Other Views on Goals and Methods

To this point we have examined viewpoints emerging from the Movement for Canadian Literacy. Another organization, the Ontario Association for Continuing Education, is also of interest for its views on literacy. In particular, in a brief to the Ontario government, it goes beyond a simple defense of the liberal perspective and actually attempts to reconcile the liberal strategy of remediation with the conservative "politics of austerity".22 In doing so, it does not offer even a minor challenge to the policy of cutbacks in education as pursued by the Ontario Progressive Conservative government. In fact, it offers friendly, "pragmatic" advice on how best to implement them:

We can understand the need for fiscal restraint. But restraint should deal with reordering priorities and using the resources at hand more effectively. Restraint should not mean cutbacks across the board .... In these times of fiscal restraint, it's not just a matter of cutting back programs. The implications and results of cutting back must be examined; alternative (less costly) means of providing learning programs must be considered.23

The answer put forward is new, more 'cost-effective' education methods:

In order to meet the needs of more than 5 million adults in this province, we would suggest that non-traditional non-institutionally-based concepts and policies must be brought into place. For cost reasons alone this will be necessary.24

The brief goes on to explain how in the organization's view increased services to illiterate adults can be achieved in the face of austerity budgets:

The current funding of adult basic education in an Institutional setting is very expensive and not particularly successful. Experience has shown that a cadre of key professional educators assisted by paraprofessionals. can do just as well In adult basic education as the cadre of full professionals - at less cost .... In a non-institutional setting the proper level of expertise to support the project may be chosen with just as good (if not better) results and at far less cost.25

The Implication that adult basic education in institutional settings can be eliminated at the present time in favour of an alternative which, while promising, is not well developed in Ontario, is both premature and speculative. The brief is directed more to accommodating the views of conservative-minded political leaders than to defending the rights of illiterate adults to the high quality educational opportunities which they have long been denied.

Methods

The OACE brief brings to light what is a common theme in discussions of adult basic education---that literacy and basic education programs (based on the liberal perspective) have failed in important respects, but that the fault lies in the methods which they employed, and not in the liberal perspective which underlies them. Accordingly, it is suggested that new programs will be successful if they adopt new "innovative" methods. OACE favors "non-traditional non-institutionally based concepts and policies" .26 For example, it observes that: