Challenges In Moving Forward

The directions for the next decade that emerged at the conference were reviewed from the perspectives of different regions of the Province, and different aspects of literacy: workplace, family, adult, and learners. A number of challenges were identified.

1. Local priorities will vary from community to community, and region to region. Metropolitan areas need to be seen as a series of overlapping, diverse communities. No one approach will make sense in each community. Provincial and national policies and funding approaches need to be more flexible.

2. Long distances and separated communities, in many parts of the Province, make communication, collaboration, and support quite difficult. It is easy to become isolated, and frustrated.

3. There are limited resources (for example: regional literacy coordinators or government field staff) to bring people together locally and regionally, to create more collective plans and actions.

4. Community colleges are pivotal in offering adult education programs. Yet, their commitment to literacy is inconsistent. Literacy learners need to be seen as future college students.

5. Continued competition among different literacy organizations, programs, and institutions, particularly in the face of scarce resources, will impede collective efforts.

6. Participation by learners in policy and program design, development, implementation, and evaluation is key. Yet, it will not happen without on-going support and leadership; and, increased acceptance by literacy practitioners,organizations and institutions of the value of learner participation.

7. Broad ideas need concrete action implementation; otherwise, they are just part of reports that easily become dusty. Responsiiblities need to be clearly assigned to specific organizations and institutions, with transparent accountability processes.

8. It is not enough to offer literacy programs. People are often not able to participate because they lack other supports (for example: daycare, nutrition, safe housing, transportation, ...).

9. Learners with unique challenges (for example: learning disabilities and ADHD) need unique supports. Often, in smaller communities, these are not available.

10. Taking a community approach will need to ensure that there is a common langauge, the stigmatization of learners is not increased, all parts communities are included, and workforce literacy programs are connected into family and adult literacy efforts.

11. Special attention needs to be paid to literacy issues in First Nations communities.

12. There is a lack of provincial infrastructures in support of family and workforce literacy efforts.

13. Practitioners lack the time to become involved in community development initiatives.

14. The differences (for example: in objectives, styles, and languages) between workplace literacy programs, and community and educational institutional programs, need to be better understood and recognized by everyone if broader coomunity coalitions are to emerge.

15. Convincing small businesses that they need to pay attention to workplace basic skills issues will be a major challenge.

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