The Circle of Learning also represents input from a wide range of adult literacy learners and practitioners in Saskatchewan. Initial input was sought from 236 people who participated in 20 focus groups located throughout the province. Forty-two percent of these participants were adult learners. About seventy percent of the adult learners and seventeen percent of practitioners, administrators and community-based participants were Aboriginal.³

Framework

Literacy programming is included in Saskatchewan’s umbrella term for adult basic education, defined as:

a wide range of services and credit and non-credit programs designed to help learners achieve their goals. These goals may include increasing education and/or certification levels; gaining prerequisites for further training or employment; enhancing life skills, independence and self-sufficiency; or learning skills in specific areas (such as technological literacy, communication skills, portfolio development).

(Saskatchewan Post-Secondary Education and Skills Training, 2002, p. 6)

Levels 1 and 2 Literacy Benchmarks fall within a broader four-level framework for credit programs developed by Saskatchewan Learning’s Adult Basic Education Redesign Task Team (see diagrams, pp. 4-5). These Benchmarks are broadly based. They focus on Generic Skills, which are best understood as transferable general life skills or skills that contribute to independence (see Appendix A). Levels 1 and 2 Literacy Benchmarks include the Generic Skills that are integrated throughout all Level 3 curricula. Thus, learners at Levels 1 and 2 acquire the foundations of skills that are further developed in Level 3.

Levels 1 and 2 Literacy Benchmarks are designed:

to reflect adult roles as family members, community members and workers. Functional skill areas related to these roles are identified. The intent is to go beyond those standards developed solely for academic disciplines. Organizations will develop their programs based on their learners’ needs and goals and will use contexts that have the most relevance to their learners. The transferability of skills to different contexts will be encouraged.

(Saskatchewan Post-Secondary Education and Skills Training, 2002, p. 12)

The Benchmarks for Levels 1 and 2 include learning outcomes for communications, numeracy, lifelong learning and interpersonal skills. Level 3 leads to the Adult 10 certificate and includes credit courses in communications, social sciences, mathematics, science and life/work studies. Level 4 has a bridging component for mathematics, science and English, as well as options for high school completion. (See Scope and Sequence Charts, pp. 24-31, for a more detailed outline of Levels 1 through 4).

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