Most people take the skills of reading and writing (and numeracy) for granted.
We think of them as something that’s naturally acquired in the primary years and deepened and refined as we become adults.
But if there is one issue that often gets overlooked as being critical to achieving social justice and improved health outcomes, it’s literacy.
I was no different.
I certainly didn’t conceive of the importance of adult literacy until after I realized the goal of becoming a high school teacher wasn’t to be.
As a literacy worker at Parkdale Project Read, I learned that despite our large public education systems, literacy rates for close to 42 per cent of adult Ontarians are currently below where they need to be – thereby impeding the social determinants of health such as well-paying jobs and sustained involvement in our political system.
For over 25 years, adult literacy programs under the Metro Toronto Movement for Literacy (MTML) umbrella have helped to address this issue. It’s not glamorous or headline-grabbing work, but the movement’s programs give people a chance to empower themselves and live healthier and more meaningful lives.
Stan Chase, a long-time literacy worker and Ryerson University instructor, has worked for several decades with youth who have been pushed out of the school system or affected by violence.
Chase says low-level literacy can become a trap, leading to increased poverty and involvement in the criminal justice system. Eighty-two per cent of adult offenders test at a literacy level lower than Grade 10.
But literacy programs have the power to make a difference.
“I’ve seen how kids who start out as guarded and ashamed about their literacy levels all of a sudden open up when they’re in supportive programs,” says Chase. “The work is deeply rewarding for me, because I get to work with youth who are so talented and who simply need an opportunity to work on gaps in their learning.”
For Jessa Reitsma, a community literacy worker with Alexandra Park Neighbourhood Learning Centre, literacy work is not just about enabling adults to pursue their own learning. It’s also about helping them to figure out what to do next in their lives. “It’s really about starting where people are at,” says Reitsma.
Reitsma says people overlook that adult learners also find a much-needed sense of community when there.
“People come here because they’re all looking for some form of change in their life,” she says.
Despite their proven importance, literacy programs have not always felt secure when it comes to the all-important funding they receive from Employment Ontario, the provincial agency responsible for literacy and basic skills, career transition and adult training.
“The current funding climate for literacy is precarious” says Leolyn Hendricks, a retired college administrator and education consultant. “There’s an undercurrent of uncertainty which now prevails across literacy service agencies.”
Given this environment, advocates say that there is now a greater need to get the word out about how low-level literacy underlies so many of the challenges across the city, including gun violence, homelessness and unemployment.
MTML’s International Literacy Day event, which takes place on September 8 at Queen’s Park (3:30-7:30 pm), will emphasize literacy as a right. Literacy is not only about employment but also about individual expression, community and inclusion.
The day of celebration will feature speakers, music and poetry readings and an opening ceremony by Council Fire Native Cultural Centre.
@_neilprice
