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Mayor advocates a
“Community Approach” to literacy
“If we teach our community to expect uniform-ity, we will only see how differ-ent we are. If on the other hand, we teach our community to expect diversity, we will see how alike we are.”
“People in a healthy commu-nity believe that every single per-son in their com-munity has a gift. They aren't blinded by words that try to keep them from seeing people's gifts.”
Chilliwack Mayor Clint Hames presented the keynote address at the June 20 launch of Chilliwack Learning Community Society's community literacy plan. Using a hypothetical citizen named “George,” Hames contrasted the “system” approach with a “community” approach to serving the needs of citizens.
Characteristics of a “system … ”
- Large
- Conformity and specialization
- Rigid: dominated by rules and regulations
- Growth oriented: quantity is seen as an outcome
Who is “George?”
A system response:
- A person with a mental age of 4
- A person with an I.Q. of 30
- Severely mentally disabled
- A behaviour problem
What does he need? A system response
- A program for children
- To be protected from the world
- To learn only the simplest of tasks
- To learn separately from other people as he is so different from others
- Highly specialized staff who can address issues of retrogression, over-simplification, etc.
- An environment where he can be controlled
- To be fixed
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Characteristics of a “community … ”
- Small; needs driven
- Diverse, with multiple solutions
- Flexible: able to change directions quickly
- Resists growth; solution focused
Who is “George?”
A community response:
- A 40 year old man who has missed most typical experiences and has never had a real job
- A person who is poor with no income
- A person who has been isolated all his life and who has no connections in the community
- A person who is lonely
- A person who has little control over the direction of his life
- A person who takes a long time to learn new things
- A person who is treated like a child by his mother
- A delightful man who makes a difference in others' lives
What does he need? A community response
- A lot of experiences
- A real job and an income
- To be involved and present in his community
- Relationships and friends
- A vision for the future and help getting there
- Someone to speak on his behalf
- Lots of support to learn new things
- More people to treat him like an adult
- To be around people who enjoy him
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A healthy community takes a
“community approach” to literacy.
Learning Communities
- Exist across British Columbia and in other parts of the world
- A philosophical framework
- An economic development strategy
- An effective asset-based model of community development
Source: Chilliwack Community Literacy Plan 2007 |
The Vision of a
Learning Community
Promote lifelong learning and social
inclusion through which environmentally
sustainable community economic
development is achieved.
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