Safe spaces for learning

ABC Life Literacy Canada’s Activate Learning fosters safe environment for learners of all abilities

Everyone should feel safe and supported when they begin learning something new or refining a set of skills they want to improve.

This is exactly how adult learners have felt in ABC Life Literacy Canada’s Activate Learning program, according to Stella’s Circle Adult Basic Education instructor Jessica Lee-middleman, who has facilitated ABC learning modules with people at the St. John’s-based social enterprise.

Lee-middleman says this program is one that learners can feel safe partaking in, after facing negative educational experiences in the past. She says Activate Learning, along with the materials it provides, will support and give them confidence to expand their skillset.

“Having materials that meet people where they are makes them feel they aren’t alone — that it’s O.K. to be where they are. It encourages them to take risks as they learn new skills,” she says.

SUPPORTING AND EMPOWERING LEARNERS

ABC Life Literacy Canada’s Gwim Philipp is the Associate Director of Activate Learning. She says the program includes a suite of 35 free introductory workshops and workbooks covering employability and life skills, financial, and health literacy.

The program is delivered across the province in collaboration with community learning centres, workplaces and post-secondary institutions, where it connects adult learners with the skills they need to approach their day-to-day lives and community with confidence.

“Our goal with Activate Learning is to support and empower adult learners across Newfoundland and Labrador,” says Philipp.

Lee-middleman led learners at Stella’s Circle and facilitated Activate Learning’s employability and life skills workshops, which she says her team chose specifically to help learners develop skills needed to fully engage in their communities and lives, in combination with teaching soft skills like accountability and teamwork for those looking to return to work.

“For our students, part of the reason they’re here with us is to increase their skills in these essential areas,” says Lee-middleman. “There is great overlap between our Adult Basic Education program and ABC’S offerings, the same kind of ideas, which makes this a great fit.”

Lee-middleman says these workbooks written in plain language offered real examples of using reading, writing and other skills to solve real-life problems, which she says created a jumping-off point for in-class discussions and helped learners share why they wanted to increase their skills.

“It reinforced people’s motivation around why this is important in their lives,” she says.

AN INVALUABLE PROGRAM FOR LEARNERS

Philipp says the structure of materials for each Activate Learning workshop is a key part of how each creates a safe space for learning, and why participants can complete the course and make a shift in their confidence level. Another great program feature is that participating employers are eligible to receive a salary offset of $15 per hour for each employee that completes a twohour workshop. Community learning centres are eligible to receive a $50 honorarium for every workshop they run.

All of these incentives mean that Activate Learning is an invaluable program for adult learners, in more ways than one.

“Learners complete a workshop with the intention to continue improving the skills they learned about. Our evaluation has found learners indicate a very high shift in their confidence — anywhere from 75 to 95 per cent, after finishing the workshop,” says Philipp.

“The skills they are learning affect how they are able to meet their personal goals, develop potential and participate in communities, and it increases empowerment so they can participate more fully.”

Lee-middleman says that learners knowing they are among fellow learners who are facing the same challenges they are makes it easier to open up and get excited about learning these skills, knowing they will not be judged at any point of their learning journey.

“We found that the materials really stuck with learners, showing them, ‘it’s not just me in this situation,’ and here’s a solution that we can work toward to help us. This encourages group discussion, which is wonderful in creating community,” she says.

To access free workbooks and to book an Activate Learning workshop, visit abcactivatelearning.ca. Activate Learning is funded in part by the Government of Canada’s Adult Learning, Literacy & Essential Skills Program.