Traditional Learning Paths:
Not Everyone’s Road to Success

“Literacy learners are being left behind – it is the black hole of (this college).” – Educator during Consultation

“In many instances, formal educational institutions or environments are the very situations those with low literacy avoid, because they evoke the very place where some initial ‘failure’ occurred.” – Participant in the Workforce Literacy Practitioner Survey

“There is nothing in this community for those with low literacy levels.” – Educator during Consultation

The Big Picture

• Estimates that traditional approaches to education just don’t work for approximately 30% of children, teens, and adults are relatively consistent. We need to stop trying to wrap learners around a system that doesn’t work for them and, instead, begin wrapping our interventions around them – in a more inclusive and holistic way.
• There are no guarantees that a grade 12 education “guarantees” certain basic skills.
• Teachers tend to teach “how to read” up to grade 3 or so. At higher grade levels, teachers’ expertise is in teaching the content, not the reading process, of learning.
• Traditional education does not necessarily develop the skills and contextual understanding people need to succeed in the contemporary world of work.
• The resources in our educational institutions are spread very thin. They cannot be expected to meet all the needs of society.

The following summarizes what we learned from the literacy practitioners’ and learners’ visioning conference, our two telephone surveys, and our community consultations.

Alarming Drop Out Rates…

“We must realize that students in the alternative school systems are indicators of problems – canaries in the coal mine – and change the ‘moving people along for time served’ base to an ‘accomplishment’ base.” – Educator during Consultation

“We need to make sure kids know that in finishing school they have a better chance at employment opportunities.” – Employer in the Supplemental Business/Labour Telephone Survey