International Adult Learners’ Week (IALW) 2010 in Canada will be held from March 1st through March 7th.
The Week celebrates adult learners across the country and the joy of learning throughout life.
Background and History
Across this country and around the world, adult learning and literacy festivals and events share a common purpose – they are advocacy tools for raising the profile of adult learners and lifelong learning; they mobilize individuals to take advantage of the multitude of learning opportunities open to them; and they serve as a reminder that adult learning can be a powerful instrument for change.
Delegates to the Fifth International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA V), held in Hamburg in July 1997, committed themselves to promoting the development of a United Nations Adult Learners’ Week. International Adult Learners’ Week (IALW) was officially launched by UNESCO on September 8, 2000. The pioneers of Adult Learners’ Week understood that the most effective way to underscore the importance of lifelong learning was to give adult learners themselves the chance to express their views, describe their challenges, and document their success stories.
International Adult Learners’ Week in Canada
The Canadian Commission for UNESCO, together with its partners, identified International Adult Learners’ Week as a priority project that would foster joint action by a broad network and would raise the profile of adult learning throughout Canada. IALW is both a promotional campaign to raise awareness of a broader public and an opportunity for the cooperation of diverse partners, including governmental, non-governmental organizations and civil society, to demonstrate the importance of adult literacy and lifelong learning.
International Adult Learners’ Week has been celebrated in Canada since 2002. Once again this year, the Commission has invited Canada’s Ministries of Education and its other lifelong learning partners to celebrate IALW from March 1 to 7, 2010. Each successive celebration has witnessed increased partner participation and greater outreach to a wider variety of groups. We congratulate our partners and their accomplishments and we thank them for their contribution.
At the Sixth International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VI), which wrapped up in Belém, Brazil, on December 4, 2009, the unanimous adoption by acclamation of the Belém Framework for Action was a defining moment of the conference. “The call insists on the need to place adult learning and education in a broader context of sustainable development. It also states that effective policy, good governance, financing, participation, inclusion, equity and quality are all necessary for adults and young people to exercise their right to education.”
Two articles in the Belém Framework for Action could help inspire International Adult Learners’ Week in Canada 2010. Article 13 on good governance and article 15 on participation, inclusion and equity.
13. Good governance facilitates the implementation of adult learning and education policy in ways which are effective, transparent, accountable and equitable. Representation by and participation of all stakeholders are indispensable in order to guarantee responsiveness to the needs of all learners, in particular the most disadvantaged.
15. Participation, inclusion and equity. Inclusive education is fundamental to the achievement of human, social and economic development. Equipping all individuals to develop their potential contributes significantly to encouraging them to live together in harmony and with dignity. There can be no exclusion arising from age, gender, ethnicity, migrant status, language, religion, disability, rurality, sexual identity or orientation, poverty, displacement or imprisonment. Combating the cumulative effects of multiple disadvantages is of particular importance. Measures should be taken to enhance motivation and access for all.
Other Inspirational Resources
The Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) report
To facilitate the cooperation among stakeholders encouraged in Article 13, we would like to remind you of the report of CMEC The Development and State of the Art of Adult Learning and Education (ALE) prepared for CONFINTEA VI. It could serve as a useful tool when preparing International Adult Learners’ Week 2010 as it includes information on partners at the provincial level across Canada. This could be a starting point to initiate new cooperation for the Week.
National Adult Literacy Database (NALD)
For the calendar of activities in adult education please visit www.nald.ca
The 2010 IALW Magazine
Congratulations to our partners for everything they’ve done and many thanks for their ongoing support. We welcome this opportunity once again to showcase some of their accomplishments in the magazine for the IALW in Canada 2010 entitled Opening up the Possibilities.
Previous magazines:
2009
2008
2005
2003
2002
For information on International Adult Learners’ Week in Europe www.alwineurope.net
The website includes a description of the European network and information about activities during Adult Learners’ Week in these countries, as well as technical tools to promote learning festivals.
The full story of the IntALWinE project is contained in Beating the Drums for Attention. The 48-page book includes tips on holding adult learning festivals, descriptions of events in the countries involved in the IntALWinE project and other useful information.
Other initiatives that could inspire you
The Commission would like to highlight the links between lifelong learning and four United Nations initiatives:
The Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD 2005 - 2014)
The Decade concentrates on educating for social responsibility and underlines basic education as the basis for sustainable development. The Decade’s main thrusts include: promoting access to basic education for children and adults, and reorienting existing learning programs to promote knowledge about and respect for cultural diversity, human rights and the environment.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs – target date 2015)
Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty & Hunger
Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education
Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality
Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases
Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability
Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development
Education for All (EFA 2000 - 2015)
In Dakar, Senegal in 2000, the international community committed itself to six education goals that focus on achieving basic education for everyone from young children to adults. Three of the EFA goals relate to adult learning:
Goal 3: giving young people and adults the chance to learn the
skills they need;
Goal 4: ensuring that 50% more people are literate before
2012;
Goal 6: improving the quality of education. EFA is a multi-
stakeholder international priority and is the “priority of
priorities” for UNESCO, the coordinating agency for EFA.
The United Nations Literacy Decade (UNLD 2003 - 2012)
The vision of the Decade is “Literacy For All”, and its focus is on the needs of the 774 million adults who have not had access to literacy. Increasing access to literacy for all people, particularly women and marginalized groups is a key aspect of the Decade. Goals of the Decade include: helping all learners to read, write, calculate, and think critically; assisting students in acquiring other basic skills; improving quality of life through literacy.
These efforts underscore the need for a holistic approach to adult learning and literacy which embraces all kinds of knowledge and addresses the needs and aspirations of all kinds of learners.
Top of Page
The Canadian Commission for UNESCO would like to thank the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, and the departments responsible for education in each province and territory for their efforts to promote the celebration of Adult Learners across the country.
All partners across the country, including governments at all levels, non-governmental organizations, community-based groups and educators, are invited to share the information of their activities for the Week and it would be a pleasure to make a link to your website where you post your activities.
History of Adult Learning in Canada
At the request of our partners, we are including an article on the History of Adult Education in the magazine this year. We thank everyone involved in this endeavor.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to pay tribute to each of the contributors to this history in the space allotted to the article in the magazine. We replaced the article with boxes referring to some of the major players.
Please consult the article History of Adult Learning in Canada.
Provincial and territorial governments who gave formal support to the International Adult Learners’ Week 2010
New Brunswick
Newfoundland and Labrador
Northwest Territories
Nunavut
Other partners
Other adult learner stories will be added on an ongoing basis.