In cooperation with the Department of Post-Secondary Education and Skills Training and the Provincial Literacy Steering Committee, the Saskatchewan Literacy Network organized and facilitated a series of sixteen community consultation sessions during May and June, 2001. The purpose of these sessions was to obtain input from a broad range of stakeholders that would help shape the development of a provincial literacy strategy. The response has been phenomenal!

Through the consultation sessions, 236 participants including learners, practitioners, program managers, funders and representatives from related sectors and specific target groups (Aboriginal, ESL, special needs, etc.), came together to join their voices in support of a vision for literacy within the province. Although further consultations are planned for this fall, several key themes have begun to emerge.

The voice of adult learners has been loud and clear during the consultation process. They have expressed a very profound need for understanding and acceptance as well as the need for being treated honourably and with respect for “the whole person”. They feel that more regard should be given to their willingness to face not only the challenges of learning, but also surviving often very trying personal and economic situations. They wish to be recognized for the deep commitment they make to their personal improvement and the impact or ripple effect of this commitment on the entire community.

Some of the key recommendations for a provincial strategy made by learners include:

• increased training and awareness of learner needs for literacy practitioners;
• a realistic appreciation for the amount of time and personal energy required for an individual to move through the process of learning how to learn, learning, and then applying those learned skills;
• a greater voice in the planning and promotion of literacy programs and services; and
• the need for more practical social skills and quality of life learning opportunities to accompany practical literacy and academic learning programs.

Facilitators and program coordinators shared a sense of pride in their work and the fact that they are “making a difference”. They define themselves as dedicated and resourceful. They communicated the desire to serve the needs of learners and not the system.

Practitioners and program coordinators expressed the need for:

• adequate and consistent funding that provides for long-term programs and services;
• ongoing training and professional development opportunities;
• integrating literacy programs with other education programs and services within the community;
• preventative measures, such as being trained to identifying learners who require special attention, and the importance of providing early intervention and adequate support services within the education system; and
• providing a greater sense of community and continuity within the multiplicity of literacy service providers.

At the community level, the profound and immediate need to address systemic attitudes and barriers that create the social stigma attached to literacy learning was echoed repeatedly. There is a need to create an appreciation of the “big picture” of literacy and lifelong learning with an emphasis placed on the impact of literacy on an individual’s wellbeing and benefits to the whole community. The involvement of new partners, such as business, education and community service organizations, would also generate greater awareness and support. Finally, participants voiced the need to provide accessible distribution of resources to serve the diversity of needs.

Above all else, voices have joined together to share the message that literacy must be viewed as much more than a political or economic issue. Literacy represents a basic human need that extends to and influences every aspect of life from the individual, to the community, to the nation. Our collective challenge is to develop strategies at the provincial and national levels that will lead to the realization of a vision for literacy based on this premise!

* Debbie Purton, Executive Director, Saskatchewan Literacy Network, 206- 220 - 3rd Ave S, Saskatoon SK S7K 1M1, Tel. (306) 653-7368, Fax (306) 0653-1704, Email : d.purton@sk.sympatico.ca web: www.nald.ca/sklitnet.htm