The Circle
of Learning
Model

The Circle of Learning model [see diagram, p. 14] responds with an image to the following key question:

What do adults need to know and be able to do to live meaning fully as parents and other family members, workers, community members, and citizens?

To sharpen the focus, this key question has been reshaped into the following:

1. What are the knowledge and skills that Levels 1 and 2 learners need to communicate, understand, and participate effectively with family, in the community, and at work?
2. What knowledge and skills lend themselves to being benchmarked?

The Benchmarks Project has worked with these two questions in all of its research and consultation activities. The answers have been divided into the following four Circle of Learning skills quadrants: Communications, Numeracy, Lifelong Learning and Interpersonal Skills

Development of the Model

Each Canadian province is responsible for developing literacy standards and performance criteria in relation to its own delivery processes and populations. Saskatchewan’s Circle of Learning Levels 1 and 2 Literacy Benchmarks have been developed by taking into consideration the identified needs of adult learners and practitioners, the objectives and values of the various stakeholders, and the national, international, and Aboriginal resources currently available on literacy models. As partners for this project, the Saskatchewan Literacy Network and Advanced Education and Employment (formerly Saskatchewan Learning) have worked with the intention of respecting and being accountable to both adult learners and literacy practitioners.

The research and consultation process used in developing Levels 1 and 2 Benchmarks has also sought to be respectful of all values and histories, with particular attention to First Nations and Métis cultures. The Circle of Learning model draws on the concept of the Medicine Wheel, incorporating the mind, heart, body, and spirit of the adult into the learning process. The circle is a powerful symbol that can represent the cyclical and on going nature of learning, for it is a lifelong endeavour. The Medicine Wheel is often used as a teaching tool that demonstrates the need for balance and harmony. The Circle of Learning wheel demonstrates the intersections and connectedness of our learning communities, our learning subject areas, and the components of self as we engage in the learning process