June 2007 - Quebec English Literacy Alliance

QELA Presentation to Minority Languages Committee
O n February 1st , 2007, QELA was represented by the
interim president, Ilze Epners, at a meeting of the
Minority Languages Committee in Ottawa. All participants
at the meeting were asked to give their opinions on the
state of English adult literacy in Quebec. To follow are
some excerpts from Ilze’s presentation.
“I was asked to share my thoughts on
what could be done to improve the situation
for the Quebec English Literacy Alliance.
For years there has been an ongoing
issue of core funding versus project
funding. We know that project funding
does not work. This was also one of the
conclusions of the report that the previous
Minister of State for Human Resources
Development - Claudette Bradshaw
concluded after her Pan-Canadian
round table consultation in 2005. Groups
spend so much time and energy trying to
come up with new and innovative projects every year
when in reality they are already the experts. Each year
we risk closing our doors and we also risk losing quality
resource people with years of experience each and every
time we have to wait for funding – which we are not even
sure we will get.
Another important point that needs to be mentioned is
how a change of Minister affects funding. Every time
there is a new Minister in charge of this dossier at the federal
government-whether it is because of a change of government
or just a switch in responsibilities – all grants
come to a screeching halt and the process starts all over.
… And so, because of bureaucracy, many groups do not
know whether they will exist or not. But most importantly
we also risk losing students who will not come back if
Changing the Way We Teach Math
hat do the experts say about how
W to teach basic math to adult students
Most people who teach math have
heard about most of their recommendations.
Yet putting those recommendations
into practice is harder than it seems.
Kate Nonesuch consulted with more than
100 people who teach basic math to
adults in BC. She presented some findings
from the literature about teaching basic
math, and got their reactions. Instructors
talked about what changes they would
like to make in their teaching practice, and
what barriers got in the way of making
change. She wrote a manual in response
Ilze Epners (left), Interim QELA President,
in Ottawa.
those doors are even temporarily closed.
The Quebec English Literacy Alliance needs financial stability
in order to do what they do best - be the foundation
for literacy efforts and initiatives, illiteracy prevention
(family literacy) and training of literacy trainers.
I must speak to you of how devastating
the federal budget cuts have been to the
Quebec English Literacy community.
We are a small community with huge
needs as we are spread far and wide in
our province. It is all well indeed to say
that the literacy funding needs to get to
the grass roots - but how would that happen
in our English Literacy community
with out a central organization to help
recruit those who need these services
Many of our tutors and teachers are retiring
and - who will be there to train the
new practitioners Being a literacy
teacher and tutor takes special training that is not available
just anywhere. Some of the members of our organization
have worked for a number of years in producing
new materials to be used by our students. Such important
work must continue.”
In closing, Ilze noted that, “Our Canadian demographic is
aging and in the future we will need every Canadian to be
literate to fill the jobs of the next generation. A long term
financial commitment from our federal government and
sustainable funding is vital if we are to make a significant
dent in the low literacy statistics. Coalition core funding is
an absolute must if we together are to beat this serious
problem.”
to their concerns that includes: Emotions
and Math; Group Work; Hands-on Learning;
Putting Students in Charge of Their
Learning; Student Resistance and Real
Life Problems.
This manual is not just for math teachers.
Anyone who teaches adult literacy or ABE
students will find food for thought in this
publication. Check out “Changing the
Way We Teach Math: A Manual for
Teaching Basic Math to Adults” at:
http://www.nald.ca/library/learning/
mathman/mathman.pdf
QELA CONTACT, Vol. 3, Issue 1, Mid-June 2007 Page 9