Quality People, Quality Programming

CBC Radio One’s Metro Morning Show (a personal favourite of mine) recently aired a commentary by Michael Hlinka, questioning the practices – and quality – of adult literacy programs. This questioning was based on hearsay. Hence, I must comment.

The literacy field has risen out of the church basement and become an illustrious industry that permeates this province – and country.

You can find literacy in your school, in your college, in your library, in your community, in your local YMCA/YWCA, in your health care system and in your workplace.

We include the volunteers in your community-based organizations but the majority of us are the adult educators and administrators in the not-for-profit and public spheres, which include your libraries, schools and colleges, and other such institutions.

We are the editors re-writing documents in clear language.

We are the public speakers presenting governments and businesses with the literacy tools that makes a more productive society.

We are the project managers researching and creating teaching tools, establishing brand new programs and marketing our products.

We are the social workers bringing literacy students from every race, religion, and socio-economic class together through learning.

We are the conveners developing partnerships between people, social service providers, governments and private companies.

We are the accountants managing all of this on unbelievably minuscule budgets.

We are the professionals making our society a truly accessible one.

When you take a team of professionals, like those that exist in the literacy industry, and you combine it with people who want to learn and a supportive government body, you surely find high quality programs – and a high quality field.

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