Dumpty_Tenniel.jpg" height="200" width="170" /></a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less." </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things." </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master—that's all." </blockquote>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
quoted from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humpty_Dumpty" target="_blank">here</a>.</blockquote>
</div>
<br />
If you live in Canada you probably have heard about the semantic spat brewing between Oxfam Canada and The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The Canada Revenue Agency has told a well-known charity that it can no
longer try to prevent poverty around the world if it wants to keep its
charitable status for tax purposes. It can only alleviate poverty —
because preventing poverty might benefit people who are not already
poor. ...<br />
<br />
Agency officials informed Oxfam that "preventing poverty" was not an acceptable goal.<br />
"Relieving poverty is charitable, but preventing it is not," the group was warned.<br />
"Preventing poverty could mean providing for a class of beneficiaries that are not poor."<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/preventing-poverty-not-a-valid-goal-for-tax-purposes-cra-tells-oxfam-canada-1.2717774" target="_blank">'Preventing poverty' not a valid goal for tax purposes, <br />CRA tells Oxfam Canada <br />from CBC News</a></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
Curious? You bet. So curious that all over the internet people have been deriding the notion preventing something is not a charitable activity.<br />
<br />
Some <a href="http://www.thestar.com/opinion/2014/07/25/harper_has_oxfam_in_his_charity_sightlines_mallick.html" target="_blank">people</a> have been proposing that the CRA mastery over language is actually a sign of the agency's deference to its political masters.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/murtaza-haider/cra-poverty_b_5621872.html" target="_blank">Some</a> have asked about the CRA definition of poverty.<br />
<br />
"What about diseases?" <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/charities-not-looking-for-fight-with-revenue-canada-1.2718423" target="_blank">others</a> point out. Preventing malaria benefits people who are rich as well as people who are poor. It may benefit people who have less access to good medical care more than those who do but it does have benefits for everyone regardless of income level.<br />
<br />
All charitable enterprises have ripple effects.<br />
<br />
When I went to work in a community-based literacy program that uses
volunteer tutors, I was surprised at how much more time I spent with
tutors than I did with learners. All tutors get 15-hours of training
before they start to tutor and then one-to-one support from program
staff as they hone their tutoring skills. <br />
<br />
I was also
surprised at how many letters of reference I was asked to write for
tutors. Often they used these letters to get into school - especially
teacher's college - or to get better work. No literacy learner ever
asked for a letter of reference for school or employment purposes. The
fact that literacy volunteers can use their experience on resumes and
applications while literacy learners often feel they must hide their
participation in a program made me question who the real beneficiaries
of community-based literacy are.<br />
<br />
People in the not-for-profit sector often point to the ripple effects to encourage funding from public and private sources.<br />
<br />
In our field, people can be heard to say, "When people learn to read and write better, they are more productive at work which benefits employers; make fewer mistakes and cost employers and governments less in health claims; access social services, unemployment benefits and health care systems less and cost governments and tax payers less." They do this because they think that arguing for how literacy education benefits people living in poverty and people who are marginalized in the labour market alone will fall on deaf ears. People in our field have been encouraged to highlight a return on investment when approaching potential funders. Of course this has led to a situation where funders demand to see evidence of that return over how the work is benefiting the people accessing the educational resources - but that is another story.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #990000;"><b>UPDATE</b>: I think this blog post should end here. A careful reader
on Twitter pointed out that I may be confusing registered charities with
non-profit organizations and sent me a link to the <a href="http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/chrts-gvng/chrts/pplyng/rgstrtn/rght-eng.html" target="_blank">CRA page that explains the difference</a>. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">All
three think tanks discussed below CAN provide tax receipts for donations and that is
why I wrote about them as registered charities. The page linked above
tells us that registered charities can have different designations: "a
charitable organization, a public foundation, or a private foundation." </span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #990000;">It also explains that </span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #990000;">Examples under the four categories of charity generally include:</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">
</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="color: #990000;">relief of poverty (food banks, soup kitchens, low-cost housing units)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #990000;">advancement of education (colleges, universities, research institutes)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #990000;">advancement of religion (places of worship, missionary organizations)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #990000;">purposes beneficial to the community (animal shelters, libraries, volunteer fire departments) </span></li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<span style="color: #990000;">It
seems that in comparing the think tanks and Oxfam, I have been
comparing oranges and apples - or at least oranges and tangerines. Oxfam may
fall into the relief of poverty category and the think tanks into the
advancement of education category and members of each group probably
have to meet different criteria to maintain charitable status under CRA
rules. Or some other aspect of the law that I do not understand.</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #990000;">Thanks to <a href="https://twitter.com/RyanDeschamps" target="_blank">@RyanDeschamps</a> - the careful reader who took the time to help me learn more about this. If anyone knows more, please add a comment below or <a href="https://twitter.com/literacycaf" target="_blank">send me a tweet</a>.</span></blockquote>
What about other organizations with charitable status? How do they benefit people currently living in poverty as defined by CRA? Let us look at a some oft cited think tanks.<br />
<br />
What about the <a href="http://www.cdhowe.org/about-cd-howe" target="_blank">C.D. Howe Institute</a>? This is the organization that prepared the report on the Temporary Foreign Workers program we talked about yesterday? Their mission statement reads:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The C. D. Howe Institute is an independent not-for-profit research
institute whose mission is to raise living standards by fostering
economically sound public policies. </blockquote>
Curious. No mention of how this impacts the living standards of people currently living in poverty <i>only</i>. <br />
<br />
They go on to say:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
It is Canada’s trusted source of
essential policy intelligence, distinguished by research that is
nonpartisan, evidence-based and subject to definitive expert review. It
is considered by many to be Canada’s most influential think tank.</blockquote>
Okay then.<br />
<br />
What have they done? Here is what they say on the <a href="http://www.cdhowe.org/policy-impact" target="_blank">Policy Impact</a> page:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Institute policy intelligence has laid the intellectual ground for such fundamental achievements as:
<br />
<ul>
<li>The development of continental free trade;</li>
<li>Ending the unsustainable deficits of the 1970s and 1980s;</li>
<li>The development of rigorous inflation targets and tactically effective monetary policy;</li>
<li>The reform of the Canadian and Quebec pension plans;</li>
<li>Lower and more competitive tax rates; and</li>
<li>The development of a key new saving vehicle, the Tax Free Saving Account.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
I'll leave it to you to evaluate who might be the beneficiaries of these fundamental achievements.<br />
<br />
What about <a href="http://www.fraserinstitute.org/about-us/what-we-do.aspx" target="_blank">The Fraser Institute</a>?<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The Fraser Institute measures and studies the impact of markets and
government interventions on the welfare of individuals. ...
We are involved in research on a wide range of topics, such as the
quality of education, health care, and the overall tax burden of
Canadians. </blockquote>
On their <a href="https://www.fraserinstitute.org/donate.aspx?pageid=307" target="_blank">donation page</a> they state:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Thank you for helping The Fraser Institute in the pursuit of free choice, competitive markets and less government regulation.</blockquote>
Again, I'll leave it to you to evaluate who might be the beneficiaries of these pursuits but I would posit that it is not only people currently living in poverty.<br />
<br />
What about equal time for the lefties:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/offices" target="_blank">The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives</a> is an independent,
non-partisan research institute concerned with issues of social,
economic and environmental justice. Founded in 1980, the CCPA is one of
Canada’s leading progressive voices in public policy debates.</blockquote>
And even curiouser...<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="http://www.broadbentinstitute.ca/en/about" target="_blank">The Broadbent Institute</a> is an
independent, non-partisan organization championing progressive change
through the promotion of democracy, equality, and sustainability and the
training of a new generation of leaders. We are proud of Canada’s
tradition as a diverse, fair, just, and inclusive society. </blockquote>
But due to their political work, they are not a registered charity - no tax rebate here.<br />
<br />
I think we can all can forgive Canadians if they are confused and stunned by the CRA definition of poverty, prevention and charity.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>__________________________________________</b></div>
<br />
<b>Papers that matter</b>:<br />
<br />
ICYMI, you may find the 1977 paper by Sidney Pratt, Naldi Nomez and Patricio Urzua, <i>Literacy: Charitable Enterprise or Political Right</i> still quite relevant.<br />
<br />
This paper was available at <a href="http://copian.ca/federal-literacy-funding" target="_blank">Copian</a>. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://literacyenquirer.blogspot.ca/2014/07/bring-back-copian.html" target="_blank">Write to Jason Kenney to ask for it</a> :)<br />
<br />
I have posted it <a href="file:///Volumes/Macintosh%20HD/Users/traceydesk/Sites/greedymouse/PDF/enterprise_or_right.pdf" target="_blank">here</a> in the meantime.<br />
<br />
<br />risky mousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00077610678672970330noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591095791171527168.post-39247089254052756452014-07-25T14:36:00.001-04:002014-07-27T00:45:47.899-04:00Employer Driven<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dGeBcyfT-fQ/U9KgFAERVhI/AAAAAAAAGaA/BRQqzTHWRVA/s1600/s3.reutersmedia.net.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dGeBcyfT-fQ/U9KgFAERVhI/AAAAAAAAGaA/BRQqzTHWRVA/s1600/s3.reutersmedia.net.jpg" height="227" width="320" /></a><span class="xn-person">On July 23, 2013 <a href="http://scottarmstrongmp.ca/?p=449" target="_blank">Scott Armstrong</a></span>, Parliamentary Secretary
to the <a href="http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/minister/honourable-jason-kenney" target="_blank">Minister of Employment and Social Development</a> (yes, <a href="http://literacyenquirer.blogspot.ca/2014/07/bringing-copian-to-question-period.html" target="_blank">this</a> Scott Alexander), hosted a
roundtable on how to strengthen the <a href="http://www.esdc.gc.ca/eng/jobs/training_agreements/lmda/index.shtml" target="_blank">Labour Market Development Agreements</a> (LMDAs).<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This is part of a series of roundtables that Mr.
Armstrong will host, in cooperation with provincial and territorial
governments, across <span class="xn-location">Canada</span>.<br />
<br />
As part of its plan for creating jobs, economic growth, and long-term
prosperity, the Government of <span class="xn-location">Canada</span> is committed to strengthening
LMDAs to reorient training toward labour market demand. It is expected
that the new LMDAs will better connect Canadians with available jobs by
ensuring they have access to training for the skills employers need.
Funded through the Employment Insurance (EI) program, the Government of
<span class="xn-location">Canada</span> transfers over <span class="xn-money">$2 billion</span> annually to the provinces and
territories through the LMDAs to provide skills training to EI clients
and employment services to all unemployed Canadians.
<br />
<br />
The roundtables give governments, employers, and other stakeholders an
opportunity to discuss how <b>to make the LMDAs more employer-driven</b> [emphasis mine] and
responsive to the needs of the labour market. The roundtables also give
the Government of <span class="xn-location">Canada</span> valuable insight on local skills shortages and
gaps.
<br />
<br />
<b>Quote</b>
<br />
"Through Economic Action Plan 2014, our Government continues to create
jobs and pave the way for long-term prosperity by putting skills
training at the forefront. The new generation of Labour Market
Development Agreements will result in greater employer involvement in
training to ensure that Canadians are equipped with the skills
employers need now and in the future. "
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/2073062#ixzz38UFgRloY" target="_blank">Employment and Social Development Canada Press Release at Digital Journal</a></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">
We have noted on this blog many times, with some dismay, the Conservative Government's privileging of the employer perspective when analyzing and creating policy. We are concerned that, as the <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/tories-defend-use-of-kijiji-data-in-face-of-opposition-ridicule/article17690737/" target="_blank">government is not collecting its own labour market data</a>, that this privileging of one perspective may lead to an imbalance that will not serve Canadian workers, immigrants and lifelong learners well. How will the government evaluate what it is hearing from employers?</div>
<br />
In the face of the <a href="http://www.cdhowe.org/policy-impact" target="_blank">C.D. Howe Institute</a> publishing a <a href="http://www.cdhowe.org/time-to-rethink-canadas-foreign-worker-program-c-d-howe-institute/25739" target="_blank">report</a> that shows the Temporary Foreign Worker program is contributing to high unemployment rates and Don Drummond <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/jobs-data-flawed-inadequate-don-drummond-says-1.2672415" target="_blank">critiquing</a> the data that was used to set the criteria for the TFW program, Minister Jason Kenney has been pushing back quite effectively against employers who claim that they will go out of business if they cannot use employees brought to Canada under the Temporary Foreign Worker program. He says that he has based his decisions about reforms to that program on "<a href="http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Politics/ID/2473198144/" target="_blank">evidence, research and data - not on anecdotes and not on political pressure from certain interests</a>."<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Transition plans will oblige employers of high-wage temporary foreign
workers to help Canadians obtain in-demand skills through activities
like investing in skills training or taking on more apprentices, or an
employer can provide proof that they are helping a high-skilled
temporary foreign worker transition to becoming a permanent resident of
Canada," Alexandra Fortier said in an email, quoting directly from the
new rules posted on the Employment and Social Development Canada
website. <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/temporary-foreign-workers-businesses-needing-skilled-workers-sideswiped-by-changes-1.2713279" target="_blank">Temporary foreign workers: <br />Businesses needing skilled workers sideswiped by changes <br />from CBC News</a>
</div>
</blockquote>
That is welcome news but unless the government starts collecting comprehensive labour market data, how can its ministers create labour market policy that meets the needs of Canadian workers, Canadians who are not currently working and would like to, Canadians who are underemployed or who are working in temporary or precarious conditions, Canadians who are over-skilled for the jobs they are doing, Canadians who are looking to increase their skills to meet labour market demands, Canadians who face discrimination in the labour market, Canadians who cannot find work for wages that will sustain them in the Canadian economy, people who come to Canada to work, people who immigrate to Canada <i>and</i> employers.
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">
The biggest problem is that Canada still lacks a single, national
body in charge of overseeing and increasing the amount and quality of
employment data in Canada, Drummond says.<br />
<br />
Statistics Canada logs the official employment rate ...
but movements to beef up Statistics Canada's weapons in tracking data,
or to create another government agency solely tasked with jobs data,
have fallen short due to lack of political will and budget cutbacks.</div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/jobs-data-flawed-inadequate-don-drummond-says-1.2672415" target="_blank">Jobs data flawed, inadequate, Don Drummond saysfrom CBC News</a></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I hope Jason Kenney uses the same critical eye, and ear, at the LMDA roundtables as he does when listening to the employers who argue for increased access to temporary foreign workers.<br />
<br /></div>
risky mousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00077610678672970330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591095791171527168.post-10912038600158125442014-07-24T14:57:00.000-04:002014-07-25T15:21:39.539-04:00Bringing Copian to Question PeriodMy colleague and Parkdale - High Park riding mate wrote to our Member of Parliament, <a href="http://peggynash.ndp.ca/" target="_blank">Peggy Nash </a>about the <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2591095791171527168#editor/target=post;postID=7565049707846002026;onPublishedMenu=posts;onClosedMenu=posts;postNum=5;src=postname" target="_blank">cuts to literacy funding</a> and the resulting closure of <a href="http://copian.ca/federal-literacy-funding" target="_blank">Copian</a> (<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/bringbackcopian?src=hash" target="_blank">#bringbackcopian</a>). We have permission to publish her words here and I wanted to share them with you.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N4gXeJ414rQ/U9KnqDSfwII/AAAAAAAAGaQ/0aEX_0Ownb4/s1600/nashp-web.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N4gXeJ414rQ/U9KnqDSfwII/AAAAAAAAGaQ/0aEX_0Ownb4/s1600/nashp-web.png" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="yiv1957592809MsoNormal">
Dear _____,</div>
<div class="yiv1957592809MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="yiv1957592809MsoNormal">
Thank
you so much for reaching out to my staff about the recent funding cut
for COPIAN. I know that this database was a tremendous resource for many
in the literacy community. The government’s changes in this area have
not gone unnoticed. I have worked with <a href="http://parkdaleprojectread.org/" target="_blank">Parkdale Project Read</a> and others
around changes to the Labour Market Agreements in the wake of the Canada
Jobs Grant’s rocky implementation. I have also written Minister Kenney
on this to voice my opposition to any loss of federal funding for
literacy programs. </div>
<div class="yiv1957592809MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="yiv1957592809MsoNormal">
This issue of literacy funding has been brought up by the NDP in Question Period, as recently as May 30 (<a href="http://openparliament.ca/debates/2014/5/30/sadia-groguhe-1/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://openparliament.ca/debates/2014/5/30/sadia-groguhe-1/</a>).
I will continue to raise this issue, including the loss of COPIAN,
both directly to the government and through our Official Opposition
Critic for ESDC. </div>
<div class="yiv1957592809MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="yiv1957592809MsoNormal">
Again, thank you for contacting us about this.</div>
<div class="yiv1957592809MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="yiv1957592809MsoNormal">
Kind regards,</div>
<div class="yiv1957592809MsoNormal">
</div>
Peggy Nash<br />
Member of Parliament - Députée | Parkdale - High Park<br />
______________________________________________________<br />
<br />
<a href="imap://tracey%40greedymouse%2Eca@greedymouse.ca:993/fetch%3EUID%3E/INBOX%3E7105">peggy.nash@parl.gc.ca</a></blockquote>
<br />
We at the Literacy Enquirer thank Peggy Nash for her work on the LMAs and the Job Grant Program and we thank the NDP for helping us to shine a light on what these cuts mean to our community, our field and people engaged in lifelong learning. Click on the link on the letter to see the NDP question and the response from the Employment and Skills Development Canada Parliamentary Secretary, Scott Armstrong or read the screen grab below. You can see that Scott Armstong is right on talking points here and is reading from the same script as <a href="http://literacyenquirer.blogspot.ca/2014/06/counting-research.html" target="_blank">Alexandra Fortier</a>.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6ypWZ1fruNM/U9KocB4px1I/AAAAAAAAGac/LY-N31FaPuM/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-07-25+at+2.56.00+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6ypWZ1fruNM/U9KocB4px1I/AAAAAAAAGac/LY-N31FaPuM/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-07-25+at+2.56.00+PM.png" height="640" width="556" /></a></div>
<br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/bringbackcopian?src=hash" target="_blank">#bringbackcopian</a><br />
<span lang="FR-CA" style="color: grey;"></span>risky mousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00077610678672970330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591095791171527168.post-75331487892617655562014-07-21T10:00:00.000-04:002014-08-15T13:24:10.633-04:00What we measure matters<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q0kBr8-9M_8/U8xf36b2kOI/AAAAAAAAGZw/Hj9ZMNcOlXU/s1600/3stoppages.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q0kBr8-9M_8/U8xf36b2kOI/AAAAAAAAGZw/Hj9ZMNcOlXU/s1600/3stoppages.jpg" height="320" width="316" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=78990" target="_blank">3 Standard Stoppages</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Literacy workers often hear about how increases in literacy levels in a population will increase GDP in the country where that population lives.<br />
<br />
What does this mean?<br />
<br />
GDP is a country's Gross Domestic Product. This is all the "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_domestic_product" target="_blank">officially recognized final goods and services produced within a country in a year</a>."<br />
<br />
The term was first used by economist Simon Kuznets in 1934 and became
the main tool for measuring a country's economy in 1944. Kuznets warned
against using GDP to measure standard of living because there is no
evidence that all citizens benefit equally from their country's
increased economic production.<br />
<br />
His warning was not heeded :)<br />
<br />
The measure assumes that all things that are produced are sold and that
all the people who produce things earn an income for doing so. GDP does
not count things that are produced that do not go to market or do not
produce income for the producer.<br />
<br />
The "increased literacy equals increased GDP" people say that workers who increase their literacy levels will also increase their level of productivity and will have a positive impact on GDP. Of course, an increase in literacy levels only leads to increased productivity if it leads to increased access to work and increased incomes. Some literacy workers argue that the mechanisms whereby certain citizens can benefit from investments in their human capital are much more complex<br />
<br />
Feminists also question the validity of GDP for a variety of reasons.<br />
<br />
One reason is that domestic work (child rearing, household
maintenance, care-giving, etc.), which is most often performed by women, is not marketed or income generating and does not get factored into measures of GDP. This "women's work" is therefore not "officially recognized" as work and women's contributions to the economy go largely uncounted.<br />
<br />
Another is that GDP, as Kuznets warned, cannot reflect how different people and different groups of people benefit from increased productivity differently.<br />
<br />
We talk about income inequality quite on this blog. The World Bank <a href="http://econ.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTRESEARCH/EXTWDRS/EXTWDR2012/0,,contentMDK:22850821~menuPK:7778084~pagePK:64167689~piPK:64167673~theSitePK:7778063,00.html" target="_blank">World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development</a> and the World Economic Forum <a href="http://www.weforum.org/reports/global-gender-gap-report-2012" target="_blank">Global Gender Gap Report 2012</a> map the intersection of income inequality and gender over time and worldwide.<br />
<br />
Canada rates pretty well in comparison to other countries but women still make 73 cents to the dollar that men earn and <a href="http://www.cityam.com/1405427494/women-wont-receive-equal-pay-until-2075-and-its-hurting-economy-report-says?utm_content=buffer9d2fd&utm_medium=social&utm_source=plus.google.com&utm_campaign=buffer" target="_blank">the gap has actually widened a little since 2011</a>. <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The key for the future of any country and any institution is the capability to develop, retain and attract the best talent. Women make up one half of the world’s human capital. Empowering and educating girls and women and leveraging their talent and leadership fully in the global economy, politics and society are thus fundamental elements of succeeding and prospering in an ever more competitive world. In particular, with talent shortages projected to become more severe in much of the developed and developing world, maximizing access to female talent is a strategic imperative for business. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: right;">
World Economic Forum <a href="http://www.weforum.org/reports/global-gender-gap-report-2012" target="_blank">Global Gender Gap Report 2012</a></div>
<br />
The World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development argues that closing these gaps is a core development objective in its own right. It is also smart economics. Greater gender equality can enhance productivity, improve development outcomes for the next generation, and make institutions more representative. </blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
World Bank <a href="http://econ.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTRESEARCH/EXTWDRS/EXTWDR2012/0,,contentMDK:22850821%7EmenuPK:7778084%7EpagePK:64167689%7EpiPK:64167673%7EtheSitePK:7778063,00.html" target="_blank">World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development</a></blockquote>
</div>
<br />
Sound familiar? As literacy workers trying to survive the "enhancing productivity" era, we are concerned whenever we see these justifications applied to issues of social justice.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Because of this privileging of the economic, the critical role in society of reproduction - still so undervalued – and the reality that women continue to play the primary reproductive role, gets lost or downplayed. If we go down the road of the narrow contribution to ‘production’ in the ‘economy’, we are likely to further undervalue the major contribution of women in reproduction. We also further the pressure on women to have to contribute in the recognised ‘production’ part of the ‘economy’ (if they are to have recognition and respect) while they also have to continue playing the primary role in reproduction – more stress for women, less value of their role = problem. This argument of course should not undermine the absolute right of women to have the same opportunities for participation in production when they choose to. </blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="http://oxfamblogs.org/fp2p/gender-equality-and-development-what-will-and-wont-be-in-the-2012-world-development-report/" target="_blank">Gender Equality and Development: <br />What will (and won’t) be in the 2012 World Development Report?</a> <br />
- from the Oxfam <i>From Poverty to Power </i>Blog </blockquote>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: left;">
As <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marilyn_Waring" target="_blank">Marilyn [Waring]</a>, explains, what we measure matters. When driving towards
specific goals in, say, increasing the GDP to show growth, policies
change to encourage economic growth, but remove costs in social growth.
For example, a country wanting to increase the GDP may remove or reduce
fines on companies that commit environmental damage in order to raise
that company’s yearly earnings and shift the burden onto the education
system, an ostensible drain on the economy.</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://blog.nfb.ca/blog/2010/03/08/guest-post-authorentrepreneur-tara-hunt-on-the-influence-of-marilyn-waring/" target="_blank">Author/Entrepreneur Tara Hunt on the influence of Marilyn Waring</a> <br />
- from the National Film Board of Canada Blog</div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<iframe height="320" src="https://www.nfb.ca/film/whos_counting/embed/player" width="516"></iframe><br />
<div style="width: 516px;">
<a href="https://www.nfb.ca/film/whos_counting" target="_blank"><i><br />Who's Counting? Marilyn Waring on Sex, Lies and Global Economics</i></a> by <a href="https://www.nfb.ca/explore-all-directors/terre-nash/" target="_blank" title="more films by Terre Nash">Terre Nash</a>, <a href="https://www.nfb.ca/" target="_blank">National Film Board of Canada</a></div>
</div>
risky mousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00077610678672970330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591095791171527168.post-73197517093707527632014-07-10T11:45:00.000-04:002014-07-10T16:12:19.585-04:00Take this job... If you were around in the 80s, you know what <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj2iGAifSNI" target="_blank">comes next</a> :)<br />
<br />
I don't <i>really</i> mean that we should "shove it" when it comes to jobs but simply that the work we do is about so much more than that.<br />
<br />
And here is some support for that idea.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/jianghomeshi" target="_blank">Jian Ghomeshi</a> from <a href="https://twitter.com/CBCRadioQ" target="_blank">RadioQ</a> did an essay on literacy and funding this morning.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Literacy not just about employability</b><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j8GCt7zMqVk/U76yDV56o9I/AAAAAAAAGZM/oHzInKCXhvM/s1600/literacy-rally.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j8GCt7zMqVk/U76yDV56o9I/AAAAAAAAGZM/oHzInKCXhvM/s1600/literacy-rally.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Protesters gather outside the Hants Learning Network in Nova Scotia to <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/literacy-advocates-rally-against-cuts-to-programs-1.2649932">rally against cuts to literacy programming</a>. (CBC)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Copian, formerly known as the National Adult Literacy Database, has lost funding from Canada's federal government.<br />
<br />
In light of this, Jian reflects on Parliament's latest austerity measure and its implication for literacy across the country.<br />
<br />
"Reading, writing, being able to find your way around your world safely and intelligently, all seem like the kinds of things anyone in Canada would support," Jian says.<br />
<br />
The government says it no longer wants to spend money on "administration and countless research papers," and instead want to prioritize literacy for the purpose of obtaining employment.<br />
<br />
But literacy, Jian says, does more than make you employable -- it enriches your life.</blockquote>
Listen to the complete essay by clicking <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/q/blog/2014/07/10/q-essay-federal-government-defund-literacy/index.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0K48O58OWoc/U77zeyovDyI/AAAAAAAAGZc/QwinQy1Hxu0/s1600/images.duckduckgo.com.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0K48O58OWoc/U77zeyovDyI/AAAAAAAAGZc/QwinQy1Hxu0/s1600/images.duckduckgo.com.jpg" height="160" width="200" /></a></div>
On a similar note - this post about one of those despicable research papers was on the <a href="http://www.bps.org.uk/news/adult-education-found-boost-wellbeing" target="_blank">British Psychological Society</a> page today.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Adult education found to boost wellbeing </b></blockquote>
<div class="content">
<blockquote>
Participating in adult education courses could significantly
improve people's wellbeing and even their health, according to a new <a href="http://www.bell-project.eu/cms/" target="_blank">study</a>.<br />
<br />
Researchers at the University of Eastern Finland collected data from
three universities, three research institutes and five adult education
organisations as part of the Benefits of Lifelong Learning (BeLL)
project, resulting in 8,646 valid questionnaires and 82 interviews
across ten countries.<br />
<br />
The researchers examined the responses of adult learners
participating in non-vocational courses over a year and discovered that
studying boosted their self-confidence and wellbeing, as well as
expanding their social networks.<br />
<br />
Tolerance for others grew, learners paid more attention to their
health and some even reported changes in their work and career
opportunities.<br />
<br />
<b>Adult education was found to be particularly beneficial for people with a lower educational level.</b><br />
<br />
The age of the participants also influenced the benefits they
achieved - younger people said it made them feel more in control of
their lives, while older age groups reported adult education as being
able to soften the transitions related to ageing, such as bereavement.<br />
<br />
Commenting on the project, the authors suggested that "liberal adult
education should be better taken into consideration both in national and
EU-level education policy, and that a more systematic approach should
be taken towards the utilisation its clear benefits on wellbeing".<br />
<br />
Last summer we <a href="http://www.bps.org.uk/news/people-are-engaging-lifelong-learning" target="_blank">covered</a> the Generation X Report, which found that many people born between the early 1960s and early 1980s are choosing to engage in lifelong learning.</blockquote>
</div>
risky mousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00077610678672970330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591095791171527168.post-58289882304415748872014-07-09T12:29:00.002-04:002014-07-25T15:01:09.854-04:00Debating Literacy Funding<br />
<br />
<a href="http://welearnwomen.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=1" target="_blank">WE LEARN</a> is a place where we can hear learner ideas about policy and practice.<br />
<br />
WE LEARN Board Secretary Shellie Walters has written an interesting piece on government funding for adult education and literacy programs. She writes about the US context but Canadadians will relate to much of what she says especially in light of the recent <a href="http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2014/07/03/mainstay_of_canadas_literacy_movement_topples_goar.html" target="_blank">toppling of our mainstays</a>.<br />
<br />
Here is Shellie's Board bio:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9SF8lI9aYlU/U71tj25XK6I/AAAAAAAAGY8/R7m3M-wx_AM/s1600/ShellieWalters.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9SF8lI9aYlU/U71tj25XK6I/AAAAAAAAGY8/R7m3M-wx_AM/s1600/ShellieWalters.jpeg" /></a></div>
“I am a student that started with my local program in 1999 reading at a
fourth grade level and then got involved with WE LEARN and then started
working on Women’s Perspectives. I am now on the board and my role is
the secretary. I have come a long way and I am currently in my second
year of college. <span data-scayt_word="Committee.”" data-scaytid="92">”</span></blockquote>
<span data-scayt_word="Committee.”" data-scaytid="92">And here is a little of what she has to say:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span data-scayt_word="Committee.”" data-scaytid="92"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Looking back at the
question of why the government is giving money to Adult literacy
programs both to college and community based programs</span>. On the pro
side, currently the tax payers are only providing enough money for 3%
on the individuals that require the assistance to get help. 43% of
individuals with a lack of skills are living poverty. If the adults in a
household have necessary skills the children of that household are more
likely to have the skills too. When I started looking at the con side,
even I thought that I would find more evidence to support that side.
What I found, the more that I researched these arguments that I have
heard, was that they are based on rhetoric and fallacies. </span> </span></blockquote>
<span data-scayt_word="Committee.”" data-scaytid="92">Read more <a href="http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?ca=cfc011e9-45a5-4a66-b5a1-6bbb05c8bc9d&c=fd4e5a40-74b5-11e3-9d89-d4ae5284205e&ch=ff011350-74b5-11e3-9f0f-d4ae5284205e" target="_blank">here</a>.</span>risky mousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00077610678672970330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591095791171527168.post-75650497078460020262014-07-07T02:08:00.000-04:002014-07-30T13:41:23.454-04:00Bring Back Copian<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kFGZIip7Im4/U7zcXCr3smI/AAAAAAAAGYo/meMBppC6lk8/s1600/literacy.jpg.size.xxlarge.letterbox.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kFGZIip7Im4/U7zcXCr3smI/AAAAAAAAGYo/meMBppC6lk8/s1600/literacy.jpg.size.xxlarge.letterbox.jpg" height="214" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
Carol Goar wrote about the latest round of federal funding cuts and the closing of Copian.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="text combinedtext parbase section">
For Ottawa, it’s all
about productivity, competitiveness and enhanced efficiency. For the
people who run shoestring literacy organizations, it is about sharing
knowledge and spreading hope.</div>
</blockquote>
You can read her column <a href="http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2014/07/03/mainstay_of_canadas_literacy_movement_topples_goar.html" target="_blank">here</a>. She quotes one of us and some of the people who posted on the <a href="http://copian.ca/federal-literacy-funding" target="_blank">Copian page</a>.<br />
<br />
Read her column and leave a comment.<br />
<br />
Here are some other things you can do:<br />
<ul>
<li>Connect with Copian - leave a message on the message board.</li>
<li>Join the
<a href="http://twitter.com/search?q=bringbackcopian&src=hash">#bringbackcopian</a>
conversation on Twitter.</li>
<li>Connect with your local literacy program or provincial coalition
to find out what advocacy is happening locally.</li>
<li>Write to your M.P. (We have written to Peggy Nash.)</li>
<li>Write to <a href="http://www.jasonkenney.ca/contact/" target="_blank">Employment and Social Development Minister Jason Kenney M.P</a></li>
<li>Write to <a href="http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/contactpm" target="_blank">Prime Minister Stephen Harper</a>.</li>
<li>Or write, as Tom Sticht did, to </li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
M. Elisabeth Barot, <br />
Education
Programme Officer, <br />
The Canadian Commission for UNESCO
<br />
(<a href="http://unesco.ca/en/home-accueil/contact">http://unesco.ca/en/home-accueil/contact</a>)</blockquote>
<br />
Or, as Tracy Defoe suggested on the Copian message board, when you are looking for a resource that you used to be able to find on Copian, contact the Office of Literacy and Essential Skills (OLES).<br />
<br />
Mailing address<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Office of Literacy and Essential Skills<br />
Employment and Social Development Canada<br />
140 Promenade du Portage, Phase IV<br />
Mailstop 515<br />
Gatineau QC<br />
K1A 0J9</blockquote>
<br />
or use this online contact form:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.esdc.gc.ca/cgi-bin/edsc-esdc/contact/contact_us.asp?section=lek" target="_blank">http://www.esdc.gc.ca/cgi-bin/edsc-esdc/contact/contact_us.asp?section=lek </a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>They won't know we miss
it if they don't hear that we are looking for resources and
publications</i>.- Tracy Defoe</blockquote>
<br />risky mousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00077610678672970330noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591095791171527168.post-13532783734777466952014-06-21T13:28:00.001-04:002014-07-25T15:01:09.851-04:00Counting Research<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mWgaqky2hYI/U6bw8xYXK-I/AAAAAAAAGYE/GfBHQpE9Fp0/s1600/Brucex16+RGB_13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mWgaqky2hYI/U6bw8xYXK-I/AAAAAAAAGYE/GfBHQpE9Fp0/s1600/Brucex16+RGB_13.jpg" height="271" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Without an announcement or any consultation, it appears that the federal
government has decided to quietly collapse Canada’s national literacy
and essential skills network. This is happening at the same time as
community literacy programs across Canada experience a seismic shift and
uncertainty of sustained operations, while millions of dollars in
federal funding is being effectively diverted from federal-provincial
Labour Market Agreements and redirected to the unproven Canada Job Grant
program. </blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://www.literacy.ca/news/general/federal-government-quietly-collapses-literacy-essential-skills-network/" target="_blank">Canadian Literacy and learning Network, May 29, 2014</a></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Our government is committed to ensuring that federal funding for
literacy is no longer spent on administration and countless research
papers, but instead is invested in projects that result in Canadians
receiving the literacy skills they need to obtain jobs,” said Alexandra
Fortier, a spokeswoman for Employment and Social Development Minister
Jason Kenney, in an email.</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/literacy-organizations-say-federal-government-abandoning-them" target="_blank">The Ottawa Citizen, May 20, 2014 </a></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
For years, federal funding “was going to the same organizations to
cover the costs of administration and countless research papers, instead
of being used to fund projects that actually result in Canadians
improving their literacy skills,” said an email from Alexandra Fortier,
Kenney’s press secretary.<br />
<br />
“These organizations were advised three
years ago to give them ample time to prepare (for) the federal
government changing the structure of funding through the Office of
Literacy and Essential Skills to make it more effective. Canadian
taxpayers will no longer fund administration of organizations, but will
instead fund useful literacy projects.” </blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://www.calgaryherald.com/literacy/raiseareader/Adult+literacy+groups+warn+layoffs+social+harm+wake+federal+cuts/9847757/story.html" target="_blank">Calgary Herald, May 20, 2014 </a></div>
<br />
<br />
Hmmm. I wonder what Ms. Fortier means by useful?<br />
<br />
Here is something that did get funded:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even">
<i>Establishing the Business Case for Workplace Essential Skills Training: UPSKILL - A Pan-Canadian Demonstration Project</i></div>
</div>
<div class="field-label">
</div>
Research
conducted over the last decade shows significant gaps in literacy &
essential skills among the Canadian workforce. In addition to having
negative impacts on firms’ productivity, research suggests that workers
suffer consequences of low literacy in the form of lower wages, reduced
job stability & even higher health risks from workplace injury.
While anecdotal evidence suggests that LES training may be helpful in
eliminating these skills gaps, a strong business case for its use in the
workplace has yet to be established.<br />
<br />
In light of this, the Office of Literacy and Essential Skills aims to
fill this gap by evaluating workplace LES training with the most
rigorous evaluation methods & helping determine its ROI. Thus, in
partnership with the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation
(SRDC), the Pan-Canadian research and demonstration project, UPSKILL was
launched in 2010. UPSKILL utilized a random assignment design to
provide the most reliable measures of the impacts of LES training in the
workplace. </blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://www.essentialskillsontario.ca/content/may-2014-0" target="_blank">from Essential Skills Ontario webinars page</a> </div>
<br />
One of the partners for this project, <a href="http://www.otec.org/" target="_blank">OTEC</a> (Ontario Tourism Education Corporation) describes their mission as:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Improve your business’ ability to attract, retain and develop high performers – let OTEC’s experts help to identify skill gaps, set goals and develop a customized training or standards program to achieve them. </blockquote>
I guess it is no surprise that what this current government finds useful are projects that serve to meet the needs and goals of businesses and employers rather than those of learners and practitioners. <br />
<br />
One tiny silver lining in this funding cut is that perhaps literacy organizations will no longer have to twist themselves into such odd shapes in order to secure funding from a government that views learning as valid only when it is tied to productivity gains defined by employers. On the other hand, many of these organizations may cease to exist at all.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kAxRyD27Qt8/U6b6qTZzB-I/AAAAAAAAGYU/Z8O-xOdsErs/s1600/Federal+funding+cuts+to+Literacy+and+Essential+Skills+in+Canada+%7C+Copian.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kAxRyD27Qt8/U6b6qTZzB-I/AAAAAAAAGYU/Z8O-xOdsErs/s1600/Federal+funding+cuts+to+Literacy+and+Essential+Skills+in+Canada+%7C+Copian.jpg" height="320" width="248" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">from the <a href="http://copian.ca/federal-literacy-funding" target="_blank">Copian website on June, 9, 2014</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
These will be grim days for literacy learners and practitioners but we are used to grim days.<br />
<br />
Ms. Fortier speaks of the funding of "countless research projects." In some days that were not so grim, the federal government <a href="http://literacyenquirer.blogspot.ca/2014/01/an-icy-alexandria.html" target="_blank">did fund research projects</a>, many of them conducted by practitioners who seized the opportunity to develop, explore, test and validate promising practices. These projects were not countless. They were counted, documented and counted upon by literacy workers across Canada and internationally.<br />
<br />
In Canada, adult literacy is a field with no formal accreditation system for practitioners. In the days of research in practice, we did better than that. We came to the field from a diversity of educational backgrounds and used all our knowledge and skills to propel our field forward. We used research in practice as our system of professional development. It worked to strengthen the work of individuals and entire <a href="http://wenger-trayner.com/theory/" target="_blank">communities of practice</a>. <br />
<br />
Granted, we were not much interested in making the business case for literacy learning or determining the impact of literacy learning on firms’ productivity. Our projects focused on how to work with literacy learners to meet their goals -- goals such as participating in their communities and communities of practice differently and gaining access to the information and resources essential to a fulfilling and joyful life. <br />
<br />
We proposed and conducted these projects because we love our work and we believe in justice - and because <a href="http://youtu.be/nGqP7S_WO6o" target="_blank">justice is what love sounds like when it speaks in public</a>. We knew that this was a kind of <a href="http://www.literacies.ca/cw.htm" target="_blank">crazy wisdom</a> and our ROI was assessed by what learners told us about the <a href="http://youtu.be/u4zDqrcs2mA" target="_blank">joy of learning</a> and about the power of learning:<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/_PI2pFw5avc?rel=0" width="420"></iframe>
</div>
<br />
Unfortunately, because of the cuts Copian has closed the database and the documentation of all this learning and wisdom is no longer available to us. <a href="http://literacyenquirer.blogspot.ca/search?q=icy" target="_blank">Another library bites the dust</a>.<br />
<br />
This work belongs to us. By us I mean all Canadians because it was publicly funded and all literacy practitioners and learners because that is who who did and needs the work. Much of this work does not exist anywhere outside this database. <br />
<br />
Please Government of Canada, and Mr. Kenney in particular, return our work to us. This is our university and you just closed it down. Is that really what you meant to do?<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /> </span></span><br />
You can still learn about some of these projects at <a href="http://literacies.ca/readers.html" target="_blank">Literacies</a> but, of course many of the links to the actual project reports will no longer work. <br />
<br />
To see what others are saying about the funding cuts, see the <a href="https://beyondials.wordpress.com/2014/06/09/copian-nald-announces-pending-closure-after-25-years/" target="_blank">Beyond 'Literacy as Numbers' in Canada blog</a> and the comments on the <a href="http://copian.ca/federal-literacy-funding" target="_blank">Copian page</a>.<br />
<br />risky mousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00077610678672970330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591095791171527168.post-88344893721936531192014-06-18T01:06:00.000-04:002014-06-18T01:12:59.453-04:00Jenny Horsman at TEDx Toronto - Yes Please!<br />
We all want to see Jenny Horsman on the <a href="http://www.tedxtoronto.com/" target="_blank">Toronto TEDx</a>
roster.<br />
<br />
You can support her application by clicking <a href="http://katenonesuch.com/2014/06/11/jenny-horsman-for-tedx-toronto/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<br />
Kate Nonesuch has told us how to submit the nomination form and written us a "cheat sheet" to help us with our nomination form. You can also go to <a href="http://jennyhorsman.com/" target="_blank">http://jennyhorsman.com/</a> to find more about Jenny's work.<br />
<br />
Here is what it is like when Jenny speaks <br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/7LcOP7ixZeo?rel=0" width="420"></iframe> <br />
<br />
Isn't that powerful? Wouldn't be great if everyone heard that?<br />
<br />
Fill out a nomination form and help make it happen.<br />
<br />risky mousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00077610678672970330noreply@blogger.com1