One-on-one approach fuels program's success

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Could you imagine trying to get through every day life without being able to read? Trying to shop for groceries without being able to understand the labels? Trying to find your way to somewhere new without being able to read street signs or a map? Trying to remember when to take your medication and how much to take because you can't read the instructions on the bottle?

An alarming number of people across Canada don't have to imagine these types of challenges-they experience them each day. According to information from the ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation, 22 per cent of adult Canadians would have problems reading this newspaper. Another 24 per cent can only tackle simple reading tasks. And less than 10 per cent of Canadians who could benefit from literacy upgrading programs actually enroll in the programs.

One program offered by the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology (SIAST) is trying to change those statistics, one person at a time. Learn to Read is a program run out of SIAST's Woodland campus in Prince Albert that matches students who want to improve their reading skills with volunteer tutors who can help them realize their goals.

The program has been running for about 25 years, and actually predates SIAST's arrival on the scene. When Learn to Read was first launched, the local campus was part of the regional college system.

Each year, between 75 and 100 students take part in the program, along with an equal number of volunteers. About 60 per cent of the students participating are Aboriginal, as are a number of the volunteer tutors.

One of the strengths of Learn to Read is that, while the program is co-ordinated by the Learn to Read office at SIAST, it is the students themselves who determine what and how they will learn, explained program head John Foster.

"Essentially it is a program that is really owner-driven, that potential clients will show up and tell us what they want," Foster said. "And we are very specific in not having great, grandiose notions of what they need to do with their lives to make a better society. If someone shows up and says 'I want to learn to read because I want to read to my grandchildren' we will work on helping them read children's books or information that is specific to their grandchildren. If we have people who show up and say 'I want to read because I need to get a driver's license,' we will help them in that regard.

"Many times people show up and say 'Look, I want to take a program. I need to get into a course, but I know my reading level is very poor and I want to improve it,' just a general approach. But certainly it is fundamental to the success of any programs of that nature that they be owner-driven, that people self-identify the kinds of things they're interested in and then we attempt to meet that need."

Another thing the program has going for it is flexibility. Students can indicate when and how often they want to meet with their tutors, and the program staff tries to find tutors that are available at those times. Attempts are also made to hold the study sessions in locations that are convenient for the student, and community organizations in Prince Albert have been very supportive in providing locations across the city where students and tutors can meet.

The one-on-one tutoring approach can also be less intimidating for students than a program taught in a classroom setting, Foster said.

"It's a non-threatening, informal, relaxed environment, and people feel good about that. They aren't in a classroom, there aren't 15 sets of eyes looking at them, making them feel anything. It's a very non-judgmental environment. You're working with a nice person and they're helping you develop your skills."

Another aspect of the program that helps make students more comfortable in their studies is the use of the language experience story in the tutoring sessions. Through this approach, the student is asked to talk about something imprtant to them, and the tutor writes down what they say and then uses that written record in the teaching, giving the student a chance to read about their own experiences in their own words.

"It's a very empowering approach," Foster said. "And it's also not a threatening approach, because it's their own language."

The first step for new students coming into the program is an assessment. While some students might be intimidated by the idea of going through an assessment, Foster said, the process is necessary to determine how the program can be of the most help.

"We're not attempting to necessarily establish a grade level. People don't pass or fail it. But we do need to determine their strengths and their weaknesses. We do need to determine if we feel we can help them," John Foster said. "We do need to determine if there are learning disabilities. And all of that is because when I'm done the assessment and when I have a tutor in place, I can then put materials and a program together to best meet people's needs. I've had tons of people show up and say 'I can't read.' Well, some of them might be reading at a Grade 7 level. Some of them might now know the letters of the alphabet."

The only qualifications a person needs to be able to be a volunteer tutor are that they must be 19 or over, they must have at least a Grade 10 education and they must be able to read.

"I work with people all the time who are very, very concerned that they're not a teacher or that they haven't got a Grade 12 or university background. Some of our best, absolutely best, volunteers are people who have a Grade 11 education and have never taught in their lives. But they have good people skills. They care. They're warm, they're engaging and they're not anything other than just kind, considerate people who wish to help," Foster said.

All volunteer tutors go through a 15-hour workshop before they are matched up with a student.

"We actually teach the tutors how to teach, rather than ust saying,'Here's somebody at a Grade 3 level, go work with them,'" Foster said. "We don't do that."

Foster is proud of the fact that up to 100 people a year are assisted through Learn to Read, but he admits the demand for the program is much greater than can be accommodated. In order to help rectify that situation, the Learn to Read office had begun offering training to volunteers or staff with other organizations so they can begin offering the program to their own clientele.

"Of course the great advantage of that is that now you've got people within your organization who know how to help the clients develop literacy skills and they're there all the time. And they're part of that community-based organization, they're part of that circle. So that rather than me parachuting an individual in for an hour or two a week, now the people that are there on a full-time basis can help work with them."

There have been many success stories that have come out of the Learn to Read program over the past 25 years, stories of people who have improved their reading skills and improved their lives. Some past students have gone on to further studies, some have become teachers, and one even went on to become a university professor. But Foster stressed that students don't need to go on to earn a degree to be considered successes in the program.

"It's terrific to work with someone who's at a Grade 3 level today that is at a Grade 6 level in November and is at a Grade 10 level by June, because we can see the pay-off. There is a terrific increase and everybody feels good about that," Foster said. "But we also work with people who by the end of this year might learn the letters of the alphabet, might learn to write their name and who might learn to read East Flat/West Hill on the bus so they know which bus to get on. That is every bit as big an accomplishment and is as important in their lives as the person who started in our program and is a university professor today."

Formore information about how you or someone you know can benefit from the Learn to Read program or to find out how you can volunteer as a tutor, call John Foster at 953-5512.