may day message from the frontlines

I found this comment by Kim Solga in response to Margaret Wente's despicable rant about the Quebec student protestors and thought I should post it here. I am not linking to the Wente column because it is so hateful but you can find it over at the Globe and Mail.

Kim made her comment at 5:01 AM on May 1, 2012. And it seems like a perfect May Day post. Thank you Kim! Happy May Day everybody.

I looked up Kim Solga and found these links - this and this. Not sure if this is the same Kim Solga or not but it looks like a good match.

Update: I emailed Kim and it is the Kim in the links. She sent me a lovely reply. She is a good ally in the Please Wake Up Brigade.

And here are those good words randomly tucked away amongst almost 1200 other comments:

I'm constantly amazed at how easily many who comment miss the larger picture of columns like these. C'mon, everyone - think critically about this story!

Are Quebec's students spoiled brats? I have no idea - I don't know any of them. The media image isn't pretty, but, then, the media isn't a public service - it's a for-profit industry in this country. For-profit industries are not generally kind to those invested in not-for-profit ideals.

Are all these students Arts and Humanities majors? Again, I doubt it - there's no census-taker in the crowd, and Stephen Harper has certainly assured StatsCan will be unavailable for comment - but it's very easy to make blind and frequently wholly inaccurate assumptions about demographics.

Every one of us who has graduated from a Canadian university has benefitted - and rightly so - from subsidized schooling. Whether you are successful or not is a matter of many factors - including how our culture, at any given moment, has chosen (or been pushed, by a mix of government and private interests) to value certain kinds of "knowledge" over others. Right now, we're encouraged to believe that only science and business grads will get jobs later, because that's the "real" knowledge that "matters". In fact, smart students across the disciplinary spectrum will find work, because the industries thriving the most right now are those that are creative and adaptive. Just take a look at Apple, famous not just for great computers but also for hiring a lot of very different kinds of people with a wide variety of skills.

As for the rest of us? Sorry, Ms Wente, but we are in fact victims of neoliberal capital's power to pull the wool over our eyes. We're oddly back to the same aggravated discourse about winners and losers, science and business vs everything else that we were having in 2007-08, before the bottom fell out of the markets. Why have the consequences of that fall-out adversely affected the middle classes, and not those far higher up the food chain? And why are we not angrier about it?

Perhaps we're all too busy trying to blame Quebec's postsecondary students for a much, much larger problem.

Update 2: Erika Shaker has another excellent response to Lady Wente over on Rabble.

all sizzle...

Wendell writes on his blog about another industry-driven approach to adult literacy: "with due respect"

"There's a myth that Business is a vital stakeholder in literacy; that Business supports adult literacy work, though it naturally wants us to spend conservatively. But there is no such thing as Business. There are only business people. Some of them are friends of literacy. Some of them are not."

Food for thought.

report cards

The news hit the pages of the Globe and Mail under this headline last Friday: Conservatives stop funding for learning organization.

The news is that the federal government will not provide further funding for the Canadian Council on Learning, an organization established in 2004 by a Liberal government with a five-year grant of $85-million to promote lifelong education.

The CCL was established because "In 2004, Canada saw that it had some catching up to do. Canadians were falling behind the rest of the world in some crucial areas. Innovation. Creativity. Skills development. Learning. There was no debate about what we had to do to stop the decline, and begin to improve. We had to figure out what works in education and learning, from early childhood to post-secondary schooling, from job training through adult literacy improvement, and we had to monitor our progress so that we were certain we were always on the right path."

I am not sure that I agree with the basic premise. I see little real world evidence that Canadians are less innovative, creative, skilled and/or learned than their counterparts around the world. In fact, the solutions to our recent economic woes seem to point to a past underuse of the innovation, creativity, skills and learning of many Canadians rather than any deficits in those areas. But the creation of the CCL intrigued me. It seemed to hold promise - perhaps we could create an education think tank that would shine a light on the innovation, creativity, skills and learning of educators in Canada and that this knowledge would inform policy.

The CCL divided its work into 5 knowledge centres: Aboriginal Learning (based in the Prairies, NWT and Nunavut); Adult Learning (based in Atlantic Canada); Early Childhood Learning (based in Quebec); Health and Learning (based in British Columbia and Yukon); and Work and Learning (based in Ontario).

I have had the most experience with the Adult Learning Knowledge Centre. In 2007 I worked on a research-in-practice project that was funded through the ALKC and, in June 2007, I went to an ALKC conference. At the conference I was impressed by the grassroots nature of some of the projects but became aware of a focus on measuring. As time went on, I realized that the CCL was less a "learning organization" and more a measuring organization.

The Globe and Mail article quotes Mr. Cappon about the loss of funding: “What Canada would lose without CCL would be like being a student without a report card of any kind. And we'd be prevented from knowing how far behind the competition we're slipping."

CCL brought us several report cards over the years.

The Composite Learning Index (CLI) measures Canada’s progress in lifelong learning based on statistical indicators that reflect the many ways Canadians learn, whether in school, in the home, at work or within the community. The CLI tells us things like this: "For the first time, Canada's overall score on the Composite Learning Index has declined, dropping two points to 75 in 2009, from 77 in 2008. The decrease is being driven by the Learning to Be pillar, even though there has been an increase on the Learning to Do pillar."

The Projections of Adult Literacy: Measuring Movement (PALMM) provides a statistical “snapshot” of Canada’s adult literacy future through 2031; calculates future adult literacy rates according to province/territory and specific population groups; and generates graphs for incorporating into planning for literacy policy and program interventions. The PALMM tells us things like this: "Although the proportion of immigrants with low literacy skills will decrease by 2031, the actual number of low-skilled immigrants will increase by 61%. However, there will also be an increase in the number of immigrants with higher literacy levels."

The July 2008 literacy educators got a CCL report card. Reading the Future: Planning to meet Canada’s future literacy uses the PALMM to assess the state of adult literacy in Canada and makes recommendations on how literacy programming should be structured and delivered. This report was well discussed on this blog (and here) and in our special bulletin. One of our concerns was that this report makes recommendations about professionalization, teaching methods and time limits that overlook "the rich and varied techniques Canadian practitioners use to teach adults successfully and share in practitioner-based research reports." Reading the Future was a signal to the literacy field that the CCL was not developing knowledge based on the innovation, creativity, skills and learning of educators but was taking a top down approach to develop policy recommendations based on survey data.

In March of last year, CCL presented the adult literacy community with their online literacy assessment tool, also well discussed on this blog. This tool allowed us to develop our own report card on our own IALSS level. CCL told us we could also use the tool to assess learner needs overlooking the fact that the IALSS is a survey tool and is not an appropriate assessment for learning

"In anticipation of renewed funding, CCL had proposed an exciting slate of projects for the coming years."

Many in the list of 10 proposed projects, not surprisingly, seem to be about collecting more data to create more measuring tools. The Literacy Self-Assessments looks to be an expansion of the above mentioned online assessment: "CCL plans to launch a series of free, online tests that will allow individual Canadians to measure their competencies in three areas: prose literacy, document literacy and numeracy. Based on the International Adult Literacy and Skills survey, these tests will also provide teachers and instructors with a convenient means of assessing strengths and weaknesses to ensure programs meet learner needs." Once again CCL is overlooking the folly of using a survey tool to assess for learning and using a standardized test for self-assessment.

That report card argument may resonate in some sectors but I am not sure what literacy workers will think about it. You can probably tell what I think :), but what about you? Do we need these report cards? How do they help us in our work? How do they help learners in their learning? How does the report card argument resonate with you?

strategic planning

We need your help.

It looks as though Literacies is facing another break in funding with no real idea how long that break will be.*

Some days we are resigned to the fact that Issue #10 will be the last, but as we put Issue #9 together we are struck, as always, by how important it is for us to have this place to express and share all the things we learn, understand, experience, think, create and dream.

For our forum this time we invite you to tell us what you like about Literacies, what could be better, what you think of some options for continuing to publish during a funding hiatus, and what you would be willing/able todo to support the work of Literacies during the hiatus and beyond. We will use your input to make decisions about our future, to demonstrate that people care about Literacies and to advocate for the options that are important to you. We’re ready to hear from you!

There are 22 questions in this survey. Most questions are multiple choice It will take approximately 15 minutes (?) to complete the questionnaire.

The survey will be open from October 13 until December 1.
http://www.surveyconsole.com/console/TakeSurvey?id=515694

To read the questions before you take the survey, download this PDF document (40kb).

*Literacies is funded by the Office of Literacy and Essential Skills (OLES) for one more issue. The last OLES request for proposals was to develop workplace literacy tools and resources. The work that we at Literacies do--practitioner networking and knowledge mobilization--does not meet the criteria for this call. OLES has promised future calls but as this issue goes to press an election has been called. Regardless of the outcome, we know that there is often a post-election freeze on requests for proposals.

debating literacy - not so much

Well, did everybody survive the debates last night? Whew!

At about 9:30, literacy and the cuts to literacy programs finally got a mention from Elizabeth May in a discussion of cuts to the arts. Stephen Harper responded that the program that was cut was not a program that taught people to read. And that was it.

They may not have wanted to talk about it last night but, as a reminder, here is what was cut:

The Adult Learning, Literacy and Essential Skills Program (ALLESP) [now Office of Learning and Essential Skills: OLES] is funded by Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC). It is a program that assists not only adult learners throughout the country, but teachers and tutors as well, in the form of training, professional development, curriculum development, research and knowledge exchange on best teaching practices. The network of literacy and learning coalitions that have been built up around this funding has enabled thousands of adults in [Canada] to continue their education by upgrading their reading and writing skills. Many literacy organizations help those from marginalized backgrounds, such as single mothers, underemployed individuals, persons on social assistance, immigrants and Aboriginal people.

As part of the $1 billion Conservative program cuts, local and regional literacy organizations that conduct capacity building initiatives, research and knowledge exchange, and promotion and awareness work will now stand to lose their HRSDC funding – a total of $17.7 million dollars over the next two years ($5.8 million in 2006-2007, and $11.92 million in 2007-2008). Although proposals have already been submitted, no funds will be allocated to current applicants of the 2006 ALLESP local and regional call for proposals. This local and regional stream of the ALLESP has been cancelled.

The government has designated the literacy cut under the heading of “Value for Money”, that is to say, “funding for third parties to further their interests or programs that are not effective, do not achieve results or are being refocused or targeted for improvement.” HRSDC plans to instead focus on its national ALLESP funding stream.

Since literacy falls into the category of education, many direct service agencies running literacy programs receive provincial funds from bodies such as the [provincial ministries] or school boards, and therefore may not see any funding cuts to their programs. This provincial money is often exhausted by agencies to provide the bare necessities in order for the program to run, such as providing a physical space, teaching materials, and instructors. However, the mounting fear is that these cuts will harm quality of service and the ability for adult learners to effectively take part in literacy programs, as those who will be hardest hit are literacy networks and coalitions. These coalitions play a substantial role in supporting direct service agencies, by providing essential services such as training for tutors and teachers, developing resource and learning materials, program development, advocacy, and research. Direct service agencies often do not have the proper resources to perform these fundamental tasks and therefore depend on coalitions for this assistance.

Because Canada is behind other industrialized nations by not having a national literacy strategy, the coalitions and networks have been acting as the string holding together Canada’s patchwork of literacy programs and services. The funding provided by HRSDC has greatly contributed to building a strong network of agencies and coalitions to help support adult learners in developing their literacy skills. The cut in funding will only erode this support network, therein isolating service providers and practitioners in our communities, hindering both knowledge exchange and the promotion of literacy in Canada.

from Faces of the Cuts: The Impact of Federal Program Cuts on Communities in Toronto - An Early Look at Selected Areas Slated for Funding Cuts Forum Convened by Community Social Planning Council of Toronto

Just to let certain political leaders know, even if you are not talking about literacy, funding for literacy teaching, research and development and literacy policy in Canada, WE are. And if your own numbers are correct and "4 out of 10 adult Canadians have low literacy levels" - that is a lot of votes.

jumping into the conversation

Literacy workers and learners from around the country are responding to Carol Goar's piece on literacy in yesterday's Toronto Star. Here is what the Jumping In Group had to say:

From a literacy group

Dear Carol, We agree with you. Adult literacy is important. We are people in a literacy program. We wrote this together. We have jobs. We work hard. We pay taxes. We have children. We need education for ourselves and for our children. It is also good for the country. If you have a good education you can get a good job and don't have to take no crap from nobody. Thank you for getting the information out about literacy. The Jumping In Group

Posted by Jumping In Group at 7:52 AM Thursday, September 18 2008

Go to the story to read what others have to say including Guy Ewing and yours truly (traceym). You can comment too or agree or disagree with comments made by others.

literacy in the election campaign - NOT!

Literacy workers and learners who have been waiting to hear about how each party will fund and address literacy research and development after the election may have a long wait according to Carol Goar, who writes in today's Toronto Star:

...Regrettably, the federal government is withdrawing from the field. Eight months after taking power, the Conservatives chopped funding for adult literacy by $17.7 million [from a budget of $42 million]. They replaced the National Literacy Secretariat, set up Brian Mulroney 21 years ago, with their own Office of Literacy and Learning. But it deals only with national organizations. The network of provincial and local literacy organizations that linked thousands of volunteers has withered.

...

Across the country, educators, librarians, employers and community leaders are doing their best to reach out to people who need help reading, writing and getting started in a new country. But as Judith Maxwell, founding president of Canadian Policy Research Networks, notes: "Governments are more and more leaving it to the individual to find the right literacy training."

Naturally, this withdrawal of support at the top has affected morale in the trenches. Although charities such as the Peter Gzowski Invitational Golf Tournament, ABC Literacy, the Movement for Canadian Literacy and Frontier College are doing a terrific job, they can't provide a pan-Canadian action plan. Nor do they have the resources to reach the 9 million Canadians whose inability to meet the demands of a typical workplace is holding them back.

This ought to be an issue in the federal election campaign. But none of the political parties has made it a priority.

The Conservatives regard literacy as a provincial responsibility. One of the reasons they cited for cutting federal funding in 2006 was that it wasn't Ottawa's job to do "repair work" for provinces that weren't teaching kids to read properly in the first place.

The Liberals have said they will implement a national literacy strategy. But there's no mention of it – and no money for it – in their election platform.

The New Democrats pledge to "press for a pan-Canadian strategy on lifelong learning that would go beyond simply restoring the Conservative funding cuts." But they have not released details.

The Green party is committed to eliminating illiteracy, but has no plan to do it. It says illiteracy is a reflection of Canada's social deficit.

The Bloc Québécois has no literacy policy, except to demand higher provincial transfer payments.

One way to let the Star, other media outlets and perhaps election campaigners know that it is important to keep shining a light on the issue is to comment on this story.

* Remembering the cuts.

the feudal lords of profit read some books

Every two weeks since April 16, 2007 Yann Martel has been sending Stephen Harper a book that has been known to expand stillness.

Why?

"On March 28th, 2007, at 3 pm, I was sitting in the Visitors’ Gallery of the House of Commons, I and forty-nine other artists from across Canada, fifty in all, and I got to thinking about stillness. To read a book, one must be still. To watch a concert, a play, a movie, to look at a painting, one must be still. Religion, too, makes use of stillness, notably with prayer and meditation. Just gazing upon a still lake, upon a quiet winter scene—doesn’t that lull us into contemplation? Life, it seems, favours moments of stillness to appear on the edges of our perception and whisper to us, “Here I am. What do you think?” Then we become busy and the stillness vanishes, yet we hardly notice because we fall so easily for the delusion of busyness, whereby what keeps us busy must be important, and the busier we are with it, the more important it must be. And so we work, work, work, rush, rush, rush. On occasion we say to ourselves, panting, “Gosh, life is racing by.” But that’s not it at all, it’s the contrary: life is still. It is we who are racing by.

I was thinking about that, about stillness, and I was also thinking, more prosaically, about arts funding, not surprising since we fifty artists were there in the House to help celebrate the fifty years of the Canada Council for the Arts, that towering institution that has done so much to foster the identity of Canadians. I was thinking that to have a bare-bones approach to arts funding, as the present Conservative government has, to think of the arts as mere entertainment, to be indulged in after the serious business of life, that—in conjunction with retooling education so that it centres on the teaching of employable skills rather than the creating of thinking citizens—is to engineer souls that are post-historical, post-literate and pre-robotic; that is, blank souls wired to be unfulfilled and susceptible to conformism at its worst—intolerance and totalitarianism—because incapable of thinking for themselves, and vowed to a life of frustrated serfdom at the service of the feudal lords of profit. ...

The Prime Minister did not speak during our brief tribute, certainly not. ...

Who is this man? What makes him tick? No doubt he is busy. No doubt he is deluded by that busyness. No doubt being Prime Minister fills his entire consideration and froths his sense of busied importance to the very brim. And no doubt he sounds and governs like one who cares little for the arts.

But he must have moments of stillness. And so this is what I propose to do: not to educate—that would be arrogant, less than that—to make suggestions to his stillness."

Check out the reading list, the letters and Mr. Harper's response at What is Stephen Harper Reading?

gift horse

Just in case you missed this ...

The OLES Call for Proposals for Literacy and Essential Skills for Those Entering or In the Workplace is now open. The call is pretty narrow -- in this call OLES will support two types of activities:
* A. The development and application of new tools and models that help individuals entering or in the workplace to improve their literacy and essential skills; and
* B. The adaptation, distribution, promotion and application of existing workplace focused literacy and essential skills tools and models

The rationale for the workplace call seems to reflect the change from a literacy-as-a-human-right approach to a literacy-as-a-vehicle-for-economic-competitiveness rhetoric described by Nancy Jackson in her interview with CBC's The Current on June 12, 2008. (Click on part 2 -- Nancy is on from about 3:55 to 14:40. Thanks Alpha for this link.)

Focusing on the workplace makes sense. According to the 2003 Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (ALLS), 76% of individuals with low levels of literacy and essential skills are in the labour force; either working or looking for work. Many of these Canadians face labour market challenges, including a lack of access to training and skills upgrading, lower earning potential, greater risk of being unemployed, and more difficulty in finding a new job if they do become unemployed. At the same time, Canada is facing skills shortages in certain occupations, sectors, and regions. For their part, employers report having difficulty finding people with the right mix of technical and literacy and essential skills needed for the workplace.

But --

In 2008-09 OLES plans to launch several Calls for Proposals (CFP), each with a specific theme. Themes will be based on needs identified through ongoing research, consultation, and dialogue with partners and stakeholders. Having different themes will allow OLES to better respond to Government of Canada priorities and to improve the success of Canadians in their families, communities and at work.

So perhaps we should not yet give up hope that there will be opportunities for the kind of field-expanding-and-deepening exploratory research, reflective practice and professional development that the National Literacy Secretariat tried to foster and nurture during its tenure.

P.S. At Literacies we are wondering if any of the proposals submitted to OLES in October 2007 were funded. We have heard about a number of proposals that were rejected but none that were approved. Does anyone know what was funded from that call?

attawapiskat petition - 1000+

Now there are 1024 signatures.

The online petition for the Attawapiskat school is here
www.PetitionOnline.com/FNCA08/

attawapiskat petition - 327

I wanted to move this to the top. There were 327 signatures on Monday.

The online petition for the Attawapiskat school is here
www.PetitionOnline.com/FNCA08/

breaking news - ctv tells the story

Graham Richardson did a piece on the 11 o'clock CTV news last night about the school, Charlie Angus' video asking kids to support the Attawapiskat school, and some Toronto school children who were raising money to build schools in Africa but, shocked to find out the conditions in Aboriginal communities in Canada, have turned their attention there.

I tried to find the story on the CTV site because I missed the name of the Toronto School. The site is a bit of a nightmare. Those weird floaty ads keep popping up and jamming up one's ability to access information. But, if you can stand it, I found some stories here.

And the video is here. It wouldn't play for me unless I upgraded my Windows Media Player, which I am not inclined to do right now, but maybe you will have more luck.

a good school that gives them hope

Danny is not the only one supporting the Attawapiskat kids - the kids are supporting the kids:

A Chuck-Charlie exchange ensued:

Have a perfectly praiseworthy weekend. See you Monday.

breaking news - sign the petition

There is now an online petition for the Attawapiskat school.
www.PetitionOnline.com/FNCA08/

a school is like a heart

The first I heard of the situation in Attawapiskat was a forwarded email message from Danny Metatawabin.

Danny is the Education Administrator for the Mundo Peetabeck Education Authority in Fort Albany First Nations, situated along the shores of James Bay. In his email he asks, "How can there be effective teaching happening when certain communities have to teach out of portables? How can we provide for best programs and practices when we are working with an out-dated funding formula?"

Sound familiar?

Danny made this pledge:
"As a sign of protest for my fellow communities and fellow Education partners, and if I should receive 500 emails or more to support my protest for lack of action and commitment on the part of the Federal Government and INAC (Indian and Northern Affairs Canada), I will shut down my School for four days and light a Traditional Sacred Fire for those four days. This is as per our traditional Teachings for Prayers and Cause. I will also hope to acquire Board support and approval from Chief & Council in order to proceed with this process, and if I am to receive 500 emails or more."

You can read Danny's email message and find his address here:
Support from Fort Albany

You can read more about the eight-year campaign for the new school and how to support the Attawapiskat children at the Attawapiskat Blog.

Here is Chuck Strahl's email address: Strahl.C@parl.gc.ca

a place to do literacy

This is International Adult Learners Week and this IALW will highlight the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.



"Having a place to do literacy is as important as the literacy itself."

Lyndsay Mollins Koene (yes, we are related).

From the Attawapiskat Fact Sheet:

Where is it? Attawapiskat is an isolated, fly-in community on the coast of James Bay. It is located 455 kilometres north of Timmins, Ontario.

Who are they? The residents of Attawapiskat are known as the “Mushkego” -- the Swampy Cree of western James Bay. There are over 1300 people in the community.

What's the issue? For 8 years, Attawapiskat children have had no school. In 2000, the grade school was closed because children were getting sick from a massive diesel spill under the school. The spill happened in 1979 while the government of Canada was operating the school. Since then, 400 students have had to rely on portables. The community has worked hard to get a new school built. Three federal Indian Affairs Ministers have committed to moving ahead with the project. In December 2007, however, the new Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl arbitrarily cancelled the proposed school. The government claims there is no money for First Nation schools for the next five years. And yet, last year they refused to spend over $109 million that had been allocated for infrastructure projects like schools. This money was sent back to Treasury Board.

Why is this happening? There are two standards for education in Canada. Every non-Native child has guaranteed rights under provincial education standards. The First Nation children of Canada have no such rights. This means that reserve schools are built with inadequate classroom sizes, fewer resources and less special education dollars. A system of educational Apartheid exists in Canada. We must change this appalling double-standard.

(This issue will be a topic of discussion at the Great Moon Gathering next week.)

Happy IALW. Happy UDofHR.

Article 26.

(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.

(2) 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.

(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Article 2.

Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

broad strokes

These days I'm thinking a lot about what 'counts' as research in practice (RiP), mostly because I'm in the midst of work on the next issue. Our theme next time is "The State of RiP". We chose this theme because people are wondering what will happen to RiP now that it is no longer a priority for federal funding here in Canada.
Perhaps we've boxed ourselves in by thinking that RiP is mostly projects with start dates and end dates, research questions and 'deliverables'. Research is so much more than that. I'd like to share the broader definition of research, phrased so well by Richard Darville in our inaugural issue:

all the ways in which people concerned with adult literacy practice re-search – look again, articulating and clarifying what they know, and pushing out into the unclear and the unknown.

What would it mean to think of RiP as this sort of re-search? Here's more from the same article:

When we begin to connect a broad understanding of practice with a broad conception of research, the first thing we recognize is that much of practice already includes research. It is research when teachers experiment with learning materials, with the phrasing of explanations, or with learner involvement in program organization, and make findings about what works. It is research when practitioners carry on discussion and debate, seeking to share and to clarify their understandings, or to pose and address problems. It is research when people drafting and testing plain language documents come to new understandings of reading processes. It is research when practitioners and policy makers observe and reflect on how administrative arrangements work.

So research is a normal part of ongoing good practice. But of course when people conventionally speak of research, they mean something different and more formal than this – inquiries that are deliberately planned and conducted, and that result in some writing (or taping or filming) and public communication of their results.

The next issue of Literacies will explore whether the current funding situation is helping broaden our ideas about what counts as RiP, or simply making people feel their work is even more devalued.

What are your thoughts? I'd like to hear from you!

Source: Darville, Richard (2003). Making Connections. Literacies #1

supporting RiP

This piece was created by Yukon artist Jo deBeaudrap for the Focused on Practice research project. Here's some of what Jo learned from being involved in the research:

RiP participants expressed both frustration and gratification about their field. They wrote about the need for community support, for building a foundation and finding new ways to do things. Some expressed frustration at being surveyed when time and money are stretched thin....
Working on the piece I thought about how literacy affects the social and economic development of individuals. The impression that I have is that the challenges for the worker are often similar to the challenges of the learner: time, money, support and staying motivated.

The Framework project outlined all of the barriers that make research in practice difficult. More importantly, perhaps, it also articulated a strong vision for how research in practice strengthens literacy work, and the best ways to support this vital work. Research coordinators Jenny Horsman and Helen Woodrow are clear that RiP includes "not only practitioners carrying out research but also reading research, reflecting on practice in the light of research, and changing their practice as a result of research and reflection" (p. 11). Here is what the researchers concluded about the best ways to support RiP:

Research in practice will thrive within an infrastructure that strengthens both the literacy field and RiP itself. It will flourish if governments, funders, administrators and institutional providers recognize the realities of literacy work and value and support practitioner knowledge and methods of strengthening and developing that knowledge. Here is what this means:

...Infrastructure that strengthens RiP:
• Awareness raising
• Funding for all aspects of RiP (locally and nationally, including various ways to engage with research, for short and longer-term studies)
• Support for reflective practice as a precursor to RiP
• Readily available and flexible seed money, sabbaticals and other structures that would free up time to plan and carry out RiP
• Training (both face-to-face and face-to-face combined with online formats; topics including introduction to reflective-practice, recognizing the role of research in everyday practice, and all aspects of RiP)
• Mentors (face-to-face and online, both local and from other regions)
• Flexible ways for provinces and territories that are new to RiP to learn from other regions and to develop locally appropriate models
• Support for dissemination in varied formats (including Literacies and other print vehicles, online sites, and face-to-face methods)
• Networks (local, regional and national)
• Gatherings (local, regional and national)
• Resources (easily accessible for both newcomers to the field and experienced RiP practitioners) (p.18)

Which of these are supported? Which are neglected?

the state of RiP

The next issue of Literacies will focus on the state of research and practice (RiP).We chose this focus because many people have serious questions about what will happen to RiP in the current funding climate.

Last year's groundbreaking study, Focused on Practice, revealed that research in practice (RiP) is "essential yet close to impossible, given the state of the adult literacy field" (p. 105) in Canada.

For the study, practitioner-researchers in each province and territory, and an Aboriginal researcher, collected data about the state of RiP. Together the whole group analyzed the data. The central findings are explored in Chapter 6 of the book (pp. 105 - 117). Here is what they found were the central reasons why RiP is so contradictory:

• We want to read research and engage in it, we just can’t spare the time or find the energy
• Even so, or because of this, RiP is needed more than ever before
• We must do RiP because we are so isolated, yet our isolation makes it impossible to do RiP!
• Given the state of the field, RiP is essential, but the state of the field limits the value of RiP!
• We are wary of research yet we use research skills all the time
• RiP might lead to change, but would we like all the changes?

Over the coming weeks, we will share more about these findings, and what a range of people are saying about these contradictions.

babylon

Welcome back. To see our version of the grey cup cocktail, please click here.

On a not so happy note, the AlphaPlus library has been dismantled.

In September 2007, as a direct result of the federal funding cuts to provincial literacy initiatives announced in the fall of 2006, the AlphaPlus Library discontinued it's lending services and began the process of decentralizing its adult literacy collections and finding new homes that were willing to ensure continued access to the resources for members of the provincial literacy community.

Thanks for all the good help AlphaPlus librarians. We miss the lending service more than we can say. And thank you for 'decentralizing' the library in such a thoughtful, caring and democratic way.

...The singer
Must then pass out of sight, not even relieved
Of the evil burthen of the words. Stellification
Is for the few, and comes about much later
When all record of these people and their lives
Has disappeared into libraries, onto microfilm.
A few are still interested in them. "But what about
So-and-so?" is still asked on occasion. But they lie
Frozen and out of touch until an arbitrary chorus
Speaks of a totally different incident with a similar name
In whose tale are hidden syllables
Of what happened so long before that
In some small town, one different summer.

Syringa by John Ashbery