Strategic Conversations: Let's Talk Submitted by Emily Robinson Leclair (CLN)
When was the last time you had a great conversation?
I love conversation. Yet, if I’m honest, I once took the nuance of great conversation for granted—until the Strategic Conversations project changed that.
Like many meaningful exchanges, this project began with a simple prompt from the Introduction to Adult Foundational Learning (IAFL) training:
Type in the chat box the questions you might ask a new learner coming to your CALP.
This is always one of my favourite activities in IAFL. Participants come up with thoughtful ideas ranging from collecting demographic information and exploring goals to informally assessing foundational skills and simply getting to know learners.
Some participants mention needing to complete intake or registration forms; others describe using online templates or offering coffee and snacks to make visitors feel at ease. As a group, we often agree that collecting demographic data can be sensitive and that identifying learning goals takes time and trust. To reach that important stage of planning for learning, we first need to build relationships and get to know the adults we serve.
That led us to our next question:
How do Community Adult Learning Programs invite adult Albertans to share their learning needs?
Across Alberta, we understand the value of creating welcoming spaces for learning. These spaces look different everywhere—sometimes they’re virtual, in a CALP office, in the grocery store line, or at the local library. Wherever these first conversations happen, they share one thing in common: learners must feel supported and encouraged to answer “How can we help?” honestly.
So, we reached out to CALP-funded staff across the province and invited them to contribute to a new project: Strategic Conversations.
Strategic Conversations
The Strategic Conversations resource would help CALP staff explore:
- adults as learners
- active listening
- first meetings
- establishing trust
- ongoing assessment
- nonformal intake processes
Theme: The components of the assessment process often referred to as first steps, intake, and/or initial assessment.
Threads: Getting to know learners, planning for learning, and building relationships with adult learners.
Format: To Be Determined
At first, we weren’t sure what this would look like. Would it become an e-Learning? An anthology? The format evolved several times.
Then, when Mandy submitted her stunning black-and-white photographs, everything clicked (pun intended). Her images felt like something out of a magazine—and that’s when we realized Strategic Conversations would be a zine.
Format: A zine (pronounced "zeen") is a small, self-published, often non-commercial booklet or magazine created by one or a small group of people, usually featuring a specialized or unconventional subject matter.
The Strategic Conversations zine is a collection of thought-provoking pieces dedicated to those first steps of learning—the moments when relationships, trust, and understanding begin.
Through stories, insights, and creative contributions from CALP-funded staff across Alberta, the zine explores what it truly means to get to know learners—beyond forms and checklists. It features:
- written articles
- podcasts
- checklists and tipsheets
- pauses for reflection
- photography
- poetry
Together, these contributions show that there are many ways to do this work—and do it well.
The Best Part? How We Got There
We got there because CALP staff responded thoughtfully with questions of their own. They wanted to know more, and we didn’t always have more to share. We were literally building this resource together in real time. We chatted via email, text, Zoom, and telephone. We mulled and deliberated. We agreed and disagreed. We observed that some of our content was contradictory and embraced that direction (or lack of). We were co-creating something special.
We were fearless in our conversations.
Tips for Fearless Conversations
- Be better listeners.
- Assume the best of each other.
- Choose honesty and truth over politeness.
- Make time for sprawling conversations.
- Practice forgiveness.
(Adapted from an interview with Ian Williams: University of Toronto Arts & Science News)
This zine is meant to spark real dialogue—the kind that deepens your practice—with yourself, your team, and the adult Albertans your program serves. None of it would have been possible without our incredible contributors.
Let's keep talking about it...
Strategic Conversations was designed to feel like a great conversation: start anywhere, begin any time, move in unexpected directions, and return to again and again.
CLN invites you to a series of rich, thought-provoking conversations inspired by the Strategic Conversations zine.
These sessions are an opportunity to pause, connect, and explore ideas that matter. Each topic draws from articles in the zine—perfect conversation starters that spark curiosity and invite reflection. Come for one session or join them all; each promises to be engaging, inspiring, and maybe even perspective-shifting.