CALP Connections: November 2023

A Message from Chelsey Friedt, Secretary

Dear Friends,

It’s a joy to be able to share with you as we all embark on another exciting, if not stressful, journey of the CALP application! I’m located in Peace River at the Vision Learning Centre. We're fortunate to be facing a remarkable challenge, one I believe you can relate to - a surge of eager learners seeking knowledge. It's an inspiring situation, but it also poses a puzzle. Our dedicated team is working tirelessly, but we're in need of additional resources to ensure no learner is left behind.

What do you do when you have too many learners and not enough time or big enough team?

Our community is a diverse tapestry of backgrounds and dreams. Many people have come to Peace River seeking work, refuge, or a fresh start. Our English Language Learning program warmly embraces newcomers and our Foundational Literacy Instructors have also had an abundance of learners coming to us with hopeful eyes and nervous smiles.

To keep our community thriving and ensure that we can support the aspirations of our learners effectively, we're reaching out for support. Increased staffing, made possible through additional funds, will enable us to serve more individuals with foundational learning and enhanced support for our English Language Learning program. One of our amazing staff members has worked really hard to create relationships with industries in the region to support our efforts financially.

So what’s on the Horizon?

• Growing our Team: We plan to expand our team, ensuring that everyone in our community can access the education they need.
• Building Partnerships: Collaboration is the key. By partnering with other community organizations, businesses, and individuals, we aim to create a robust support network that empowers people to achieve their educational goals.
• Evaluating what Works FOR US : Our commitment to foundational learning, job readiness and English Language Learning proficiency remains unwavering but knowing our own community plays a vital role in this. We are not Edmonton or Calgary. We must move the way our community moves.
• Promoting Life Long Learning: Learning is for everyone. We’re dedicated to inspiring and supporting individuals to pursue their educational dreams through relationship and goal driven learning!

As you work on your applications, let’s remember that learning should be boundless and every individual deserves the chance to dream and for those dreams to flourish regardless of their start point.

Upcoming Professional Development Opportunities

Required Training

Introduction to Adult Foundational Learning – Online (5 weeks)

• January 25 - Mornings
• January 25 - Afternoons
• May 22 - Mornings

CALP Essentials for Family Literacy Programs Online (3 weeks)

• February 27 - Mornings

Register now for these upcoming training events! 

Check the training & events calendar for more training opportunities through May.

NEW! Connecting to Community series. In this 4-session series, we will explore a collection of voices, resources, perspectives, and strategies intended to strengthen your organization’s connections to community. It is through a well-connected network that learners can find their way to the services and supports they need, whether through direct programming at funded organizations or indirectly through coordinated knowledgeable referrals.

November 20 - Engaging Community
January 22 - Literacy Awareness
February 20 - Literacy Audits

November Events

November 21 - Volunteer Tutor Study Group
November 22 - Indigenous Learning in the CALP Model: Creating Safer Spaces (Edmonton) IN PERSON (2 days)
November 23 - Plain Language
November 27 - Moving in the Write Direction
November 30 - A.L.L. In Family Literacy Programs (2 weeks)
November 30 - Goal Setting with Adult Foundational Learners
November 30 - Psychological First Aid (Rocky Mountain House) – IN PERSON (2 days)

Communities of Practice

Join your peers in informal online discussions facilitated by CLN staff. Grab a coffee, bring a question, share a success or challenge, and settle in for five minutes or all sixty.

November 15 - Holding Safer Spaces Open Circle – Anatomy of Trust
November 15 - Ask Us Anything about Metis & Indigenous Worldview
November 28 - CALP Community Talks About...Skills for Learning
December 5 - Literacy Practitioners Share, Learn Grow
December 6 - Joint North and West Connections Café 
December 6 – East Connections Café  
December 6 – Central Connections Café  
December 6 – South Connections Café
December 12 - Holding Safer Spaces Open Circle - Power of Mindset

More events are added to the CALP Portal Training & Events calendar periodically. Check the calendar regularly to see what is coming up!

Symposium 2024 Update

Announcing our Symposium 2024 Purpose, Goals & Theme

We are excited to announce that we have confirmed our Purpose, Goals and Theme for 2024:

PURPOSE: To provide curated content to educate, connect and inspire CALPs and community-based adult learning system partners

GOALS: Target audience: CALP Staff, Boards and Volunteers 

• Provide relevant training and PD opportunities
• Build and strengthen connections and relationships by:
  • Enhancing engagement
  • Providing networking opportunities
  • Encouraging communities of practice
  • Celebrating milestones

THEME: The Power of Community

As we get closer to the Symposium, we’ll continue to unpack why we selected this as our theme for 2024. Let’s begin with this quote:

Symposium Program

We also want to update you that in October we were delighted to receive 27 Call for Presenter submissions and we are now well in the midst of building our Symposium Program for 2024.

Watch for more information on how to register and all the fun and exciting events planned for the Literacy & Learning Symposium in February 2024!

Looking for Keynote Presenters

Between now and the end of December, the Symposium Planning Committee is in search of Keynote Presenters.

If you have suggestions of possible keynote presenters or topics you would like to see at Symposium 2024, please contact Pat Halewich, CLN PD & Events Specialist, at pdevents@calp.ca 

And remember - SAVE THE DATES!

Literacy & Learning Symposium 2024

Tuesday, April 30th to Thursday, May 2nd – In-person event in Edmonton at the DoubleTree by Hilton West Edmonton

Please mark your training calendars!

Never Fail Writing Method e-Learning

Tell your instructors! Tell your tutors! Writing instruction help is on the way!

CLN is in the early stages of a new project. We are so excited that we can’t help ourselves. We just have to tell someone!

If you attended the Stepping Into Writing series CLN co-hosted with Calgary Learns last year you got to meet Kate Nonesuch. She is a longtime literacy practitioner who has helped shape the learner-centred and equitable literacy learning spaces in Canada. Her ‘Never Fail Writing Method’ was so well received by CALPs that we wanted to find a way to make Kate’s method available to everyone.

We asked Kate to work with us to create a new e-learning called Never Fail Writing Method. She heartily agreed. So we are now working diligently to design and build an easy to follow, practical and interactive online learning module to teach CALPs this approach to teaching writing to adult learners.

Watch the CALP Portal for more updates and for the launch of the e-learning in June 2024. 

Literacy in Action

How we learn to read informs how we teach reading. Did you know there have been many research studies from various disciplines that explore how our brain learns to read? 

These studies include the neuroscience of reading and how the brain not only reads, but how it learns to read. Research has learned that our brains process learning to read the same way all over the world. All languages and all ages learn to read the same way. 

Here is an article that discusses what is needed to learn to read. The focus is on how children learn to read but studies have learned that adults need to go through the same process of learning to read as children. 

Whitepaper - The Science of Reading 

To learn more or to request a workshop for your staff and tutors on how to teach reading, contact Rebecca Still, CLN Literacy Specialist at literacy@calp.ca 

This Month's Spotlight

Beginning November 25th, The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence raises awareness and advocacy for ending the violence against girls and women in Canada. 

Gender-based violence has a profound impact on literacy. Fear, trauma, and societal stigma can deter survivors from pursuing education. Jenny Horsman explains, "Particularly important for educators is that violence may teach us that we cannot learn the things we choose to learn. We may fear we cannot succeed in the studies we want to take on. We may feel defeated by the tasks we dream of completing. Perhaps, even more disturbing, learning enforced through violence may get in the way of dreaming of possibilities at all."

During this time, communities organizations, and individuals are encouraged to highlight the issue of gender-based violence in society and hold meaningful discussion surrounding it. Addressing the impact of gender-based violence on learning is crucial; not only for the well-being of survivors, but to also encourage and empower their learning journey. To learn more about supporting individuals experience gender-based violence, the Calgary Immigrant Women's Association (CIWA) offers informative videos for a deeper understanding of the issue. 

Access CIWA's gender-based violence videos here.