As mentioned in Chapter Four, The Programs in Common: Challenges and Opportunities, our national survey of Aboriginal literacy programs suggests that, given the diversity in Aboriginal communities, there is no ideal program, nor is there a typical one. What has become evident, however, is that there are a number of critical variables or components whose presence in an Aboriginal literacy program will contribute to the quality and longevity of the program. In short, there are a number of factors which contribute to the success of a literacy initiative. This is not to say that all programs must contain all of the components that we identify below. Nor are we suggesting that programs lacking most or all these ingredients are doomed to failure. Additional research would be required over a longer term to verify such a claim. Nevertheless, trends have certainly emerged in our national explorations with Aboriginal literacy coordinators, indicating that the presence or absence of "critical program components" seriously affect the quality of the program initiative.

We hasten to add that such terms as "quality" or "successful" are highly subjective and value-laden, but our research does provide preliminary indications that Aboriginal literacy programs which have "survived and thrived" have been those that have incorporated varying degrees of the following characteristics into their ongoing operations:

• A generally reliable and predictable source of ongoing funding

• A safe and welcoming learning environment

• Sympathetic and supportive community leadership

• Trained program staff and access to volunteers

• A program orientation which focuses on the learner as a whole person, with social, cultural, spiritual and physical abilities, needs and limitations where the curriculum is oriented to the needs of the learner and which progresses solely on the basis of the student’s abilities

• A curriculum which is as "culturally appropriate" as is feasible for the learning objectives of the learner, relating to the community and cultural referents of the learner and incorporating materials which reinforces cultural values and identity

• Access to learning aids other than curriculum

• Initiatives which lessen or minimize physical and financial impediments to participation in a literacy program, such as the provision of day-care assistance, transportation to the program site, counselling