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The Rural Literacy Pathfinder serves as a source of literacy information for learners and educators. It focuses specifically on literacy resources available to those who reside in rural areas of Canada. The pathfinder contains contact information and descriptions of select literacy organizations, which include, national associations and federal, provincial and territorial government contacts. As well, the pathfinder includes an annotated bibliography. It is a detailed collection of publications and other resources which focus primarily on rural Canada. This guide is a growing document, we welcome suggestions for additions. Please contact us at cris@agr.gc.ca.
National National organizations which serve literacy issues often provide several types of services, such as: public awareness, educational and professional development programs, advocacy, and funding for other organizations and projects.
ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation
4211 Yonge Street, Suite 235
Gift of Words presented by Starbucks The program, developed and managed by ABC CANADA, is a national funding initiative providing resources for public and school libraries and literacy organizations to expand their book collections and launch 'reading circles' that encourage students, their teachers and parents to read and learn together.
Canada Post Community Literacy Awards The Canada Post Community Literacy Awards were established more than a decade ago to discover and acknowledge the achievements of Canadians who have made a special effort or an important contribution to literacy. Canada Post recognizes up to 52 individuals for their exceptional work in one of two award categories: Individual Achievement and Educator. Canadian Library Association - Action for Literacy Interest Group
Thomas Quigley
Conference Board of Canada - Workplace Literacy Central Frontier College
35 Jackes Avenue
Laubach Literacy of Canada
119 Ross Avenue, Suite 201 Movement for Canadian Literacy
Suite 300-180 Metcalfe Street National Adult Literacy Database Inc. (NALD)
Scovil House National Literacy and Health Program
400-1565 Carling Avenue
UNESCO - International Literacy Day
United Nations Literacy Decade 2003 - 2012 World Literacy of Canada
401 Richmond Street West Regional There are an abundance of literacy services and projects available across Canada. For details on many of these projects a comprehensive collection is available through the National Adult Literacy Database . For further information on literacy services in your community check the Yellow Pages in the telephone book, under LEARN or LITERACY COURSES.
Centre AlphaPlus Center
2040 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor
Centre for Literacy of Quebec
Literacy Coalition of New Brunswick
Literacy Foundation / Fondation pour l'alphabétisation
Literacy Nova Scotia
Sarah Badgley Literacy Fund for Ontario Rural Children
Saskatchewan Literacy Network Up2us - Family Literacy Internet Project Writers' Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador Yukon Literacy Coalition
Federal
Adult Learning, Literacy and Essential Skills Provincial Each province and territory is responsible for providing direction on literacy issues. All provide funding to local programs while many provide specific programs and services of their own. Alberta Learning Information Service British Columbia Ministry of Advanced Education Manitoba Department of Advanced Education and Literacy - Adult Learning and Literacy New Brunswick Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour - Adult Literacy Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Education - Adult Learning and Literacy Northwest Territories Department of Education, Culture and Employment - Adult and Post-Secondary Education Nova Scotia Department of Education - Adult Learners and Community Nunavut Department of Education
Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Independent Learning Centre - Adult Basic Education
2180 Yonge Street, 7th floor Prince Edward Island
Department of Education - Literacy and Adult Learning Québec
Ministère de l'Éducation du Québec Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan Learning Yukon Territory
Yukon Education - Literacy Programs
Although many Aboriginal People's organizations address literacy in their objectives, a few focus specifically on literacy issues. A selection is listed in this Rural Literacy Pathfinder. Aboriginal Literacy Foundation (ALF)
403-181 Higgins Avenue Centre AlphaPlus Center
2040 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Ontario Native Literacy Coalition (ONLC) Aboriginal Literacy Network
This select list of Canadian literacy publications and resources focuses almost entirely on the rural experience. The bibliography provides references to studies, reports, manuals, and tools for both learners and educators of literacy. It is divided into three sections: Studies of Literacy, Teaching Tools for Literacy, and Women and Literacy. Studies of Literacy Bell, James H. This paper reviews results of a questionnaire distributed to literacy workers in rural Alberta to ascertain their views on rural literacy. The questionnaire was designed to identify: (1) distinctive features of the issues of adults illiteracy in rural areas; (2) the strengths of literacy efforts in rural Alberta; (3) the weaknesses of literacy efforts in rural Alberta; (4) additional help needed; and (5) the most needed research efforts. The results indicated that respondents viewed rural literacy as distinct from urban literacy in that the former had greater difficulties in keeping the illiterate confidential and in overcoming geographic distance.
Bulcock, Jeffrey W. This study determined the causes of adult literacy and illiteracy in Newfoundland and Labrador as perceived by those in a position to set literacy policy. It used Statistics Canada data from a national adult literacy survey to critique some of these perceptions. Results indicated that policy-makers: (1) cited most frequently the school drop-out rate as the cause of illiteracy; (2) believed that parental and home background educational resources were principal contributors to adult illiteracy; (3) believed that greater, more systematic, and higher quality effort and training in the area of adult literacy program development and services was the most promising way a to increase the provincial literacy rate. Conseil Supérieur de l'éducation Edmunds, Gail A. The Yukon Literacy Council is committed to promoting literacy in both urban and rural Yukon by developing and providing programs for adults who wish to upgrade their literacy skills. Experience has shown that a proportion of these adult learners have learning disabilities. The purpose of this report is to provide information on this special population of adult learners. General information on the disorders is followed by specific information on the learning disabled adult. The report concludes with recommendations for the Yukon Literacy Council regarding programming for this population.
Hautecoueur, Jean-Paul, ed. Literacy and Cultural Development Strategies in Rural Areas compiles 21 action research articles from 12 countries that describe community-based initiatives in adult literacy education in rural areas. Chile, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Hungary, Romania, the Czech Republic, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada are the countries represented. These initiatives represent dynamic experiments in cultural action that explicitly link individual basic education and a collective change in the conditions of local life.
Hautecoueur, Jean-Paul, ed. Basic Education and Work examines critical issues such as the crisis of work, resistance to loss of culture and identity, work dislocation and disqualification, and resultant impoverishment of body and mind are tackled. Contents include: A Critique of Literacy Ideology and Some Current Literacy Practices in North America; Transition from Literacy and Basic Education Practices to Learner-Workers' Workshops; The Relationship Between Basic Education and Work in the Post- Modern Context. Hughes, Dionne, and Horth, Raynald. This chapter examines a regional project created in 1991, called "Coalition Urgence Rurale." It was formed to support initiatives that promote community empowerment, maintain community services (including schools), and enhance rural identity. The movement aimed to develop a social agenda based on a contemporary redefinition of rurality. Local chapters of the coalition use conscious-raising strategies and community educational activities to bolster developmental actions and strengthen often marginalized local identities. Norris, Stephen P. et al. This study tested the literacy levels of people living in Newfoundland and Labrador. Data on 4 030 native speakers of English (ages 16 to 69 years) born in Canada were taken from a large set of statistics to test for the following factors: the "brain drain," age, rurality, educational attainment, and parents' education. Findings suggest that demographics cannot account for the lower than average reading literacy in Newfoundland and Labrador. Ontario Rural Literacy The Distinct Needs of Rural Literacy Programs report addresses issues specific to rural special projects. Rural communities and rural literacy programs have distinct geographic, economic, social, and employment characteristics that create barriers to teaching, learning, and program development. Recommendations for addressing program barriers include: (1) rural representation on government policy-making committees; (2) development of a distinct costing mechanism for rural programs; (3) availability of funds and equipment for effective networking; (4) support for offering a wide spectrum of services; (5) development of relevant materials for rural adult learners; and (6) research concerning the needs of adult learners and barriers to participation in rural Ontario. Prince Edward Island. Department of Education. In Prince Edward Island an aggressive approach to improve adult literacy/education levels is essential if the cycle of dependency and unemployment is to be broken. Education and training are the key to this Province's ability to meet the challenge of global competition. Issues addressed by the Strategy for Adult Literacy/ Education in Prince Edward Island are complex and clear: how to insure sufficient and sustainable resources, how to significantly broaden the level of community commitment to achieve a fully literate province.
Taylor, Maurice C. and Draper, James A. This classic overview of adult literacy and basic skills education was Canada's first literacy publication for International Literacy Year 1990. It includes the contributions of key educators in Canada, the United States and England.
The Writers' Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador. This series of ten books for adult learners in basic education is a collaboration between The Writers' Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador and Cabot College Literacy Office. The objective of this project was to provide adult learners with meaningful literacy materials drawn from their own culture. Topics in the series were chosen for their human and social interest. In addition to historical topics, current social and economic issues such as the closure of fish plants are also examined in an attempt to provide a contemporary perspective.
Available: National Adult Literacy Database - Library Teaching Tools for Literacy
Manitoba Department of Education and Training - Literacy and Continuing Education Branch. The Exemplary Practice in Manitoba. Models of Quality in Literacy Programming profiles seven programs: (1) the Open Doors program in Winnipeg; (2) the Brandon Friendship Centre literacy program; (3) the Flin Flon Friendship Centre literacy program; (4) the Transcona Literacy program in Winnipeg; (5) the Pembina Valley Language Education for Adults program; (6) the Communication Enhancement Program coordinated by the United Grain Growers and Manitoba Pool Elevators; and (7) the workplace program offered by the manufacturing company Atlas Graham.
New Brunswick Committee on Literacy. This promotion kit, published by the New Brunswick Committee on Literacy, was developed in partnership with READ Chipman, the Carleton County Council, and the Petitcodiac Literacy Council of New Brunswick. The kit includes: a community profile questionnaire, background information and an executive summary of the project, literacy and literacy level definitions, and New Brunswick statistics on literacy. To order, contact: 88 Prospect Street West Shelburne County Learning Network. The Family Learning Handbook is designed for use by coordinators who wish to set up a family learning program in a rural area. Community services personnel and health outreach workers will also find this handbook helpful in understanding family literacy issues. The Handbook describes a family literacy program which was recently implemented in the rural Nova Scotia town of Lockeport. It provides a history of the program and a detailed description of the methods used by the program to attract learners and tutors. Available: National Adult Literacy Database - Library Women and Literacy
Consumers Association of Canada. The Consumers Assocation of Canada (CAC) produced this video for 1,500 workshops held across Canada for members of the Federated Women's Institutes of Canada (FWIC). Peter Gzowski opens the video and closes it with a challenge to the Women's Institutes to find ways to improve literary awareness in their own communitiies.
Foxall, Justine F. The purpose of this working paper is to raise for discussion and further examination the issue of rural women, literacy and economic development in the context of Eastern Ontario. The first section asks questions about the links between literacy and economic restructuring in the 1990s, the second part asks questions about women in rural Eastern Ontario, and the third section poses questions about the provision of programs in rural communities where women can participate in courses that develop their literacy. The final section asks how to move ahead with the rural women who are already engaged in their own and their communities' development and with those who are waiting to join it.
Horsman, Jennifer. This report is a brief introduction to the findings of a research project sponsored by The Canadian Congress for Learning Opportunities for Women (CCLOW) and funded by the National Literacy Secretariat. It examines the impacts of abuse on women's literacy learning and explores approaches to literacy programming in light of these impacts.
Horsman, Jennifer. Horsman examines social, personal, familial and community patterns that form the social disorganization in the lives of rural women. Using interviews of rural women, about their literacy, Horsman's theoretical analysis soundly argues that illiteracy is socially constructed.
York University. Women of the North is by and about women living in northern, rural and isolated communities, the issue explores northern women's experiences and insights into social issues such as limited access to services, the challenge of living in isolated communities, employment equity, child care, health care and more. Parts of the book deal in particular with the development of literacy skills and the distinct needs of literacy programs in the North.
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