CALP Connections: February 2020

We are already a month into 2020 and we survived the very cold deep freeze Mother Nature set forth. 

In the summer the CLN Board felt it was time to realign the CLN’s strategic plan. This is a process we all know Boards take part in in different capacities on a regular basis…right?!? During our discussions on how to proceed it was mentioned that Brad Kotowich may still be in the business of strategic planning. (For those of you who have been in the CALP world for a while, you may remember Brad from past Symposium sessions.) We immediately agreed we should reach out to Brad to find out if he is interested in working with the CLN again.

Turns out, Brad was very keen to work with us again, however he is no longer in the business of “strategic planning”. His school of thought being that you can’t be strategic if you are not first sustainable. The Board set out to create a Sustainability Plan for the Community Learning Network that includes our five “organizational sustainability pillars”. The pillars reflect the most critical aspects of the CLN’s overall purpose, and ongoing health and sustainability. Our annual planning and intentional work throughout the organization will encompass each of these pillars and the outcomes within. The CLN’s sustainability pillars were determined to be as follows:

• Customer – satisfaction, quality and services
  • Who are the people or organizations we serve?
•  Mastery – skills, knowledge and capability
  • What do we need to know and be able to do to be great in our roles throughout the organization?
• Financial – revenue, efficiency, cash flow and expenditures
  • What do we have in place to ensure accountability, transparency, and to ensure we are spending responsibly, with an eye to getting the best possible value?
• Culture and Structure – staff retention, morale, operational effectiveness and capacity
  • Do we have policies, procedures and strategies in place that build a healthy culture? Are our policies and procedures supporting efficiencies and effectiveness in our operations?
• Partnerships – community, funders and other resources
  • Who are our other partners? What do our relationships look like?

We were so excited and pleased to see our new creation and in January we were able to share it with the CLN Staff.

The staff were assigned to look at our Sustainability Plan creation and tear it apart. Find any and every gap and ask the Board to defend it. We had a “great debate” and it was GREAT! By the end of the activity the Board and Staff were able to look at the new plan from a variety of different perspectives and we are now in the process of making final edits and minor adjustments. 

We rounded off our time in January with Board and Staff trying out our culinary skills by creating some cuisine inspired by New Orleans. Jambalaya, coleslaw and ribs were on the menu followed by a fantastic bananas foster. What a wonderful team we have in the CLN and CALPs throughout the province. 

We know you want to see how our Sustainability Plan turns out so stay tuned for the unveiling in the Spring!

Jana Thomson, CLN Board Treasurer
Program Coordinator, Rocky Learning Centre

Symposium 2020 Keynote Speakers

Only a month into the new year but the Symposium Planning Committee has been working hard to plan for the Literacy and Learning Symposium 2020! With registration set to open March 2, we are finalizing a schedule that will engage and motivate you all.

We are excited to announce we have confirmed the Opening and Closing Keynote speakers for the Literacy and Learning Symposium 2020!

Our opening keynote speaker is Tina Varughese. 

Topic: 50 Shades of Beige: Communicate with the Cross-Cultural Advantage

Literacy and learning specialists need to establish immediate cognitive and affective trust to successfully work with learners. When 20% of Canada’s population is foreign-born, communicating with the cross-cultural advantage is arguably one of the most important skills to develop. Being able to communicate cross-culturally leads to enhanced productivity, positivity, and enhanced performance. Managing and mitigating cultural differences fosters learner engagement and promotes an inspiring inclusive culture. In a fun, highly entertaining and thought-provoking manner Tina Varughese will offer insights and strategies to communicate more effectively cross-culturally.

For fifteen years Tina Varughese worked with immigrants in her roles with the Province of Alberta’s immigration office as well as running her own successful relocation and settlement firm. She has been profiled in Alberta Venture Magazine as well as the Calgary Herald and is a contributing writer for the Human Resource Institute of Alberta’s Network magazine, Calgary Real Estate News, and Home to Home magazine. In 2018 she was named one of Canada’s 10 Notable Speakers in Ignite Magazine. She is the President of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers (Calgary) chapter. Her interactive approach is insightful and her delivery is highly entertaining. She breaks down barriers to create a comfortable and fun space where people ask the questions they might otherwise be afraid to ask. Tina has been the face of diversity, literally, when she was chosen to be in Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty representing beauty in diversity. With two kids, five fish and one husband, she resides in Calgary where she recently began hip hop classes. 

 
Our closing keynote is Alexandra Samuel.

Topic: A new lens on digital literacy: Essential skills for lifelong learners

Digital literacy is about more than using software: It’s about developing the skills and confidence that let you translate offline abilities into the online world. In this season, we’ll look at how to shift our lens on digital literacy so that we can help learners develop the fundamental skills that allow them to participate meaningfully in the online world: Skills like critical assessment of online information, constructive engagement in online conversation, and effective online problem solving. Most crucially, we will look at how to develop the capacity for continuous, lifelong learning online — which is not only crucial for the learners we serve, but for our own ongoing professional development.

Alexandra Samuel is an independent data journalist and technology writer, and the author of Work Smarter with Social Media from the Harvard Business Review Press. She is a regular contributor to The Wall Street Journal, the CBC, JSTOR Daily and The Harvard Business Review. 

Watch for more information on how to register, session descriptions and all the fun and exciting events planned for the Literacy & Learning Symposium this year on March 2, 2020! 

Literacy & Learning Symposium 2020

Tuesday, September 29 to Friday, October 2

We Want To Hear from You!

This month, CLN will be sending out follow-up surveys to participants who attended training coordinated or delivered by our team between July and October of 2019, including any training sessions you attended at last fall's Literacy and Learning Symposium.

Under the CALP Professional Development Logic Model and Evaluation Framework, PD providers funded through the Community Adult Learning Program are required to collect and report on data that measures the intermediate level outcome of the PD Logic Model:

CALP staff integrate acquired knowledge and skills into practice

These follow-up surveys only take about 2 minutes to complete, and your input is invaluable. The feedback we collect informs our evaluation of past training initiatives, and helps us plan future professional learning opportunities for the CALP system.

Many of you will receive a number of surveys by email, based on the trainings you attended. Please take a few moments to share your feedback on each of the professional learning opportunities we ask you about.

Your input helps us tell the story of why it is important for CALP practitioners to continue to have just-in-time, affordable access to relevant PD that supports you in your work.

*Section 5 of the CALP Guidelines, Program Requirements (page 13), also highlights the importance of your feedback: “Funded organizations are expected to respond to surveys from Advanced Education and professional development providers. The information collected from these surveys is used to evaluate the impact of the Community Adult Learning Program professional development system and make any improvements to enhance quality and effectiveness.”

Spring Regional Meetings - Save the Date!

In case you missed it in the January edition of CALP Connections, here are the upcoming regional meeting dates and locations - be sure to mark it in your calendars!

Regional meetings are an excellent way to network with others in your region, learn more about trainings happening in your region, and get all the latest updates from CLN.

• East-Central - April 2, St. Paul
• South - April 8, Lethbridge
• North - April 23, Grande Prairie
• West-Central - April 28, Stony Plain
• Central - May 5, Big Valley

Your Regional Support Staff will be sending out more detailed information in the weeks to come. Also, please keep an eye out for information posted on the Portal.

Displaced Workers Survey

CLN is helping Decoda Literacy Solutions, BC’s literacy organization, explore the literacy and essential skills needs, available services and gaps for Canadian workers who have been displaced.

The goal of this three-year research project is to find promising practices. Some of these practices will be beta-tested for future expansion.

By filling out this short questionnaire, you will help identity ‘hot spots’ across the country – places where Decoda can further explore, conduct interviews and identify potential beta-testing sites.

Please complete this questionnaire by February 28, 2020. Your efforts will help define successful practices to help workers and their families get back on their feet.

This project is funded by Employment and Social Development Canada and is supported by partners Social Research and Demonstration Corporation and Learning Metrix.