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UUCUMEHT =WIRE ED 333 180 CE 058 202 AUTHOR Taylor, Maurice C., Ed.; And Others TITLE Basic Skills for the Workplace. REPORT NO ISBN-0-921472-06-4 PUB DATE 91 NOTE 513p. AVAILABLE FROM Culture Concepts Inc., 5 Darlingbrook Crescent, Toronto, Ontario M9A 3H4 ($29.00). PUB TYPE Collected Works - General (020)-- Reports - Descriptive (141) -- Guides - Classroom Use- Teaching Guides (For Teacher) (052) EDRS PRICE MF02 Plus Postage. PC Not Available from EDRS. DESCRIPTORS Adult Basic Education; Adult Literacy; *Basic Skills; Curriculum Development; Educational Needs; Education Work Relationship; Employer Employee Relationship; Foreign Countries; Illiteracy; Job Skills; Job Training; *Literacy Education; *Needs Assessment; Problem Solving; Program Descriptions; Program Design; *Program Development; Program Effectiveness; Program Evaluation; Program Implementation; Unions; Values IDENTIFIERS Canada; *Workplace Literacy ABSTRACT This book is a practitioner's uide to developing literacy training programs for workers. Titles ofthe 28 chapters and epilogue are as follows: "Understanding the Historyand Definitions of Workplace Literacy" (Askov, Aderman);"Understanding Literaqy in the Canadian Business Context: Conference Boardof Canada Study" (Hart); "Understanding Basic Workplace Skillsin a Changing Business Environment" (Jones); "Understanding the Need forWorkplace Literacy Partnerships" (Lewe); "Understanding Lessons Learnedin Employee Basic Skills Efforts in the United States: NoQuick Fix" (Jurmo); "Understanding Values in Workplace Education" (Draper); "Understanding a Project Proposal Development" (Anderson);"How to Assess Learners and Build Workplace Literacy Programs"(Ioannou et al.); "How to Assess OrganizationalNeeds and Requirements" (Waugh); "How to Establish a Workplace Basic Skills Program:A Blue Print for Success: (Carnevale et al.); "How to ApproachWorker Testing and Assessment" (Taylor); "How to Identify WorkplaceCommunications Skills In the British Columbia Sawmill Industry"(Hawyrsh); "How to Plan and Conduct a Literacy Task Analysis" (Taylor, Lewe);"How to Design Instruction: From Literacy Task Analyses toCurriculum" (Philippi); "So We Can Make Our Voices Heard: TheOntario Federation of Labour's BEST Project on Worker Literacy" (Turk, Unda);"Basic Skills Upgrading: A Trades Trainiag Perspective" (Evetts,Flanagan); "Workplace ESL and Literacy: A Business and EducationPartnership (Kinsey); "The Massachusetts Workplace Education Program"(Hikes); "A Canadian Volunteer Industrial Tutoring Project" (Batiorf);"WORKBASE: Practical Approaches to Literacy in the Workplace" (Taw);"Towards a Workplace Literacy Curriculum Model" (Langenbach); "Choosing Workplace Literacy Resources" (Imel); "Adapting WorkplaceMaterials for Teaching ESL Students" (Meenan); "Thinking Criticallyin the Workplace" (Pierce); "Accrediting Basic Skills for theWorkplace" (Morphy); "Using Television for Work Force Basic SkillsTraining" (Shafer); "Evaluating Workplace LiteracyPrograms" (Chang); "Deciding on the Effectiveness of Workplace Literacy Programs" (Mikulecky, D'Adamc-weinstein); and"Reflections on Education in the Workplace" (Draper). (YLB) = t +.. 16. i----- ob. E--- M IN In IMI rl-,,Nor. , , ' ,3 , ; $ : øi Id IL blIPASINC9/ OV ( Yr0+1 l. s e, fIPA . PEST COP Ifff .,), .-Oft,,I; Fr et ft.., AN N O K I C 4.6 4 /-.. tii, ' .-.NY . 0.11, NO ,. -d ro . r "Pr IIMI5SION 10 11FPNODUCE _ - - Po2 0 war Cr %,e .2,2 r r.0...a. f t Ad INMICII0I ICI II_ONI Y N. , & f, , ON p ,f,-NtrNt r C, c-A , IRS NFl N NY II) I IIII. DIY,1", 1,)1I A INI INI OliMA 1 ION CI N I I.fl a N(I ) 1.4 Basic Skills for the 1.1Amilik Maurice C. Taylor Glenda R. Lewe James A. Draper Editors / /f=6Cf'Pe ( , 7CAPI:zivc looks; ibr /earning s Ti$1 " 3 BASIC SKILLS for the WORKPLACE ©CANADA 1991 bY ilICA; 74'5 17C shooks for kaming °TM 5 DARYINGBROOK CRESCENT TORONTO, ONTARIO M9A 3H4 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in anyform or by any means, electronic or mechanical,including photo- copying, recording or by information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. CANADIAN CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION DATA Main entry under title: Basic skills for the workplace. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-921472-06-4 1. Literacy. 2. Basic education. 3. Literacy programs. 4. Employee - Training of. 5. Working class - Education. I. Taylor, Maurice Charles, 1952- II. Lewe, Glenda R. (Glenda Rose). III. Draper, James A., 1930- . LC149.837 1991 374%012 C91-094143-2 TYPESETTING: Jaytype Inc. PRINTED and BOUND in CANADA by Hearn/Kelly Printing 4 The opinions expressed in this book represent the views and opinions of chapter authors and do not necessarily represent those of the editors or the publishers. Preface Literacy or basic skills instruction for the workplace is a new and evolving field of practice for trainers, program planners and other partners in business, industry and education. With the growing gap between workplace demands and workforce skills increasing, there is now a need to ensure that employees with basic skills deficiencies have education and training opportunities. Exactly how to go about this endeav- our has been an area of concern for both employers and union leaders alike. Basic Skills in the Workplace is a response to this need. It is a useful resource and day-to-day practical guide for developing and implement- ing workplace programs. These include programs for workers who must confront a wide range of reading materials and adapt to a chang- ing workplace now dominated by new technology processes and pro- cedures. This book contains important and detailed information on basic skills training under which is presented four majo.: themes: understanding the need for workplace literacy, identifying workplace training needs, examples of practice in workplace basic skills training and discovering approaches for program development. Together the different chapters provide a roadmap for initiating, designing and implementing pro- grams for workers who do not have the basic skills needed for our emerging workplace. Basic Skills for the Workplace speaks to this growing need for partner- ships among business, industry aad education that must be forged to ensure the worker's gainful employment, the extension of each per- son's potential and the future viability of our economy. Under one cover, practitioners can now find all of the essential resources needed to build literacy training. Over twenty-five experts from Canada, United States and United Kingdom write about their experiences in develop- ing, delivering and assessing workplace basic skills programs as well as discussing and highlighting the major issues and trends within the field. 6 II Introduction Over the last few years there has been a growing awareness that a high percentage of our workforce do not possess the rudiments of basic skills now required for a changing workplace. Demographic transi- tions, employment shifts, rising skill requirements and workplace technology appear to be some of the factors associated with this loom- ing 'skills gap'. Nonetheless these same factors are now providing unique training challenges for employers, unions, workers and govern- ments. As can be expected, different countries have responded to this need for a highly skilled workforce in a variety of ways. For example, some countries have developed workplace literacy and basic skills training strategies rooted in the philosophy of partnership building. However, due to resources, motivation behind the training and occupa- tional demands experiences in workplace literacy has differed signifi- cantly from country to country. Underlying these experiences, there seems to be a common set of questions and concerns that is frequently raised by practitioners when speaking about workplace literacy and basic skills training - questions likeHow should I start up a workplace literacy partnership? What literacy skills serve as a foundation for the higher level technical skills? How do I involve the worker in developing the training program and at the same time meet the needs of the company? What are the best instructional and assessment techniques to use? It was the nature of these types of questions that evoked the need to find out how countries such as Canada, United States and United Kingdom have developed, delivered and assessed v. irkplace basic skills training. It was thought that by describing these different accounts, valuable lessons could be learned by both the novice and experienced workplace trainer. In this book, the editors have tried to capture something of the richness of this experience by inviting a wide range of practitioners and analysts to share their expertise on four major areas of workplace literacy. In PART 1, Understanding the Need for Workplace Literacy, the reader is asked to reflect on why basic skills training has become an issue in our society. Definitions, types of partnerships and values inherent in work- place education help provide the type of foundation required before an effective approach to building basic skills can be formed. III PART 2, Identifying Workplace Training Needs, discusses a number of approaches for focusing on specific types of needs in basic skills pro- grams. Practical information on how to set up a workplace literacy program, approaches toward worker testing and methods for identify- ing and developing job-related materials are some of the topics pre- sented in this section. What really makes workplace literacy such a dynamic