Educating Learner Sponsors

Submitted By

Liz Pope, Adult Educator, Hay River CLC, Aurora College

Best Practices Supported

• Organizational Linkages and Partnerships

How It Works

For learner sponsors to be supportive of a variety of programs and services offered by an adult basic education program, it is important for them to understand what the program is all about.

The adult educator in Hay River spends time talking with learner sponsors to discuss the program and the various components. Answering questions and explaining the rationale for community-based projects is an excellent way to build relationships with learner sponsors and for them to understand your program.

In Hay River, this is done informally by phoning or meeting with learner sponsors individually. This is an informal approach but it could be much more structured. If you deal with the same sponsors all the time, you know what issues will come up and what information they are looking for. This is also a good approach if you are new to a community because it is a good way to get to know the sponsors and the partners in the community.