Fall Issue - November 1999 - casae

Newsletter of the Canadian Association for the Study of Adult Education
Le bulletin de liaison de Association Canadienne pour l’ Étude de l’ Éducation
des Adultes
November 1999
Winter Issue
Letter from the Editor
Eyes on Seattle: Fateful
WTO Meetings
All over the world, NGOs and government
negotiators are preparing for the upcoming World Trade Organization Talks in
Seattle, Washington, beginning the end
of November. On October 20 it was
announced in Canada’s national newspaper, The Globe and Mail, that the federal cabinet has decided to “push hard” for
a global agreement that would protect cul
tural industries such as films, books and
broadcasting - from international trade
rules “once and for all”.
Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew explained
that, “in the past, Canada has tried to
protect cultural industries by seeking specific exemptions in trade agreements or
opting out of agreements altogether”. It
seems this rationale was not applied to
either the Canada/ U.S. Free Trade
Agreement or NAFTA which followed and
paved the way, for Canada to end up on
the losing end in, for example, the magazine trade war with the United States earlier this year.
For over a year now, first under the leadership of Sheila Copps, Minister of
Heritage, Canada has taken the lead in
lobbying efforts to encourage like-minded
countries to work on an international
accord that would lay out ground rules for
the protection and promotion of cultural
diversity. So far, France has emerged as
Canada’s strongest ally. An advisory
group is also recommending that such an
accord not be part of WTO talks at all,
but instead be negotiated in another
international forum such as the United
Nations or the OECD.
Despite all of this preoccupation with cultural diversity, three meetings which
were held between April and September
with Bill Graham (Chair of the Standing
Committee on Foreign Affairs and
International Trade), and like-minded
community activists concerned about
issues involving encroaching corporate
Continues on Page 2.
PETITES NOUVELLES DU QUÉBEC
EN ÉDUCATION DES ADULTES
Colette Bérubé, Ph.D. - chargée de projet
Institut canadien d’éducation des adultes 1
Le Québec vit un automne chaud dans le champ de l’éducation des adultes ! En effet, des
«marrons sont au feu», et pas des moindres, comme la crise à Emploi-Québec et la
prochaine politique gouvernementale d’éducation des adultes. Cette double réalité prend
donc une grande partie des énergies depuis la rentrée estivale. Il y a en outre les dossiers
courants à faire cheminer. Pensons aux suites du Colloque international sur Alphabétisation,
francophonie et pays industrialisés du 20-25 juin 1999 à Namur (Belgique) où la délégation
canadienne s’est illustrée. Ajoutons également le suivi des trois groupes de travail, rattachés
à la Commission des partenaires du marché du travail (CPMT), dont les travaux portent sur le
prochain régime d’apprentissage et de qualification professionnelle au Québec, sur la future
politique gouvernementale d’éducation des adultes et sur l’évaluation après cinq ans de la Loi
90 portant sur le 1% obligatoire pour la formation continue en entreprise chez toutes celles
ayant 250 000$ et plus de masse salariale. N’oublions pas aussi le travail relié à la reconnaissance gouvernementale de l’économie sociale au Québec, suite aux deux Sommets sur l’Économie et l’Emploi en 1996, qui sous-tend l’instauration d’un secteur fort et en santé. Bref,
compte tenu de l’espace qui m’est réservé, ces objets se déclinent rapidement ici et et le lectorat comprendra que leur développement est impossible.
En premier lieu, quelques mots sur la crise à Emploi-Québec qui fait rage depuis le printemps
et qui a atteint un sommet les dernières semaines 2 . Rappelons ses liens avec la réforme
gouvernementale en formation et en développement de la main-d’oeuvre qui a eu lieu en
1997. En effet, suite au rapatriement administratif de ce dossier du niveau fédéral, le gou-
More than just Window
Dressing: Ontarians with
Disabilities mark One
Year Anniversary of
Inaction
October 29th marked the one year anniversary of the Ontario Legislature’s unanimous passing of a historic resolution. The
resolution called on the Government to pass
strong, effective legislation to achieve a barrier-free Ontario for 1.5 million Ontarians
with disabilities. The October 29, 1998 resolution, introduced by Liberal MPP Dwight
Duncan, called for the enactment of a strong
and effective Ontarians with Disabilities Act
based on 11 key principles.
vernement québécois a aboli la Société
québécoise de développement de la maind’oeuvre qu’il a remplacé par une structure
administrative composée d’Emploi-Québec
qui gère les nouveaux Centres locaux d’emploi (CLE). Ces CLE, implantés sur tout le
territoire québécois, constituent depuis lors
«le guichet unique» des services de formation et d’emploi pour toute personne sans
emploi (en chômage, sur l’aide sociale ou
«sans chèque») et ce, sans discrimination et
sans priorité de statut.
In the 1995 election campaign, Mike Harris
promised in writing that his Government
La crise à Emploi-Québec, la plus connue, a
trait surtout au financement des mesures
actives de formation et d’emploi par EmploiQuébec. Celui-ci finance, via le système des
CLE, des milliers d’adultes référés dans des
organismes communautaires (ou services
externes de main-d’oeuvre) ou les institutions d’enseignement pour recevoir une formation de base ou une formation professionnelle, souvent jumelée à des accompagnements psychosociaux (orientation, counselling, etc.). En ce moment, des milliers
Continues on Page 6.
suite à la page 2
Page 2.
Eyes on Seattle: WTO Meets
continued from page 1
rule, including myself, gave no evidence
that our Canadian representatives have
yet grasped a fundamental reality. The
reality is that for there to be diversity,
the issue of violent content will have to
be addressed.
As a result, community groups on both
sides of the Canadian border have turned
their attention to a exploration of a new
strategy. Namely, an examination of lawsuits as a means for curbing the culture
of violence in North America.
On November 30th Canadians Concerned
About Violence In Entertainment and
Science for Peace will co-sponsor an
international forum at the University of
Toronto. It will feature U.S. Lte. Col.
David Grossman, one of the world’s foremost experts in the field of human
aggression and the roots of violence and
violent crime, along with U.S. entertainment lawyer and civil litigation expert,
Jack Thompson. Scott Newark, a
long-time Canadian victims’ rights advocate, now employed as Special Counsel
for the Ontario Office for Victims of
Crime, will lead discussion on these and
other strategies currently being designed
to prevent further victimization in the
future.
This landmark initiative in North America
will be preceded by my own book tour
which will include promotion of both
C-CAVE objectives for the provision of
public education on media violence issues
and the Cultural Environment Movement,
founded in 1996. My book, Mind Abuse:
Media Violence In An Information Age,
published by Black Rose Books in
Montreal is based on my doctoral thesis
completed in the Department of Adult
Education, OISE/UT in 1995 and is an
update on policy development and trends
in Canada both before and since that
time.
It would be great to see as many of you
as possible at various events being
planned along the way, beginning in
Montreal on November 12, followed by
several days in Vancouver and Quesnel in
B.C. then Calgary and Saskatoon before I
arrive back in Toronto around November
27th. See the publisher’s website for
more details on precise times and places
<www.web.net/blackrosebooks> .
TAKE A SNAPSHOT
The next time you go to an event, take
your camera and shoot some pictures.
Then, send them along to the newsletter
with a three sentence story. A picture is
worth a thousand words, they say, and
much easier than writing an article!
PETITES NOUVELLES DU QUÉBEC EN ÉDUCATION DES ADULTES (suite)
d’adultes sont affectés par ces coupures de ressources éducatives, surtout les personnes les
plus vulnérables comme les femmes monoparentales, les personnes peu alphabétisées, les
personnes handicapées, les nouveaux immigrants, etc. Ainsi, sous le leadership de la
Coalition des organismes communautaires en développement de la main-d’oeuvre, la lutte
monte d’un cran à chaque mois pour exiger un réinvestissement urgent et majeur du gouvernement québécois dans les coffres d’Emploi-Québec dont les budgets pour les mesures
actives sont passés de 353 millions $ en 1995-1996 à 182,8 millions $ prévus cette année. Un
triple enjeu est présent ici. Il y a un risque d’aggravation de l’exclusion sociale et professionnelle des personnes motivées à se former. Il y a aussi la survie des services externes de
main-d’oeuvre qui sont menacés de fermeture par l’abolition graduelle des postes. Il y a enfin
l’éventuel rapatriement au Conseil du Trésor des sommes prévues par le ministère de l’Éducation à ce chapitre et qui sont inutilisées actuellement dans le réseau formel des institutions
d’enseignement à cause du manque de personnes référées par les CLE.
Mais la crise comporte deux autres volets. Il y a la crise de la double mission d’EmploiQuébec chargé de lutter contre le chômage et l’exclusion sociale. Le contrat de réciprocité du
gouvernement avec ses citoyens était une offre de services publics, accessibles et de qualité
sur tout le territoire en échange de l’engagement volontaire des personnes à s’inscrire à des
mesures actives d’insertion ou de réinsertion sur le marché du travail. Le contrat est rompu du
côté gouvernemental, comme l’affirme l’ICÉA dans son dernier article. Il y a enfin la crise non
prévue de la structure partenariale en formation et en développement de la main-d’oeuvre.
Les responsabilités interministérielles ne sont pas bien définies. Le rôle des réseaux formels
et non formels d’éducation n’est pas bien délimité. Le rôle stratégique des partenaires, à commencer par la Commission des partenaires du marché du travail, est amenuisé gravement par
le processus de centralisation et de bureaucratisation accompagnant la réforme. Bref, il en
résulte une rupture de contrat social, des incohérences et une fragilisation du récent partenariat québécois en ce domaine.
En second lieu, parlons également de la prochaine politique gouvernementale d’éducation
des adultes au Québec. Trois rappels historiques s’imposent de prime abord pour saisir les
enjeux actuels posés par l’adoption d’une telle politique. D’abord, celle-ci est attendue depuis
1982 où prenaient fin les travaux de la Commission d’étude sur la formation des adultes - la
célèbre Commission Jean. Ensuite, l’Énoncé de politique en formation des adultes du gouvernement québécois en 1984 n’a jamais été suivi d’une politique à ce sujet. Nous l’attendons
depuis plus de quinze ans. Enfin, à travers l’Énoncé de politique de 1984, s’est effectuée la
perte de la maîtrise d’oeuvre par le ministère de l’Éducation au profit du ministère de l’Emploi.
À l’analyse, ce dernier point a contribué peu à peu à l’instauration de trois tendances de fond,
les deux premières ayant été perçues et dénoncées par plusieurs, dont l’ICÉA, dès le début.
Nous avons été confrontés rapidement à une polarisation vers la main-d’oeuvre avec son
corollaire, une primauté accordée à la formation professionnelle des adultes. Nous avons
aussi assisté à une secondarisation lente des autres secteurs de l’éducation des adultes, soit
l’éducation populaire autonome, l’alphabétisation populaire, la formation de base et la formation à la citoyenneté. En bout de piste, nous devons lutter aujourd’hui contre la fragmentation
du champ de l’éducation des adultes au Québec car il y a une urgence de cohérence à reconstruire en ce domaine. Qui plus est, les changements économiques, politiques, sociaux et culturels qui ont cours depuis 1975 dans une société moderne comme la nôtre commandent
aussi une cohérence dans l’intervention gouvernementale en éducation des adultes. Plusieurs
acteurs de la société civile, dont l’ICÉA avec ses membres et partenaires, demandent maintenant une action interministérielle où seraient interpellés pas moins de cinq ministères : l’Éducation, l’Emploi et la Solidarité, la Citoyenneté et l’Immigration, la Culture et les
Communications, ainsi que le ministères des Régions 3.
Ces quelques lignes montrent que les enjeux sont énormes face à l’adoption d’une politique
gouvernementale d’éducation des adultes qui est prévue en décembre prochain, selon l’engagement pris en avril dernier par l’actuel ministre de l’Éducation, monsieur François Legault.
Incidemment, nous venons d’apprendre qu’un «train à grande vitesse» était en voie d’être mis
sur les rails ce mois-ci sous la présidence de monsieur Paul Inchauspé. Le problème immédiat est l’absence apparente de planification d’une véritable consultation large et démocratique,
comme le demandait une large coalition de 22 organismes syndicaux et non gouvernementaux sous le leadership de l’ICÉA le 22 avril dernier. C’est à suivre de ce côté, en plus de voir
à l’élaboration consistante d’une politique gouvernementale qui n’implique pas seulement les
ministères de l’Éducation et de l’Emploi.
suite à la page 3
Page 3.
ÉDUCATION DES ADULTES
suite de la page 2
Avant de terminer, un mot rapide sur les trois
dossiers énumérés au début. Le Colloque
international sur Alphabétisation, francophonie et pays industrialisés, sous l’égide de
l’Institut de l’UNESCO pour l’éducation, a été
un franc succès. La délégation canadienne
s’est particulièrement illustrée selon les
déléguées de l’ICÉA, mesdames Françoise
Lefebvre et Diane Sabourin, qui ont déposé
leur rapport en août dernier à la Commission
canadienne de l’UNESCO. Des retombées
de ce colloque sont déjà apparues. Pensons
notamment à l’instauration d’une coopération
continue entre l’ICÉA et la nouvelle
Fondation suisse pour le développement de
l’éducation permanente, suite à la visite
récente d’une délégation suisse de sept personnes sous la coordination de madame
Esther Désilets, ancienne directrice générale
de l’ICÉA en séjour de travail à l’Université
de Genève depuis deux ans.
Les rencontres des groupes de travail
chargés de conseiller la Commission des
partenaires du marché du travail (CPMT) ont
repris ou le seront dans les prochaines
semaines. Le groupe sur le Régime d’apprentissage et de qualification professionnelle achève sa tournée de consultation lui
permettant de terminer l’élaboration du nouveau régime. Celui-ci vise un accès plus
facile à des métiers et autres professions,
ainsi qu’une facilitation de la reconnaissance
et du relèvement des compétences de la
main-d’oeuvre en fonction des besoins du
marché du travail. Nous y reviendrons. En
même temps, des projets seront expérimentés cette année dans différents secteurs
comme l’aménagement forestier, l’agriculture, la chimie et la pétrochimie, le tourisme,
etc. Le groupe sur la Loi 90 devra produire,
pour juin prochain, son évaluation de la loi
après cinq ans d’existence et proposer des
changements au besoin. Le groupe sur la
politique gouvernentale d’éducation des
adultes se réunira vraisemblablement dans
les prochaines semaines afin de conseiller la
CPMT sur le contenu de son mémoire.
Pour ce qui touche l’économie sociale, un
processus d’institutionnalisation de ce
secteur d’activités est en branle depuis
1997. Il s’agit, pour l’essentiel, de créer des
convergences fortes dans le domaine du
développement de l’entrepreneuriat collectif
au Québec (coopératives de travail et organismes sans but lucratif surtout) dans une
perspective de développement des collectivités locales et régionales par et pour ellesmêmes, sur la base d’un meilleur arrimage
entre les dimensions économique et sociale.
Tout d’abord, dans les suites du Sommet
d’octobre 1996, trois organismes sont
apparus : le Chantier de l’économie sociale,
le Comité sectoriel de main-d’oeuvre de l’é-
suite à la page 5
“Learning for
Transformation”
Adult Education
Summer Institute.
Held at Concordia
University in June:
“The Trainer-Educator
as Change Agent” . A
workshop led by
Darlene Glover.
Vision of Adult Education Emerges from
Summer Institute at Concordia
On the heels of our annual national conference in Sherbrooke, the Adult Education
Program at Concordia University in Montreal staged its second summer institute, with a
dual theme this year, “Learning Across the Life Span”/ “Learning for Social Change”.
The 5-day series of workshops for educators, trainers, and change agents was very
successfully coordinated by our own president-elect, Paul Bouchard, whose other hat is
worn as Director of Adult Education/ Educational Studies at Concordia. Other high-profile CASAE personae, such as Darlene Clover, Budd Hall, Margaret Fisher Brillinger,
and Daniel Schurgurensky led workshops in their respective areas of expertise.
Our final Friday plenary session, animated by Budd Hall, was titled “Learning for
Transformation Part II: Tools for Continuing Professional Development”. This discussion evolved into an examination of assumptions and beliefs underpinning a philosophy
of adult education that all agreed must be relevant for today - a very basic tool needed
to be effective practitioners. During the course of the morning session, we broke out
into small groups to address various issues inherent in enunciating a working definition
of lifelong learning. To name a few, they were: contexts of our times; lifelong learning
and diversity; lifelong learning and work; lifelong learning and health; lifelong learning
and personal change; lifelong learning and community; implications for formal education; and our challenges.
Each group tackled their assigned concept with gusto, and when reconvened in the
afternoon, presented, in turn, cogent arguments and points essential to an understanding of the above issues impacting adult education on the cusp of the Third Millennium.
What resulted from this exercise is the following :
CONCORDIA ADULT EDUCATION STATEMENT
ON LIFELONG LEARNING
“We seek to maintain a sustainable learning environment which will enable the collective and the individual to encounter, reflect, and transform as we adapt to the challenges
Quebec report continues on Page 5
Page 4.
International Report
International Council for Adult Education
Ready to Face the 21st Century
ICAE Secretariat in Toronto for the coming
four years; A decision to open the ICAE to a
much broader range of non-governmental
organizations; and to begin a strategic planning process towards creating a five-year
plan.
The International Council for Adult Education (ICAE) has just concluded its
Special General Assembly at the Las Palmas Hotel in Manila, Philippines, September 28-30,
1999. The Assembly was organized to coincide with the 3rd World Assembly of CIVICUS
and the UNESCO CONFINTEA V.
The Strategic Planning Action Process
includes a number of internal and external
stages, including a Global Consultation
Process until mid-November.
There was a follow-up Forum which allowed many key players in the global adult learning
movement to gather together for a rich and vibrant exchange of ideas, strengthening old and
forging new alliances, plans for the future and to renew the leadership and structures of
ICAE.
Strong and representative participation from 41 national and regional member organizations
(out of 49 total paid-up members) were represented at the Assembly. There were 55 participants in total at this event in Manila.
Support for ICAE
The members present at the Special General Assembly passed a motion unanimously reaffirming the importance of the ICAE and pledging full support for the repositioning of the
ICAE for the 21st century.
Renewal of Leadership
The General Assembly unanimously voted to reduce the size of the Executive Committee
and elected new Executive Committee members.
Paul Belanger, retiring Director of the UNESCO Institute for Education in Hamburg, Germany
and architect of the Fifth UNESCO International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA V) was elected President to take up his term in January, 2000 once he leaves his
Hamburg post and returns to Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Budd Hall remains as Acting
President until January 2000. Another Canadian, Murray Thomson was also elected to the
ICAE Executive Committee.
The Assembly paid tribute to Lalita Ramdas, out-going President of ICAE and to departing
members of the Executive Committee. Special appreciation was expressed to the Renewal
Task Force, headed by Budd Hall and to the members of the Toronto-based Advisory Group.
Looking ahead
The ICAE members reviewed and revised the organization’s priorities and functions which
now include:
1. Policy and Advocacy: The first function of the ICAE is to represent the policy interests of
adult learners and adult educators in international policy environments of both intergovernmental and global civil society varieties.
2.Global Knowledge Networking: The second function of the ICAE is the promotion of new
and indigenous knowledge leading to a deeper understanding of the role of adult and lifelong
learning in the context of critical global issues. The construction and spread of interactive
global data bases serving adult learners and adult educators is a priority.
3.Information and Communications: The third function of the ICAE is the collecting, synthesizing and sharing of information according to the needs of members and partner organizations.
4. Strengthening the Movement: The fourth function of the ICAE is strengthening of ICAE’s
members and partners to achieve their goals through access to global networks and support.
Strategic Planning Process
Continuing the renewal process started in May 1999, recommendations of the Renewal Task
Force Report were adopted. Among the key implications are: Commitment to put in place
and use state-of-the-art computer-based communications systems; A decision to keep the
ICAE invites members of the adult learning
community to participate in the planning
process. Further information will be available through the ICAE website. Please
check the ICAE website (www.web.net/icae)
for information on how you and your organization can get involved in the strategic planning process now underway designed to
produce a Five-Year plan for the ICAE by
January, 2000).
New Members Admitted
A highlight of the Special General Assembly
was the admission of two historically important members. The Arab Network of Literacy
and Adult Education was admitted making it
the first non-governmental network of its
kind to join the ICAE since 1972. The
Uganda Literacy and Adult Learners
Association (ULALA) joined its sister organisation, the Kenyan Adult Learners
Association as part of a new trend in ICAE
membership - groups of adult learners who
are organising themselves. Both organizations are part of the African Adult Learners
Network (AALAN) - also a new member of
ICAE. Other important new members
include:
Africa Adult Learners Network (AALAN);
African Women’s Development and
Communication Network (FEMNET);
Arab Network of Literacy and Adult
Education;
Association for Non-Traditional Education in
the Philippines (ANTEP);
Canadian Network for Democratic Learning
(CANDLE);
Education for Life Foundation (Philippines);
Higher Council for Literacy (Syria);
Japan Association for Promotion of Social
Education;
Red de Educacion Popular Entre Mujeres
(REPEM);
Sudan Open Learning Organization;
UMTAPO Centre;
Uganda Literacy and Adult Learners
Association (ULALA);
Budd Hall
ICAE
720 Bathurst St
Suite 500
Toronto, ON, Canada
Tel:(416)588 1211
Fax:(416)588 5725
email:[email protected]
Page 5.
Quebec Report concluded
ÉDUCATION DES ADULTES
suite et fin
conomie sociale et de l’action communautaire et le Réseau d’investissement social du
Québec (société de capitalisation). Enfin,
une autre étape est en voie de réalisation à
travers un consortium inter-universitaire de
90 chercheurs-es qui se pencheront sur le
développement du secteur de l’économie
sociale du point de vue de l’arrimage universités-collectivités. Nous reviendrons aussi
sur cette question ultérieurement.
En conclusion, ces quelques nouvelles couvrent l’axe formation-travail pour une grande
part, hormis les éléments sur une future politique gouvernementale d’éducation des
adultes et le récent colloque à Namur.
J’essaierai de rétablir un équilibre dans les
prochains numéros du bulletin afin que le
lectorat canadien soit mieux au courant du
développement du champ entier de l’éducation des adultes au Québec. À la prochaine
et bonne lecture !
Colette Bérubé, Ph.D. - chargée de projet
Institut canadien d’éducation des adultes
Montréal, le 5 octobre 1999
1
Cet article n’engage que son auteure
et non l’ICÉA comme organisme.
2
Voir un article de l’ICÉA à ce sujet
qui sera publié dans les quotidiens les jours
prochains, probablement dans Le Devoir.
3
Voir le mémoire de l’ICÉA «Miser sur
les personnes» produit en octobre 1998
dans le cadre de la consultation sur une politique gouvernementale de formation continue.
The Learning Edge/La Fine
pointe is the newsletter/bulletin
of the Canadian Association for
the Study of Adult
Education/Association
Canadienne pour l’ Étude de l’
Éducation des Adults.
Please contact us at any of the
following addresses:
Paul Bouchard, President
<[email protected]>
Rose Dyson, Editor-in-Chief
<[email protected]>
Bill McQueen, Managing Editor
<[email protected]>
CASAE-ACÉÉA website URL:
http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/CASAE/
of our changing world. By the acquisition
of knowledge, we continue to recreate
ourselves and community. These ongoing
sources and processes of learning enrich
our moral being and educational potential
during our journey through life.”
We incorporated the message of a song,
written and presented at an earlier workshop by institute participant Yvonne Small,
into our final statement. The title is “The
River of Change”. The metaphor was
inspired by the reams of brown paper
which Darlene (with the help of Budd) carried to her workshop venue midweek, and
which was transformed through the handiwork of hitherto undiscovered artists,
wielding magic markers, coloured construction paper, scissors and tape, into a
teeming marine ecosystem depicting our
collective concept of the various currents
of change, catalysts, and obstacles. The
above photographs show Darlene and
Budd hard at work setting the stage, and
some of the participants discussing ideas
spawned by this very stimulating exercise.
Yvonne’s “River of Change” goes like this:
Lifelong learning is moving onward
Lifelong learning is here to stay
Lifelong learning is never easy
Lifelong learning begins today.
Space limitations preclude naming all who
contributed to this process and the resulting statement - somewhere around 60
participated. But I would like to give honourable mention to the wordsmiths who
laboured long beyond the final hours of
the institute, to produce a succinct and
essential working definition to share with
adult educators and friends of adult education everywhere. They are: Judiann
Stern, Maaike Zuyerhoff, and Yvonne
Small.
In other news, between workshops at the
Concordia Adult Ed Summer Institute, I
had an opportunity to pitch CASAE, reaching a wide audience of practitioners, trainers, and change agents.
As regional rep for anglo members in
Quebec, I plan to arrange some
Concordia Adult Education classroom visits in conjunction with our November
membership campaign, as we give a final
push for the calendar year (and century!)
Kate Briscoe
[email protected]
Quebec anglo rep
Regional Reports
Atlantic Canada
Happenings
The Canadian Journal for the Study of
Adult Education is ready to go to press
with its Millennium issue in December, 1999,
just in time to welcome in the new century.
This edition includes four provocative perspectives pieces, along with two interesting
research articles.
The perspectives pieces were written by
Michael Welton, John Ohliger, Ron Cervero
and Arthur Wilson, and Carolyn Clark. The
research section includes articles on the
National Informal Learning Study by David
Livingstone and as well as another article
from Jennifer Sumner on Global Vision
and the World Bank. This issue will also
include a list of graduate theses and dissertations in adult education in Canada.
The Antigonish Co-operative thanks the
CASAE community for supporting this special issue.
The Coady International Institute at St.
Francis Xavier University hosted a lecture
by the Australian researcher, Race Mathews
who has recently written Jobs of Our Own:
Building a Stake-holder Society, Alternatives
to the Market and the State (Pluto Press,
1999). This significant book profiles the
Modragon movement as providing a new
and effective vision to the market economy.
On a personal note, Dr. Wilf Bean, international adult educator at the Coady
International Institute has taken a new position as the Program Director at the
Tatamagouche Center in central Nova
Scotia.
Dr. Marie Gillen, long-time professor of adult
education at St. Francis Xavier University
will be retiring in December, 1999. She will
continue part-time advisement of a group of
master’s students. We wish both of our colleagues well in their new work.
Congratulations are extended to Dan Pratt
(UBC) on receiving the Houle Award for
Outstanding Literature in Adult Education.
The award is in recognition of his book, Five
Perspectives on Teaching in Adult
Education (Krieger, 1998). Allan Quigley
(STFX) presented Dan with the award at the
annual conference of the American
Association for Adult and Continuing
Education in San Antonio, Texas. Allan
Quigley and Leona English were members
of the Selection Committee.
Leona English, Atlantic Representative
<[email protected]>
Page 6.
Disabiity Act Movement. con’t.
would enact the Ontarians with Disabilities
Act in his first term. He also pledged that he
would work together with the non-partisan
Ontarians with Disabilities Act Committee to
develop that law. Yet four and a half years
later, and one full year after the Legislature
spoke in a unified voice, there is still no
Ontarians with Disabilities Act on the law
books. Premier Harris has repeatedly
refused to meet with the ODA Committee.
“People with disabilities were absolutely
delighted last October 29 to see the
Legislature unified in its support for a new
law for us that will really make a difference”,
said David Lepofsky, Chair of the
province-wide ODA Committee. Less then
one month after 25 Tory MPPS had joined
with the Opposition parties to pass this landmark resolution, they then introduced a
toothless 3 - page bill which did not require
a single barrier to be removed. After
province-wide condemnation of that bill, it
died on the order paper 3 short weeks later.
The Ontarians with Disabilities Act
Committee is a grass-roots organization that
has organized in communities from north to
south and east to west, exhibiting a resolve
and determination to make Ontario fully
accessible as we enter the new millennium.
The ODA Committee exhibits the same principles of tenacity and justice-seeking of earlier adult education movements. It’s articulate leader is David Lepofsky.
Some hope was revived when in the Spring
1999 Throne Speech and again during the
1999 election campaign, the Government
promised to hold new consultations to be
followed by a new bill.
“One year later people look back on this
anniversary feeling frustrated and hurt.” said
David Lepofsky. “In last week’s Throne
Speech the government made only vague
commitments about consulting and hoping
to have an action plan by the end of the session. To make matters worse, this week,
just two days before this anniversary, the
Government appeared in Question Period to
be backing off its commitment to pass any
legislation.”
“The Government has lots of plans to spend
public money on its new projects.
Unfortunately for the taxpayer, without an
effective Ontarians with Disabilities Act they
will be spending your money to create new
barriers now and then having to spend more
of your money in the future to take them
down,” said Lepofsky. “No matter what the
challenges,” he added, “we remain more
determined then ever to work constructively
across this Province to achieve a
barrier-free Ontario.”
Reportage edited by W. McQueen
Friday, October 29, 1999
News Bites About
MIND ABUSE
Media Violence in an Members
Information Age
A new book by Rose Anne Dyson
(The following information appears on the
publisher’s website.)
Violence translates into any language and
sells well in a global market: profit is
almost always the overriding motive.
Parents, teachers, religious instructors,
aunts, uncles and grandparents are no
longer the principal storytellers for our children. Increasingly, they are being
replaced by media conglomerates with
very little to tell but a great deal to sell.
The major concern of this book is the
mushrooming problem of media violence.
It is defined in terms of programming content and the more subtle, systemic forms
of violence as expressed through growing
media ownership concentration.
This book is the first broad, comprehensive, critical history and analysis; it is both
timely and urgent. Within Dyson’s review
of the relevant literature, she includes
developing initiatives, as well as the lack
of them, on the part of every sector of
society—parents, teachers, policy makers
at all levels of government, and members
of the multifaceted and growing media
industry.
Mind Abuse is for the thinking parent,
tuned-in educator, the decision-maker
who wishes to make a difference, the ethical corporate CEO, journalists who take
their vocation for investigative reporting
seriously and researchers where ever they
may be located; in the academy, the
broadcasting industry, government ministries or schools teaching the techniques
of production.
Rose A. Dyson is a Toronto-based consultant in media education and external
research associate at York University.She
also chairs Canadians Concerned About
Violence in Entertainment (C-CAVE, and
has written extensively for various magazines and journals.
Bon Voyage to Elayne Harris who is off to
Indonesia for 18 months as an advisor on
Women’s Studies for Agriteam Canada.
She will be based in Ujung Pandang,
Sulawesi and, while there, can be reached
through the team’s Calgary Office.
Congratulations to Ann Adelson who
received an award at the United Nations
Dinner held at the Ontario Club in Toronto
on October 24th, for her work in promoting a Culture of Peace. She has taken the
lead in conducting workshops on the subject and has been working in close collaboration with the Voice of Women for
Peace and Social Justice. The dinner was
held in honour of National
President, Jeffery Pearson.
Also, a special tribute to Edmund
O’Sullivan for his timely new book,
TRANSFORMATIVE
LEARNING:
Educational Vision for the 21st Century,
published in Canada by University of
Toronto Press. We are cautiously optimistic, Ed, that we are indeed leaving
behind the century of the economy and
entering a new century of the environment.
Visioning for Peace
The CASAE Peace Group has begun to organize to hold an International Conference on
Peace in tentatively in May of 2000. It will be
based on visioning for peace:
Visioning For Peace: A Meeting Place
Visioning For Peace: Creating Our Future
Visioning For Peace: Our Private & Public
Future
The conference will have the goal: to help
people create personal & public visions of
peace in daily life. The hope is that there can
be an interweaving of themes: Practice (personal & public); Research/theory; and
Organizational Representations.
250 pages, bibliography, index
Paperback ISBN: 1-55164-152-6 or
Hardcover ISBN: 1-55164-153-4
see this URL:
www.web.net/blackrosebooks
There would be choices to present and
attend both scholarly* (*peer reviewed) and
community sessions : academic papers*,
workshops*, celebrations, roundtables, symposiums*, debates, artistic representations*.
As well, there will be opportunities to meet
with other people who wish to work together
to create a peaceful daily life. Learn, share,
and enjoy building peace in our daily lives.
For full background information on the ODA,
visit www.indie.ca/oda
or contact
M. David Lepofsky <[email protected]>
Everyone is welcome to participate and if you
would like more information, please contact
Geraldine (Jody) Macdonald
<[email protected]>.
Page 7.
Adult Education
Research Conference
2000
June 2-4, 2000 in
Vancouver
Adult educators from throughout the world
will be assembling in Vancouver this June
for AERC 2000, an international conference co-sponsored by AERC, CASAE,
SCUTREA (United Kingdom), ESREA
(Europe) and the Research Network of
Adult Learning Australia.
These five research groups received nearly 300 proposals for papers, research
roundtables and symposia. Tom Nesbit of
Simon Fraser University is chairing the
adjudication committee for CASAE proposals. In addition to general sessions,
the conference will include 100 paper sessions, 30 research roundtables, 6 symposia and various social events.
The main conference will be June 2-4 on
the campus of the University of British
Columbia, but exciting pre- and post-conferences are also being planned. CASAE
is sponsoring a West Coast Salmon BBQ
and Celebration of Cultures on Friday
evening, June 2 at the UBC First Nations
House of Learning. The CASAE AGM and
meetings of the CASAE professors’ and
students’ groups will also be scheduled
during the conference.
The local arrangements committee,
chaired by Tom Sork, is working hard to
make the conference affordable, accessible, exciting, sociable and environmentally
friendly.
The preliminary program and registration
materials will be distributed to all CASAE
members in January and will also be posted to the AERC web site at
www.edst.educ.ubc.ca/aerc/. If you are
not a CASAE member and wish to add
your name to the conference mailing list,
contact the conference secretary, Ms.
Roweena Bacchus at (604) 822-5374, by
e-mail at [email protected] or by
mail at Department of Educational
Studies, University of British Columbia,
2125 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4.
Tom Sork <[email protected]>
Why not write an article for the next
newsletter about your work, a new
book you’ve read or a meeting or conference you’ve attended!
People’s School on Health
Along with a number of community groups and government organizations, St. Francis
Xavier University has been hosting a People’s School on Health. The “school” consists
of a series of five Saturday workshops that bring together resource persons with members of the general public who are interested in learning more about their health, the
health system, and how to create healthy communities.
The People’s School is a model of adult education first used by Father Jimmy
Tompkins (of the Antigonish Movement) to enable men and women in local communities
to come together to study their own situation, dialogue with professionals, and work collectively to gain new understandings of their economic and social problems.
Sessions in the current People’s School on Health have focused on health and empowerment, globalization and inequalities in health, healthy public policy, and health impact
assessment. Local adult health educators Doris Gillis, Colleen Cameron, and Peggy
Mahon have been part of the organization and delivery of this school. For more information, contact Doris Gillis <[email protected]>
Leona English
Atlantic Coordinator
CASAE EXECUTIVE 1999-2000
Incoming President
Past President
Newsletter editor
Electronic Information
& Internet Coordinator
Conference Chair
& Proceedings Editor
Journal Editor-In-Chief
Francophone Journal Editor
Treasurer
Paul Bouchard [email protected]
Bill Fallis
[email protected]
Rose Dyson
[email protected]
Bill McQueen [email protected]
Tom Nesbit
[email protected]
Tom Sork
[email protected]
Allan Quigley [email protected]
Mohamed Hrimech
[email protected]
Daniel Schugurensky
[email protected]
REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVES
Atlantic
Québec
Ontario
Prairies
British Columbia
Leona English
Kate Briscoe
Mohamed Hrimech
Robert Carley
Tara Fenwick
Shauna Butterwick
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
PORTFOLIOS
International
Literacy
Membership
Peace
Professors
Publications
Students
Budd Hall
[email protected]
Maurice Taylor
[email protected]
Michael Cooke
[email protected]
Geraldine (Jody) Macdonald [email protected]
Tara Fenwick
[email protected]
Leona English
[email protected]
Tom Sork
[email protected]
T. B. A.
to be announced
CASAE-ACÉÉA Permanent Secretariat (Kate Briscoe)
[email protected] (1999-2000)