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Recognizing the Profession

Stream Summary: 

The literacy and essential skills field, like most non-profit fields, relies heavily on its practitioners to sustain their profession.

For the field to gain professional prominence, these practitioners must be true agents of change. They need to continuously upgrade their own skills, campaign for public policy and funding as well as conduct succession planning so that organizational knowledge is not lost. All of this activity contributes to better service for learners.

Learner-centred programming does not end with an individual’s learning plan. Truly serving the needs of students requires a well-trained practitioner, a well-planned program and a well-funded field.

Being learner-centred means providing informed advice to policy-makers and investing in organizational planning and professional programs.

Professionalization and its potential role is a popular topic within the literacy community. Learn about the key issues around recognizing professionalism, and how other models are working in New Orleans and Nova Scotia.

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Moving Towards True Community Literacy

Presenter(s): 
Rachel Nicolosi
Session: 
108

Adult Literacy Advocacy in New Orleans

Public policy is a way for marginalized issues to improve their status and Rachel believes that advocating for systemic change is as important as program funding. She demonstrates this belief as she outlines her work in New Orleans and clearly lays out an advocacy process with specific tips and resources. The adult literacy field relies mostly on its practitioners to do a multitude of jobs, so the field needs to work together in order to do advocacy work because of time constraints, limited resources and varied skill sets.

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A Panel Discussion: Are We A Profession Yet?

Presenter(s): 
Lesley Brown, Alisa Belzer, Margan Dawson and John Benseman
Session: 
208

Professional Possibilities in Adult Literacy

Providing a platform for a dialogue around professionalism in the literacy field, this panel outlines what professionalism looks like in New Zealand, the United States and Nova Scotia. New Zealand provides scholarships to practitioners so they can become certified. The United States has a vast array of methods for getting into the literacy field, depending on the state in which you live. The International Adult Literacy Survey and economic circumstances have brought certification to workplace literacy in Nova Scotia.

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A Facilitated Discussion: Are We A Profession Yet?

Presenter(s): 
Anne Ramsay
Session: 
308

Professional Possibilities in Adult Literacy

In this session, literacy professionals discuss their hopes and dreams (How would the literacy field benefit if it professionalized?); concerns and fears (What concerns do you have about professionalism?); ideas and solutions (What would need to be in place for adult literacy to be seen as a profession?); next steps and roles and responsibilities (What should happen next? What would progress look like in five years? What are you willing to do?). Overall, a desire to see professionalism move forward was strong among the workshop participants.

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A Facilitated Networking Discussion: Leadership

Presenter(s): 
Joanne Davis and Melissa Alers
Session: 
408

Are We Prepared to Pass the Torch to Generation Next

This interactive networking discussion looks at how we transfer knowledge from individual to individual and from organization to organization to make sure key learning is not lost. Three (3) questions were posed - What does the next generation of literacy workers look like? How do we attract, support and retain new practitioners and administrators? How do we protect organizational knowledge? Key themes throughout the discussion centered around technology, change and flexibility.

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Multimedia Approach to Practitioner Training

Presenter(s): 
Jayne Hunter:
Session: 
608

Multimedia Approach to Practitioner Training and Certification

Learners today are different than learners of ten years ago, so updating tutor skills and training is necessary to meet the needs of changing learner demographics. Laying the foundation for discussion, Jayne asserts that learners and students have a right to high quality education and therefore they have an expectation of well-trained practitioners. There should be someone skilled, trained and able to meet their needs. She discusses the Nova Scotia Literacy Practitioner Training and Certification Program, which features online discussions, videos, podcasts, face-to-face discussions, groups and individual work.

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