Who are we?

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Who are we?

• SkillPlan BC Construction Industry
  Skills Improvement Council
• Lynda Fownes, Executive Director
• Julia Lew, Workplace Educator

Presentation for the Literacy Summer Institute
June 2009
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Background

• The mission of SkillPlan is to develop
  strategies to improve the Essential Skills of
  people working in the unionized construction
  industry in BC and the Yukon Territory
• Not-for-profit society established in 1991
• Labour/ Management Board
• Tutor apprentices, support technical instructors,
  design publications, advocate for change in
  education

Presentation for the Literacy Summer Institute
June 2009
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SkillPlans Journey

• Teaching Essential Skills Linking Theory and
  Practice
• An Evolution

Presentation for the Literacy Summer Institute
June 2009
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Mosenthal and Kirsch

• Prose literacy the knowledge and skills needed
  to understand and use information from texts.
• Document literacy the knowledge and skills
  required to locate and use information contained
  in various formats such as tables and maps.
• Peter Mosenthal

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Mosenthal and Kirsch

• Journal of Reading
• Understanding Documents
• 1989 to 1991

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Measuring Complexity IALS 0-500 ES Scale
5 Levels
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Mosenthal and Kirsch

• Journal of Reading
• Document Strategies
• 1992 to 1993

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Mosenthal and Hardt

• Type of Match
• Locate, Cycle, Integrate, Generate
• Type of Requested Information
• Concrete to Abstract

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Linking Essential Skills

• Rrese

Presentation for the Literacy Summer Institute
June 2009
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Presentation for the Literacy Summer Institute
June 2009
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Thinking Strategy

• Identify
• Scan
• Locate
• Recognize
• Decide
• Set up the problem (numeracy)
• Calculate (numeracy)
• Decide

Presentation for the Literacy Summer Institute
June 2009 ng
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What are the challenges?

• Authentic materials and the occupation determine
  the teaching points
• Learners and some professionals confuse content
  and skill development
• Finding a fit with traditional curricula
• Ideas about the role of education related to
  employment

Presentation for the Literacy Summer Institute
June 2009
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What are the benefits?

• Learners are engaged with work-related learning
  material
• Learners gain insight into occupations and
  practice skills they will use in employment
• Learners at various levels are accommodated with
  modified instructional approaches
• Learners gain information processing skills
  (TOWES pre and post tests)

Presentation for the Literacy Summer Institute
June 2009