Literacy B.C. - Newsletter - July 1999

Volume 5, Number 3 - July 1999

Literacy Research: An Overview

Today, there is a literacy research network in place in B.C. due in part to the efforts of Audrey Thomas, currently Education Officer, Developmental Programs, University Colleges and Program Planning Branch, Ministry of Advanced Education, Training and Technology (MAETT). Audrey is the author of numerous research studies including The Reluctant Learner (1990) and Opening Minds Behind Closed Doors: Literacy in B.C. Corrections (1992).

The impetus to start a literacy research network in B.C. came from roundtable discussions on research among participants at the 1997 Provincial Literacy Forum in Victoria. Spurred by this interest, the (then) Ministry of Education, Skills, and Training arranged a day-long consultation on Adult Literacy Research in Practice for February 1998 in Vancouver, to continue the discussion and explore ideas more thoroughly. The idea was to lay the groundwork for developing a literacy research initiative in B.C.

At Literacy BC’s 1998 Summer Literacy Institute, a course on “Action Research” led by Allan Quigley, an Associate Professor of Adult Education at St. Francis Xavier University with expertise in the field, sparked renewed interest in literacy research in B.C. After the Institute, plans for building an action research network here began to take shape. Literacy BC opened up a research conference on “The Hub”, the electronic conferencing system partnered with Capilano College.

IN THIS ISSUE:

Inside:
...Research
...Family Literacy
...New Resources
...National News

To continue the momentum, and engage a larger number of practitioners, MAETT with the Centre for Curriculum Transfer and Technology, through Audrey, arranged a follow-up “Research Day” — a Literacy Research in Practice seminar— last November at Kwantlen University College. At the time, Audrey said she was “delighted to see an enthusiastic response from literacy practitioners to learn more about and actually undertake research to improve their practice.”

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