THE LIMITATIONS OF THE EMPLOYMENT PREPARATION PROGRAM
There are factors in the students' lives (namely their dependence on social
assistance, the support or non–support of their families, and their
levels of formal education) that will affect their personal desire to find
self–supporting employment. The students in the study entered the employment preparation
program with the goal of finding their first job or with the goal of finding
a better job than the ones they may have had in the past. Unfortunately,
the socioeconomic conditions and educational demands of society may impede
them from achieving their goals. The employment preparation program is similar
to other literacy programs across North America that "attract people primarily
from two distinct but related groups: relative newcomers from third–world
countries and [Canadian]–born peoples whose economic and social lives
have much in common with what is encountered in third–world countries"
(Sparks, 2002, p.60).
Dependence on Social Assistance
Six of the eight students in the program depend on either a disability
pension or general welfare. Four of these students are single mothers with
dependent children, and two live alone. Marion lives with her husband and neither
of them receive any form of social assistance, although they are on a waiting
list for subsidized childcare. While Tony does receive a disability pension, he
is not dependent on it as he lives with his family. The experience of the students
in the program is not that different from other adults with low literacy.
Based on the IALS, over one–third of adults at Level 1 receive social assistance.
In addition, adults with low levels of literacy earn less and experience
higher levels of economic hardship (Statistics Canada, 1996).
Poverty and dependence on social assistance is an experience that the students
bring into the program and a reality that the instructors recognize and acknowledge.
The question is, how does this impact the goals of the program and the learning
content and context? Most often, the experience of poverty is addressed on
a personal level and not on a societal level. For example, instructors and
program staff have advocated for students with social service agencies; helped students
complete complicated forms; explained the procedures involved in an audit;
and even loaned small amounts of money to students. Instructors rarely addressed
financial issues in the class. Unlike literacy programs that may teach budgeting
and consumer awareness in a condescending manner (Sandlin, 2001), the instructors
in the employment preparation program did not even address budgeting issues,
feeling that most of their students displayed a high level of consumer skills.
Instead, issues related to money and social assistance remained private and
were discussed only as needed or requested on an individual level.
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