There were fewer mentions of oral communication as a taught skill, and no projects dealt only with oral communication. Because we know from the literature that oral communication is typically a competency that is honed during any adult learning effort, we would have expected more mentions of this skill. We suggest that the strict distinction between literacy and ESL/FSL (English as a second language and French as a second language) used by government funders may be one reason we see fewer mentions. This might also have been influenced by our respondents’ efforts to record only those skills that were explicitly taught as part of a program’s learning objectives.
This latter feature, the explicit skills taught vs. the implicit skills, might also explain why there are few mentions of computer use. Many programs do use computers to assist in training, so we expected more mentions. Many practitioners see computers as a tool, in the same vein as a blackboard, and may not have intentionally set out to teach computer skills. We did include a project developed by UNITE for an integrated computer approach to teaching literacy and basic skills. While the project did not target tradespeople, it was dedicated to a workplace use of computers in a way that could benefit the trades.
The other Essential Skills - working with others, continuous learning, and thinking skills - were mentioned less frequently. It is not clear whether this is because these skills are not ‘taught’ in an intentional fashion in these projects, if these are not seen as ‘teachable’ skills, if they are embedded in the other skills, or if they are newer skills that have only begun to be addressed in the workplace.
The distribution of skills addressed in the various projects also leads one to wonder if there is a hierarchy of skills. This hierarchy could be based either on the level of needs or skills gap experienced, or on the availability of tools, teaching practices and techniques to teach these skills. In reality, probably both explanations are in play.
We examined which trades were targeted by the projects. The greatest number of projects targeted carpenters. In our database, we have several courses listed, all run by the Carpenters District Council of Ontario. These are integrated courses, in that Essential Skills are taught within the context of technical training. While the number of courses is large and perhaps gives a false impression of activity, these are just the type of projects that are extremely interesting to find because they demonstrate that Essential Skills are not a minor or stand-alone activity. However, these projects are not easy to uncover, and we are grateful to our respondent who took the time to identify them for us.