E. Training

The type of training you require for your project will obviously depend on the model you choose for your program. There are currently a limited number of formal training opportunities available for family literacy staff, depending on your needs you may find it possible to develop a training opportunity with an existing program through an exchange of information and program observation.

Homespun training has been offered in Brooks and around Alberta; our survey in mid-1994 indicated that practitioners felt that training was difficult to access and too expensive. This has changed in the past year as Homespun obtained funding to provide training free of charge and in different locations around the province to Alberta practitioners. Contact Karen Nelson at the Homespun address listed in Appendix A for more information.

The National Center for Family Literacy in Louisville, Kentucky offers training in the Toyota Families for Literacy model; see also Appendix A for more information. The Prince Edward Island Literacy Alliance offers training institutes in the Parents as Reading Partners model, and the Saskatchewan Literacy Network offers Come Read With Me training to practitioners there (see Appendix A).

In addition to training institutes, provincial literacy conferences (A.A.A.L. and L.C.A.), literacy institutes such as Literacy B.C. (1994), and national conferences (English and Francophone) all provide workshops and seminars on family literacy for professional development.

F. Public Awareness

Public awareness is a critical aspect of building a family literacy program. It not only informs the general public of the need for programming and its development locally, it can build support for the program and attract potential participants from your intended target audience.