The Training Centre, which is located in Yellowknife, offers training to both men and women. As its title suggests, it is run by the Native Women’s Association of the NWT, a not-for-profit organization. The headquarters of the Association are in Yellowknife, but it represents the entire Northwest Territories.
For more than 25 years, the Centre has offered programs to NWT adults to help them improve their lives. In the early days, the program focused on Arts and Crafts, as well as Life Skills. Today, it focuses on career building, adult literacy and lifelong learning. To show how the program incorporates best practices in its work, we have again separated the practices out, although in reality they interconnect to create a comprehensive and holistic program. The descriptions of these best practices in action are not all inclusive, but rather are examples of the kinds of things that collectively help make the program successful.
A quality adult literacy and basic education program has a clearly stated philosophy and mission that guide its work and practices.
The Training Centre subscribes to the overall mission of the Native Women’s Association of the NWT—to provide education and training programs that will help improve people’s lives. It addresses the training needs of both males and females, and Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. The mission statement, which appears on the front page of a brochure about the Association, spells out clearly the Native Women’s Association views about learning.