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National Literacy and
Health Research Project
The Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA) and the
University of Toronto's Centre for Health Promotion are involved in a threeyear
project to develop a national program for literacy and health research, funded
by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). A team of five
experienced researchers from four Canadian universities is carrying out the
research guided by a multi-disciplinary, multiprofessional,
multi-organizational advisory committee. The principal researcher is Dr. Irving
Rootman, Professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the
University of Victoria and former Director of the Centre for Health Promotion
at the University of Toronto. A key focus will be developing a national agenda
for research on literacy and health.
The objectives of the Literacy and Health Research
project are to:
- Stimulate cross-disciplinary research on adult
literacy and health in Canada
- Increase Canadian capacity to do effective research on
literacy and health
- Promote cooperation between researchers and health
practitioners
- Expand opportunities for sharing knowledge and applying
research findings
- Encourage training of future researchers in literacy
and health
- Explore ways of using research in policy development
in literacy and health
National Workshop pn Literacy and Health
Research
This National Workshop, one of the activities of the
National Literacy and Health Research Project, met in Ottawa from October 27 -
29, 2002. About 30 researchers, practitioners and policy makers from across
Canada discussed priority areas for policy and research related to literacy and
health. The Institute of Population and Public Health (IPPH) of the Canadian
Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) provided funding for the workshop whose
objectives were: • to develop a consensus on policy issues and research
questions about literacy and health in Canada;
- to develop funding proposals related to literacy and
health for the Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR);
- to develop a proposal for a future project on literacy
and health for the Institute on Population and Public Health (IPPH).
Information: www.cpha.ca |
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Literacy Decade
The General Assembly of the United Nations has proclaimed the
Literacy Decade: January 1, 2003-December 31, 2012 by a resolution adopted on
December 19, 2001.
The resolution grew from the Draft Proposal and Plan entitled
"Education for All: Meeting our Collective Commitments," a Framework for Action
created in April 2000 at the World Education Forum in Dakar, Senegal, attended
by more than 1,100 teachers, academics, policy makers, nongovernmental bodies,
and heads of major international organizations from 164 countries. "Education
for All" commits governments to achieving quality basic education for all by
2015 or earlier. It emphasizes girls’ education, and includes a pledge
from donor countries and institutions that "no country seriously committed to
basic education will be thwarted in the achievement of this goal by lack of
resources."
The text of the resolution is on pages 17-20 of the document,
"Draft Resolution IV United Nations Literacy Decade: Education for All":
http://www.un.org/documents/ga/docs/56/a56572.pdf.
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The US Council for the
Advancement of Adult Literacy (CAAL)
has published MAKING THE CASE: Adult Education &
Literacy: Key to America's Future, in pdf form.
This 33-page advocacy tool is a collection of essays by
fourteen well-known American adult educators. CAAL has a number of excellent
documents available free of charge on their web site,
http://www.caalusa.org |
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RiPAL: A Canadian website for
literacy research in practice
The Research in Practice in Adult Literacy (RiPAL) Network
launched a new web site in 2002 at www.nald.ca/ripal. RiPAL was initiated in
2000 to support adult literacy educators to link research and practice and to
do research about practice. The site offers resources, information on events
and links to other research in practice networks. |
NALD receives UNESCO
Award
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A Position on Aboriginal Literacy, put out by the
National Aboriginal Design Committee in October, presents a rationale to create
a national aboriginal literacy organization and a federally-funded coordinated
Aboriginal literacy strategy, separate from the national literacy strategy
suggested at the National Best Practices Workshop held in early October.
The full paper and an Executive Summary are available on NALD.
Information: Ningwakwe/Priscilla George, Coordinator,
National Aboriginal Design Committee,
26 Carluke Cres., # 409
Toronto,
Ontario M2L 2J2;
Tel.:(416) 250-7428;
Fax: (416) 225-2905;
E-mail:
priscilla.george@sympatico.ca |
(L to R) Terry Ann Boyles
Vice-President of the Association of Canadian Community Colleges (ACCC) with
Charles Ramsey, Executive Director of NALD, and Linda Shohet, NALD Board
member. ACCC initiated NALD as an International Literacy Year project in 1989.
Terry-Ann and Linda, both on the original Steering Committee, were present at
the award ceremony. |
The National Adult Literacy Database (NALD)
received an Honourable Mention in 2002 for the International Reading
Association Literacy Prize awarded annually by UNESCO. The citation was
“for producing high-quality literacy teaching materials which can be
accessed over the Internet.” NALD was the only organization in the
developed world to receive this recognition. The presentation to Charles
Ramsey, NALD Exective Director, was made in October at the National Best
Practices Workshop sponsored by the Conference Board of Canada.
In accepting the award, Charles recognized the Canadian literacy
community, the board and staff of NALD, the continuing support of the NLS and
the initial backing of Senator Joyce Fairbairn.
In his acceptance remarks, Charles said,
“...This is indeed a reflection on the maturity of the
literacy community in Canada and on the excellence of the resources that it
creates. NALD is merely a platform, a delivery system and a showcase for the
accomplishments of this community.
Without the long-term vision of the Board and the annual
direction that it provides, there would be no NALD and for this I am
grateful.
And certainly without the staff whose dedication, creativity and
the determination to resolve issues in the face of a technological landscape
that changes with startling speed, NALD would not have achieved the degree of
acceptance that it has from the field that it serves.”
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‘Choose to Change’ -
Booklet Available
This publication was created by Aboriginal inmates in the
Literacy Program at Brandon Correctional Institution after following the Twelve
Steps to Sobriety program through Alcoholics Anonymous. They produced a booklet
for those who have problems with alcohol and/or drugs. The illustrations
reflect Aboriginal culture and are appropriate for youth. This printing was
supported by a grant from the Retail Technology Group of CIBC. |
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Cost: in Canada, $5.00 per copy, including postage
Outside Canada, $5.00 per copy plus postage, (U.S. funds)
$4.00 from each
sale will go to the Inmates’ Fund at the Brandon Correctional Institution;
$1.00 will be retained by NALD for future printing.
Contact: National Adult Literacy Database (NALD),
Tel.:
(506) 457-6900 or
in Canada: Toll Free 1-800-720-6253;
Fax (506)
457-6910 ;
E-mail: info@nald.ca
(http://www.nald.ca/CLR/choose/cover.htm) |
Coming Soon!
A Canadian journal of adult literacy
research and practice
Since 2000, a small group of people across Canada has been
working to develop a literacy journal. We want to connect people working in
literacy and people who do research about literacy. We also want more people to
know about all of the exciting adult literacy research happening across the
country!
Our first issue will be published in November 2003. We need
your help! We are looking for people to:
- help us choose a theme for the first issue
- write articles, opinion pieces, reflections, and book
reviews
- write in-depth pieces about research connected to literacy
work
- sit on editorial committees
Interested?
Contact us at:
journal@literacy.ca
Want to know more?
Visit our website:
www.literacyjournal.ca
| REVIEWS IN
BRIEF |
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Teaching Reading to
Adults
by Pat Campbell
Commenting as a librarian with no formal education in
reading theory, I was struck by Pat Campbell’s new book, Teaching
Reading to Adults, as one of the most complete and logical training
resources I have seen. Her uncomplicated (and unbiased) discussion of the two
methodologies that dominate in reading instruction – whole language and
phonics – is demystifying, and lays a clear theoretical foundation for the
balanced approach she then puts forth. For the purposes of assessment, Campbell
presents tutors with four, observable reading patterns – print-based,
meaning-based, nonintegrative, and integrative – that identify the
cognitive strengths and weaknesses of a learner engaged in drawing meaning from
a text. For each reading pattern, she offers specific strategies for developing
those skills that are weaker and bringing them into balance with a
learner’s existing strengths. The approach is highly accessible, relying
as it does on a shared understanding, between learner and tutor, of the basic
concepts and strategies upon which the method is based. When, in future, I am
asked by borrowers for a training resource on reading, this manual and the
accompanying videos will be among the first I recommend.
Reviewed by Claire Elliott, Librarian,
The Centre for
Literacy |
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Festival of
Literacies
OISE/University of Toronto is planning a Festival of
Literacies from May 2003 to August 2004 that will focus on social and cultural
approaches to literacy and support multiple literacies in a diversity of
communities. Plans include research in practice; graduate studies; credit and
non-credit courses; conferences; national and international speakers; and
community events
Information: Sheila Stewart or Nancy Jackson, Festival of
Literacies, c/o Adult Literacy Working Group, Department of Adult Education and
Counselling Psychology, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the
University of Toronto (OISE/UT),
252 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON M5S 1V6; Tel.:
416-923-6641, ext. 6084
; E-mail: sstwart@oise.utoronto.ca or
njackson@oise.utoronto.ca |
International conference on Imagination
and Education
Vancouver, B.C.
July 16 – 19, 2003
Sponsored by the
Imaginative Education Research Group,
Simon Fraser
University, British
Columbia,
Proposals invited on any aspect of the connection between
education and imagination. Formats: traditional papers, panels, and workshops,
roundtable sessions, informal presentations and discussions, posters, etc.
Please include title, 250-word abstract, and a brief C/V, including
institutional affiliation, degrees, publications, etc. Choose format and time
requirement: Papers: 50 minutes; panels and workshop: up to 80 minutes. Efforts
will be made to accommodate shorter or longer sessions. Please note other ways
of participating.
Send proposals to: ierg, Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser
University, Burnaby, B.C. V5A 1S6, Canada; Fax: (604) 291 3203; e-mail:
ierged@ sfu.ca
Information: Tel.: (604)
291 4479;
Conference web site:
www.sfu.ca/conferences/ierg2003.
Additional information : www.ierg.net.
Deadline for proposals:
January 25, 2003
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