by Susan Brekelmans
Editor of ‘Literacy at Work’ - ABC’s Newsletter

ABC CANADA was created in 1990 by a group of concerned people from business, labour, and education with the twin purposes of raising awareness about literacy and getting the private sector actively involved in supporting the cause. Our goal is a fully literate Canadian population. Our activities are designed to foster a lifelong learning culture and support the development of an educated and adaptable workforce.

Millions of public and private sector dollars later, literacy has a different face as we move out of the 90s. The private sector-both on the management side and the labour side-has become more involved in literacy and basic skills training. Canadians are more aware of the issue and of where to go if they need help, and the IALS report has encouraged a spate of research.

ABC CANADA has played a part in “moving the needle” on literacy through its Workplace Education Centre, fundraising efforts such as the PGI Golf Tournaments for Literacy and the Canada Post stamp project, and the LEARN campaign, which connects learners with literacy programs. Recent projects include the LIVE & LEARN campaign and the Literacy Public Awareness Kit. We would not have been able to accomplish all that we have without the unstinting support of corporate Canada.

Dozens of companies, both large and small, have provided us with financial help, services, and goods, as well as investing in their own workforces and communities. We have had a significant impact in creating awareness within the business community, principally at the level of larger companies, which are for the most part more able to deal with the issue. The challenge for the literacy movement is to get to the smaller and medium-sized organizations which are badly in need of literacy upgrading and literacy assessment. Nonetheless, overall significant strides have been made.

We are particularly excited about new projects for the coming years, under the leadership of a new Executive Director, Chris Featherstone. Our plans include an increased involvement in research and continuing efforts in the area of workplace education. The most exciting new area of focus is family literacy. In partnership with Honda Canada, ABC CANADA presents a one-hour drama about literacy called Penny’s Odyssey, broadcast on CTV on January 27, 1999 at 8 p.m. The program will be the marquee event of the inaugural Family Literacy Day, which will, we hope, be celebrated across the country.

You can visit ABC CANADA’s website at www.abc-canada.org for a list of our activities and publications and access to our public awareness materials.

Teaching suggestions for adults with suspected learning disabilities / differences

• Break tasks down into a logical sequence of discrete steps.
• Pre-test, teach, reteach as needed, and review.
• Be sure mastery has been achieved before moving on to the next step in the sequence of learning tasks.
• Provide frequent feedback that describes what was done well, how well, and how it might be improved.
• Use colour, highlighter, enlargement of print, and underlining to strengthen the visual input and enhance visual memory.
• Slow down the rate of your speech, emphasizing important points. Maintain eye contact in order to assess level of comprehension, encourage participation, give and get feedback, and maintain attention.
• Teach word processing skills, use of spelling and grammar checkers, and other software.