“Literacy is Grade 8. Adult Basic Education (ABE) is anything over Grade 8.” – Educator during Consultation

“Literacy encompasses all adults who are capable of yet unable to read, write or perform mathematical or computer operations at a level that would permit them to function successfully in society and contribute to the economy. There are varying levels of literacy but at the most basic level it would include the ability to read and interpret signage, understand warnings on medicines and consumer products, complete basic job application/census information, calculate sales tax, work with a standard suite of computer software programs, and so on.” – Participant in the Workforce Literacy Practitioner Survey

“Literacy is reading properly, without hindrance, as well as writing, spelling, communicating effectively. It is also having confidence, being effective at getting a job, and being part of the community and involved in society. Literacy is a building block. Without it, one can be left behind, or marginalized. ” – Community Development Worker during Consultation

“Literacy learners are being left behind. ABE is totally different than literacy, so there is an even bigger gap.” – Educator during Consultation

• Educators commonly defined literacy for us in grade-level terms, from grade 4, to grade 7 or 8, to grade 10. Moreover, many made grade-level distinctions between literacy and ABE. It was pointed out that, while this use of grade-level definitions serves an administrative purpose within educational institutions, it may also reflect the absence of more coherent and meaningful benchmarks around literacy. Grade levels provide a conveniently precise way of describing something that is inconveniently imprecise.

• While there is an obvious rationale and utility in such definitions of literacy, these views are counter-opposed to the broader “whatever skills you need for the task at hand” view of literacy.

• For some, literacy is a big umbrella – and represents the vehicle for lifelong learning, the building block without which one may become marginalized. According to participants in this consultation, it includes:
  • operating effectively in today’s society with computers, language, math, and reading
  • reading at a level where you can function in society
  • being able to write a coherent sentence
  • doing the math you are required to do on the job
  • reading and writing, technology, math
  • having a sense of power, of control over one’s life; being actively involved in the community; realizing one’s own potential
  • having emotional intelligence