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Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives - Manitoba 1

Aboriginal Learners in Selected AdultLearning Centres in Manitoba

by Jim Silverwith Darlene Klyne and Freeman Simard

Executive Summary

This is a study of Aboriginal adult learners in five Adult Learning Centres (ALCs) in Manitoba. It is based largely on interviews with 74 Aboriginal Adult Learners and 20 staffmembers in the five ALCs. The objective was to determine what keeps Aboriginal adult

learners attending ALCs, and what contributes to their successes in ALCs.The research project has been designed and conducted in a collaborative and participatory

fashion. It is the product of a research partnership. The partnership includes: the Province ofManitoba’s Aboriginal Education Directorate; the Research and Planning Branch of the Depart-ment of Education and Youth; the Adult Learning and Literacy Branch of the Department ofAdvanced Education and Training; Directors, teachers and staff at the five Adult Learning Cen-tres; and the authors. All interviews with Aboriginal adult learners were conducted by trainedAboriginal interviewers. Individual interviews were preceded by an initial sharing circle, the pur-pose of which was to introduce adult Aboriginal learners at each site to the research project and theresearchers, to solicit their involvement, and to attempt to break down, to some extent, the barriersbetween researchers and adult learners.

Most of the Aboriginal adult learners that we interviewed feel comfortable in the Adult Learn-ing Centre that they are attending, and a significant proportion are experiencing considerablesuccess. In a good many cases, remarkable personal transformations are occurring. The main fac-tors contributing to their success include the holistic and learner-centred approach to instructionadopted by the ALCs that we investigated; the strong social, emotional and practical supportsprovided to learners; the warm, highly personalized and non-hierarchical atmosphere that prevailsin the ALCs; the dedication, even passion, of teaching and other staff; and the friendly, non-judgmental and respectful manner in which adult Aboriginal learners are treated by staff. Theimportance of these factors was emphasized repeatedly in the interviews. Many adult Aboriginallearners told us that they feel much more comfortable in the ALC that they are attending than they

2 Aboriginal Learners in Selected Adult Learning Centres in Manitoba

did in their previous school experiences, and many described negative experiences in schools pre-viously attended.

We found that where Aboriginal cultural practices are part of the educational strategy at anALC, they are much appreciated by Aboriginal learners, and where such practices are not presentthey are desired by many Aboriginal learners. The incorporation into the adult learning experienceof Aboriginal cultural practices and the creation of more opportunities for both learners and staffto learn about Aboriginal culture are strong themes arising from our interviews.

Our conclusions about the five Adult Learning Centres that we investigated are very positive.These ALCs provide evidence of a powerful and effective new approach to education in Manitoba.This is particularly, but we expect not only, the case for Aboriginal adult learners. Most of theALCs that we investigated could be made even better than they are by incorporating some findingsfrom our investigation that are confirmed in the literature on adult education generally, and Abo-riginal adult education in particular. We conclude with a summary of our findings, a discussion ofthe relationship of our findings to the literature, and some recommendations that arise from theinterviews.


In this paper we report on the findings of astudy of Aboriginal adult learners in fiveAdult Learning Centres in Manitoba. The

purpose of the study was to determine whatkeeps adult Aboriginal learners attending AdultLearning Centres, and what contributes to theirsuccesses in ALCs. To find answers to these ques-tions we asked Aboriginal adult learners abouttheir experiences in Adult LearningCentres(ALCs), and ALC staff about their ex-perience with Aboriginal adult learners. Wesought to determine what five ALCs are doingto meet the educational needs of adult Aborigi-nal learners, and how these learners are respond-ing to these educational strategies and initiatives.A distinctive feature of the study is that it is basedfor the most part on interviews with Aboriginaladult learners, conducted by Aboriginal inter-viewers.

The paper proceeds as follows. In Part Onewe describe the methodology employed in thestudy. In Part Two we briefly describe AdultLearning Centres and their origins. In Part Threewe describe our findings, based largely on inter-views conducted on-site with adult learners andstaff at the five ALCs. In Part Four we summa-rize and discuss our findings, and relate thosefindings to the literature on adult education and

Aboriginal education. In Part Five, we advancesome conclusions and enumerate and discuss therecommendations that arise from the study.

Part One: MethodPart One: MethodPart One: MethodPart One: MethodPart One: Method

This research project has been designed andconducted in a collaborative and participatoryfashion. It is the product of a research partner-ship. The partnership includes: the Province ofManitoba’s Aboriginal Education Directorate;the Research and Planning Branch of the De-partment of Education and Youth; the AdultLearning and Literacy branch of the Departmentof Advanced Education and Training; Directors,teachers and other staff of the five Adult Learn-ing Centres that we investigated; and the au-thors. It is also collaborative and participatoryin that it is the product of a research methodol-ogy that is rooted in the belief that the bestsource of information on Aboriginal adult learn-ers in the ALCs is the Aboriginal adult learnersthemselves. Thus the bulk of the informationin this paper comes from interviews with Abo-riginal adult learners, conducted by trained Abo-riginal interviewers.

The research partnership wanted to iden-tify “the magic” (Wynes, November 25, 2002)




that keeps adult Aboriginal learners attendingALCs and that promotes their success in ALCs.Representatives of the Province of Manitoba’sAboriginal Education Directorate, Adult Learn-ing and Literacy Branch , and Research and Plan-

ning Branch met inearly summer and againin the Fall of 2002 withthe Directors of the fiveALCs to discuss in verygeneral terms the needfor and the outline ofthe study, after whichthe lead author was in-vited to participate inplanning and to directthe research study. Thefive Adult Learning

Centres were selected because they are relativelysmall, have a significant proportion of Aborigi-nal learners, and represent both urban and ruralALCs. This is not a representative sample ofAdult Learning Centres in Manitoba; it does,however, represent several different types ofALCs. Two more meetings with the AboriginalEducation Directorate, Adult Learning and Lit-eracy, Research and Planning, and the lead au-thor, were held in November and December,2002. After the first of these meetings the leadauthor prepared a draft research proposal whichwas circulated and discussed at the second meet-ing. After the second meeting a revised researchplan and interview format were circulated to therepresentatives of the three lead organizationsand to the Directors of the five ALCs. At a thirdmeeting in mid-January,2003, attended by rep-resentatives of the Aboriginal Education Direc-torate, Adult Learning and Literacy, Researchand Planning, nine Directors and teachers fromthe five ALCs, and the lead author, the draftresearch plan and interview format were thor-

oughly discussed, and further revisions weremade. Most significantly, we agreed to use anopen-ended interview format, and to begin theinterview process at each ALC with a sharingcircle involving Aboriginal learners.

Following the mid-January meeting the re-search proposal and interview format were evalu-ated and approved by the University of Winni-peg Department of Politics ethics committee andSenate Ethics Committee. Simultaneously, twoAboriginal interviewers were hired and trained.

In the first week of February, 2003, the leadauthor made site visits to, and spoke in a pre-liminary fashion with Directors and staff at, eachof the five ALCs.

In the second week of February, sharing cir-cles were held at each of the five ALCs exceptthe Portage Learning Centre, where winterweather conditions forced its cancellation. Thesharing circles were announced ahead of timeto Aboriginal learners at each site. At each shar-ing circle the lead author and two interviewerswere introduced to assembled Aboriginal adultlearners by the Director; the lead author de-scribed the research project— both the purposeof the project and how the interviews would beconducted— and advised learners that partici-pation was voluntary and that should they par-ticipate we would assure them of confidential-ity; the two interviewers introduced themselvesand told the assembled learners a bit about theirpersonal background; the assembled learnerswere then asked to introduce themselves and, ifthey chose, to tell us a bit about themselves; andfinally the circle was opened to questions anddiscussion about the research project. The pur-pose of the sharing circles was to introduce adultAboriginal learners at each site to the researchproject and to the researchers, to solicit theirinvolvement, and by doing so to begin to breakdown the barriers between researchers and learn-

This researchproject has beendesigned andconducted in acollaborative andparticipatoryfashion


ers, and to increase adult Aboriginal learners’comfort level with the project. We believe thatthis innovation worked very well, and that itincreased the willingness of learners to partici-pate in interviews, and improved the quality ofthe interviews.

The interview format was pre-tested at theUrban Circle Training Centre site during thesecond week of February, and the lead authorand the interviewers discussed the results of thepre-test extensively. Personal interviews wereconducted at each of the sites from February17, 2003 to March 10, 2003. Each intervieweewas paid a $25 honorarium as an expression ofour appreciation for the contribution of theirtime, and an acknowledgement of the value oftheir knowledge. The interview format wasopen-ended. It began with the interviewers say-ing some version of: ‘Tell me a bit about your-self. How did you happen to come to this AdultLearning Centre, and what has your experiencehere been like?’ In many cases this question wassufficient to prompt long and insightful re-sponses by learners, and interviewers had to sayvery little. In other cases more probing had tobe done. Interviewers sought to learn more aboutlearners’ educational experiences before attend-ing the ALC, and their hopes and goals aftercompleting the program at the ALC, but theirprimary focus was on the learners’ experiencesat the ALC. Probing questions, where these werenecessary, included questions about why learn-ers were at the Learning Centre, whether theybelieved that they were doing well or not andwhy, and how their experience compared withtheir previous educational experiences. If learn-ers did not voluntarily say anything about thefollowing, interviewers were instructed to askabout: teachers and methods of instruction; cur-riculum, and in particular any Aboriginal con-tent in the curriculum; and the supports offered

by the ALC. Interviewers were instructed to askall questions in as neutral a fashion as possible.Interviews lasted between 45 minutes and onehour. A total of 75 adult Aboriginal learners wereinterviewed, 15 at each of the five ALCs. Allinterviews with adult Aboriginal learners weretape-recorded. Tape recorder difficulties led toone early interview, at the Portage LearningCentre, being lost. The lead author listened toeach tape-recorded interview in its entirety, andmade detailed notes on, identified themes, andtranscribed portions of, each.

While Klyne and Simard were conductinginterviews with adult Aboriginal learners, Silverinterviewed Directors, teachers and support staffat each ALC. A total of twenty Directors, teach-ers and staff were interviewed at the five Learn-ing centres: four at the Portage Learning Cen-tre, three at Long Plain Training Centre, five atUrban Circle Training Centre, three atCrossRoads Learning Centre, and five at Hori-zons Learning Centre. At Horizons LearningCentre, interviews took place at two sites, theCrossways-in-Common site on Broadway Av-enue and the Elmwood site on Thames Ave.Interviews with Directors and teachers lastedbetween 45 minutes and one hour. They wereintended to gain insight into: the philosophyand educational strategies of each ALC; the de-mographic and socio-economic characteristicsof learners at each ALC; the successes and prob-lems at each ALC; what each ALC needs to im-prove the work that they do; and in particular,what seems to work best in keeping adult Abo-riginal learners attending the ALC and succeed-ing in the ALC.

Based on the interviews of adult Aboriginallearners and of Directors and teachers at the fiveAdult Learning Centres, the lead author pre-pared a first draft of the paper in March andApril, 2003. The first draft was read by Klyne


and Simard, who commented extensively, mak-ing important additions and modifications. Therevised draft was then circulated to all membersof the research partnership: the Aboriginal Edu-cation Directorate, the Adult Learning and Lit-eracy Branch, the Research and PlanningBranch, and the nineteen Directors, teachers andstaff of the five Adult Learning Centres. Eachwas invited to make comments and suggestions.A meeting was held May 1, 2003, in which twoof the three authors and seven government rep-resentatives, Directors and teachers participated.Revisions were made based on this detailed dis-cussion, and the revised draft was circulated afinal time for comments and suggestions.

Part Two: Adult LearningCentres

Adult Learning Centres (ALCs) are a rela-tively new phenomenon in Manitoba. Theyappear to have their origins in two inter-relateddevelopments. First, in 1994, the provincialgovernment released Renewing Education: NewDirections, which set out their plans for educa-tional change. One of their commitments wasto “...establish community-based infrastructuresfor life-long learning which provide high qual-ity education and training for allManitobans”(Manitoba, 2001, p. 88). At thesame time, school divisions were responding to“...an emerging demand for alternative program-ming for adults and other students who wereunable to succeed in the regular classroom”(Manitoba, 2001, p. 89). The result was theemergence of Adult Learning Centres. By 1996/97 ALCs were offering high school credits toadult students.

The Adult Learning Centres appear to haveemerged in a completely unplanned way. The

report of a consultant commissioned in 1999to provide some general observations aboutALCs described their emergence in this way:

“There is no evidence that the ALCs de-veloped as a result of considered policydevelopment by the government of theday, nor that there had been a particularidentification of needs to be met. Fur-ther, no policy was considered for a lo-cal, community driven, decentralized,flexible, province wide array of centresdesigned to meet multiple adult learn-ing needs....there was no prior discus-sion within government as to the con-cept, form, or function of an adult learn-ing centre....Since there was no centralmodel or concept for a centre, centresdeveloped very much in relation to theneeds of the communities they serve, andboth the range of services and the modesof delivery were largely locally deter-mined” (Ferris, 2000, pp. 3-4).

The result is that although ALCs have manythings in common, each one is different fromthe others in at least some ways. Most are rela-tively small, are located in inconspicuous andrather modest surroundings, and do not look atall like traditional schools. They are generally‘store-front’ operations, physically located inpremises not originally designed to be used asschools. From the inside, those that we visitedhave a relaxed, warm and friendly feel to them.The number of students varies from ALC toALC. The composition of the staff similarly var-ies— in some cases there are only teachers, insome there may also be a counsellor and/orteaching assistant and/or office assistant, in allcases the number of staff is small. The teachingstyles vary from ALC to ALC— in some cases


classes are run very much as they would be in aregular high school, in some cases there are noregularly-structured classes at all and there iscomplete flexibility in terms of what courses aretaken and when. In some cases students enter atone particular time of the year and are putthrough testing and interviewing before beingadmitted; in other cases students may begin theirstudies at any time of the year and almost eve-ryone who is interested is enrolled. Each AdultLearning Centre appears to have its own char-acter.

Adult Learning Centres offer the maturegrade 12 diploma. It differs from the regulargrade 12 diploma in that it requires that adultscomplete 8 credits, whereas the regular highschool diploma requires the completion of 28credits from S1 to S4 (or what used to be grade9 to grade 12). As of July 1, 2003, all AdultLearning Centres are governed by the AdultLearning Centres Act. All Adult Learning Cen-tres are required to operate as non-profit organi-zations. In the 2002/03 program year, there were47 ALCs in Manitoba. As of March, 2003, therewere approximately 9300 learners enrolled inALCs, of whom about one-third (32%) wereself- identified as Aboriginal. This is more thandouble Aboriginal people’s share of the totalpopulation of Manitoba. The total number ofmature grade 12 graduates in the 2001/02 pro-gram year was 851. Data are not available todetermine how many of these graduates wereAboriginal, and what proportion were womenand men. The budget for ALCs during the 2002/03 program year was $12.9 million (data sup-plied by Adult Learning and Literacy, April 22,2003).

Part Three: Findings

In Part Three we describe the five ALCs anddiscuss our findings at each. We divide our treat-ment of the five ALCs into two parts. We lookfirst at the Portage Learning Centre, Long PlainTraining Centre, Crossways Learning Centreand Horizons Learning Centre. We look at eachindividually, and then we look separately at theUrban Circle Training Centre. The Urban Cir-cle Training Centre has been in operation longerthan the other four, works with Aboriginal learn-ers only, and has a more fully developed pro-gram than the first four Learning Centres. Itmakes sense, we believe, to treat it separately.

1. The Portage LearningCentre

The Portage Learning Centre (PLC) is lo-cated on Saskatchewan Avenue in the heart ofPortage la Prairie, a city of 14,000 located anhour’s drive west of Winnipeg. The PLC wasestablished in 1995, initially funded by HumanResources Development Canada (HRDC), witha strict employment training focus, academiceducation being largely incidental. In 1997HRDC funding ended when training was del-egated to the provinces, and in 2001 the pro-vincial government’s Adult Learning and Lit-eracy began to fund the PLC, with the resultthat the focus became academic, with employ-ment being largely incidental. The PLC is nowone of 47 Adult Learning Centres operating inManitoba.

The physical space occupied by the PLCcomprises three rooms suitable for 15-20 stu-dents each, stacked from front to back on oneside of a long hallway that runs from front to


back alongside the rooms, plus two offices anda larger office space on the other side of the hall-way toward the back of the building. The staffof 6 includes the Director, Philip Evans; CaseFacilitator and Intake Coordinator, Brenda Fos-ter; teachers Samantha Page and Dave Froese;Teaching Assistant Bev Thiessen; and Adminis-trative Assistant Lee-Ann Flett. In addition, ValGorlick is the Program Coordinator for an em-ployment program with an on-site office, andLisa Michell is the Cultural Worker, with anoffice in the basement where she works two daysper week. Gorlick and Michell, while physically

located at the PLC, are paid out of other budg-ets— Gorlick by Employment and TrainingServices, and Michel by Probation Services andthe Portage Womens’ Centre. There is a daycarecentre downstairs, in the basement, with spotsfor four infants and eight other children, and aYoung Parents Resource Centre upstairs, on thesecond floor of the building, both of which areused by some of the PLC adult learners.

There are 90-100 adult learners at the Por-tage Learning Centre in any given month, andthere is a constant waiting list of adults wantingto enter. Approximately 55 percent of learnersat the PLC are Aboriginal. We interviewed 15Aboriginal learners at the PLC, although taperecorder problems rendered one interview un-usable. Characteristics of the remaining 14 areas follows: 11 are women and 3 are men; agesrange from 16 to 43, with the median age being22; 11 of the 14 have children; 8 of the 14 aresingle mothers, and 3 live with a spouse andchildren; and the highest grade completed for10 of the 14 was grade 9, for 2 it was grade 8,for one grade 5, and for one grade 10. Aborigi-nal students at the Portage Learning Centrecome from Portage la Prairie, or from one ofthe communities surrounding Portage— LongPlain First Nation, Dakota Tipi First Nation,Dakota Plains First Nation, or slightly furtheraway, from Sandy Bay Ojibway First Nation andSwan Lake First Nation. There are also somestudents from Water Hen First Nation.

The fact that a high proportion of the adultlearners at PLC are Aboriginal is important. Asone 22 year old female learner put it: “There’s alot of Natives here, and that makes me feel com-fortable” (F; 22). This comfort in the presenceof other Aboriginal learners may be, at least inpart, because there is reported to be consider-able racism in Portage la Prairie, as elsewhere inthe province (see sidebar).

“It’s like a stereotype thing, like, Natives donothing, I get that all the time” (F; 21).

In high school “...there was three toone...white people versus Native people andthey always look at you and you’re nothingbut trash...” (F; 21).

Referring to a Police and Security Studiescourse at Red River College in Winnipeg:“...racial comments there...drunkenIndians...every day was about Natives thisand Natives that” (F; 36).

“Here, you’re your own person, they don’tcare what you look like...it’s great, I love it—it’s non-judgmental” (F; 21).

“We’re treated equal...I feel comfortablehere” (F; 36).

“You feel accepted when you come here” (M;29).

“I like coming here, I feel comfortable...” (F;23).


Significantly, adult Aboriginal learners donot feel any of this racism at the Portage Learn-ing Centre. On the contrary, they feel that theyare treated equally and respectfully (see sidebar).We found that this was the case at each of thefive ALCs where we conducted interviews.

Adult Aboriginal learners come to the PLCfor a variety of reasons. One of these is to createa better life for their children, and in some casesmore directly to be able to help children withhomework. One 28 year old woman, referringto her young school-age son, told us in frustra-tion that: “I’m supposed to be helping him withhis homework but I don’t know anything”, whilea 36 year old woman told us that she wanted toshow her children that if Mom could do it, theycan too, and she added proudly: “My oldestdaughter, she’s doing very well in school, we doour homework together”. A number of adultlearners told us that they enrolled at PLC be-cause, contrary to common myths, they just gottired of sitting around at home doing nothing(see sidebar). We found this to be the case atother ALCs as well.

At least some of the PLC adult learners em-phasized the strong support that they are get-ting from their family. One said about her fam-ily: “They’re really happy that I’m going back toschool” (F; 21), while another added that “MyMom’s really great with that too because she’llbe, like, why don’t you come over and I can playwith the kids and you can do your homeworkand you can have supper too” (F; 21).

Portage Learning Centre uses a continuousintake, module-based, one-on-one teachingstrategy. There is an intake every other week.Intake facilitation is the responsibility of BrendaFoster. She meets with students and tests themin Math and English to determine their circum-stances and their academic level, and she notonly designs a plan of study with a schedule of

completion for each course, but also works outpractical arrangements such as daycare and trans-port to class, and tries to begin to “develop arelationship with them” (Foster, Feb. 17, 2003).Each student is advised about courses to take,and Foster then meets with students on a regu-lar basis, every 4-6 weeks, to determine whether

“I just got sick of doing nothing...” (F; 19;one child).

“I just got tired of staying at home, doingnothing” (F; 38; 6 children).

“I didn’t want to sit around at home and Ijust wanted to finish school” (F; 24; 2 chil-dren).

“You can work at your own pace but you stillhave to finish something here” (F; 28).

“It’s very flexible...and they actually give youprogress reports to see how you’re comingalong and how you can pick yourself up” (F;18).

“They let you work at your own pace, theyjust don’t want you to go slower than theyknow you can handle” (F; 18).

“I get a lot more help here than I did inhigh school” (F; 23).

“I don’t feel belittled when I make a mis-take” (F; 36).

“It’s not like a classroom where you have toput up your hand and stop the whole class-room from learning, you can just ask ateacher to come over and help you” (F; 19).


they are meeting their goals. Students we inter-viewed were virtually unanimous in saying thatthey appreciate the fact that there are clear ex-pectations with respect to work (see sidebar).

Learners are assigned work modules in eachcourse. They then work at their own pace, ask-ing teachers for assistance when needed. Learn-ers were close to unanimous in saying that teach-ers were very helpful, and that they felt com-fortable in asking for help, and many expressedthe view that they find the environment at PLCto be preferable to their previous experience inhigh school (see sidebar). We found that thisopinion was expressed by adult Aboriginal learn-ers at each of the ALCs. Some students moverelatively slowly, others complete modules andentire courses at a rapid pace. For example, onestudent started Math in November, 2002, andcompleted the course with a very good grade inlate January, 2003 (Froese, Feb. 4, 2003). In thethree years from 1999/2000 to 2001/2002, thePortage Learning Centre graduated 78 adultlearners with their mature grade 12 diploma. Inthe absence of the PLC, it is likely that very fewof these people would have completed theirgrade 12.

The learner-centred philosophy of the PLCis important. When asked why people stay andsucceed at PLC, Evans says, “we’re very forgiv-ing” (Evans, Feb. 17, 2003). The PLC does notcare about a person’s past; everyone who appliesand meets the minimum academic standards isgiven an opportunity. It may not work for anadult learner the first, or second, or even thirdtime, but PLC continues to work with them,and explicitly seeks to ensure that even whenstudents leave, they leave on good terms andare fully aware that the door is open for a subse-quent attempt. Foster says: “We do not judgethe reasons people leave” (Foster, Feb. 17, 2003).When learners are at the PLC, all staff are made

aware in general terms of their personal circum-stances so that they can respond to learners’needs. If for example someone does not turn upwhen expected, it may require a simple phonecall, or it may be more complicated, requiringstaff— generally but not only Brenda Foster—to work with a women’s shelter or probationservices, for example.

It is notable that staff consistently go aboveand beyond what might be considered ‘normal’job expectations. Driving students to class whena test is scheduled, accompanying students whenthey have personal problems outside school,continuing to work with students who are injail, accompanying students too shy to meet withtheir childrens’ teachers, are examples that arenot uncommon. As Brenda Foster observes:“When you show people that you care...theydon’t forget that kind of thing” (Foster, Feb. 17,2003). When asked why students succeed atPLC, Philip Evans replied: “Every member ofstaff is incredibly committed to what they’redoing” (Evans, Feb. 17, 2003). Students con-firmed in the interviews how very helpful andsupportive they consider staff to be. As one 36year old woman put it: “If you don’t have a ride,one of them will come and pick you up...I’venever encountered anything like this before soit’s been very good”.

Learners feel comfortable speaking with anystaff member, but Case Facilitator and IntakeCoordinator Brenda Foster plays a particularlycrucial role as counsellor. The importance of herrole at the PLC, as evidenced by our interviews,speaks to the importance of taking a holisticapproach, and having the staff to provide thesupports that are needed for the successful im-plementation of a holistic approach. She was nothired for the position that she holds, but ratherfor an administrative position, but as she says,the missing piece was the support piece and


“...we saw it very clearly” (Foster, Feb. 17, 2003).She expresses the view, as does Philip Evans, thatthe social and emotional supports provided inso many ways at PLC are the single most im-portant variable in explaining students’ success.“I find that support is the real key”, she says.Students regularly meet with her to discuss notonly academic but also personal problems, andtell us in interviews that they feel free to talkopenly with her about personal problems (seesidebar).

The philosophy is that students are morethan just students; they are people with livesoutside the classroom, and in a good many casesthose lives are fraught with difficulties. Manyof the adult Aboriginal learners in particular haveexperienced a great deal of hardship in their lives,and are carrying the pain with them. BrendaFoster, for example, spends lots of one-on-onetime talking with students, and says it’s “realtough looking at personal issues....a lot of ourstudents carry a lot of wounds” (Foster, Feb. 17,2003). Our interviews reveal that this is the caseat each of the five ALCs that we studied. Relat-ing to adult learners as people with lives outsidethe classroom rather then simply as students isconsistent with the holistic approach which, webelieve, is an absolutely essential component ofsuccess in Adult Learning Centres.

Central to the holistic approach is provid-ing a variety of supports to learners. Daycare isa key support. There are only four infant spotsin the PLC daycare, and the demand is muchgreater than that. There is only one other daycarein Portage with infant spots. Demand exceedssupply, and numerous potential students can-not afford private daycare and do not have fam-ily or friends able or prepared to provide thisessential service. Adequate daycare is a crucialcomponent of an adult learning strategy. As one21 year old with two children put it: “If that

daycare wasn’t there I don’t think I’d be comingto school”, and she added that “the childcarething is really big because I know lots of myfriends who have kids that just feel they can’t goback to school because of that” (F; 21). Thismay be especially so for Aboriginal learners,given demographic trends in Manitoba, whichshow that the Aboriginal population is growingfaster than the non-Aboriginal population, andthe age structure of the Aboriginal populationis much younger than the non-Aboriginal (Sil-ver and Mallett, 2002, pp.5-7; Canada andManitoba, 2002).

In fact, an analysis of 2001 Census ofCanada data for Manitoba shows that for theperiod 1996-2001, the non-Aboriginal popula-tion under 15 years of age declined by 26.0%,while the Aboriginal population under 15 yearsof age grew by 38.8 % (CCPA-Mb., April, 2003,p.5).

“People can go talk to her about anything,and it’s totally confidential so it’s absolutelygreat” (F; 21).

“She’s really good to talk to” (F; 43).

“I feel like I can tell her anything” (F; 23).

“They make it so it’s really comfortable to go seethem” (F; 21).

“I can ask anybody here...and they’ll try tohelp me” (F; 23).

“They’re pretty nice here, nice people” (F; 28).


Some Opportunities forImprovements

We have identified a number of areas wherewe think an already very strong program couldbe made stronger. Most of what follows is al-ready known to staff at PLC, and in some casesthey are actively working at introducing thechanges we discuss.

There is some evidence in the adult educa-tion literature that a continuous intake, one-on-one style of teaching and learning is not as ef-fective as the use of cohorts(National Centre forthe Study of Adult Learning and Literacy, 2001,p. 30; Beder and Medina, nd, p. 1). Philip Evansand Brenda Foster are now examining how theycan develop a cohort component to comple-ment, not replace, the flexible one-on-one ap-proach that so many adult Aboriginal learnerstold us they appreciate. Brenda Foster describesbeing in a cohort group in her social work class,and consistent with the literature, she says thesupport is incomparable to independent study(Foster, Feb.17, 2003). One possibility currentlybeing considered at PLC is to work with agen-cies so as to take in 10-12 learners at similarlevels at the same time, and then work with themas a group so that the members of the groupbecome mutually supportive, become “... a re-ally cohesive community”, able to support eachother in a variety of ways, both practical, liketransport and childcare, and emotional (Evans,Feb. 17, 2003). This, it is thought, would belikely to reduce the incidence of absences, whichare “a very big problem” at PLC (Evans, Feb.17, 2003), and would reduce the likelihood oflearners leaving. This could become especiallyvaluable if Income Security could be persuadedto fund a cohort of adult learners for two years—“we can do a lot in two years” (Foster, Feb. 17,2003). Some Aboriginal students expressed a

desire for such a development. For example, a28 year old woman said: “I think what wouldhelp me here is if I had a study group....I find iteasier to work with someone rather than work-ing on my own”. Other learners made it clear ininterviews that they felt detached from fellowlearners, and isolated. There may be other waysof creating the mutual support among studentsthat is so advantageous. For example, a ‘buddysystem’ could be developed, linking togethertwo, three or even four learners. And a regularsystem of sharing circles might be instituted,among the several benefits of which would bethe promotion of a greater sense of communityamongst adult learners.

The institution of sharing circles might cre-ate the opportunity for students to be mutuallysupportive, especially regarding personal prob-lems, in a way consistent with the holistic phi-losophy used at PLC. Lisa Michel already holdssharing circles at PLC, but they are not wellknown to most students, judging from our in-terviews. This may be because Lisa’s presence atPLC two days per week is new. Making Abo-riginal— and non-Aboriginal— learners awareof Lisa’s sharing circles, and making these shar-ing circles a more frequent, and central, part ofthe program at PLC, might go some consider-able distance toward overcoming the individu-alism and isolation that can follow from thecontinuous intake model in which structuredclasses are not used. Those students who havetaken advantage of Lisa’s sharing circles and othercultural initiatives have responded positively.One 36 year old woman told us that several ofher fellow learners had gone to a sweat lodgeand participated in other cultural practices withLisa “...and they said that was quite an experi-ence for them.... they said it felt so good they’ddo it again”.


A greater use of sharing circles would alsobe consistent with the need to add more Abo-riginal content to the program at PLC. This isimportant because of the impact of coloniza-tion on Aboriginal people (Silver and Mallett,2002). Colonization sought to remove Aborigi-nal peoples’ language and culture and spiritual-ity on the grounds that they were inferior tothose of the European settlers. Many Aborigi-nal people have internalized those colonial be-liefs in various ways, leading to loss of identityand of self-esteem. This is evident at the Por-tage Learning Centre, and at all the ALCs. AsBrenda Foster puts it: “There’s such an identitycrisis with so many of our students”, having todo with their loss of culture (Foster, Feb. 17,2003). A greater Aboriginal presence in a vari-ety of ways would help to solve these problems.The presence at PLC of Lisa Michel and Ad-ministrative Assistant Lee-Ann Flett, who is alsoAboriginal, is important. As one of the authorsof this paper said in an evaluation session, whentalking about the importance to Aboriginal peo-ple of seeing that organizations employ Aborigi-nal people:

“...there is that perception that... Abo-riginal people are accepted because thereis one on staff, and the students know,‘oh, they’re hiring Aboriginal people’, sothere is immediately that perceptionwhen you’re walking in there that they’rea non-racist institution. When I walkinto a place and see a familiar (ie., Abo-riginal) face, your comfort level imme-diately goes up...” (Klyne, March 3,2003).

As already shown, adult Aboriginal learnersfeel comfortable at PLC. However, they also toldus that they would like to learn more about their

culture. For example, a 22 year old woman toldus: “I don’t know my culture...I’d like to learn”.Others made similar comments. In pursuit ofthis two things could usefully be added at PLC.One is the introduction of a Native Studiescourse. Several students expressed an interest insuch a course. This is already being pursued bystaff at PLC; it is our view that such a courseought to be offered at all Adult Learning Cen-tres in Manitoba. The other is the need to in-troduce staff in a more systematic way to Abo-riginal history and culture. Staff expressed a de-sire to learn more. When asked if he thought heknew enough about Aboriginal history and cul-ture, Philip Evans replied: “definitely not”(Evans, Feb. 18, 2003). Brenda Foster respondedsimilarly, saying: “It’s an area that needs to beencouraged” (Foster, Feb. 17, 2003). Staff atPLC have benefited from multicultural sensi-tivity courses offered by the Addictions Foun-dation of Manitoba, which they found to be“very good” (Evans, Feb. 18, 2003). But moreis needed. We believe that one way of doing thisis for Adult Learning and Literacy to develop asystematic program of professional developmentaimed at familiarizing staff in Adult LearningCentres with Aboriginal history and culture.This will be one of the recommendations thatwe make in Part Four of this paper. At this pointwhat needs to be said is that there is an expresseddesire on the part of staff at the Portage Learn-ing Centre to learn more about their Aboriginalstudents, and steps should be taken to make thatpossible.

Another area where an opportunity existsfor a useful addition to the already strong pro-gram being run at the PLC arises from the factthat many and perhaps most of those who suc-cessfully complete the mature grade 12 diplomaat the PLC end up working for minimum wagesin retail jobs at places like Tim Horton’s or Wal-


Mart (Evans, Feb. 17, 2003; Gorlick, Feb. 18,2003). Most such jobs are part-time. Part-timework at the minimum wage cannot support afamily. This often creates a sense of futilityamong PLC students. As Philip Evans puts it, itcreates a sense of: “Why bother? Grade 12’s notgoing to get me anything anyway” (Evans, Feb.17, 2003). The Urban Circle Training Centreoffers a model that might be tried in Portage laPrairie. At UCTC a ten month Health CareAide/Unit Clerk program is run. Among its dis-tinctive features is the fact that the program wasdesigned to meet a specific market need for jobs.The Health Sciences Centre(HSC) in Winni-peg is a large general hospital, a high propor-tion of whose patients are Aboriginal people, buta low proportion of whose staff was Aboriginal.The HSC wanted to hire more Aboriginal staff,and worked with UCTC to develop a course.The course is designed both to meet the demandat the HSC, and to meet the very specific needsof adult Aboriginal learners affected by coloni-zation. Graduates of the program start at theHSC at close to $14/hour, enough to raise afamily, and far more attractive to adult gradu-ates than the minimum wage jobs now on offerfor most graduates of the PLC. The UCTCmodel or an appropriate variant could be triedin Portage la Prairie by the PLC. The first stepwould be to survey the local economy to deter-mine what labour skills are likely to be in highdemand in the near future. Then partnershipscould be developed with employers in these ar-eas, and a course developed jointly with employ-ers could be designed. This could be done firston an experimental basis, with a class of 15 or20 graduates of the PLC being invited to take atargeted 10 month program.

2. Long Plain TrainingCentre

The Long Plain Training Centre occupiesthe third floor of the Rufus Prince Building, alarge, three-story brick building overlooking abend in the Assiniboine River, just outside Por-tage la Prairie on the Long Plain First Nation.The building is a twenty minute drive from themain settlement at Long Plain, and a short walkout of Portage la Prairie. In years past the build-ing was a residential school, and in fact LongPlain Training Centre (LPTC) Director LizMerrick was a student there as a young girl, aswas the mother of teacher Yvette Daniels. Thethird floor has five spacious, sunny rooms andseveral smaller rooms, and has a warm and inti-mate feel about it. It is a fine setting for an edu-cational institution, despite its past.

There are approximately 30 students cur-rently enrolled in the LPTC, roughly two-thirdsof them women, and all but one Aboriginal,most but not all from Long Plain First Nation.There is a Director, Liz Merrick, who is also nowthe Principal of the Long Plain School, and soserves on a part-time basis as LPTC Director,plus two teachers, Yvette Daniels and MatthewWiebe, both in their third year at LPTC— ie.,both have been there from the beginning. Inaddition there is an Administrative Assistant,Adrienne Woods. Three of the four staff areAboriginal.

In the first year of the program— 2000/01— LPTC was associated with Morris-Macdonald School Division. It is now affiliatedwith the University of Winnipeg Collegiate. Inthat first year the LPTC used a one-on-one,work-at-your-own-pace teaching and learningmethod, but it did not work well. Studentsworked slowly, problems were not identified in


a timely fashion, and adult learners who wereacademically weak or who had been out ofschool for a number of years were getting lost.As a result the decision was made to shift to amore formalized classroom setting in year two.“We really structured it”, as Liz Merrick puts it.The opinion of the Director and two teachers isthat this has been a positive move. The peda-gogy is similar to what could be found in anyregular high school classroom. They introducethe lesson, making use of the board, and thenhave the students work on exercises/assignments.According to the students, however, it is not likethe regular high schools in Portage la Prairie.

We interviewed 15 adult Aboriginal learn-ers at the Long Plain Training Centre, 8 womenand 7 men, ranging in age from 18 to 45 years,with a median age of 22 years. Ten of the 15learners have children, 5 do not. Six are singlemothers, two live with a partner and children,one lives with a parent and children, one livesapart from his children. For 8 of the adult learn-ers, the highest grade previously attained wasgrade 9. Two had completed grade 10; the resthad not completed grade 9. Many referred tothe desire for a better life for their children astheir motivation for returning to school atLPTC, and it was evident from interviews thatif the LPTC did not exist, many would be athome with their children on social assistance.

A prominent theme that arose from the in-terviews is how positively learners feel about theLPTC teachers, and how comfortable they feelin the learning centre. They feel as if they get allthe help that they need, and that they are en-couraged and made to feel good about them-selves (see sidebar). The teachers are extremelydedicated. Matthew Wiebe is highly regardedby students. Yvette Daniels comes from and livesin the community, knows all the learners and

their families, does a great deal of the counsel-ling, and is also very highly regarded by students.

Learners also made it clear that there is acomfort level at the LPTC that is the result ofits being an almost exclusively Aboriginal place.For example, a 27 year old woman said: “I feelmore comfortable here, like around Aboriginalpeople, than I would in a mixed group”, and a31 year old woman said: “I can talk toeverybody...because they’re the same culture”.Strong parental/family support was also men-tioned by many students— encouragement, andalso tangible support in the form of childcareand transport. Said one woman: “...they’re re-ally supportive...my Dad would drive an hourto drive me to school”. It is clear to us that theLPTC is a community effort.

The positive attitude to the Long PlainTraining Centre expressed by learners stands instark contrast to the previous school experienceof at least several of those we interviewed, forwhom questions about previous educationevoked a good deal of pain. In some cases theracism they experienced in school appears tohave had deep and lasting negative effects. Theoldest of the students we interviewed, who

“...teaching is actually pretty darnedgreat...teachers really go out of their way tohelp you” (M; 25).

“They accept us...and they always encourageus...we can talk to them... they make me feelgood about myself ” (F; 43).

“It’s all good, I like it here. I feel comfortableasking the teachers for help” (F; 21).

You don’t feel left out...there’s always help foryou here” (M; 19).


comes from a community other than Long Plain,told us in a soft voice that: “I just couldn’t learnbecause you were getting hit all the time bynuns”. A 43 year old woman told us that: “I justfelt that I was so lost there, so I just quit”. An18 year old cried when she said: “I guess I justfeel bad because the last time at school, like, therewas racism there...there wasn’t lots but there wassome”. She added: “I like being here [at LPTC],it’s comforting....I can just sit in class and bewho I am and not be worried about other peo-ple looking at me— that’s how I felt in highschool”. Liz Merrick informed us that relativelyfew Aboriginal students graduate from ArthurMeighan High School in Portage la Prairie. In2001-02 there was one Aboriginal graduate atArthur Meighan, and she says that is about thenorm, although in some years there have been afew more. By way of comparison, in 2001-02the Long Plain Training Centre graduated 25 oftheir adult learners with the mature grade 12diploma (Merrick, Feb. 18, 2003).

The Director and teachers at LPTC feel verypositively about the program that they offer.Yvette Daniels says “I’m really proud of the pro-gram”, and she points to the fact that the pro-gram is quite flexible in order to be able to re-spond in a holistic fashion to the needs of learn-ers outside the classroom. Yvette believes that ithelps that she lives in and knows the commu-nity and the adult learners and their families verywell. Knowing the culture of the community—“I know the way our people think...”, she says—and the home circumstances of her studentsenables her to respond to their needs in the class-room in a more appropriate and more holisticfashion. What is more, there is a sense of com-munity that exists at the Long Plain TrainingCentre, that arises from its being rooted in thecommunity. “Everybody knows eachother...people help each other out”, she says.

They “feel more comfortable” at LPTC than inthe high schools in Portage la Prairie, where “theyfelt out of place...they felt they didn’tbelong”(Daniels, Feb.18, 2003).

There are some problems. One of these isthat many of the students at LPTC are relativelyyoung for adult learners, in their late teens orvery early 20s. There is a clear distinction be-tween these younger learners– many of whomgive the impression in interviews of having givenlittle if any thought to what they are doing—and the older learners, most of whom have muchgreater insight into what they are doing and why,and a much greater commitment to learning.This is a pattern, it is important to note, thatwe observed not only at LPTC but at most ofthe Adult Learning Centres. It is a pattern thatis known to the Director and teachers at LPTCas well. For example, last year’s class was, onaverage, quite a bit older than this year’s class,and the staff at LPTC say that the difference inthe level of commitment is tangible. It expressesitself in various ways, perhaps most notably at-tendance problems, which are described byMatthew Wiebe as “the biggest challenge beinghere”, and relatively low levels of motivation(Wiebe, Feb. 18, 2003). These attendance andmotivation problems are particularly noticeableamong the younger students. As one of the au-thors said during a review and evaluation ses-sion, when speaking specifically about theLPTC: “ The older, the more dedicated, themore committed, and the more that they had aplan for after they were done their education,you know, they knew what they were going todo afterwards, this was a stepping stone”(Klyne,March 3, 2003).

It is not clear to us what might be doneabout this issue. The demographics of Aborigi-nal people in Manitoba, whose population isgrowing faster than and is younger than the non-


Aboriginal population, together with the factthat Aboriginal students continue to be morelikely than non-Aboriginal students to leave highschool prior to completing grade 12, mean thatthere now are and there will continue to be sig-nificant numbers of Aboriginal people in theirlate teens and early twenties who are not inschool (See Silver and Mallett, 2002, p. 7;CCPA-Mb., April, 2003, p.5), and for whomthe Adult Learning Centres might seem the ob-vious choice. At the same time, however, it isvery clear to us from our interviews and fromour review of the literature(see, for example,National Centre for the Study of Adult Learn-ing and Literacy, 2001, p. 11; George, 1997)that the motivation of the individual adultlearner is one of the most important variablesin predicting success. As one of the authors,herself a recent graduate of an Adult LearningCentre, put it:

“The people that succeed are the peoplewho are there for a very specific reason,you know, they’re doing it because oftheir children, they’re doing it becauseof lost opportunities before and they feellike it’s their last chance, they’re doing itbecause they know that they can have abetter life, so there’s a motive behind it,those are the people that I think are go-ing to be really successful” (Klyne,March 3, 2003).

Some Opportunities forImprovement

The program offered at the Long PlainTraining Centre is very strong. The staff areoutstanding, and extremely dedicated, and thisis evident in the overwhelmingly positive com-ments about them by learners at the Centre.Many of these learners made it clear to us in

interviews that in the absence of the LPTC, theywould not be in school at all but would be athome on social assistance. Thus the LPTC ismeeting a very important need. We think thatthere are some improvements that could be madethat would make a strong program even stronger.We concur with Matthew Wiebe’s observation:“This place here has tremendous potential”(Wiebe, Feb. 18, 2003).

One recommendation that arises from ourinterviews has to do with Aboriginal culture. LizMerrick has introduced some Aboriginal cultureat LPTC. She starts each school year by smudg-ing and blessing the building, and holding afeast, and she has hung an eagle feather over eachdoor (Merrick, Feb. 18, 2003). And this yearYvette Daniels is teaching a Native Studiescourse, to which the students have respondedpositively. Nevertheless, there is not enoughAboriginal culture to satisfy the needs of manyof the students. A minority of the students donot care about Aboriginal cultural teachings. Forexample, one student said that Aboriginal cul-ture is “...not really important to me, I’m notreally interested...right now”(M; 21). But manyfeel differently. Many feel that they don’t knowenough about their culture and they want toknow more. “I don’t really know our culture...Iwasn’t raised that way”, said a 21 year oldwoman, while a 27 year old woman said “There’sa lot of people here that don’t really know” theirculture; “I don’t know a lot, I don’t really knowanything”. Another student spoke at more lengthabout this matter:

“...the thing is we don’t really learn aboutour culture here, like, that sharing circle[when the research team introducedthemselves and the research project tothe students] was the first time we everhad one, and to me it was so new, be-


cause I wasn’t raised in or around theAboriginal culture so to me to know theAboriginal culture is very important andwe see all these nice little things hang-ing around and you just love to look atthem but you don’t know anythingabout them....I thought maybe it wouldhave been incorporated into thisschool...there might be little hints of it,but....”

She added: “My daughter, she’s 22, she dies[her emphasis] to know about her culture, but,where do you go...and then she asks methings....” This woman told us that her fatherhad been in residential school where he was sexu-ally abused. “He begged not to go back”; whenhe was 17 years old he ran away for good. As aresult of her father’s experience, she told us, herlife has not been that good: “...a lot of terriblethings happened in my life so I’ve carried thataround for a long time...”. And as a result of herfather’s experience, she lost her culture, and thusher sense of identity. When she was asked whatdifference she thought it would make to theyounger learners if Aboriginal culture were moreinfused in the educational experience at LPTC,she said, simply but powerfully, “...they’d feelgood about themselves”. We think that there isa craving amongst many Aboriginal people,adult learners included, to learn about their cul-ture. We will make recommendations alongthese lines in Part Five.

A second recommendation arises from theexperience of those who graduate from the LongPlain Training Centre with their mature grade12 diploma. Many are either not attempting, orare not succeeding at, post-secondary education,and few are finding good jobs. Yet there are jobsin the community. Yvette examined the labourneeds of Long Plain First Nation, and found

that there is a need for, among others, trades-persons (electronics, carpentry, plumbing),teachers and nurses, home care providers, coun-sellors, and cashiers. This suggests to us the needfor a post-grade 12, job-specific training pro-gram that would prepare people for jobs in thecommunity. The first step in this process is toidentify emergent labour needs in the commu-nity, now and over the next decade and more. Itmay be, for example, that there will be a needfor workers in the human services— health care,child care, family support workers, seniors sup-port workers. This is likely, given demographictrends. Once needs are identified, a job-specifictraining program or programs can be designed,working closely with potential employers. Theprospect of full-time jobs that pay above theminimum wage would be likely to serve as themotivator that is needed for some of the youngeradults. The benefits to the community of mov-ing people from social assistance to financialindependence are considerable, and includegreater family stability, a greater likelihood ofchildren succeeding in school, and greater com-munity involvement. We will elaborate upon thisrecommendation in Part Five.

A third area where improvements could bemade is in the provision of child care. The avail-ability of adequate and affordable childcare is aproblem now for many adult learners at LPTC(Daniels, Feb. 18, 2003). A high proportion ofadult learners have children; many are singleparents. The demographics of Aboriginal peo-ple in Manitoba make it clear that this is likelyto continue to be the case in the foreseeable fu-ture. When adequate and affordable childcareis not available, one of two results is likely: adultswho might otherwise do so will be preventedfrom attending an ALC, or; childcare difficul-ties will play havoc with their attendance, andthus their likelihood of success. Any considera-


tion of Aboriginal people and adult educationmust take the question of child care into ac-count.

We were very impressed with the programbeing offered at Long Plain Training Centre. Thestaff are extremely dedicated, and the adult learn-ers feel very positively about the experience. Wenote, however, that it is a bare-bones operation.There are two teachers. Liz Merrick works onlypart-time in the role of Director, doing neces-sary work evenings and weekends in the verydedicated fashion that seems to us to typify thestaff at Adult Learning Centres. There are noTeaching Assistants. There is no counsellor—Yvette Daniels does the bulk of the counselling,and does it well, but adds this responsibility toher teaching responsibilities. And yet even withsuch a skeletal operation, significant numbersof adult learners are graduating with their ma-ture grade 12 diploma. We think that the mostsignificant thing about the Long Plain TrainingCentre is that it reveals the possibilities offeredby adult learning centres in Aboriginal commu-nities. Several elements would need to be addedto the model now being used at LPTC to en-able it to reach its full potential— perhaps mostsignificantly the addition of a job-training pro-gram— and we will make recommendations inthis regard in Part Five. But it is clear to us that,notwithstanding the difficulties that we citedabove, there is a need, given demographic andsocio-economic trends, for adult learning cen-tres in Aboriginal communities, and the LongPlain Training Centre provides the outline ofhow that need might begin to be met.

3. CrossRoads LearningCentre

The CrossRoads Learning Centre is locatedin a strip mall at the west end of Burrows Av-enue, across the street from the Gilbert Parkhousing project— referred to by many northend and inner city residents as ‘Jigtown’— inWinnipeg’s north end. CrossRoads LearningCentre (CLC) has a large classroom at the backof its rented unit in the strip mall, along theside of which is the narrow hallway where thecoffee machine and fridge are located. Behindthe coffee machine in the narrow hallway, oldcomputers and tables are stored. At the front ofthe unit is a second large room with computersaround the walls where computer classes areheld, and where there is a long study table, be-side which the small staff office is located. Atany given time a class may be going on in eitherof the two rooms, students will be working in-dependently at computers, and other studentsare likely to be working on assignments at thetable in the front room. The outside door en-ters directly into the front room, so that stu-dents are constantly coming and going throughthe classroom.

Darlene Wheeler is the full-time Director/teacher— she teaches three-quarter time, whichis six courses, and does the work of Director overand above her teaching responsibilities— andPhyllis Crow is a full-time teacher, doing eightcourses. Darlene and Phyllis are experiencedadult educators. Three other teachers have re-sponsibility for one course each, offered in theevenings. Kim Cooke works three-quarter time,splitting her day between Administrative Assist-ant and Teaching Assistant. There are 90-100students registered at any given time at the CLC,most but not all of whom are working towardtheir mature grade 12 diploma, many of whom


live in Gilbert Park. CrossRoads uses a trimes-ter system, with three intakes of adult learnersper year.

The CrossRoads Learning Centre started inAugust, 2000, and so now is in its third year, asis the case with the Long Plain Training Centre.Darlene and Phyllis came from another adulteducation program with which they were not atall satisfied. Darlene decided to set up her ownnon-profit Adult Learning Centre to teach adultsin the way that she believed, based on her yearsof experience, would meet the needs of adultlearners. Phyllis joined her in the second year.In the Fall of 2000 CrossRoads started with anindependent study model, but abandoned it af-ter about two months and shifted to a morestructured classroom setting, as was done at LongPlain Training Centre. The independent, work-at-your-own-pace model does not work for adultlearners who have been out of school for sometime, Darlene argues. In her view: “You’re set-ting people up for failure”. Now courses arestructured around classes held at pre-determinedtimes.

As is the case at each of the ALCs that wehave investigated, it is obvious that the key peo-ple at CLC, Darlene and Phyllis, are extremelyhard-working and dedicated to adult educationin general and to their learners in particular. Thisis reflected in the comments of learners, whoare unstinting in their praise of the CrossRoadsLearning Centre and its teachers (see sidebar).Learners say that the teachers treat them respect-fully, are warm and friendly, and are always avail-able to offer individual help. This is possible notonly because of the personal attributes of theteachers, but also because they have deliberatelycreated a structure that is small, non-hierarchi-cal, and highly personalized. Laughter and hu-mour, both say, are key parts of their pedagogi-cal strategy— “there is a lot of humour in our

“...teachers are excellent here, they’re veryrespectful...they treat all of us equally...theylet me know of the potential they see in meand the ability that I have...they definitelymake me feel that I can do it...” (M; 24).

“When you first come to this learning centreone of the things they are is very friendly, soright away it puts you at ease...they make youfeel comfortable” and “...theinstructors...actually take the time to sit downwith you and explain...so you actually under-stand it, and that’s one of the things I reallylike” (M; 35).

The teachers “... treat you right, treat peoplethe way you ought to be treated...” (M; 22).

“I really like going here because they’re veryflexible...they give you lots of time and lots ofhelp whenever you need it...they really wantyou to make something of yourself when youleave here...it’s nice and it’s small, I wouldn’twant to go anywhere else” (F; 21).

“...the teachers, they’re wonderful, like, they’reunderstanding....I just don’t feel ashamedhere” (F; 19).

“ They’re the kind of teachers that’ll come upand talk to you right away, or, if they thinkyou’re having troubles with something they’llcome and tell you right away and they’ll tryto help you through it and they’ll stay thatextra hour after school or before school to helpyou...they’re really nice people...more likefriends than a teacher” (M; 21).


teaching styles...”, says Phyllis— and that isobvious when one visits the CLC. Judging fromthe comments of students, and from the numberof mature grade 12 graduates— 19 in 2001-2002, of whom 9 were Aboriginal— it worksvery well.

Such comments stand in stark contrast tothe previous educational experiences of manyof these adult learners. “My high school experi-ence wasn’t all that good...lot of conflict goingaround, or racism, whatever...”, said a 22 yearold man. An 18 year old woman said she didnot like high school “...because of the way theteachers treated me...because of my race, myculture”. At CrossRoads, as at the other AdultLearning Centres, many students made men-tion of racism when they previously went toschool. In some cases they spoke with bitternessabout it, and it was evident from the way thatthey spoke that it had caused them a great dealof pain. Others, however— and this seems par-ticularly to be the case for the men— men-tion the existence of racism in their previousschool experiences in an almost casual way, as ifto say ‘well, there’s lots of racism but we all knowabout that so there’s no need to say much more’.They said this in conversation with interview-ers who are themselves Aboriginal. It is as if thepresence of racism in schools and in their livesgenerally is so pervasive that when talking withother Aboriginal people it is simply taken forgranted. For example, a 35 year old learner de-scribing his previous high school experience toldus in his interview that: “some of the things Ididn’t like was...racism, which everybody knowsabout, but other than that there was not toomuch that I didn’t mind”. At CrossRoads, how-ever, everyone is treated respectfully and equally,and this was the message that we got from adultlearners at each of the Adult Learning Centresthat we investigated.

Of particular note at CrossRoads are threeyoung Aboriginal men in their early-mid 20swho were among the adult learners that we in-terviewed. They each have had very difficultlives, including having been in considerable trou-ble with the law, but all are now in the processof turning their lives around, and CrossRoadsLearning Centre is a central part of the personaltransformation that they are undertaking. One24 year old told us that CrossRoads was therefor him “...at a time in my life when I decidedto get back into school...”, because he had de-cided to turn his life around. Regular high schoolis not an option in such cases. One 34 yearwoman who in fact tried to return to an innercity high school before going to CrossRoads said:“I’m not a teenager any more and mostly all thekids are teenagers...they can be kind of roughand always trying to bully each other and I foundthat annoying...”. A 35 year old man told usthat it “...would be kind of hard right now to gosit in a high school and try to get your creditsagain after so many years...younger students, youkind of feel out of place...to actually go backand sit in a high school again would be kind ofhard”. Adult Learning Centres work in suchcases. A 26 year old man told us of his roughearlier life, and then added: “There’s nothingthat could stop me now....” A 22 year old whohad some particularly difficult times said abouthis high school experience that it was: “...nottoo positive, I really don’t like talking aboutthat”. The pain in his voice was tangible. Hetold us that he was “...caught up in a lot of stuffin my past, eh, kind of changed my life aroundfor my family...my two kids, my wife...school’sreally helped me out, helped me out lots, chang-ing my outlook on life and how I used to be....it’shelped me out with my family and stuff...feelsgood from the life style the way I used to liveand where I used to be and it’s a big change”.


The young man then expressed his determina-tion and his regrets: “It’s all on yourself, if youwant to learn, or if you don’t want to learn, some-times people, it’s not their time to go to school,they just don’t want to go to school, like mewhen I was younger, I didn’t want to go toschool, now I want to go to school, I’m kickingmyself in the ass, I should have went to schoolwhen I was younger...”.

These are remarkable personal transforma-tions, about which several things are notable.First, these young men are motivated to improvetheir education. They have a sense of purpose.It is not fully clear to us what prompted theirdecision to turn their lives around, but twothings were advanced by the men themselves.One is the desire to make a different and betterlife for their families. Many learners atCrossRoads, including these particular men, toldus this (see sidebar).

The other, in the case of at least one of them,is the role of an elder who entered his life whilehe was incarcerated, and who introduced himto his culture through sharing circles and sweats.“He’s the one who got me out of where I was in,

helped me out to straighten out my life and lookout for my kids....so I guess my elder was thebiggest thing helping me out” (M; 22). We willsay more about this later. The point that we thinkneeds to be emphasized here is that at the pointthat these young men decided to make a breakwith their past and to turn their lives around,CrossRoads was there for them. WithoutCrossRoads, or some other Adult Learning Cen-tre, they would be very much less likely to com-plete their grade 12 and therefore might notmake the personal transformation that they ap-pear now to be in the process of making. Adultlearners have to be motivated; for those who are,the Adult Learning Centre is an essential partof the process of transformation.

Some Opportunities forImprovement

There are several opportunities for improve-ments at CrossRoads Learning Centre. The firstis that, as strong as the program is, it is a bare-bones operation. It is, quite simply, under-staffed. It is the remarkable operation that it is—it is appreciated so whole-heartedly by its stu-dents— solely because of the skills and dedica-tion of its two full-time and one three-quartertime staff. But the pace that is required of themmay well not be sustainable in the long run. AsDarlene Wheeler– referred to by one of the adultlearners as “...the ultimate teacher”— observes:“Adult Learning Centres will lose dynamic, ef-fective people who just cannot maintain thepace...”. The challenge and excitement of build-ing their own organization from the ground uphas been a big part of the motivation to date,but it is our view that the Adult Learning Cen-tres are important enough to this province’s fu-ture that we need to be thinking about how tosustain them over the long term, and build ontheir successes. In the case of CrossRoads, there

“It’s my kids, mostly, my kids, my wife, reallygood support...my family too, my mother, myfather support me lots too” (M; 22).

“I just want my kids to be proud of me,that’s all” (M; 26).

“ ...I need to better myself for my children,they need a better life than they have now”(F; 21).

“It really hurts me when I look at mykids...they need something better. I’m notgoing to make their lives miserable because Ihad a shitty life” (F; 21).


is no counsellor. Each teacher plays the role ofcounsellor, as is the case at Long Plain TrainingCentre, but people, however dedicated, can beexpected to do only so much. The holistic ap-proach is, in our view, an essential characteristicof Adult Learning Centres. Adult students havepersonal challenges, and these affect their abil-ity to learn, and thus dealing with personal is-sues becomes a central part of the educationalprocess at ALCs. The personal counselling func-tion has to be fulfilled at each ALC. This maybe done in the form of a staff person dedicatedto personal counselling and related functions,as at the Portage Learning Centre, or it may bedone by some other mechanism, but howevereach ALC chooses to perform that personalcounselling function, it is essential that there besufficient staff at each ALC to make it possible.In adult education, it is a central part of thelearning process, and at the moment CrossRoadsdoes not have sufficient staff to perform thisfunction over the long haul. As Darlene Wheelerput it, in describing some of the particular diffi-culties experienced by her students, includingsome cases where students were lost: “We don’thave the supports to deal with it”. Phyllis Crow,herself an Aboriginal woman, believes that whatis needed at CrossRoads is “a person who wouldunderstand our Aboriginal students”. She her-self, in addition to teaching 8 courses, does agood deal of informal counselling of students.She says: “On Friday you’re just drained...to hearthe same things over and over....it just weighson you...how do people really survive, you know?It’s amazing how they can live day to day andcome to school at the same time”. It is similarlyamazing how teachers and others at the ALCsthat we investigated maintain their pace.

Second, CrossRoads needs better space.Darlene spoke about the need for “facilities thatare conducive to learning” and Phyllis, inter-

viewed separately, said that the computer class-room in particular, into which the front dooropens directly, is “...not really conducive to learn-ing”. Both mentioned improved space as a pri-ority. At none of the ALCs that we examinedare the surroundings palatial, nor do we con-sider elaborate surroundings to be an essentialcomponent of Adult Learning Centres. How-ever, physical surroundings should be comfort-able, warm and intimate, and should includethe availability of quiet space for individualstudy, classrooms in which classes are not inter-rupted by students passing through from oneplace to another, and a common space wherestudents and staff can gather in a relaxed atmos-phere for a cup of coffee and some socializingor group study. These minimal standards are notnow being met at CrossRoads.

Third, the situation at CrossRoads raisesagain the question of the ages of adult learners,and how their age relates to the question ofmotivation. As argued above, adult learners suc-ceed if they are motivated to do so, and motiva-tion appears to be correlated, at least to someextent, with age. The two interviewers identi-fied that as an issue at CrossRoads. The staff areaware of this, and point to the connection be-tween age and attendance. Attendance is a prob-lem at CrossRoads, as elsewhere, and appears tobe correlated with age: the younger the learner,the more likely that attendance is a problem.This is likely a function of motivation. DarleneWheeler observes that the younger CrossRoadslearners, those in their late teens-very early twen-ties, are less likely to have a sense of direction,and more likely to exhibit “I don’t care attitudes”.It is possible, she suggests, that some of theyounger adult learners, those in their late teens,are coming because “word has finally gotten out”that at an Adult Learning Centre 8 credits areneeded for the mature grade 12 diploma, as


opposed to the 28 credits needed to graduatefrom high school, and for some young adults,“they see it as a quick fix”. If this were in factthe case, it is the view of the authors that it wouldbe an undesirable situation. The Adult Learn-ing Centres are doing a wonderful job for adultswho are motivated to improve their educationalstanding. Even when motivated, achieving themature grade 12 diploma is a tough haul formany, given their past educational experiencesand their often difficult personal circumstances,but ALCs are succeeding with such difficultcases. Younger students with “attitude” and insearch of a quick fix may well change the at-mosphere in ALCs in a way that is detrimentalto the entire project. We do not know what theanswer to this issue may be. Darlene Wheeler,while acknowledging the problem, expresses theview that the ALCs are simply going to have tolearn how to meet the needs of young adults,and she is committed to doing so. Kim Cooke,the teaching assistant at CrossRoads, works veryclosely with many of the learners there, and shealso identified age as an issue. Many of theyounger ones, she says, are “not quite ready...”to do the work needed to earn the mature grade12 diploma, but she expresses the view that nev-ertheless, they are picking up valuable things byattending. “You can see them get stronger andstronger”. We are reminded of the philosophythat is overtly expressed at the Portage LearningCentre, which is that adult learners may cometo the PLC a first time, and then leave, and thencome again, and perhaps leave a second time,and then come yet again a third time, and eachtime a learner leaves every effort is made to en-sure that they leave on good terms so that thedoor is open for another attempt. Adult educa-tion is a process, and for people with difficultpersonal lives and relatively weak academic foun-dations, it may well take several attempts to

achieve the mature grade 12 diploma, but eachattempt is an important step in the process. Thismay be the case for the younger adult learnersat ALCs. But, alternatively, it may be the casethat younger adult learners may choose for anyof a number of reasons to leave high school toattend an ALC. This is not the purpose for whichALCs are intended. The issue of young adults—those in their teens or very early twenties— inAdult Learning Centres is one which, in ouropinion, requires further consideration.

Chances for success at CrossRoads wouldbe improved if more emphasis were placed onan orientation session at each of the three in-take periods. At the start of the 2001-2002 aca-demic year, CrossRoads held a one-week orien-tation session with a focus on instilling studyskills, time management, and organization skills.“It worked very well”, according to DarleneWheeler, and Phyllis Crow said the same, but itwas not done during the 2002-2003 academicyear, in large part due to the demands on theirtime. Both are committed to reinstituting theorientation sessions. It is apparent, Phyllis Crowpoints out, that many of their learners “...haven’tdeveloped the necessary skills” to thrive in aschool setting, and have “...no comprehensionof what it means to study”. Some of these skillsand attitudes need to be consciously taught atthe beginning of the term. We consider this tobe a crucial component of what Adult LearningCentres do. Adult learners who have been outof school for some time and who may never havehad a satisfying school experience need to ac-quire some skills that can be used to help themto learn. We will make a more specific recom-mendation in this regard in Part Five.

A related issue is the extent to which stu-dents do or do not feel a sense of communitywith fellow students. There is some evidence thatat least some students at CrossRoads feel iso-


lated from each other. For example, one 19 yearold woman said: “That’s where my trouble is,because I get too shy to talk to people...it willtake a long time for me to get used to them”,and she added, “I get shy to work in groups....”This is a problem because of the strength thatstudents working together can give to each other,and the impact that a sense of collectivity wouldhave, for example, on attendance, and part ofthis can be engendered with an orientation ses-sion at the beginning of each term. Anotherapproach to creating a sense of collectivity thatwe think is useful is the use of sharing circles ona regular basis. The young man referred to ear-lier who began to learn about his culture froman elder while incarcerated said: “A lot of peo-ple they don’t speak up” but “...with the sharingcircle, people open up and you do speak, you’llbe able to release those frustrations and what-ever it is that’s bothering you....As for myself I’dbe speaking about what’s bothering me and get-ting that out of the way ....”

Sharing circles would have the added ben-efit of contributing to the building of culturalawareness. This is a problem for many of theAboriginal students at CrossRoads. Phyllis Crowargues that many urban Aboriginal youth“...have no idea of their roots...they don’t knowwho they are”. She adds: “It really saddens me,you are not Aboriginal anymore....” DarleneWheeler says the same: “They really don’t knowwho they are...”; it’s a “cultural identity crisis”.Phyllis Crow offers a Native Studies course, butsays that it is “...really quite difficult becausewhen you try to talk about ceremonies...theyhave no clue”. And it is worse than that. Thereis fear. When an elder was brought in last year,“...they were really afraid”, says Darlene Wheeler.Sporadic attempts to hold sharing circles havebeen met with suspicion by some of the Abo-riginal students. This is a product, at least in

part, of the long struggle between Christianityand traditional Aboriginal spiritual beliefs. Aconscious attempt was made by Canada and bythe Christian churches to eliminate Aboriginalspirituality. One of the young men referred toabove who is in the process of turning his lifearound expressed a strong desire to know moreabout his culture— “I think it’s really impor-tant, you gotta know...what Native people wentthrough...”— but his wife considers it “...to bewitchcraft”. This is part of the “cultural identitycrisis” that causes so much suffering for so manyAboriginal people. It means that the staff atCrossRoads must proceed with caution in in-troducing Aboriginal cultural content, becausethey quite rightly believe that it is important tobe respectful of people’s beliefs.

It is our contention, however, that the prin-ciple of respect for people’s beliefs is preciselythe rationale for introducing the regular hold-ing of sharing circles. Many, although admit-tedly not all, of the Aboriginal students atCrossRoads are curious about their culture andin some cases are hungry to learn about whothey are. Some would come to regular sharingcircles. For these students, a greater sense ofcollectivity and personal identity would beginto emerge. Some would attend sweats, and en-gage in smudging. Some would not, and this ofcourse is their choice. But for those who did,we believe that the benefits would be great, andwould warrant the considerable difficulties thatwould undoubtedly arise from the attempts bystaff to navigate these cultural contradictions.Aboriginal students have a right to learn abouttheir culture, and about the attempts to elimi-nate their culture, and to come to terms withwho they are and how they came as a people tobe where they are today. And when they do, thebenefits are considerable. Those benefits include


a stronger personal and collective foundationupon which to build academic success.

4. Horizons Learning Centre

The Horizons Learning Centre has threesites, all in Winnipeg: the Crossways-in-Com-mon site on Broadway, the Elmwood site onThames Avenue, and the Portage Place site onthe third floor of Portage Place in downtownWinnipeg. We examined the operations at, andinterviewed Aboriginal learners and staff at, theCrossways and Elmwood sites.

The Crossways site is located in the base-ment of Crossways-in-Common, which is theformer Young United Church now turned intoa large, multi-purpose community centre thathouses a chapel, a soup kitchen and drop-in cen-tre, community organizations’ offices, housingfacilities and meeting spaces. Horizons is locatedin the basement of the building. At the foot ofthe stairs leading to Horizons’ basement spaceis a small kitchen with cooking facilities, fridgeand a small table. This is the central gatheringplace for learners at Horizons’ Crossways site.From the kitchen one follows a hallway whichforms a quadrangle around a large basementgym, to which Horizons has access on a charge-per-hours-used basis. The gym is currently be-ing used for afternoon science classes, sinceenrollment is too large for the two regular class-rooms. On the outer edges of the quadrangularhallway are two computer-ringed classrooms,each of which accommodates 20-25 students,and two much smaller rooms, one of which is aphotocopy room and the other of which con-tains a study table at which students write ad-missions and other tests. In addition there is aslightly larger office which serves as the admin-istrative centre of Horizons’ three sites, and in

Crossways“I like the atmosphere...it’s really comfort-able, I don’t feel pressured...that I have to beworking with everybody at the same pace. Ilike that we can work at our own pace....Ifeel comfortable with the teachers if I havequestions, I don’t feel stupid, and they acceptthat everybody’s different. They don’t showfavouritism to anyone. Everyone’s equal tothem...”(F; 23).

“...it seems like they always have time, evenwhen they seem super busy and they’rerunning around like chickens with theirheads cut off they seem like they always havetime, they never push you aside, even if it’ssomething really little” (F; 21).

“...and they welcome you, the staff welcomesyou back if you leave, like, with no explana-tion, they still don’t, like, judge you if youleft, and if you come back...”(F; 20).

“...feels safe here, I feelcomfortable...nobody judging anybody,there’s no racism at all” (M; 34).

“...the teachers are caring enough to helpme through my struggles, I’ve lost somepeople in my life, they’ve been there forme, they’ve stood by me, they never gaveup on me, they never gave up on me, youknow, and that’s the great thing about this. Ifind Horizons to be a very open-hearted andstrong organization with a good group ofpeople that would be there for you no matterwhat...they care, that’s a big part of it, theyreally care...” (F; 46).Elmwood“...when I came here the teachers were verynice and really wanting to help....It’s been


which Horizons’ Director and AdministrativeAssistant are located.

The Crossways site is staffed by two full-time teachers, Elspeth Campbell and Ken Funk,plus three part-time teachers, including BeatriceBarahona who is the overall Horizons Directorand who teaches two courses at Crossways.Classes are offered in the evenings and on Sat-urdays, as well as weekdays. There are approxi-mately 60 students at the Crossways site, 15 or20 of whom are Aboriginal. In the 2001-2002academic year Horizons graduated 28 learnerswith their mature grade 12 diploma, 8 of themfrom the Crossways site, and at least 3 of those8 were Aboriginal students. Structured classesare offered at scheduled times, although as isthe case at PLC, LPTC and CrossRoads, thereis a good deal of flexibility. This is so both interms of students coming and going, and interms of the fact that in any given class, stu-dents are working at different levels. For exam-ple, English classes are held at a scheduled time,and in each English class there are students work-ing on Grades 10, 11 and 12 English. Relativelylittle instruction is done for the class as a whole,although there may be an occasional lesson doneon the board; most instruction is of the moreindividualized, one-on-one variety, or is donein small groups. The result is structure, but witha good deal of flexibility.

Horizons’ Elmwood site is located in a non-descript industrial strip mall off Watt Street, nextdoor to a low-income housing development.There are two relatively small classrooms, sideby side, with a third very narrow computer roombeside them. The two general purpose class-rooms are fitted out with wooden fold-up ta-bles and chairs squeezed very tightly together. Afront hallway the width of the space runs per-pendicular to the classrooms, and is entered offthe strip mall’s parking lot. At the back of the

good, challenging, but good...and fun...betterthan any of the other ones I’ve been at....

I really like the teachers and what they teachand the environment is more at my level andthat’s what I like too....they don’t make them-selves seem like they’re at a higher level than usin any way...and that’s really what I like,because I don’t like it if somebody acts likethey’re better than me or make more moneyand they show it, or whatever, I don’t like thatand that’s what they don’t do and that’s good”(F; 25).

“I can see the changes already in my life and Ilike the setting, like, where it’s informal...youcan relax and you can share your problems,like, you have a lot of the same problems asother students, where it’s not like ‘there’s therich and there’s the poor’, like we’re all in thesame boat here it feels and that’s really helpful,it makes me feel like I’m not so alone, like, inmy struggles.... I found strength, like, I tookFamily Studies and I found that I have innerstrength that I count on now when things getbad and I found that there’s a lot of strengththere that I never knew I had and it reallyhelps in tough situations....” (F; 42).

“I took a drama class. It was really, reallyfun....and it just makes me think of whatmore I could do” (F; 25).


space is a good-sized kitchen with a fridge andmicrowave oven. The space is plain and utilitar-ian, and small— too small. The Elmwood sitecurrently has 90-100 students registered. Dur-ing the 2001-2002 academic year, 20 studentsgraduated from the Elmwood site with theirmature grade 12 diploma.

We interviewed 7 learners at the Crosswayssite, and 8 at the Elmwood site. Their profilewas relatively similar. Of the 15 interviewed, 11are women and 4 are men; the median age is 30years, which is older than those interviewed atPortage, Long Plain and CrossRoads LearningCentres; 11 of the 15 have children, and of those11, 8 have more than one child; 9 of the 15 aresingle mothers; and for 10 of the 15, the high-est grade previously completed was grade 8 or9.

Those adult Aboriginal learners that we in-terviewed at the two sites are extremely positivein their overall evaluation of the programs andthe instructors. Learners feel comfortable, theyfind the instructors to be friendly and very help-ful, and they emphasize, as is the case at all ofthe ALCs, that they are treated as equals andwith respect, and without the racism which issuch a constant in their lives outside the learn-ing centres. Selected learner comments abouttheir respective sites are shown in the two ac-companying sidebars, the first for learners atCrossways and the second for those at Elmwood.

The comments made by adult Aborigi-nal learners at the Crossways and Elmwood sitesof Horizons reflect the philosophical approachof the Horizons instructors. Horizons, likeCrossRoads and Long Plain Training Centre, wasestablished three years ago when six teachers leftanother adult education centre with which theywere not satisfied, in order to set up their ownoperation. Five of the 6 are graduates of theWinnipeg Education Centre’s Education pro-

gram, and so were adult learners themselves. “Weearned our degrees after being an adult”, ob-serves Beatrice Barahona. Elspeth Campbell at-tended the Winnipeg Education Centre (WEC)as a single mother, and says: “Most definitelythat I went to school as an adult makes a differ-ence, and most definitely that I went to schoolas a single parent makes a difference....I knowthe trials and tribulations of being a single momand having to get to class on time”. She arguesthat the mainstream public school system workswell for most young people, but if you have been“bashed and battered” by life it doesn’t work well.Many of her adult learners have been bashedand battered— “often times all they’ve heard intheir lives is they’re stupid...”— and so it oftentakes a while to get them “out of their shell”,but once they develop some trust, they “takeoff ”. Ken Funk graduated from WEC in 1996wanting to teach the toughest junior high classes,and after a stint teaching in Korea ended up inadult education, and he loves it because it means“helping people who are making life changes”,and “there’s a daily reward”. Linda Parker andRachel Mitchell at the Elmwood site are alsoWEC graduates, and their passion for their workis unmistakable. There is a “certain sort of pas-sion in adult education”, says Rachel, adding that“nobody’s here at 9 and gone at 4, that doesn’thappen”. Linda , who estimates that she put in40 to 50 unpaid hours the month before we vis-ited Horizons and who says what is obvious—“I care deeply about what I do”— reiterates theimportance of their WEC roots: “A lot of ourbest practice came from an understanding ofwhat it is to be adult learners”. Echoing Elspeth,she observes that for some of their students, at-tendance at Horizons may well be the first timesomeone in a position of authority has reachedout a hand to them and said they care; adultlearners will say to her, “...that’s the first time


anyone’s said that to me”. At both the Cross-ways and the Elmwood sites, the organizationalstructure is flat, non-hierarchical, intimate andpersonalized. The instructors are able to iden-tify with their students, and vice versa. Theirapproach is holistic, in that they see the adultlearners as whole people, with needs beyond theclassroom, and they are constantly prepared torespond holistically and wholeheartedly to learn-ers’ needs.

What is remarkable is that the instructorsat Horizons are typical of the people we inter-viewed at every one of the five Adult LearningCentres involved in this study. Much of the veryconsiderable success of ALCs is attributable tothe energy and passion and commitment of theirstaff, and to their determination to run organi-zations characterized by a non-hierarchical struc-ture and a commitment to equality and humandignity, and a belief in the human potential thatlies within each of us.

Many of the adult Aboriginal learners atALCs face very considerable difficulties, andhave been “bashed and battered” by life. Manyof the adult Aboriginal learners that we inter-viewed referred to their shyness as a very greatobstacle to their success. One adult learner atHorizons described his difficulties as being at-tributable to shyness. “Like me, like I’m reallyshy, I can’t speak in front of other people, I justget all shaky....” He believes that he may have aspeech impediment: “...the way I pronounce thewords they don’t come out right...and that’sprobably why, too, I’m shy, like, talking, afraidto make a mistake, a word coming out wrong...”.However, later in the interview it came out thatthe deeper problem is the low level of self-es-teem that he has always felt, and that has beenaccentuated by instances of racism:

“When I was going to school inThompson, eh, there was a lot of rac-ism, well, I didn’t know anybody, likeI’d be alone, the first day, there was no-body else coming from my community,so I didn’t have nobody...these guys,where the lockers were...they were justcalling me down and I didn’t know whatto say, I just stood there...I didn’t wantto say nothing because I didn’t want tofight or anything so I just, like, kind of,like, put away my books and I just leftand didn’t look back or anything, or re-spond to them. Sometimes I think aboutthat all the time too, why couldn’t I havesaid something, just stood up for myselfand, but I didn’t want to get into trou-ble”.

He has borne this and other pain all his life.“As a youth I went through a lot of abuse, alco-hol, family violence and, like, I’m really shy anda keep-to-myself person”. He still faces racismnow that he is in Winnipeg, and he says: “I don’tknow how to deal with that, I just avoid it andrun away from it...sometimes I would like tospeak out and say something but, uh, I’m afraidwhat the result would be, get into a fight orsomething”. Yet about Horizons Learning Cen-tre he says: it “...feels safe here, I feelcomfortable...nobody judging anybody, there’sno racism at all.... everybody seems to be friendlyand the teachers are great, they help a lot”.

Others at Horizons and at the other ALCshave described similar, pain-filled lives. They are,in part, the product of colonialism, and the in-ternalization of colonialism, and the erosion ofself-esteem and severe identity confusion thatare among its consequences. Aboriginal studentscome to an Adult Learning Centre feeling “alittle bit apprehensive” about educational insti-


tutions, and it takes a while to earn their trust:they “don’t trust teachers, don’t trust school”(Funk, March 6, 2003). That trust has to beearned. Only the highly personalized, friendly,non-judgmental and holistic approach that char-acterizes Horizons and the other ALCs will workwith those many people who have been “bashedand battered” in this fashion.

Some Opportunities for ImprovementsThe matter of trust would be helped if Ho-

rizons were to add to an already strong program,a greater Aboriginal cultural component, andsome Aboriginal staff. We have made this caseabove, and adult Aboriginal learners at bothHorizons sites expressed a similar interest (seesidebar).

Sharing circles were also identified as a use-ful addition at Horizons. The sharing circle atwhich we introduced both ourselves and thisresearch project was apparently the first one inwhich the students we interviewed at the twosites had participated, although sharing circlesare used in at least one of the courses offered atHorizons. As one learner put it: “...from my ownexperience, sharing circles have benefited me,spiritually, mentally, physically, emotionally, andif that can benefit... other students that wouldbe great, I wish we could have more of those...I’dlike to see more of that happening. It would begreat for the other students too” (F; 46).

Considerable interest was expressed by Ho-rizons’ instructors in professional developmentopportunities to learn more about Aboriginalculture. However, several concerns were ex-pressed. One was that there is little time avail-able for professional development, and to beaway on a Friday, for example, means a three-day weekend for students, which adds to theattendance difficulties. The other concern is themulticultural character of Horizons, and the factthat some Aboriginal people are not interestedin traditional Aboriginal culture, and some evenconsider it something to be actively avoided andeven opposed. This concern was expressed atCrossRoads, as well. It is our view that theseconcerns notwithstanding, a greater understand-ing of Aboriginal history and culture is crucialin a city like Winnipeg with its large and grow-ing Aboriginal population. The multiculturalcharacter of Horizons and other ALCs shouldnot be an impediment. Opportunities to learnmore about Aboriginal culture should be op-tional. Adult learners, whether Aboriginal ornon-Aboriginal, should be able to choose to takea Native Studies course or not, and to partici-pate in a daily sharing circle, or not. The use ofthe sharing circle ought to be seen as simply

“...more cultural awareness...youth today theydon’t have an idea of their Native back-ground, like me, I’ve grown up not knowingabout pow wows or traditional stuff like that,all my life growing up I haven’t seen a powwow...”[until coming to Winnipeg] (M; 34).

“I want to know the history of ourpeople...like, all I see is movies...” (F; 25).

“...grade 5 or 6 I was going to Hugh JohnMacDonald and I had Native Studiesthere...it was probably the best course that I’veever taken...we went to pow wows...it wasexciting to learn your history....I want mychildren to know...that they have a proudfeeling inside” (M; 30).

“...Native Studies, I wouldn’t mind learningabout that so I can teach my kids at home...”(F; 38).


another means of creating a sense of commu-nity among adult learners. Horizons has donethat already. At the Elmwood site, learners helpeach other “...a lot, it’s like a family....we helpeach other out” (M; 30). At the Broadway site,“...we all help each other, it’s like a bigfamily...”(F; 38). The students, “...they’re likefamily too, you know, like I’ve got close to quitea few of the students, I’ve made some goodfriends...”(F; 46). The instructors recognize thevalue of this. “There’s tremendous benefit tocreating community, working in groups...”, be-cause one’s fellow students “...are tremendousresources” (Parker, March 3, 2003). The shar-ing circle is simply an extension of this reality,with the added bonus that it is consistent withthe holistic approach that all the Adult Learn-ing Centres practice, and it is rooted in the tra-ditional Aboriginal cultural practices that somany Aboriginal students desperately want tomake contact with. We will make recommen-dations regarding the use of sharing circles spe-cifically, and Aboriginal cultural practices moregenerally, in Part Five.

A second area where change would be ben-eficial is in the use of more tutors or teachingassistants. Numerous students mentioned this:“...I think they need some tutors here, somemore tutors...there’s not enough tutoring” (F;20); “...they’re dealing with so many studentsthey probably need a tutor or something or ateacher’s aide...”(M; 34). Part of this need forteachers aides flows from the multi-level class-room strategy that is used at Horizons. As onestudent put it:

“...I just wish that we would have moretutors...because I found with a tutor, Imanaged more work, I was able to un-derstand better, if I said, well, I don’t getwhat’s going on, then she’ll show

me...then I was able to move on. With-out a tutor and me doing grade 10, somepeople doing 11, and the teacher spend-ing a lot of time with the grade 12s, it’shard for me and others to move on” (F;39).

The teachers are well aware of this need. Forexample, Elspeth Campbell, who teaches theEnglish class being referred to by the studentabove, says: “My dream is to have full-time tu-tors with me in the classroom all year” because“our students very much need one on one”(Campbell, March 6, 2003), and with one in-structor in a class, not enough of this personal-ized attention is possible. There are two part-time teaching assistants available for math, wherethey are “a huge help”, according to Ken Funk,especially given the multi-level character of theclasses.

What is notable is that at Horizons’ Cross-ways site, it is teaching assistants that are identi-fied as the most immediate need, while at theirElmwood site Linda and Rachel are very muchin need of administrative assistance to do someof the paperwork and to answer the phone,which they now do themselves on top of theirteaching load. “The phone can be a going con-cern”, says Linda, with 20 calls per day, fromstudents or from prospective students who needto hear about adult educational options and whoneed the information immediately because“they’ve got knots in their stomachs just overmaking this phone call”. At CrossRoads, by con-trast, it is help with counselling that has beenidentified by staff: they recently hired KimCooke to be part-time office assistant and part-time tutor. It is our opinion that each of thefour Adult Learning Centres examined so farcould use additional resources, but in each casethey would choose to use the resources differ-


ently. This is completely appropriate, given thecommunity-based character of the ALCs. Eachoperates a little bit differently than the others,and so each would use additional resources forslightly different purposes. At Horizons, the staffbelieve that instructors should do the counsel-ling since this enables them to better understandthe students and to develop a closer relation-ship with them. “I learn a lot about my learn-ers” from counselling, says Linda Parker.Whether counselling is done in this fashion,which seems to work well at Horizons judgingfrom learners’ comments, or is done by a coun-sellor as is the case at Portage Learning Centre,where it seems to work well judging from learn-ers’ comments there, it is clear that there is acounselling function that needs to be met giventhe holistic approach that defines the operationsof the ALCs examined here. It is also clear thatone-on-one, personalized attention in the class-room is advantageous, and that in some casesthis can best be met with tutors/teaching assist-ants; and that an office assistant is an importantcomponent of an ALC’s operations, not onlybecause the work of an office assistant is neces-sary and important, but also because those whoare teachers can be expected to do only so much.It is our very distinct impression that additionalresources are needed by the Adult Learning Cen-tres that we have investigated.

At Horizons’ Elmwood site, Linda Parkerhas invested a good deal of time and effort indeveloping a positive relationship with the localEmployment Insurance office. The consequencehas been that the EI office now works closelywith Horizons Learning Centre in enablingadults on EI who declare themselves as studentsto put together an education plan, and to com-plete their mature grade 12 diploma. Generally,grade 12 is not considered to be a training pro-gram for EI purposes, and thus adults on EI

“Thank goodness for this program, there was atime (she pauses, and cries), there was a timewhen I just thought there was nothing outthere, nobody has an understanding, nohelp...I don’t know...just like you want togive up, nobody wants to help, you know, Ikept on searching where to go, what to do, Iguess after all that searching I just found thisplace, yeah, the doors opened as soon as Icame in....”(F; 34).

“Before I came here I was a quiet person, Iwasn’t very talkative, like I was a shy person,I guess an angry person also. I was living in ablaming life, I blamed everybody, I didn’tunderstand why people were so cruel and Iwas ashamed of being Aboriginal because ofseeing our own people on Main Street beingsniffers...drunk, I was really ashamed of beingAboriginal, and I guess you could say UrbanCircle opened my eyes to see the truth and toknow the truth. That’s what the Centre did forme” (F; 26).

“Well, spiritually, I didn’t know who I wasand...I was kind of lost, out there, and whenI came here, I found myself, like, searching, Iwas lost, but I found myself, I was wan-dering around, looking for something Icouldn’t find, but when I came here...I reallyknow where I’m going to now, because I waslost before but now I found myself ”(F; 30).

“...I was working, and there was just a part ofme that was empty, looking for somethingand not knowing what it was...not feelingwanted....This is the place to come andsearch for what you’re looking for, whereyou’re coming from and stuff, and where youwant to go, and a lot of people can’t do thatbecause they don’t know who they are or


cannot use their benefits for this purpose. How-ever, it is obviously beneficial for adults on EIto get a grade 12 diploma to better prepare themfor additional job training. The point here isthat staff at the Horizons’ Elmwood office havehad to develop this option themselves. It wouldbe very beneficial if Adult Learning and Literacycould work with agencies such as EI and In-come Assistance to ensure that those adults whowould benefit from a mature grade 12 diplomaare made aware of the option, and to ensure thatbureaucratic and funding obstacles can be re-moved.

Finally, we believe that, as is the case atCrossRoads, the physical space being used atHorizons’ Elmwood site is not suitable. Learn-ers are very cramped, with work tables jammedclosely together, and there is no space at all inwhich to work quietly.

5. Urban Circle TrainingCentre

The Urban Circle Training Centre is nowin its 13th year of operations. It started out inthe heart of Winnipeg’s north end as a programintended to prepare Aboriginal women who hadbeen volunteering in a clothing depot for jobsin the retail sector. It has grown and evolvedconsiderably since then. We interviewed RuthMurdock (Co-Director), Eleanor Thompson(Co-Director), Carol Hawkins (Academic In-structor for the Adult Education and Employ-ment Program), Colleen Robinson (Life SkillsCoach and Counselor for the Health Care Aide/Health Unit Clerk Program) and LorraineDesmarais (Life Skills Coach and Counselor forthe Adult Education and Employment Pro-gram).

The UCTC is currently located in a retailstrip mall on McPhillips Street close to the Gar-

where they’ve come from....If you don’t knowwhat you’re looking for, you just go out andtry to fill that hole with something....”(F;36).

“A long time ago I wouldn’t actually say I’man Indian...I’d say, oh yeah, I’m metis, like itwas nothing to me, and now I find that I’mmore proud, like you feel proud to be native,here, going here, you really feel proud” (F;42).

“I quit smoking pot...before I started school[Urban Circle] it was like every day, all daylong...what I was doing in high school wasgetting high and failing”. But now, “I wouldn’tmind being a Native awareness teacher... toteach the younger generation about coloniza-tion and all that stuff just to let them knowbefore they start drinking and getting high andeverything else. It sounds weird but I want tobe an Indian, like, my culture, I want to knowit all...” (F; 20).

“It’s really emotional for me, I was nevergiven a chance. I knew right from kindergar-ten I was different. Everybody was up thereand I was down here....I always wanted to dothis and when I came here it was like I foundsomething, they gave me this hope that I coulddo it....I got my Indian name and went to asweat and a part of me got healed....they helpme a lot” (an Urban Circle student speaking atthe initial sharing circle. She was not one ofthose interviewed formally).


den City Shopping Centre in north Winnipeg.The space includes four large classrooms plus alarge computer room, and numerous staff of-fices. However, the UCTC is now in the finalstages of returning to a new home at 519 Sel-kirk Avenue— it is scheduled to open in June,2003— where they have renovated a buildingin a way specifically designed for their use, andintended to reflect in its architecture the Abo-riginal themes that characterize Urban Circle’seducational approach. Urban Circle now runs amature grade 12 diploma program, plus 3 addi-tional job-specific training programs. We willfocus on the grade 12 program.

The Urban Circle Training Centre maturegrade 12 diploma program is different in sev-eral important respects from the programs at theprevious four ALCs. All the adult learners areAboriginal, and only a limited number— usu-ally 24— of adult Aboriginal learners are ad-mitted to the mature grade diploma programeach September. The intake process is rigorous:applicants must submit letters indicating whythey want to be in the program, transcripts oftheir previous educational experience, and let-ters of reference; they are tested for reading com-prehension; they are interviewed; and they areasked to take part in a sharing circle with otherapplicants. The intake process is intended toprovide an opportunity for applicants to reflecton whether the Urban Circle approach is theright one for them (Thompson, Feb. 20, 2003).Those admitted must have completed 2 highschool credits, so that during the 10 month pro-gram they are working to complete 6 credits.

The Urban Circle Training Centre offerseducation and training that is specifically Abo-riginal. All adult learners are Aboriginal. Themajority of the instructors and staff are Abo-riginal. Programs are delivered in “a culturallyappropriate context”, which includes “utilizing

“ I swear my life’s changed, for the better....I’mgetting over my shyness, a lot, a lot from here,because before I was like, I was severely shy, I’msuper shy, and now it’s like they’re just peopletoo....I’ve gotten over my shyness to apoint....Confidence, a lot of confidence, youhave to have a lot of confidence in yourself tosucceed....I had really low self-esteem for thelongest time” (F; 25).

“It has helped me a lot....I don’t put up amask like I used to. I’m very shy but I’ve come along ways....(F; 46).

“When I started here, I was this little, like, aclam-shell, peeking once in a while, youknow....”(F; 30).

“You’re here to learn about yourself...it helpsyou come out of your shell” (F; 26).

“I’m still shy a little bit....It’s helping me tospeak up more, and not to shy away fromsomething...because usually when that wouldhappen to me I’d just walk away from theproblem and I couldn’t face it, I’d just hidemy feelings....”(F; 37).

“Even the look, just going to apply for ajob....the look that they gave me, that alwaysmade me scared and then not go back, and Ithink a lot of times people don’t knowthat, but, you gotta fight back, you gotta lookpeople in the eye and basically say no, you’renot going to take this away from me becausethis is what I want” (F; 36),


the philosophy of the Medicine Wheel” (UCTCpromotional materials). The design of the newbuilding on Selkirk Avenue is Aboriginal. Theintake and admission process make the Aborigi-nal cultural orientation of the program clear toprospective learners so that they can make aninformed choice about whether such a programis the right one for them.

We interviewed 15 adult Aboriginal learn-ers at Urban Circle, 13 women and two men.They range in age from 20 to 51 years; the me-dian age is 35 years. All of them have children;9 of the 15 have more than one child; 8 are sin-gle mothers; 7 live with a spouse or partner. Thehighest grade achieved prior to Urban Circle wasgrade 8 or 9 for 8 of the 15 adult learners inter-viewed; 3 had completed grade 10; 3 had com-pleted grade 11.

Those attending Urban Circle go throughwhat seems to us to be a personal transforma-tion that is truly remarkable. They becomechanged people. Lives of pain and despair aretransformed into lives of hope and pride. Thatwas made apparent to us over and over duringthe interviews (see sidebar).

The pain that is carried by so many Abo-riginal people is evident in these comments. Itoften is expressed, as observed earlier, as shy-ness, which in turn reflects the low levels of self-esteem felt by many Aboriginal people— a prod-uct of colonization and its internalization(Silverand Mallett, 2002). That is the case for the adultlearners at Urban Circle as well. But the pro-gram at Urban Circle helps adult learners toovercome that shyness, and build their confi-dence, pride, and self-esteem (see sidebar).

Many of these adult learners have had veryhard lives. For many of them, their previousschool experiences were filled with pain(seesidebar).

“I’ve been through, oh, how would you say,through racism, and that’s what really hurtsme....going to a public school....that really hurtswhen you’re called down. I learned how to shutthem out, but inside, I was really, reallyhurting....Here, you’re not called down, youknow....you’re equal”(F; 34).

“In high school I wasn’t comfortable....The waythey looked at me like I was a different humanbeing from another planet, that’s the way Ifelt....People were so cruel....”(F; 26).

“Well, I don’t think there’s anything good Iliked about [a Winnipeg inner city highschool]....I wasn’t comfortable” (F; 42).

“...I had a hard time when I was going toschool”(F; 37).

“...you could just tell all the racism wasthere....I just didn’t like the way other peopletreated me”(F; 20).

“The negative messages that were given inschool, not only from the teachers but also frommainstream society itself, my peers, you know, Iwas a ‘dirty little Indian’, and you know Indi-ans don’t amount to very much and that’s themessages that I carried throughout my life andcoming to Urban Circle they’re helping me tore-write those messages. I’m starting to findmyself....I know what I wanted to do but allthe negative messages I received in the schoolsystem— I let them hold me back and it’s justso different here, they help you, they give youthe tools you need to discover who you are andwhat you want to do in life” (F; 35).


The experience at Urban Circle is, for manyadult learners, different from and better thentheir previous school experiences. But that doesnot mean that life suddenly becomes easy. Manycontinue to struggle in their personal lives.Gangs, alcohol, drug abuse, “I’ve been throughit all”, one woman told us. And staff at UrbanCircle say that in many ways it is getting worse.Carol Hawkins says that they now deal with “alot of gang issues”, and these find their way intothe classroom in various ways. “The issues areso great, and they seem to be getting greater”,says Lorraine Desmarais, which is precisely whythe holistic approach used by Urban Circle andthe other ALCs is so essential.

Yet despite these difficult lives, the adultAboriginal learners at the Urban Circle are trans-forming their lives. How does this happen? Wethink that there are at least three things that aredistinctive about the Urban Circle program: theconstant focus on job preparedness; the life skillscomponent in the first month of the program;and the infusion into the program of Aborigi-nal cultural awareness. We will discuss each ofthese in turn.

i. Job-PreparednessThe staff see the adult learners’ experience

while at Urban Circle as only the beginning.

Everything is geared to learners’ successfullymaking the transition from education to paidemployment. In fact, the mature grade 12 di-ploma program is referred to by Urban Circleas their “Academic Education and EmploymentProgram”. Their literature describes the programby saying that it “includes academic upgradingfor a Mature Grade 12 Diploma”, and adds: “Italso includes job preparation skills, a 6-weekwork placement and employment at the end ofthe program” (emphasis in original).

Job preparedness is built into every programoffered at Urban Circle. In addition to the LifeSkills course, about which more below, there arecourses designed by grade 12 instructor CarolHawkins: Skills for Success, Academic Writingand Career Exploration. These are separatecourses, but when she teaches them she weavesthem together, so that, for example, an AcademicWriting assignment might link to a Career Ex-ploration theme.

In these courses Carol Hawkins takes stu-dents to post-secondary education institutionsand to job-sites, and brings in many speakers sothat students feel they are part of a network. InCareer Exploration students visit all post-sec-ondary education institutions, with a full dayon each campus. Students do three informa-tional interviews with employers and/or post-secondary institutions as an assignment, thusbuilding face-to-face skills and confidence andexposing students to opportunities. They alsodo a work placement. “The possibilities are end-less in terms of work placement”, she says. Thistoo develops work skills and confidence, pro-vides exposure to workplace cultural norms andexpectations (thus building on the life skillscourse), and adds to job networking possibili-ties. With respect to the latter, American authorWilliam Julius Wilson argues that inner city un-employment of Black American youth is partly

“...I’m really struggling...paying rent andpaying phone, getting groceries and he’s notdoing anything, and we’re fighting and he’ssaying ‘well, why don’t you work instead ofgoing to school’”.

“On the way coming from home to school onmy bus-ride... ‘oh my hydro bill, what am Igonna do, my phone bill’, you know...”.


due to their not being part of personal networkswhich enable one to learn of jobs by word-of-mouth (Wilson, 1987). Urban Circle learnersalso do an interview skills component in whichinterviews are videotaped and reviewed, and em-ployers are brought in to provide feedback.

In the Health Care Aide/Unit Clerk pro-grams— job-specific training programs that areseparate from the mature grade 12 program—all of this is done as well. The life-skills courseoccupies the first four weeks and then one dayper week thereafter; and job placements are ar-ranged in the Health Science Centre or personalcare homes. Crucially important is the fact thatthe employers have been involved with UrbanCircle in the form of a partnership in develop-ing these job-specific courses from the begin-ning. Such partnerships are “fundamental to oursuccess”, says Co-Director Eleanor Thompson.Urban Circle links with the employer, arrangesjob placements for adult learners, works withthe Health Sciences Centre to help them to be-come more culturally sensitive to Aboriginalemployees, and does cross-cultural trainingworkshops “for our students to feel acceptedthere”. Graduation from this program is “...al-most a guarantee that they’ll get a job”, saysColleen Robinson, and it is a good job, at closeto $14/hour, which means that “...it’s worth-while, not training for a minimum wage job,it’s enough that families can get off social assist-ance”. In the Health Care Aide program, 21 of24 adult learners graduated last year, and all 21are employed, and at good wages. Twenty-oneof the 24 had been on social assistance prior toattending Urban Circle (Robinson, Feb. 20,2003).

So Urban Circle does not just graduate stu-dents and send them out cold into the world.They prepare students from the first day foremployment. “It’s about economic empower-

ment”, says Eleanor Thompson. “Students comehere wanting to get off social assistance, to getoff the dependency of that horrible cycle of pov-erty. That is the prime motivator” (Thompson,Feb. 20, 2003). And it works.

ii. Life Skills:Every program at Urban Circle has a life

skills component which involves the first fourweeks of the program, and one day per weekthereafter, and each program has a life skillscoach. The life skills component is structuredas a course for credit. It is, therefore, not an add-on, but rather is central to the educational ex-perience at Urban Circle. The life skills focus isunique. In the Academic Education and Em-ployment Program (mature grade 12), CarolHawkins teaches the academic component andLorraine Desmarais, herself an Urban Circlegraduate, is the life skills coach and instructorof the Life Skills course. Although called “lifeskills”, the course at UCTC is different fromwhat is often thought of as life skills, because itis specifically tailored to meet the needs of Abo-riginal people who have experienced the adverseeffects of colonialism. Students learn aboutthemselves, in an introspective fashion, and thenlocate their personal situation in the context ofcolonization, and work through that to developthe skills to deal with life in the dominant cul-ture, but to do so as an Aboriginal person whofeels comfortable with her/himself. The pain thatso many Aboriginal people carry is acknowl-edged, and talked about, and is identified asbeing a consequence of colonization. It is not ablaming process, nor a shaming process. Ratherit is a healing process, and a learning process,and it provides adult learners with the self-un-derstanding and the self-esteem that they needto navigate their way through the dominantculture.


Life skills, like everything at Urban Circle,is based on the holistic character of the Medi-cine Wheel. The Medicine Wheel has four quad-rants: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.Urban Circle says all four are important. Theydo not just deal with adult learners as students.They deal with them as people, in a holistic way.Learners cannot learn math if they are not em-powered to cope emotionally with the pain theycarry inside themselves. Part of this has to dowith the remarkable level of commitment of thestaff who phone, talk to and counsel their learn-ers. But also, the life skills component teachesadult learners how to cope themselves. Theylearn creative problem-solving, effective com-munication, conflict resolution, stress, anger andtime management, organizational skills, andbuilding self-esteem. And they use sharing cir-cles— they talk with each other about their livesin a collective setting. This bonds them to eachother.

In the life skills course there is what is calleda ‘shield week’. Learners create a shield— a pic-torial/symbolic representation of their life story,with photos and other momentos signifying

important parts of their life journey to date.Then each student tells her/his life story to thegroup— the highs, and the lows— as much oras little as s/he chooses to share. Again, onceyou have shared your life in this way, opened upand told your story and revealed your pain toothers, and they to you, there is a tight bondingthat occurs. A group is built. Group support isdeveloped. Many graduates of Urban Circle be-come life-long friends.

And all of this is done in the context of de-colonization. Built into the life skills course is afocus on the bigger reality of which each learneris to a greater or lesser extent a product. “Wherewe’re at is the result of something greater thanus as individuals”, says Co-Director Ruth

The shield “had a big impact on me because Iwas able to be an adult and I was able toforgive those people the harmful things theydid to me and when I learned about residen-tial schools I guess that opened up the reasonswhy our people are the way they are intoday’s society...So I’m not ashamed ...of beingAboriginal....Life skills and the sharing circlesreally opened me up, I was able to talk formyself, and I really enjoyed the sharing circlebecause you know you have that trust in thecircle, this group, your fellow students andyou can talk to them about anything, they’rethere to listen, so I think that sharing circle, itdoes really help”(F; 26).

“With the life skills and the shield I’ve learnedthat with my pressures and everyday problemsthat there are people out there with thesame situations and they are still trying tothrive and succeed....sometimes I would getdown and think I was alone but I’m notalone, there are other people out there, andhere at Urban Circle we are able to help eachother and learn from each other in situationslike that(M; 35).

“One of the biggest components here was thelife skills course and that was absolutelyamazing....”(M; 32).


Murdoch. It is the result of colonization— thedeliberate attempt to strip Aboriginal people oftheir language, culture and spirituality, in short,to strip them of their identity and sense of self-esteem. To facilitate the colonization piece a non-interference method is used. The life skills coachidentifies his/her own colonization/oppression,therefore allowing the student to identify wherethey are at in relation to their own journey. Oneof the Medicine Wheel teachings as developedby Myra Laramee, principal of Winnipeg’sNijimahkwa School, identifies four stages ofhealing — the victim, survivor, warrior andhealer.But this transformation is a process, afunction of the Urban Circle approach in itstotality. Simply describing what happened toAboriginal people is, in itself, not enough. Col-leen Robinson took Native Studies at the Uni-versity of Manitoba, but that form of learningdid not have the same effect. “I could write downall the facts and it never affected me....until Icame here and became part of the sharing circleand ‘yeah, that’s what happened to myfamily”(Robinson, Feb. 20, 2003).

In short, part of the life skills course is im-mediately ‘practical’— anger management, con-flict resolution and communications skills, forexample. And part is deeper. Part is to re-build,piece by piece, the battered self-esteem and self-confidence of a people who have suffered theeffects of colonization and who have carried thatpain inside themselves for years. This is themetamorphosis that happens at Urban Circle,the truly remarkable process of personal trans-formation that learners here go through as theyreclaim their identity as Aboriginal people, andas they then learn the skills needed to survive inthe dominant culture, as strong Aboriginal peo-ple. This is the two-fold character of life-skills.It becomes the foundation upon which the proc-ess of learning Math and English can take place.

“The life-skills component they have here isunbelievable. You get a sense of who you are, ithelps you identify who you are...” and enablesyou “...to release some of the stuff that you’vebeen carrying so long.... This program is sopowerful, it’s exactly what I’ve been looking forand I’d recommend it to other women, notonly other women, other men” (F; 35).

“When we did the shield I was really scared,not scared, but shy, and I was nervous and Ididn’t know what to do buteverybody...welcomed me...and I felt comfort-able. I never had that experience before, to talkabout myself in front of a whole class...all thehardships that I had from my earlier life...andit made me talk about the situations that Ididn’t want to talk about...I feltrelieved...when I did my shield, and to talkabout my personal stuff too....” (F; 37).

“It was an eye-opener for me...that firstmonth I was coming to school with a wholebunch of, like a weight on my shoulders andeverything...it taught me how to put it awayfor a while” (F; 34).

“When we did our shields, it like opened thedoor” (F; 36).


Lorraine Desmarais is the life skills coachfor the Academic Education and EmploymentProgram. She herself is a graduate of Urban Cir-cle, and has experienced the life skills and theuse of the shield from both sides, as life skillscoach and as adult learner. She says, “I justwanted to...get a job, get off assistance and be-come independent....but I got a lot more thanan education and training. I learned aboutmyself ”(Desmarais, Feb. 20, 2003). She adds:

“It’s the hardest thing I ever did but the bestthing I ever did....it really gave me my identityafter searching for years, never feeling I belongedanywhere”. But now, “I don’t have to try to fitinto the mainstream, I can be me”.

And the skills learned— practical and emo-tional— are directly transferable to workplaceand family. “Everything I learned here was trans-ferable, when I left here I grew in every area”,she says. Ruth Murdoch confirms that this isthe intent. “There’s a skill set that they need toleave this environment”, she says, and our pur-pose here is “...to give them all the tools to fa-cilitate their journey”. In the case of LorraineDesmarais, the greatest impact of the life-skillslearned at the Urban Circle has been on her fam-ily and her four children. She became a muchbetter parent. That is “...the greatest impact ofmy entire life. That has been my measurementof my own growth”.

The approach taken at Urban Circle is ho-listic, starting with introspection. But it not justthis. Each adult learners’ personal situation islocated in the context of an historical processthat has affected all Aboriginal people, collec-tively. And everything about Urban Circle— theshield, the sharing circles, the common back-grounds, the life skills course— creates a senseof a being part of a group. “We’re not just a class-room, we’re a group....We’re a very different kindof school....I feel like this is my family”, says

“This way we can support ourselves as a groupor mini-family to get ourselves through theweek....It’s like we’re a bunch of brothers andsisters when we come here....”(F; 35).

“It’s like a family” (F; 44).

“I think of them as family” (M; 51).

“...we’re like family”(F; 30).

“...we all care for each other too, you know,like if someone’s missing for two days well webetter, where is she or where is he, you know,what’s happening with her....we don’t wantto leave anybody behind, we all startedtogether, we should finish together, youknow, keep this group going....”(F; 34).

“The people are great, it’s just like havingyour own little family here” (F; 36).

“As a group we work together and it’s like asense of belonging...every day it’s, like,coming here as a family....”(F; 46).

Another way in which this collectivity isachieved is through ‘clearing space’, which canhappen each morning, for 10-15 minutes, asopposed to the weekly sharing circles. As to theclearing space: “It’s like a buddy system, likeyou’re comfortable with that person and youcome here and you discuss your problems sothat you don’t have to bring it all day withyou, so you try to get it off your chest, andyou do that every morning, and that reallyhelps because sometimes you come to schooland you’re upset about something and you’restressed and just talking to somebody helps alot” (F; 42).


Colleen Robinson. And this sense of family isfelt by all the learners, and is part of the strengthof Urban Circle(see sidebar).

Related to this is the relentless support sys-tem provided to Urban Circle learners, a sup-port system made possible by the energy anddedication of the staff. Urban Circle is success-ful, says Eleanor Thompson, “because of thepassion of people who work here”. CarolHawkins concurs: “The staff is very dedicatedto the program. For example, the participantsare given unconditional 24 hour support dur-ing and long after programcompletion”(Hawkins, 1997, p. 4). And that iscertainly reflected, as is the case at the otherAdult Learning Centres being considered here,in the comments made by adult learners (seesidebar).

iii. Aboriginal Culture:The third distinctive feature of Urban Cir-

cle is the Aboriginal culture that is infusedthroughout the program. The sharing circle isused regularly. Morning smudges are practised,along with a prayer to the Creator. All the stu-dents are Aboriginal. The majority of the staffare Aboriginal. The philosophy is based on theMedicine Wheel. “For students, it comes alivefor them when they see the Medicine Wheel”,says Ruth Murdoch. “The wheel is so multi-dimensional...it compels us to be continuallylooking at where we are”. And it compels a ho-listic approach. The first four weeks, and oneday per week thereafter, are the life skills coursewhich is rooted in Aboriginal culture, in thephilosophy of the Medicine Wheel, commit-ment to a holistic approach and to the de-colo-nization of Aboriginal adults who have, in oneway or another and to a greater or lesser extent,internalized their colonial oppression.

“There’s a big support system here....theywon’t give up on you. If you want to quit theywon’t give up on you, they’ll be right thereknocking at your door and that is the reasonwhy Aboriginal people are here” (F; 26).

“...overwhelming encouragement here tostick with it, especially when you think youwanna give up” (F; 32).

“When you feel like quitting, like giving up,they’re there for you....Lorraine [Desmarais] willcome at your door, you know, not in a meanway, you know (laughter)...but she’ll come thereto encourage you, ‘come on back’, youknow....(F; 34).

“They’re very supportive abouteverything...it makes me feel so good knowingwe have the support of the instructorshere....This is a challenge for me because I’vebeen out of school for such a long time and Ifind that the supports here are tremendous”(F;35).

The Native Studies course is distinctive inthat it begins from the self, in that it is relatedto the learners’ personal experiences. The courseoutline says: “The seminars have been developedfor those who seek more information about de-colonization of our Aboriginal/First Nationspeople”. The outline adds:

“Aboriginal/First Nations adult learnersrequire the knowledge to explain to theindividual members of a communitywho they are, who their people are, andhow they relate to other nations. Theyneed to articulate how our history re-lates to their personal self-esteem and


identity today and to the reclaiming [of ]their cultural identity....the goal of thecourse will be met when the student caneducate the general public about thepain and oppression First Nations/Abo-riginal people endured (physical, emo-tional, spiritual and mental) and havesurvived as a result of the colonizers”.

Other courses have been modified to beculturally appropriate. Carol Hawkins has takenthe English curriculum and modified it to makeit more culturally appropriate(Hawkins, 1997).It is not just that Aboriginal authors are used,although they are, and frequently local Aborigi-nal authors and poets are brought into Englishclasses. Rather the curriculum is rooted in thenotion of belonging, and the need to belong.So for example Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye isa novel used in English. It focuses on the op-pression of African Americans. Oppression hap-pened to many people, not just Aboriginal peo-ple, and is expressed in literature and the arts,and that is the theme of the English course. TheCareer Exploration course examines such themesas workplace culture and ethics, racism and dis-crimination in the workplace, non-violent in-tervention, human rights— all importantthemes for everyone, but tailored and crafted tomeet the specific needs of Aboriginal adult learn-ers. And the courses interconnect and overlapin a way consistent with the Medicine Wheelphilosophy of the interconnectedness of allthings. The teaching strategy is very experien-tial, getting students into the community, intoworkplaces and post-secondary institutions,having them develop their interviewing skillsand conflict resolution skills, and of course allof this is done in the context of Aboriginal cul-ture, and the development of the life skills toovercome colonization and to be able to work

in the dominant culture and become economi-cally independent while remaining an Aborigi-nal person able to practice Aboriginal cultureand secure and self-confident as an Aboriginalperson. It is “...a model of living life that is dif-ferent from our Western approach”, says RuthMurdoch. “It’s about the empowerment of anation”.

The Urban Circle approach has grown andevolved over more than a decade. It constantlyevolves to meet the changing circumstances andneeds of its students. It is a dynamic and excit-ing and highly effective program, from whichmuch can be learned by other adult educators.As such, Urban Circle Training Centre repre-sents an opportunity that should be developed.We believe that in addition to educating adultlearners, consideration should be given to de-veloping a training program by which UrbanCircle would become a training site for otheradult educators working in Adult Learning Cen-tres.

The holistic approach used by Urban Cir-cle is not easy to describe by means of the writ-ten word. “It will not come off the page...”, saysRuth Murdoch. You need to experience it. Thatis what we are recommending: that those adulteducators now working at Adult Learning Cen-tres who feel the need to improve their under-standing of Aboriginal culture and its use inadult education be given the opportunity to ex-perience the Urban Circle approach, and to takefrom it whatever parts they conclude would ben-efit their own ALCs. The centre-piece, the peo-ple at Urban Circle believe, is the Life Skillscourse. So the training program could involvepeople from other Learning Centres spendingfour weeks at Urban Circle during the main partof the Life-Skills course, “because that piece iscrucial”, as Ruth Murdoch puts it. Two types ofbenefits might flow from this approach. First,


people already working in Adult Learning Cen-tres could take back from Urban Circle to theirALCs whatever they think might fit in their ownALC. Second, a core of people might by thismethod be created who at some future pointmight be able to fully replicate what Urban Cir-cle does by establishing a second Urban Circle.Certainly the need is there, and certainly thesuccess rate warrants replication. Thus two kindsof training would be taking place at Urban Cir-cle: the educating and training of adult learn-ers, as is done now; and the training of adulteducators now working in the Adult LearningCentre system. Further, with respect to the train-ing of adult educators, two objectives might beconsidered: one is imparting to existing ALCssome of the experience gained at Urban Circle;the other is laying the basis for replicating in itstotality what is done at Urban Circle.

Part Four: Summary andPart Four: Summary andPart Four: Summary andPart Four: Summary andPart Four: Summary andDiscussionDiscussionDiscussionDiscussionDiscussion

What we have found in our examination offive Adult Learning Centres is the following.

First, the ALCs represent a powerful andeffective new approach to education in Mani-toba. This is evident at each of the five ALCsthat we investigated. Their friendly, informal,personalized environment, their dedicated,warm and energetic staff, and their holistic ap-proach to adult education works exceptionallywell for adult learners generally, and for Abo-riginal adult learners in particular. That thesecharacteristics of ALCs are important variablesin their success is consistent with the literatureon adult education.

Second, most of the ALCs could be madeeven better than they are by incorporating somefindings from our investigation that are con-firmed in the literature on adult education gen-

erally, and Aboriginal adult education in par-ticular. These include the following: makinggreater use, where possible, of group-based learn-ing, including the use of sharing circles; rootingeducational strategies in the experiences of Abo-riginal people and in the culture of Aboriginalpeople to a greater extent than is already done;making greater use of a life skills componentand considering the development of additionaljob-specific training courses modelled on thesuccessful initiatives developed at the UrbanCircle Training Centre; and introducing strate-gies to promote in Aboriginal adult learners agreater commitment not only to individualtransformation but also to community transfor-mation.

a. Diamonds in the rough: whatmakes Adult Learning Centres soeffective?

The first thing that strikes someone enter-ing any of the Adult Learning Centres that weinvestigated is the friendly, informal and respect-ful atmosphere that prevails, and the remark-able energy, warmth and dedication of the staff.They exhibit a passion for adult education, acommitment to equality and human dignity, abelief in the human potential in each of us. It isimpossible not to be impressed by the work be-ing done in these unpretentious and highly ef-fective learning centres. We agree with PeterFerris who, in a study done in late 1999-2000,expressed his respect and admiration for the“commitment and dedication” of the adult edu-cators he met over a four week period, and whosaid: “....I could not disguise my enthusiasm forwhat is taking place. Adult learning centres are,I believe, the most innovative and progressiveresponses to a huge need for a range of adulteducation delivery that I have experienced. ”(Ferris, 2000, p. 1). This enthusiasm for the work


of the ALCs is reflected in our interviews withAboriginal adult learners, a large proportion ofwhom are unqualifiedly positive about their ex-periences and about the staff.

Our second observation is that a very largeproportion of the adult learners that we inter-viewed carry with them a great deal of pain. Thiswas unmistakable in the interviews. Most havehad hard lives; a great many suffer from lack ofself-esteem. A large proportion of them facedracism in their previous school experiences, andin some cases it has scarred them deeply. Theroots of this damage are to be found in the im-pact upon Aboriginal people of colonialism, andthe internalization by many Aboriginal peopleof the racist belief system that lies at the heart ofcolonialism. The ideology of colonialism,Howard Adams has argued, “... claims the su-periority of the race and culture of the colonizer”,and many Aboriginal people “...have internal-ized a colonized consciousness” (Adams, 1999,p. 6, and Introduction). That is, they have cometo believe, in a culture which constantly deni-grates them, the false claims of their inferiority.Hart describes how devastating the consequencesof this process can be:

“Once Aboriginal persons internalizethe colonization processes, we feel con-fused and powerless....We may implodewith overwhelming feelings of sadnessor explode with feelings of anger. Sometry to escape this state through alcohol,drugs and/or other forms of self-abuse”(Hart, 2002, p.27).

The consequences for education are clear:

“Aboriginal people start to believe thatwe are incapable of learning and that thecolonizers’ degrading images and beliefs

about Aboriginal people and our waysof being are true” (Hart, 2002, p. 27).

This echoes the argument advanced by Bra-zilian adult educator, Paulo Freire, who wrotethat:

“self-depreciation is another character-istic of the oppressed which derives fromtheir internalization of the opinion theoppressors hold of them. So often dothey hear that they are good for noth-ing, know nothing, and are incapable oflearning anything— sick, lazy, and un-productive— that in the end, they be-come convinced of their ownunfitness”(Freire, 1970, p. 49).

It is clear from our interviews that manyadult Aboriginal learners suffer in this way. Inthe interviews it was often expressed as extremeshyness. Beneath that shyness lies the lack ofself-esteem and self-confidence that comes froma lifetime of having internalized a colonized con-sciousness. The damage done to Aboriginal peo-ple by this process, and the pain that they carrybecause of it, make essential the warm andfriendly environment that characterizes, and therespectful and egalitarian staff who work at, theALCs that we investigated. It is particularly sig-nificant, given the frequency of their referencesto racism and the negative baggage carried fromprevious educational experiences, that of the 74Aboriginal adult learners who were interviewed,not a single one said that s/he had experiencedracism at an Adult Learning Centre, and mostextolled the friendly, helpful, respectful atmos-phere and staff. We are of the opinion that thisis the single, most significant explanatory vari-able for the very considerable success of AdultLearning Centres.


This view is confirmed by the literature,which is quite clear on the importance for adultlearners, including Aboriginal adult learners, ofa warm, friendly, informal and respectful envi-ronment and staff, and a flat, non-hierarchicalstructure. For example, a recent survey of Abo-riginal literacy programs in Canada concludedthat:

“It is doubtful that there is a more im-portant consideration in sustaining anAboriginal literacy program than theprovision of a safe and welcoming envi-ronment where learning can take rootand grow....” (Sabourin and Globensky,1998, p. 239).

These authors also remarked upon “...thededication and commitment that practitionershave brought to their Aboriginal literacy pro-gram initiatives”, calling them and their pro-grams “...diamonds in the rough,labouring...above and beyond the call of duty...to serve the needs and aspirations of learners”(Sabourin and Globensky, 1998, p.8). This cer-tainly rings true for those Adult Learning Cen-tres that we investigated.

Tremblay and Taylor reached the same con-clusions in their study of an Aboriginal Employ-ment Preparation Program delivered at theGrand River Polytechnic Institute on the SixNations Reserve in southern Ontario:

“...establishing a cultural environmentcharacterized as warm, comfortable,nonthreatening, fun, enjoyable, open,respectful, and empowering was essen-tial for creating an effective climate forlearners to learn” (Tremblay and Taylor,1998, p.43).

Peter Martin, writing about Aboriginal adulteducation program planning, observed that the

promotion of “...emotional warmth in the class-room cannot be over-stressed”, and he referredto:

“...the necessity of having instructorswith warm, supportive personalities. Theinstructor’s attitude toward the studentswill affect the students’ academicprogress and their level of motivation forcontinuing their studies. Instructorswith warm positive attitudes are particu-larly necessary for Aboriginal studentswho have endured hostility, racism andalienation in previous educational expe-riences” (Martin, 1993, pp. 170 &172).

The staff at the Adult Learning Centres thatwe investigated were all of these things, andmore, and they have created, often in difficultcircumstances, the kind of environment inwhich Aboriginal adults, many of whom “haveendured hostility, racism and alienation in pre-vious educational experiences”, are experienc-ing educational success.

Another essential reason for their success isthe holistic approach to adult education thatcharacterizes the work of the Adult LearningCentres that we investigated. By holistic wemean that Aboriginal adult learners cannot betreated simply as students, but must be treatedas whole people: as people whose often difficultlives outside the classroom and whose frequentlack of self-esteem and self-confidence are everybit as important to their prospects for complet-ing grade 12 as is their facility with Math orEnglish. This means that instructors in ALCsare much more than ‘just’ teachers: they arecounsellors and confidants and encouragers; theyare people in positions of authority who are re-spectful and egalitarian; they are friends whoprovide rides when needed, who knock on doorswhen learners are absent, who help out with


childcare arrangements, and who respondsupportively and non-judgementally to a myriadof real-life needs. These activities and attributesare as important as teaching— one without theother would not work for most adult Aborigi-nal learners. The ALC and its staff must deal,and in those ALCs that we investigated do deal,with the whole person. Dealing with the wholeperson is an approach to adult education, andto life, that is found in the traditional Aborigi-nal concept of the Medicine Wheel, which re-quires a consideration of peoples’ mental, physi-cal, emotional and spiritual needs.

Support for this holistic approach and forthe Medicine Wheel can also be found in theliterature. The previously cited study of Abo-riginal literacy programs concluded that:

“All Aboriginal cultures firmly believe inthe power of ‘wholeness’ and know theimportance of maintaining balancewithin self and harmony with all thingswithin the Creation. In order to achieve‘wholeness’, the four aspects of self whichinclude the spirit, heart, mind, and bodymust be aligned, and the task of balanc-ing these energies, both internal andexternal, is a continuous process”(Sabourin and Globensky, 1998, p.252).

Aboriginal adult educators Diane Hill andPriscilla George make the same argument.Priscilla George, speaking about Aboriginal lit-eracy programs, makes the simple but powerfulobservation that “...literacy programs meanmuch more than just learning to read andwrite”(George, 1997). Hill argues that, given theeffects on Aboriginal people of colonization, aholistic approach to adult learning is essential:

“Reversing the generational damagedone to the psycho-social developmentof Aboriginal individuals, families, com-munities, and nations must begin witha more holistic model of education. Inusing holistic processes of learning andteaching, Aboriginal learners can behelped to explore the negative attitudesthey direct against themselves, others,the educational system, and againstWestern culture as a whole”(Hill, 1999,pp. 12-13).

The ALCs that we investigated use a holis-tic approach, and we consider this to be an es-sential ingredient in their success.

b. Areas for improvement: how canAdult Learning Centres be madeeven better?

As good as the Adult Learning Centres thatwe investigated are, there are areas where im-provements could be made, and we will com-ment on these, based on our interview resultsand our review of the literature.

(i) the importance of group-basedlearning

First, a theme that arises frequently in theliterature is the importance of group-based learn-ing, and of creating a sense of collectivity, andof belonging, amongst adult learners. Many ofthose we interviewed expressed a desire for, orwhere it was already being used an appreciationof, group-based learning opportunities.

Learning in groups has deep roots in adulteducation. Recent adult education literature hasdefined this group-based approach as cohortgroups. “Cohorts are usually defined as groups


of students who enroll at the same time and gothrough a program by taking the same coursesat the same time...”(Imel, 2002, p.1). A recentmajor American study that followed 41 adultlearners for a year reported that:

“...an unexpected finding was that beingpart of a ‘cohort’— a tight-knit, reliable, com-mon-purpose group— was extraordinarily im-portant to participants....the interpersonal rela-tionships that these adult peers developed in thecohort made a critical difference to their aca-demic learning, their emotional and psychologi-cal well-being, and their ability to broaden theirperspectives”. The report added that: “...for mostparticipants their learning group became some-thing very much different than ‘just a class’ or‘just a group’....participants spoke of the groupas ‘like a family’, or a band of warriors, or fellowstrugglers— in short, a cohort. These cohortsserved as dynamic transitional growth spaces thathelped learners make good use of each other byproviding both the challenge that encouragedlearners to grow and the support they needed inorder to meet those challenges”(Kegan et al,2001, pp. 14-15).

Cohort groups can also make possible thecritical reflection that leads to deep transforma-tional learning. In transformational learning,adult learners reflect on long-held, taken-for-granted assumptions and beliefs about them-selves and their place in the world, and replacethem with a new belief system. Such transfor-mational learning is especially important forAboriginal learners who suffer from low levelsof self-esteem and self-confidence as the resultof the internalization of colonialism. Cohortgroups promote such learning. Imel, for exam-ple, observes that in cohort groups: “... studentsare encouraged to challenge assumptions andengage in joint knowledge construction with

each other and the instructor, and transformativelearning frequently occurs”(Imel, 2002, p. 3).

Diane Hill also advances an argument forgroup-based learning for Aboriginal students,rooted in traditional Aboriginal ways of learn-ing that include the importance of the oral tra-dition and of story-telling:

“Because Aboriginal teachings stemfrom an oral tradition, the use of dia-logue plays an extremely important rolein traditional Aboriginal learning proc-esses. Small group discussions, indi-vidual interviews, and activities that en-courage questions and answers are usedto develop the Aboriginal adult learn-er’s capacity for oral discussion and pres-entation. Engaging Aboriginal adultlearners in dialectical discussions andpublic presentation helps them to re-claim their skills for oration and story-telling— the two most vital elements ofa traditional Aboriginal educationalpractice ...”(Hill, 1999, p. 109).

The development of skills in oration andstory-telling requires working in groups.

This group-based approach can find expres-sion in the use of sharing circles. Sharing circlescan be used to respond, in holistic fashion, tothe pain carried by so many of the Aboriginaladult learners who were interviewed for thisproject. It has been said that the sharing circle“is a powerful tool for healing because, as In-digenous people we have many common expe-riences that have caused much pain in our lives,the circle presents an opportunity to release thispain and to support each other through it”(Clarkson, Morrissette, and Regallet, 1992,p.51). Diane Hill makes a similar case:


“Circles provide the Aboriginal adultlearner with a forum for venting pain-ful feelings and for examining unhealthyrelating patterns that stem from one’snegative life experiences. Thus, knowl-edge of feelings and skills in identifyingthe roots of one’s behaviour are key com-ponents in the creation of an under-standing necessary for building and pre-serving all of one’s relationships thatbegin with the family and extend out-wardly to one’s clan, community...”(Hill,1999, p. 111).

This is certainly consistent with the experi-ence at Urban Circle, where regular use is madeof sharing circles and, on a smaller scale, of ‘clear-ing space’.

The literature on the use of cohort groupsin adult education also identifies the importanceof what is done when groups are first formed.Imel, for example, argues that, “if cohorts are toevolve into a cohesive group, initial experiencesas a cohort are critical in group development”,and she observes that the literature advises adulteducators to: “Spend time at the beginning ofthe cohort developing group relationships. Thesuccess of the cohort depends on the ability ofits members to form a cohesive collaborativegroup”(Imel, 2002, pp. 2 and 4). We think thatthis speaks to the importance of an “orientation”session at the beginning of a term. Some ALCsthat we investigated have used orientation ses-sions and, consistent with the literature, havefound them useful, but the pressures on theirtime have prevented their doing so to the extentthat they believe, and that the literature con-firms, to be desirable. There would be benefits,we believe, to be derived from efforts investedin orientation programs for adult cohorts atAdult Learning Centres.

We conclude, both from the literature andfrom the interviews with Aboriginal adult learn-ers, that there are advantages to group-basedlearning. That this is so is very clear from theexperience at Urban Circle Training Centre,where building a sense of solidarity, of belong-ing, among cohorts of adult learners is a majorpart of the educational strategy, and where thefirst four weeks are devoted to a life skills pro-gram, offered as a course, which serves amongother things to bind the learners together as agroup, as “a family”, as many of them reported.Not every ALC can or necessarily should do whatUrban Circle does— each ALC has its own dis-tinctive approach and that is one of the strengthsof ALCs. The very considerable flexibility thatcharacterizes Portage Learning Centre, for ex-ample, is recognized by Aboriginal adult learn-ers there as being advantageous. However, op-portunities should perhaps be sought whereverpossible for deriving the benefits of group-basedlearning. We note that such opportunities arecurrently being pursued in at least one of theALCs that we investigated, the Portage Learn-ing Centre, as a complement to their flexible,continuous intake approach, and we endorse thisdevelopment.

(ii) the importance of rooting adulteducation in learners’ experience andculture

Second, there is a good deal of evidence inthe literature supporting the view that success-ful adult education strategies are rooted in theexperiences of learners, and in the learners’ cul-ture. Brookfield, for example, argues that: “Thebelief that adult teaching should be groundedin adults’ experiences, and that these experiencesrepresent a valuable resource, is currently citedas crucial by adult educators of every conceiv-able ideological hue” (Brookfield, 1995, p.4).Imel adds: “Because work with adult learners


begins by respecting their culture, their knowl-edge, and their experiences, adult literacy edu-cators must seek to understand learners’ indi-vidual and community contexts....Only by un-derstanding the experiences and communitiesof the adults they wish to serve can adult lit-eracy educators develop viable programs” (Imel,1996, p. 4). Aboriginal adult educators havemade the same case. A Director of an Aborigi-nal literacy program says: “Learning has to re-late to experience, and experience relates to andreflects culture. You cannot learn unless you relyon the experiences and culture of the partici-pant. That is why learning about and retainingour culture is such an important part of ourprogramming”(Sabourin and Globensky, 1998,p. 243). Antone, Miller and Myers make thesame case: “...Native students require an ap-proach to adult education that is designed insuch a way as to draw on prior lifeexperiences”(Antone, Miller and Myers, 1986,p. 70).

Authors like Diane Hill and Priscilla Georgehave developed an approach to Aboriginal adulteducation that responds to the debilitating ef-fects of the internalization of colonialism byrooting the education of Aboriginal adults intheir experiences as Aboriginal people, and inseeking to replace their colonized culture with adecolonized culture. This is consistent with re-cent studies in the adult education literature.

Diane Hill works out of the First NationsTechnical Institute (FNTI), which is located inthe Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory nearDeseronto, Ontario, and is run by the Mohawksof the Bay of Quinte. Her starting point in de-veloping an indigenous approach to the educa-tion of Aboriginal adults is to identify and ac-knowledge the damage done to Aboriginal peo-ples’ culture and worldview by the process ofcolonization. Colonization

“... required a concerted attack on theontology, on the basic culturalpatterning of the children and on theirworld view. They had to be taught tosee and understand the world as a Euro-pean place within which only Europeanvalues and beliefs had meaning: thus thewisdom of their cultures would seem tothem only savage superstition”. (Hill,1999, p. 5).

The immense psychological damage doneto Aboriginal people by this deliberate strategyhas been discussed above. Hill argues that thesolution lies in the development of “... a systemof education that supports the cultural revitali-zation of Aboriginal people” (Hill, 1999, p. 6).

This pedagogy of cultural re-vitalizationthen creates the foundation upon which a posi-tive learning environment can be built. Hill linksthis approach directly to the idea of transfor-mational learning, by arguing that:

“...a philosophy of education based ona traditional Aboriginal cultural philoso-phy supports a transformative process ofeducation. It provides Aboriginal adultlearners with the opportunity to trans-form the perceptions that they hold ofthemselves, others, and the very universesurrounding them by introducing themto an alternative form of knowledge thatis based on a traditional Aboriginal cul-tural world view” (Hill, 1999, p. 122).

Hill links this Aboriginal approach to adulteducation, to that strand of the adult educationliterature that promotes the virtues of criticalreflection and transformational learning:


“In using the learning processes associ-ated with critical reflection (Brookfield,1991) and perspective transformation(Mezirow, 1985), I, and those who havebeen working with me, have been ableto help Aboriginal adult learners to per-ceive themselves, their own culture, andthe cultures of other people morebroadly. In many cases, the individualtransformations that have resulted fromthe use of these processes have led to thedevelopment of a learning communitythat has encouraged the building of sup-portive relationships and has fostered anenvironment where individual and cul-tural differences are more acceptable”(Hill, 1999, p. 137).

The strand of adult education theory andpractice rooted in the ideas of critical reflectionand transformational learning is aimed at chang-ing the ways in which oppressed people inter-pret or make sense of their experiences, and thusthe way they see and think of themselves, andthe way they are able to act in the world. Thisapproach to adult education is important forAboriginal people because of their experiencewith colonization, and their internalization ofcolonial oppression, and the need to transformthat way of interpreting the world and to sub-stitute for it a de-colonized way of interpretingthe world and their place in it. This is the peda-gogy of de-colonization.

The work of Jack Mezirow, for example, ispredicated upon the understanding that “...it isnot so much what happens to people but howthey interpret and explain what happens to themthat determines their actions, hopes, their con-tentment and emotional well-being, and theirperformance” (Mezirow, 1991, p. xiii). The pur-pose of adult education becomes to bring into

consciousness, to subject to critical enquiry, theassumptions and beliefs and ways of seeing andinterpreting that people carry with them andthat shape their understanding of the world andof themselves. Mezirow’s early work focussed onAmerican women returning to college and un-dergoing dramatic changes in self-perceptionand self-identification after challenging cultur-ally prescribed norms and assumptions regard-ing the roles of women. They underwent whathe called a process of perspective transforma-tion:

“Perspective transformation is the proc-ess of becoming critically aware of howand why our assumptions have come toconstrain the way we perceive, under-stand, and feel about our world; chang-ing these structures of habitual expecta-tion to make possible a more inclusive,discriminating, and integrative perspec-tive; and, finally, making choices or oth-erwise acting upon these newunderstandings” (Mezirow, 1991, p.167).

In his more recent work he develops theconcept of transformational learning, which in-volves critical reflection on existing, taken-for-granted assumptions, and their replacement witha new and transformed way of seeing.

“In order to be free we must be able to‘name’ our reality, to know it divorcedfrom what has been taken for granted,to speak with our own voice. Thus itbecomes crucial that the individuallearns to negotiate meanings, purposes,and values critically, reflectively, and ra-tionally instead of passively accepting the


social realities defined by others”(Mezirow, 1991, p. 3).

Mezirow, like many adult educators, wasinfluenced in his thinking about transforma-tional learning by the work of Paulo Freire(Mezirow, 1995, pp. 44 and 58). Freire held thatpeople had to become aware of the broad socio-economic forces which shaped their lives andshaped their ways of interpreting the world, ifthey were to develop the capacity to act on theworld, and it was the task of adult educators todevelop that awareness. This process of‘conscientization’ is the means by which people“achieve a deepening awareness of both the so-ciocultural reality which shapes their lives andof their capacity to transform that reality throughaction upon it”(Freire, 1970, p. 27). In this proc-ess adult learners come to re-define their ownexperiences, to re-define their sense of them-selves, and to be empowered as a consequence.

The virtues of this approach have been ar-gued at the governmental level here in Mani-toba. The 1989 Manitoba Task Force on Lit-eracy advanced the same line of reasoning: “Forus literacy involves a critical awareness of theforces shaping our society and the capacity toparticipate in movements to change this societyfor the better...It is within this broader visionwe see the necessity of raising the level of con-sciousness of our people about their ability tolearn and to liberate themselves from oppres-sive circumstances” (Manitoba, 1989, p.33).

This tradition finds expression in the workof numerous other authors. Brookfield, for ex-ample, emphasises the extent to which this ap-proach to adult education involves critical re-flection upon hitherto unexamined assumptions:

“Developing critical reflection is prob-ably the idea of the decade for many

adult educators....As an idea critical re-flection focuses on three interrelatedprocesses: (1) the process by which adultsquestion and then replace or reframe anassumption that up to that point hasbeen uncritically accepted as represent-ing commonsense wisdom, (2) the proc-ess through which adults take alterna-tive perspective on previously taken forgranted ideas, actions, forms of reason-ing and ideologies, and (3) the processby which adults come to recognize thehegemonic aspects of dominant culturalvalues and to understand how self-evi-dent renderings of the ‘natural’ state ofthe world actually bolster the power andself-interest of unrepresentative minori-ties” (Brookfield, 1995, 2).

This approach to adult education is con-sistent with the theory and the practice of DianeHill and Priscilla George, and of the Urban Cir-cle Training Centre. By rooting their approachto adult education in the experiences of Abo-riginal learners, and creating the opportunity toreflect on those experiences in a critical wayaimed at identifying the broad socio-economicforces that shaped their lives and their way ofinterpreting their lives, and by substituting forthose colonial ways of thinking a new way ofthinking rooted in Aboriginal culture, theseAboriginal theorists and practitioners have beenworking to develop a pedagogy of de-coloniza-tion for Aboriginal people.

This approach is most highly developed atUrban Circle Training Centre, and there is muchthat can be learned from their experience.

(iii) the importance of effortsaimed at job-preparedness, and of a well-paid job at the end of the process, for


purposes of motivation:Absences are a big problem in Adult Learn-

ing Centres. This is in part a function of thedamage caused by the internalization of coloni-alism, and in part a function of the difficult cir-cumstances being faced by many Aboriginaladult learners, especially those with children, andit is particularly a problem, we have observed,among younger adult learners. We believe thatworking to create cohort groups where possi-ble, and to introduce sharing circles and vari-ants of sharing circles like ‘clearing space’, willhelp in improving attendance by creating a senseof collectivity and of belonging. The availabil-ity of adequate childcare facilities is also an im-portant aspect of attendance.

But it is clear that intrinsic motivation is acrucial factor. Many of the adult learners whomwe interviewed told us that those who succeedat ALCs are those who are motivated to do so.This is reflected in the literature. For example,The Adult Student Persistence Study, aimed atunderstanding “...the forces that support or dis-courage an adult’s decision to stay...” in adulteducation, reported that:

“....Adults who mentioned a specificgoal, such as ‘help my children’ or ‘get abetter job’, when asked why they hadentered a program were more likely topersist than those who either mentionedno goal or said they were doing it forthemselves” (National Centre for theStudy of Adult Learning and Literacy,2002, p. 11).

Priscilla George makes the same argument:Aboriginal adult learners must be ready to learn,must be willing to learn (George, 1997).

There is some evidence that this readinessis related to age. Tremblay and Taylor, for ex-ample, found that:

“Another concern related to the differ-ence in the performances that werefound between the younger learners (18-25 years old) and older learners (26 yearsor older) in both levels of the program.It was the younger learners who hadproblems associated with attendance andpunctuality both within the programsetting and the community work place-ments. It may be that the younger learn-ers were limited by their lack of experi-ence; they were not yet ready to changetheir existing behaviour patterns....Thiswas an important finding because overhalf of the learners in both levels of theprogram were young adult learners. Thisis especially important in the Nativecontext because this population (agedbetween 18-24) is projected to grow by43% by 2011"(Tremblay and Taylor,1998, p. 43).

This is certainly consistent with our find-ings.

We believe that the motivation problem maybe linked, in part, to the kinds of jobs that areavailable to those who graduate from an AdultLearning Centre with the mature grade 12 di-ploma. In too many cases graduates end upworking in fast food outlets or other service sec-tor jobs on a part-time basis at or near the mini-mum wage. With such jobs they cannot sup-port a family. Thus the incentive to work hardto complete the mature grade 12 diploma inorder to get out of the cycle of poverty is re-duced. If completion of the mature grade 12diploma resulted in a job that paid enough to


pull a family out of poverty, or qualified an adultlearner to take a 10 month job-specific coursethat would lead to such a job, then there wouldbe a much greater incentive to attend regularlyand to complete the program.

The Urban Circle Training Centre offerssuch 10 month programs: the health care aide/unit clerk, and the family support worker pro-grams. These programs combine specific jobtraining with an academic component, and aredeveloped in partnership with employers whoare prepared to employ graduates at startingwages that can support a family. Graduates ben-efit because they can move their families off so-cial assistance and into financial independence.Employers benefit because they have well-trained employees and, as at the Health SciencesCentre, because they have Aboriginal employ-ees who, because they are Aboriginal, are betterable to relate to and to meet the health care needsof the high proportion of patients who are Abo-riginal. More such programs are needed. In thePortage la Prairie area where the Portage Learn-ing Centre and Long Plain Training Centre arelocated, for example, it would be a matter ofidentifying those areas where employees, andespecially Aboriginal employees, are going to beneeded in the future, and then partnering withemployers to design a training program thatwould lead to the employment of Aboriginalgraduates at a living wage.

A crucial component of any academic pro-gram aimed at preparing Aboriginal adult learn-ers for eventual employment is a life skills course.This is the approach used successfully by theUrban Circle Training Centre in both their Aca-demic Education and Employment Program(mature grade 12), and their more job-specifictraining programs. In both cases adult learnersstart with a four week life skills course. “Thegoal of the life skills program is to have students

become increasingly skilled to handle life’s chal-lenges. For example, students practice assertivebehaviour and conflict resolution skills in theclassroom and are encouraged to apply theseskills to their personal and professionallives”(Hawkins, 1997, p. 4). It is significant thatthe life-skills component is offered as a coursefor credit. The same approach— ie., making lifeskills a course for credit— is used successfullyby the University of Manitoba’s ACCESS pro-gram. They refer to it as remediation: “Integrat-ing remediation into the formal process througha credit course or program is the most effectivetool and produces the greatest success, chieflybecause students can see a direct link betweenthe activity , which may be difficult for them,and their goal” (Levin and Alcorn, 1999, p. 25).Tremblay and Taylor found the same: “...theinclusion of life-skills as a key curriculum com-ponent was found effective”. When the life-skillscomponent is rooted in an Aboriginal culturalapproach, as at Urban Circle, the effect is stillmore positive (Tremblay and Taylor, 1998, p.33).

(iv) the importance of community, aswell as individual, transformation:

It is not enough simply for successful gradu-ates to find jobs, even if those jobs pay wellenough to pull them and their families out ofthe cycle of poverty. The full potential of Abo-riginal adult education is not realized if thosewho graduate leave their communities behind;they are needed to contribute to the building ofthe Aboriginal community. Moses Coady, driv-ing force behind the Antigonish Movement,condemned that education which “...effectivelystripped the ordinary people of their brightestand best, thus depriving them of the energy,brains and leadership that would let them im-prove their own lot in society”(Crane, 1987, p.


228). Paulo Freire made the same argument.Those Aboriginal adults who successfully com-plete the mature grade 12 diploma are neededto contribute to the Aboriginal community as awhole. There is some evidence that this hap-pens. Ruth Murdoch and Eleanor Thompsonargue that Urban Circle graduates are muchmore active in the community— in commu-nity centres, with youth groups, at their chil-dren’s schools, in neighbourhood associations,etc.— than they were before they attended Ur-ban Circle. The same may be the case at otherALCs. This is an hypothesis well worth investi-gating. However, this desirable outcome couldbe, and should be, pursued more intentionallyby designing and offering a course in Commu-nity Development or Community EconomicDevelopment that would count for credit forthe mature grade 12 diploma. The course woulddeal with the principles of community develop-ment, and would include a strong practicum/experiential component with Aboriginal adultlearners working with effective community de-velopment organizations, and wherever possi-ble, effective Aboriginal community develop-ment organizations. Learning the principles ofcollective approaches to development, and be-ing exposed to community-based organizationsdoing such work, would increase the likelihoodthat graduates of Adult Learning Centres wouldbecome active in their communities. The devel-opment of communities from the bottom upthrough the active and informed involvementof members of the community themselves is along-term solution to many of the problems ofAboriginal, and many other, communities(Loxley, 2000; Silver, 2000).

Part Five: Conclusion andRecommendations

Adult Learning Centres are a very excitingeducational innovation, and an important ad-dition to the tools available to the province tobuild a better future for Manitobans, and inparticular a better future for Aboriginal people.Given the demographics of Manitoba— whichsuggest a continued and significant growth ofthe Aboriginal population both in absolute andrelative terms for quite some time into the fu-ture— such initiatives are particularly impor-tant. Their importance is accentuated by the factthat, generally speaking, the regular school sys-tem has not yet made the changes needed toreflect Aboriginal educational needs, as docu-mented in a recent study of Aboriginal educa-tion in Winnipeg inner city high schools (Silverand Mallett, 2002).

The importance for Aboriginal people of thework being done by ALCs is not just that indi-viduals can transform their lives, as importantas that is. It is that Aboriginal people as a whole,Aboriginal people collectively, can benefit fromappropriate and effective forms of education soas to take charge of their lives. As Ruth Murdoch,Co-Director of Urban Circle, puts it: “It’s aboutthe empowerment of a nation”(Murdoch, Feb-ruary 20, 2003).

The five Adult Learning Centres that weinvestigated were chosen specifically becausethey had a relatively high proportion of Abo-riginal learners and as a result, it may be thecase that the recommendations that follow ap-ply only to ALCs with high proportions of Abo-riginal learners. On the other hand, thedemographics of Manitoba are such that theeducation of Aboriginal people will in future bea central concern for all educational institutions,including all ALCs. We are of this latter view,and therefore we believe that the recommenda-


tions that follow will have relevance, to varyingdegrees, to all ALCs in Manitoba.

Each ALC is a little different from the oth-ers, which is one of their strengths— they shapetheir efforts to the needs of their communityand their learners. Each of those we investigatedis doing very good work. That is abundantlyevident from our interviews: many Aboriginaladult learners are benefiting enormously fromtheir attendance at ALCs. Also evident, how-ever, is that a very good thing can be made bet-ter still. The recommendations that follow arerooted in that belief and are offered in that spirit.

We recommend that:1. Additional funding be directed at Adult

Learning Centres, both to make much needed ad-ditional resources available to existing ALCs, andto increase the numbers of ALCs operating in Mani-toba.

The Adult Learning Centres are very effec-tive in moving adult learners, including Abo-riginal adult learners, from dependence to in-dependence. The interview evidence is that theirholistic and learner-centred approach, warm andfriendly environments, and caring and respect-ful staff create an environment in which signifi-cant numbers of adult learners are succeeding.The ALCs do this despite being under-staffed.Each of the ALCs that we investigated is in needof additional staffing: to meet the high counsel-ling demands that follow from the use of theholistic approach; and/or to add teaching assist-ants to make possible more individualized at-tention to learners; and/or to provide adminis-trative assistance in order to free existing staff toconcentrate on teaching and counselling. With-out additional funding to add staff, the possi-bility of losing existing staff due to burnoutseems to us to be high. In addition, in somecases the physical space in which ALCs are

housed is not sufficiently conducive to learn-ing, and additional funds are needed to meetminimal standards.

Even at Urban Circle Training Centrewhich, after 13 years, has a larger budget andprogram that the other ALCs that we investi-gated, “the funding is really anissue”(Thompson, Feb.20, 2003). The manysources that have to be tapped for funding tosustain their highly effective educational strat-egy, the evaluations that eat up valuable time“year after year after year”, the bewildering ar-ray of applications and reporting requirements,mean that “funding is inefficiently done”, andthat “the energy that it takes to sustain the di-versity and level of funding that we have is enor-mous”, says Co-Director Eleanor Thompson.We are firmly of the belief that all of the veryeffective ALCs that we investigated are in needof additional and more sustained funding.

In addition, we believe that new AdultLearning Centres should be added in areas wherethe demand for the mature grade 12 diploma ishigh. And we believe that the experience at LongPlain Training Centre in particular reveals thesignificant potential for the development ofALCs in rural Aboriginal communities. TheALCs work. We believe that adding more wouldbe cost effective, and that a cost-benefit analysisof Adult Learning Centres would make thatclear. We agree with Peter Ferris, who argued inhis earlier study of Adult Learning Centres that“...a wider economic analysis of the centreswould be worthwhile....I believe such a studywould be very much in the interests of thecentres”(Ferris, 2000, p.15). When people aremoved from economic dependence to independ-ence , the benefits to society as a whole are verysignificant. Additional investments in ALCswould, in addition to their many other benefits,be very productive investments.


2. Aboriginal culture be promoted at all AdultLearning Centres, by the increased use of sharingcircles, additional educational opportunities forstaff and adult learners, and by making the hiringof Aboriginal staff a priority.

There is strong evidence that adult learnersbenefit when their education is rooted in theirexperiences, and there is evidence— especiallyfrom Aboriginal scholars and practitioners—that Aboriginal adults are more likely to learnin an environment that is culturally Aboriginal.Aboriginal students have a right to learn abouttheir culture, and about the attempts to elimi-nate their culture, and to come to terms withwho they are and how they came as a people tobe where they are today. And when they do, thebenefits are considerable. Those benefits includea stronger personal and collective foundationupon which to build academic success. Severalsteps can be taken to increase the extent to whichthis is the case at ALCs.

a. Sharing circles be offered on a regular andvoluntary basis at all Adult Learning Centres.

Many Aboriginal adult learners carry withthem a burden of pain that is the product ofcolonialism and racism, and that is a major ob-stacle to the achievement of educational goals.Sharing circles are a means of dealing with thatpain, and with the day-to-day problems thatcome with hard lives, in a safe and supportiveenvironment. Many Aboriginal adult learners aresearching for the sense of meaning that comeswith a knowledge of their own culture. Aborigi-nal students have a right to learn about theirown culture, and about the attempt to elimi-nate their culture, and to come to terms withwho they are and how they came as a people to

be where they are today. And when they do, thebenefits are considerable. Those benefits includea stronger personal and collective foundationupon which to build academic success. Aborigi-nal people experienced and skilled in the use ofsharing circles can be called upon , where nec-essary, to train staff and adult learners in the useof sharing circles.

b. making opportunities available to staff mem-bers of ALCs to become familiar with Aboriginalculture and history.

Staff at several ALCs have indicated to usthat they do not feel sufficiently knowledgeableabout Aboriginal culture and history, and haveexpressed a desire to learn more about theirAboriginal students. A systematic program ofprofessional development aimed at familiariz-ing staff in ALCs with Aboriginal history andculture is recommended.

c. ensuring that Native Studies is offered forcredit at every ALC, and that an understanding ofthe process of colonization and its effects be centralto the course.

Many Aboriginal students expressed to us avery strong desire to become more familiar withtheir culture and history. Making Native Stud-ies available as a course for credit at Adult Learn-ing Centres is recommended. An understand-ing of the process of colonization is an essentialcomponent in the healing process that is the basisfor effective learning for many Aboriginal stu-dents.

d. hiring Aboriginal staff whenever possible.

Many Aboriginal students observed thatthey feel more comfortable in a setting whereAboriginal people are employed. Making the


employment of Aboriginal staff a priority is rec-ommended.

3. Group-based learning, including the use oforientation sessions for incoming learners, be pro-moted in Adult Learning Centres where it is notnow used.

The evidence in the literature in support ofgroup-based or cohort learning is strong, andnumerous Aboriginal adult learners expressed adesire for more group involvement. Some Abo-riginal adult learners feel quite isolated in someALCs. The use of cohorts can provide very strongpeer supports to adult learners, especially whereeffective orientation programs are conducted atthe time that the cohorts are formed. In thesecases there is strong evidence— in the literatureand from our interviews— that such strongbonds can be developed that a sense of being apart of a family emerges, with very considerableand holistic benefits for Aboriginal adult learn-ers. Full-fledged cohorts will not be possible inall ALCs— and indeed there are considerableadvantages, especially in terms of accessibilityand the opportunity to work at one’s own pace,to the continuous intake model— but wherethey are not, opportunities can be created toenable other forms of group-based learning totake place. In those ALCs where a full orienta-tion program is not now offered, this should beintroduced. In some cases, we note that doingthis is dependent upon the additional fundingreferred to in Recommendation 1 above.

4. A number of successful innovations devel-oped at Urban Circle Training Centre be adaptedfor use, in whole or in part, in other Adult Learn-ing Centres.

The Urban Circle Training Centre has beenin operation longer than the other ALCs thatwe investigated, and has an all-Aboriginal stu-dent body. They have developed over the yearssome highly effective ways of educating Abo-riginal adult learners. What they have learnedshould be shared to the greatest extent possible.While it is true that not every ALC can or shouldoperate just as Urban Circle does, neverthelessmuch of what Urban Circle does is transferra-ble to other Adult Learning Centres to a greateror lesser extent.

a. life skills be made a component of what islearned at ALCs, and this be done by offering lifeskills as a course for credit.

A central feature of the work at Urban Cir-cle is the use, in all of their programs, of a spe-cially designed life skills component that is of-fered as a course in the first four weeks of everyprogram. The life skills course teaches a host ofpractical skills that are transferrable to adultlearners’ family lives and to their workplaces. Itbuilds a sense of community and of peer sup-port among a cohort of learners. And most im-portantly, we believe, it addresses the impact ofcolonization on Aboriginal people, serving as ade-colonization strategy aimed at creating thepsychological foundation upon which academiclearning can take place.

b. ALC staff who feel the need to learn moreabout Aboriginal culture and its role in adult edu-cation have the opportunity to serve an ‘intern-ship’ at UCTC to enable them to take back to theirown ALCs those aspects of what Urban Circle doesthat would fit with their own ALC.

The approach that has been taken at UrbanCircle does not easily come off the page; it has


to be experienced. The best way to learn aboutthe Urban Circle life skills program is experien-tially. It is an approach that works. It transformsthe lives of Aboriginal adult learners. The firstfour weeks at Urban Circle are an intense andtransformative experience, according to the Ur-ban Circle learners who were interviewed. IfUrban Circle were to become a training centrefor the staff of Adult Learning Centres, by meansof intensive four week immersions at UrbanCircle during the life skills program, much thatis valuable could be taken back to, and adaptedfor use in, other ALCs.

c. job-specific programs be developed by ALCs,in partnership with prospective employers, follow-ing an economic analysis of what occupations arelikely to be in need of trained employees.

The job specific programs offered at UrbanCircle work very well. Almost every graduatefinds work at a wage high enough to support afamily, thus enabling the transition from eco-nomic dependence to independence. The pros-pect of such a job at the completion of studieswould be likely to serve as a strong motivatorfor Aboriginal adult learners. And based on theexperience at Urban Circle Training Centre, thebenefits to the community of moving peoplefrom social assistance to financial independenceare considerable, and include greater family sta-bility, a greater likelihood of children succeed-ing in school, and greater community involve-ment. The key to this kind of training is deter-mining where the future demand is going to be,and then creating partnerships with prospectiveemployers to design a program that will trainpeople to fill that demand at wage levels thatcan support a family.

5. Social service agencies be made aware of theAdult Learning Centres, and arrangements bemade that clients motivated to learn be directed tothe ALCs.

At some of the Adult Learning Centres thatwe investigated staff are spending time workingwith social agencies to make them aware of theALC, and to cut through bureaucratic obstaclesthat get in the way of those who want to gettheir mature grade 12 diploma. This ought tobe done at a more general level, perhaps by AdultLearning and Literacy, so that all social serviceagencies are aware of and are prepared to useALCs, and so that bureaucratic obstacles nowin the way of potential learners are cleared away.

6. Faculties of Education be encouraged to useAdult Learning Centres as teacher-training sites.

The approach to teaching at Adult Learn-ing Centres is different in many important re-spects from that used in most high schools. Ifmore Adult Learning Centres are to be created,as we are recommending, then instructors withthe special skills and attitudes necessary to workin ALCs will be needed. Enabling students inFaculties of Education to practice teach in ALCs,and to be exposed to the energetic and dedi-cated staff in ALCs, would be likely to increasethe supply of such teachers. Consideration mightalso be given to the development of an adultstream in Faculties of Education— in additionto the current early, middle and senior yearsstreams.

7. A course in Community Development beadded to those offered in the mature grade 12 di-ploma program.


The full potential of ALCs is not realized ifthose who graduate with a mature grade 12 di-ploma leave their communities behind. Thatpotential is more fully realized when Aboriginalpeople contribute their skills to the developmentof their communities. This is community de-velopment, or community economic develop-ment. The merits of CED are such that all pro-vincial government policies are now evaluatedthrough a “CED Lens”. A course in CD/CEDthat included instruction in the principles of CDand a practicum component that involved work-ing with a community-based organization wouldincrease the likelihood that graduates of themature grade 12 diploma program would usetheir skills to contribute to the development oftheir communities.

9. Research be conducted to determine whatsteps might be taken to bring more Aboriginal meninto Adult Learning Centres:

The considerable majority of adult learnersin ALCs are women. Men are much less likelyto attend an Adult Learning Centre to completetheir mature grade 12. We did interview somemen who are attending ALCs and who are highlymotivated and are doing well, and in some casesthese are men who have had difficult back-grounds and are undergoing a personal trans-formation as they work for their grade 12 di-ploma. However, they are in the minority. Itwould be most valuable to design a researchstudy to attempt to ascertain why men are muchless likely to attend an ALC, and to determinewhat steps might be taken to increase the num-bers of men attending ALCs.


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Contents

Executive Summary 1

Part One: Method 3

Part Two: Adult Learning Centres 6

Part Three: Findings 7

1. The Portage Learning Centre 7

Some Opportunities for Improvements 12

2. Long Plain Training Centre 14

Some Opportunities for Improvement 17

3. CrossRoads Learning Centre 19


4. Horizons Learning Centre 26


5. Urban Circle Training Centre 33

i. Job-Preparedness 36

ii. Life Skills: 37

iii. Aboriginal Culture: 41

Part Four: Summary and Discussion 43

a. Diamonds in the rough: what makes Adult Learning Centres so effective? 43

b. Areas for improvement: how can Adult Learning Centres be made even better? 46

Part Five: Conclusion and Recommendations 54




June 2003

ISBN 0-88627-352-8


Acknowledgements

We want to express our appreciation to all of the people who agreed to be interviewed for thisproject. We are especially grateful to the 75 adult Aboriginal learners at the five Adult LearningCentres who shared their knowledge and their insights with us, in many cases in very considerabledetail. This study would not have been possible without their contributions. We have agreed tokeep their names confidential. We are very grateful to the staff at the five Adult Learning Centreswho willingly and even enthusiastically agreed to be interviewed, and many of whom participatedin the design of the research project: Beatrice Barahona, Elspeth Campbell, Kim Cooke, PhyllisCrow, Yvette Daniels, Lorraine Desmarais, Philip Evans, Brenda Foster, Ken Funk, Val Gorlick,Carol Hawkins, Liz Merrick, Rachel Mitchell, Ruth Murdoch, Linda Parker, Colleen Robinson,Bev Thiessen, Eleanor Thompson, Darlene Wheeler, and Matthew Wiebe. For their part in or-ganizing the research partnership and in participating in the development of the research designand reading through drafts of the paper, we are grateful to Leon Simard and Helen Settee of theAboriginal Education Directorate, Heather Hunter of the Research and Planning Branch of theDepartment of Education and Youth, and Barbara Wynes of the Adult Learning and LiteracyBranch of the Department of Advanced Education and Training. For other contributions to thispaper we are grateful to Loa Henry, Bob Jones, Garry Loewen, John Loxley, Crystel Marion andTodd Scarth.

We are happy to acknowledge the generous financial support of the Province of Manitoba’sAboriginal Education Directorate, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council,grant # 538-2002-1003.

aboriginal learners in selected adult learning centres in ... · aboriginal learners in selected...

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