Authors: Audrey M Thomas
Collection: Learning Materials
This is a self-study evaluation kit developed to help programs examine their practice, reflect upon it and try to see how things could be done differently in the hope that this reflection would lead to action and improved programs.
The evaluation is a participatory process that: encourages objective evaluation of the program; encourages upgrading of program conditions; suggests areas for growth; enables coordinators to focus on needs of tutors and learners; provides opportunities to plan ahead; promotes group spirit and discussion; provides a tool for in-service development; and provides a basis for program funding proposals.
Funders:
Added: 2005-03-04
Authors: Catherine Hambly
Collection: Research Materials
The research reported in this position paper examined the behaviours and beliefs of a group of volunteer literacy tutors to discover why they did not maintain close contact with their training organization. The study revealed a shared belief system among the tutors in the sample as the cause of their disinclination to receive support from the organization. The paper includes discussion of tutor beliefs and the resulting problems that arise for the learner, tutor and program. Recommendations are made on how to respond to this belief system.
Added: 1998-01-01
Authors: George Demetrion
Collection: Research Materials
What follows is a bibliographic review of the author's online and print based articles and book chapters from 1993-2004 on various facets of the pedagogy, politics, and science of adult literacy education.
A strong autobiographical emphasis is highlighted especially on pp. 9-14, but more broadly throughout the text in the argument carried out explicitly and implicitly that the pedagogical and political are personal "all the way down," to quote the aphoristic phrase of pragmatic philosopher, Richard Rorty.
The common theme throughout all of the topics identified is an exploration of the complex relationship between the dynamics of the author's lived experience as a director of adult literacy programming in Hartford, CT, and his alter vocation as an intellectual seeking to make sense of the scholarship of adult literacy in light of the concrete irreducibility of his own daily practice.
Added: 2005-11-09
Course Manual
Authors: Community Literacy of Ontario (CLO), Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food & Rural Affairs
Collection: Research Materials
This document is a reproduction of the course manual that accompanied an electronic workshop offered in 2000 by Community Literacy Ontario and Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The workshop was designed for anyone working with literacy volunteers. The manual contains six modules covering these topics: the changing volunteer environment, the new volunteer, getting the right volunteers, finding, retraining and acknowledging volunteers. The modules are accompanied by activities, discussion questions and additional resources. The manual is supplemented with definitions and a list of websites about volunteer management.
For more information on this workshop, please contact:
Community Literacy of Ontario (CLO),
80 Bradford Street, Suite 508,
Barrie ON L4N 6S7
Tel. (705) 733-2312
Fax (705) 733-6197
E-mail : kaattari@bconnex.net
WWW : http://www.nald.ca/clo.htm
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Added: 2000-11-21
Resources for Literacy Workers
Authors: Metro Toronto Movement for Literacy
Collection: Research Materials
This book is a resource for literacy workers. One of its focus is on the challenges of people having limited literacy skills when they attempt to access counselling services. It also includes information for workers who may be working with victims of abuse and violence.
Added: 2005-11-23
Supported Programs for Volunteers with Special Needs
Authors: Janet Lautenschlager
Collection: Research Materials
The aim of ‘supported' volunteer programs is to involve people who have special needs arising out of disabilities or disadvantaged circumstances and keep them involved in volunteering. This document discusses the concept of supported volunteerism, examines factors in the success of programs supporting volunteers with special needs, and addresses key issues and challenges related to supported volunteerism. It also provides a brief review of the innovative programs that are being piloted by Canadian volunteer centres, as well as a list of the major resources in this field.
Added: 1992-01-01
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A Research Report
Authors: Sheryl Harrow, Mary Leggett, Susan Robertson, Lynne Townsend, Sharla Daviduik, READ Saskatoon
Collection: Research Materials
READ Saskatoon, a community-based volunteer literacy organization, like many literacy organizations in Canada, is experiencing significant challenges in recruiting and retaining tutor volunteers. The research project presented in this report was designed to contribute to READ Saskatoon’s ongoing efforts to build organizational learning capacity to meet literacy needs in Saskatoon. The objectives of this project were to identify 1) the factors affecting READ Saskatoon’s capacity to recruit and retain volunteer tutors; and 2) the factors affecting READ Saskatoon’s capacity to recruit and retain Aboriginal volunteers. In this paper, the authors discuss what motivates individuals to volunteer their time as literacy tutors and what relationships should be established, maintained or transformed in order to attract and retain literacy volunteers.
Added: 2008-03-27
Collection: Research Materials
This page provides links to a collection of 15 publications, grouped under the following headings:
1. Recruiting Volunteers: "Volunteering: A Traditional Canadian Value" "Why People Volunteer" "Stronger Together" "Bridges to the Future" "Family Volunteering: The Ties That Bind" "Volunteering for Work Experience" "A Springboard to Tomorrow"
2. Fundraising: "Fundraising Ideas That Work for Grassroots Groups" "Face to Face" "How to Estimate the Economic Contribution of Volunteer Work" "Guide to Special Events Fund Raising"
3. Promotion: "Promoting Volunteerism" "Low-Cost Small-Scale Publishing" "Publicity!" "Volunteering in the Workplace"
Added: 1990-01-01
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A Research Project Summary for the Ottawa-Carleton Coalition for Literacy
Authors: Christine Pinsent-Johnson, Lianne Calvert, Lisa Hagedorn
Collection: Research Materials
The authors of this study set out a number of questions about literacy, including its definition in the current world; other issues affecting students’ ability to achieve their goals; what prompts students to participate in literacy programs; and whether some types of programs are more attractive than others. Then they sought answers from three perspectives: that of literacy practitioners; literacy students; and representatives from community partners, the organizations that interact with the same target groups served by literacy programs.
The authors recommend that literacy practitioners take a more holistic view of their students, focusing on their needs and goals, not just on their functional literacy skills.
They also recommend that practitioners share information about programs with community partners and with each other, and initiate a study to describe their students in an in-depth and qualitative manner.
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Added: 2009-07-29
For Adult Literacy Service Providers
Authors: Robyn Cook-Ritchie
Collection: Research Materials
The purpose of this manual is to provide readers with a set of general policy and procedure templates that should be considered, adapted and modified as required for use in a Literacy and Basic Skills (LBS) program. A template is meant to be a guide or a pattern that can be used to "shape" your work. These policy templates can be used as the starting point for drafting policy in your agency.
Each policy/procedure template includes four segments with the following headings: Policy Statement; Why? (reasons for the policy); Procedures; Key core quality standards and features. Sample policies cover such topics as: personnel, volunteer management, financial management, safety, marketing and community outreach, and more.
Funders:
Added: 2000-05-02
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