The Piece of Paper: The Magic Power of a Grade 12 Diploma

Over the time I have worked in literacy, the amazing power of that Piece of Paper continues to baffle me. I live in a small community where I often get to know people long before I see them as students. I see their busy lives and their accomplishments, their strengths and skills. Then that same person becomes a student and asks me to go stand in a quiet hallway with them and they whisper that they do not want anyone to know they do not have their Grade 12. In our small college campus there are folks working to get their Grade 12 diploma, but there are others simply working to get a higher English mark or meet the biology pre-requisite. I do not even pay attention to whether or not they hold a Grade 12. Yes it is in their file, but it is not what I consider when I am working with them. After all, they may have missed by one credit or several; it could be five or twenty-five years ago. But for the person without the piece of paper, it is now and always in their face, no matter how many years have passed.

 

There are a couple of truths around the Piece of Paper.

 

Truth #1: Many adults without a Grade 12 diploma believe they are alone, stupid, and lesser because they did not complete Grade 12 with their peers.

Truth #2: It is a piece of paper that opens doors to employment and further education.

Truth #3: It is used inappropriately as a gatekeeper for jobs and education programs. It has little correlation to skills or competencies or potential to learn things.

 
Truth #4: People who do not complete their Grade 12 as a teenager have a broad range of reasons from learning disabilities to extended health absences to boredom to lack of family support to simply not “fitting” the system.

For many of us, the Piece of Paper is/was a given. We got it years ago, assume almost everyone else did also, and seldom even think about who does or does not have it. And that is interesting in itself. We often do not see our own advantages or privilege. Privilege is not earned, rather it is something given to some people and not others. And power and privilege often combine forces.

 

My marks were nothing to brag about, but my 70 something percent average, at the time I graduated, was more than enough to earn university entrance. I knew for me, I had to stay in school. But then I had been raised to believe that school lasted a lot more than 12 years; my much older siblings were not yet completed their post-secondary adventures. My dad was a teacher, principal and curriculum writer. My dad would never consider teaching me, instead he trusted completely the paid professionals who had me on their class lists; he fully trusted the system. I had no idea at the time that so much of what I experienced in the school system was based in Educational Privilege.

Want to know where you stand? Take this quiz.

Educational Privilege Questionnaire

1. Did your family believe in what the school was trying to achieve?
2. Did the school culture fit with your family’s culture?
3. Did your family offer homework support and help with school problems?
4. Did you make it through school without failing a grade?
5. Did your family plan events around school and make school attendance a priority?
6. Did your family read at home? Were there books available? Did you visit the library with your family?
7. Was learning and education valued in your home? Would you describe your home life as having a “culture of learning”, not necessarily books but through other means – stories, demonstrations?
8. Were you expected to graduate?
9. Are the majority of your immediate and extended family high school graduates?
10. Did your parents graduate? Did your parents attend post-secondary school?
11. Were you expected to attend some form of post-secondary educational institution?
12. If you did attend post-secondary education, was your family able to offer financial support?
13. Compared with the other members of your family, what position do you hold in relation to formal education – most, least, same?

How many “yeses” do you have out of 12? Many people can answer all with yes. And yet, I have met several people, who would answer yes to three or fewer of these questions. Almost always they did not complete as a teenager and these questions help them realize what they were up against and why their families felt unable or unwilling to support their efforts. I have heard stories about girls who were expected to quit school in grade 10 to take care of the younger siblings and about grandfathers who disallowed their grandchild from returning to school after the grandfather disagreed with the interpretation of “historic facts” in a social studies textbook.

 

While we cannot change this privilege bias for the adults who are now finished with the K-12 system, we can make a difference for the current children and families. Many family literacy programs and schools are working to change some of those privilege answers to “yes”, to level the playing field and to reflect local community diversity in terms of parent’s education levels, culture, race, socioeconomic status and religion.

 

For the adults who do complete their Grade 12, whether they define that as the GED, or the adult graduation certificate, or a regular Grade 12, they are always blindingly thrilled, ecstatic, relieved and proud. For some it is confirmation that they can succeed in education and they begin their happy and sometimes meteoric flight on further educational journeys and successes. Some have not taken this step until they are senior citizens, but the excitement is always there. Sometimes it is a stepping stone to a new, previously unattainable future, other times it is the end. It is always “something I should have done sooner”.

 

And now, during our present educational reform, it appears that the Grade 12 Graduation Diploma will remain, in some form; the magical piece of paper will continue to give or take unworthy power over lives for decades to come.

How the “Busy Intersection Model” Functions in Boom and Bust

So far in this NW Literacy Lens blog, we have talked about different models for education and learning which are currently being explored across our region, and how the boom bust cycle is affecting folks with literacy challenges. Now I want to look at how the busy intersection model can work in northwest communities facing booms and busts.

Right now the northwest is a complex place in terms of economics: a rollercoaster through geography and time. If I do a word map across the northwest, it sounds like this: bust, bust ’n boom, bust, boom, boom, soon to boom, bust. For some of the communities, a word time line would sound the same: bust, boom, boom, bust, near boom, bust, boom. I think it would be fair to say that each community in the northwest has felt the full impact of the boom and bust cycle, at least once, over the past 30 years.

 

To look at the busy intersection model, let’s start with the Boomervilles. Adult education rolls with the economy. In times of boom, adult learners enter into the intersection to improve their skills to get a better job. We have seen cycles where, as soon as a student was enrolled to work on upgrading courses, they got the better job, without completing the course work. Right now, in some of our communities, a resume is all that is required to attain the first job that is then “flipped” as experience for their next resume and further employment quest. You can see how the “full service” busy intersection is able to work with this short-term learner and how they can re-enter in a year, or in a week, to meet each immediate goal, or to work on the longer term goals. The Navigator will know that there is a long-term goal, which may be sidelined while work is available, and that the goal will undoubtedly evolve as the learner moves through life. While many of us in the literacy field may bemoan the boom economy that disrupts our adult learners’ education, we all recognize work is a place where literacy skills will develop; people do learn on the job. Jobs do give people hope. For someone without credentials, first and second jobs are key, the work experience and work references are crucial.

And then there is the Bust Town. As we have already talked about in this blog, many of the “bust” workers look to the educational institution for guidance in their next life steps. They also require resumes, and for older workers, this is likely the first resume in their career. They require a Navigator to discuss their options for educational upgrading, credentials and services. This group of workers is diverse in the amount of time they will spend in the intersection. Some will only touch down for the resume, but others are going to find they have the time to commit to full on upgrading or retraining. One exciting occurrence during the mill closure (bust) is the number of workers without Grade 12 who are able to use prior learning assessment and course challenges to attain a BC Adult Graduation Diploma.

Prior learning assessment and challenges are no short cut and not for the faint of heart. The school districts and colleges that enter into prior learning assessment take on rigor and accountability demands such that often institutions charge large fees for this work. Navigators who understand learning outcomes, workplaces and life, can assist adults to challenge and credentialize their experiences. And that is where the excitement comes in.

Literacy level is a very messy and complex zone. Literacy skill level is not directly related to years of formal education. As we all know, you can attend formal education for years and finish with few skills. Or you can attend formal education for only a short time, and yet hold many high level skills. So much depends on what you do with the rest of your time: volunteering, playing music, building things, working on projects, learning stuff. What we have experienced with our current mill closure is that many of the workers, who got “boom” jobs before finishing Grade 12, 30 years ago, used that good job and good pay to support an active lifestyle of playing, helping, building, creating: in a nutshell learning.  

When they come to see the Navigator, if she recognizes the potential for a PLA challenge for the Adult Graduation Diploma, the workers are excited, overwhelmed and dead serious. A lack of Grade 12 has “haunted” some of these folks for over 30 years. That piece of paper takes on the persona of a personal holy grail. And when all the hard work of challenging exams and documenting experience pays off and the piece of paper arrives in the mail, they are ecstatic; now the world recognizes that they are not dummies. (A future blog topic: The Piece of Paper)

 

 

Remember, even in our busy intersection model, there is a parking lot still available for when learners need and want the more traditional aspect of formal learning. In small communities, booming or busting, we would not be meeting the needs of all learners, with the pure parking lot model. What the busy intersection style model offers is a faster, more individualized response to the large and small learning needs of more community members in both boom and bust economies. Using the Literacy Lens, it is easy to see the advantages: more folks learning what they need or want, when they want, how they want. Individualized. Responsive. Accessible learning for all members of the community.

 

 

Looking at the Boom Bust Cycle through the Literacy Lens

What does that mean? The literacy lens? I have been using that term for a few weeks, so perhaps we need to address it. If you use the smallest opening on your literacy lens, for a very narrow view, the literacy you will see will refer to reading and writing skills. Open up the lens a bit and you get numeracy and computer skills, then to the broadest opening, widest view and definition and you can bring in self-esteem, critical thinking, open-mindedness, “agency”: indeed almost everything can be thrown into that pot called literacy. Let’s consider literacy as the basic skills needed to live your life to your full potential. See how that can be everything?

 

So where does the NW stand in terms of folks being able to live their lives to their full potential? If you are living a good life in the NW, heading up to the ski hills, off to the pubs and music festivals and generally enjoying life, you may not realize that there are many marginalized folks on the fringes who are not able to enjoy a day of downhill skiing or even a shopping cart full of groceries. If we use the broadest definition for literacy, lots of people, conservatively 30%, in the NW are lacking the very basic skills they need to move forward and to take part in that “good life”. If we want to think about reaching potential versus managing, the number of folks under-skilled is well over 40%.

 

Now, with the NW on the cusp of a “boom” we are told that we need skilled workers. Yet we have a large unemployed and under-employed population, many of whom are under thirty, who are in need of the basic skills before they can even begin the journey toward a skilled workforce. There is no time to train the folks who live here, even though we have been hearing this loud and clear for three? five? years. We will have to bring in skilled workers from the rest of the province, the country, the world. They will fly, drive, sail in, do their work and, when the boom is over, zip back out with their earnings to the rest of the province, the country, the world. This, to me, is where the boom gets scary.

 

Little bits and pieces of the boom will feed some of the local unskilled workforce. There will be jobs in camps for housekeeping, janitorial, hotel workers and so forth. These are jobs. They are not careers. They are not helping the NW population grow and develop transferable skills. While every job can be a learning experience, we all know that most of these jobs are the harsh version of “take it or leave it”. And unskilled employees are “throw away workers”. (Did you know that employers spend far more money training the highest skilled workers versus the lowest skilled workers?)

 

The point is, when it is all over, when the boom has bust, the people of the NW will be no further ahead of where they are today. The people of the NW will actually be further behind where they are today if you consider the effects on the land and resources. We are all going to be 30 years older, and 30 years smarter, but that fancy new truck is now just a rusty 30 year old pickup, and there we will be waiting for the next boom. And what about the state of the land, rivers, forests and oceans after all this booming?  

 

So to all of you who think the boom will be good for the NW and jobs: think again. Use that literacy lens to consider what a boom might mean for the marginalized population, for the part of the population who really need the jobs and the work, but most importantly, the transferable literacy skills. If we can get governments to realize it is not all quick fix, but real, supported, hands on, individualized learning and work experience, we might have a chance to use this boom for good. We could get folks doing the critical thinking about what training they need in their lives to meet their potential. Might be good… but then again, they might decide they have better things to do and they don’t need this boom that is supposedly going to save us.

 

What about all those other predicted booms for the Northwest of the last 30 years? Hmmm, none have boomed as big as predicted, all have cost more than anticipated and only maybe one in twenty of the predicted projects have even come close to the anticipated magnitude. So really, tell me again, what is there to be excited about?

 

We have seen it all before; we are living it now. Every boom will bust.

How the Busy Intersection Model Works for Learners

In the Parking Lot or Busy Intersection? Models for Adult Education blog of December 3, I explored the concept of a learning institution and education as a busy intersection, rather than the more traditional parking lot model. I am going to take you further into that analogy to give you a better idea of how this can work.

The typical busy intersection appears chaotic at first glance. And it is. There are at least four or maybe six different exit points. Some of the exit points are permanent and others are temporary rest areas – an option to “check out” while you deal with other aspects of your life. You will be back in the flow soon though, as you remain committed to the education goal you set. There are other supports and services that you pass on your way through, that you may require now or later. It can be very hard to know where you want to go. And once you know where you want to go, you still need to know the best way to get there.

This is where the Navigator comes in. Think of a directional traffic cop. The traffic cop makes observations and clears the way for you to get to your goal, destination or exit from the intersection. Need services along the way? Just as our magical traffic cop has already noted that your tires are low and your headlight needs replacement, the Navigator has discussed with you various courses and pre-requisites, observed that you may gain from a course on organizational study skills, and connected you to people and services that you may need in order to meet your educational goals and sometimes personal goals.

Sounds perfect. A to B. Straight line? Remember this is adult education. There are very few straight lines in adult education. The PLAN is always a direct route, through that busy intersection, but you, like many others, may not make it the first time. Your life is far more complex as an adult than it was when you were first in school. The management it requires can sometimes become overwhelming. Life often gets in the way.

And that is a key concept in adult education. Life does get in the way, yet folks keep coming back to try again. And again, it is the Navigator who is working with you, to find a path or route that works for you. This is why we refer to Individual Learning Plans. Each person will have a different plan for how you will travel through the intersection (education system) to get to your exit (goal). And sometimes or maybe often, the barriers to that exit or learning goal are not the external factors, but rather the internal maze of barriers that can exist for adult learners.

 

You, like many adults, may have no idea where to go to get assistance, or who you can see or steps you can take to deal with your struggles: steps that will allow you to manage your life and your education at the same time. The Navigator is there to connect you to people and resources to assist you as you work through your specific barriers. And to welcome you back when you return for another attempt at the Grade 12, or Adult Dogwood, or the Pre-Apprenticeship Exam. Every time you return, you are welcomed and supported and encouraged as you get a little farther along your individual learning path that will lead you to your goal. And because the Navigator has worked with you, you do not have to start all over again, each and every time.

It is amazing to watch learners, who have struggled, get the rest of their lives in order, and suddenly, begin to see success and meet goals. Picture a blazing comet shooting through the busy intersection. Everyone who sees it is inspired and thrilled.   

I am convinced, after watching the busy intersection that is created at our community learning centre, that this works. Students return with their successes: their thrill of the GED Certificate, their story of a job that took them across the world, the excitement of their next educational goal. They return weeks after they “exit”. They return years after they exit. They return to their trusted Navigator with thanks, with referrals (friends, spouses, siblings, children) and their next learning goal or idea. Again and again, students report that the busy intersection model worked for them as they transformed their lives.

 

 

With huge acknowledgement to Sandi Lavallie, Navigator Extraordinaire

Dignity and the Man in the Middle: Update Houston #2

I have been contacted by readers who want to hear more about how Houston is doing with the transition and what the transition looks like through the Literacy Lens. (See Nov 29) I can already see the next blog on this topic as part of the Houston picture involves the fact that our community was already under-serviced prior to this cut. The reality of technology replacing face-to-face service also carries literacy concerns which pile on top of all the literacy issues discussed below.
 

First, related to the worker transitions, let me say that all the service providers, provincial transition teams and elected officials are very present and aware and attending multiple meetings. Everyone has the best of intentions as they tackle this worker transition phase. Sometimes those best intentions don’t work for those wearing the hardhat.

In Literacy World, we talk about “The Man in the Middle.” The MM is the learner or student or in this case, the transitioning worker. We know everything about our work depends, not on the funders and their needs and wants, not on our organizations’ needs and wants, but rather on the Man in the Middle. The workers, male and female, is why we are here. We must earn their trust and their confidence. If we mess up, they will not come back.

Sometimes I think we have the best job in the world. We get to talk to folks and learn not only what they need, but what skills and talents they already hold. We often find out pretty interesting things about folks that you may not know by looking at them. All of them have a story. And we get to hear that story. When we do our job well, we get to listen to their stories and provide them some hope and dignity around the skills and knowledge they do have.

Right now, in Houston, it is the transitioning workers who are our Men in the Middle. And yes, there are women in this mix as well. Our mill worker (MM) is starting to feel a little lost as he runs around the community, attending town hall meetings, making appointments, writing resumes, collecting business cards and brochures, and placing phone calls. He is doing everything in his power to make sure his transition is as smooth as possible. He is a little fragile. He is told, by one service provider he will need to do an assessment for reading, document use and numeracy. In LiteracySpeak, this would be a TOWES type Essential Skills assessment. He is given a number and a website and told he needs a computer with certain specifications. His computer at home is not up to the task. He finds out through “word of mouth” that he can come to the college and we will help him get set up in our lab. Our adult basic education instructor is given strict instructions, by the other service provider, NOT to assist the workers in ANY way with the assessment. Not even the fragile ones. It would supposedly bias their results.

The tutorial at the start of the assessment has a baby-faced Sponge-bob style computer walk the test taker through all the special moves required for this particular assessment test. How to use the mouse to cut and paste, highlight and so forth. (Do you recall the first time you used a mouse?) When the real assessment starts, Sponge-bob is long gone. The questions relate to workplace materials so language is no longer childlike, the documents have excess information and distractors, and chances are good that the first answer that comes to our Man in the Middle is obvious, but perhaps not correct. The answer then needs to be formatted in a way the computer understands. How do you write 68 cents when they give you a box and a $ sign? $0.68 or would $.68 work? Certainly $68 would be wrong, but for our worker who does not have a computer, I wonder how long he searches for a cent sign, or feels confused that the answer is in dollars. Many of these workers do not use computers, “if they can help it”. MM is already stressed. One more parameter to add: time. This is a timed test of 90 minutes. Up goes the stress. Training dollars are at stake. Unfamiliar surroundings. Unfamiliar media. A test. Timed. High stakes. All adding to our already stressed Man in the Middle. What are the odds that the test score will reflect the actual skills of the worker?

Don’t get me wrong. Assessments are necessary for both the Man in the Middle and the service provider. Workplace essential skills do provide an idea of how the worker is able to apply his literacy skills to workplace situations. I am not convinced that for these workers, at this time, this testing format is appropriate. What is being assessed?

There are alternative assessment methods. They involve conversations, checklists and discussions around the Man in the Middle’s current skills in his current workplace. They give the assessee a voice and dignity. I know that the literacy practitioners I work with could spend a couple of hours with a worker using free printable materials from Human Resources and Development Canada, the creators of “Essential Skills”, and be able to identify the worker’s skills much more accurately, and within context, than a complicated computer-based test that, through its design, increases anxiety and stress.

How are the Houston workers doing with their transition? Some great. A few have challenged exams and worked through Prior Learning Assessment portfolios to the point that they have achieved an Adult Dogwood Certificate (BC Grade 12). In these cases, families, practitioners and the Man in the Middle are proud and empowered to move forward. Is there another job out there for them? We all have our fingers crossed.

Others have shown up for the online assessment and been so stressed, that I am convinced the results will be impaired. Another gentleman was told he would require computer training, so he was slotted into a special transition-worker beginner computer course 6 weeks from now. Six weeks is a long time to wait for someone trying to be pro-active. He then became our Man in the Middle as he independently sought computer help for before and after the upcoming computer course. I watched as he used a calendar to calculate his strange shift sequence so he could determine when his first days off (on day shift) after the holidays would fall. Extraneous information inadvertently included a 2015 calendar. Document use: Level 3-4. I was excited as I could see he will learn quickly. He graciously exuded thanks. Nice, but unnecessary.

When your job disappears, out from under you, through no fault of your own, it is not the piles of papers, the Seven Important Steps, the computer assessment or the fancy brochure of services that will save you. What will save you is the compassion and understanding of the people in your community who are working alongside you in your transition journey. As service providers, we all need to keep dignity as part of the process. Is there an online assessment for us?

 

For anyone who would like to try the TOWES test, this print sample gives you an idea of the complexity.

http://www.towes.com/media/7478/towes%20sample%20booklet.pdf

 

Parking Lot or Busy Intersection? Models for Adult Education

Every once in a while, literacy practitioners find themselves all on the same page. In this case, the page(s) are The Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning: Challenging Assumptions, by Stephen Reder [1]. It is not necessarily his findings as much as his analysis of other researchers, Kevin Leander, specifically, that provoked our collective brain. The ideas presented resonate with several of us in rural BC, as well as a colleague teaching at Simon Fraser.

The reason the ideas resonate is that Reder discussed models for adult education using some of Leander’s metaphors, and practitioners could clearly see this is what they were doing, or wished they could do. As a group, we see that education needs to change and evolve; the few paragraphs in the study have triggered a tsunami of thought, ideas and reinterpretations. Allow me to take you through the metaphors with my re-interpretations and a few photographs, and see what you think.

Leander[2] looks at “the prevailing logic model as the “parking lot” model; what matters is how long students are “parked” in the program”. For this model, students start at the same time, take the same courses, have the same assignments, often in the same room. Very much the traditional view of education that most of us are very familiar with.

Leander suggests we replace it with a “busy intersection” model in which what matters is not how long students spend waiting in the intersection but the direction they take when they leave it.

 

This is where the practitioners get excited. This describes adult education so clearly that we tend to go a bit crazy extending the metaphor. If you look closely at this busy intersection, you will see all the students are different and traveling at different speeds. Some are moving independently, some are being supported to move through the intersection, either with technology or human supports. There are many exits to the intersection; students can choose which exit they wish. They may return at any time and spend more time in the intersection, or less. They may complete the route they originally started on, or head off on another learning journey.

I recently spent some time in Southeast Asia, and came face to face with busy intersections. I got a new appreciation of how these intersections work; the metaphor expanded again. To show you what I mean, in terms of adult education, I am using the word student or learner to replace vehicle or individual as we look at more “busy intersection” photos.

True to the concepts above, each student does move at a different speed. Students will arrive with different burdens and different goals. Slower students are not run over or cursed; the faster moving students respect the speed and baggage of those ahead. It is possible for everyone to progress.

 

 

Sometimes the intersections are full to bursting; at other times they appear eerily quiet. There are no set lanes or routes to follow; students set forth in the general direction they wish to go and all their movements are slow and steady. They temporarily share space with faster learners.

 

The intersections may be large beautifully landscaped traffic circles, focal points for the community where learners can sit and rest, socialize, deal with other concerns, and join in the movement when they feel they are ready. They may intersect with the market or other businesses.

Intersections are used in differing ways at different times. Early morning, 5:30 am, pre-regular traffic, games and exercises are underway on the large expanse of mostly dry pavement. The regular “students” who also show up to use the intersection for more conventional uses at unconventional times, work their way around the early morning folks and everyone meets their goal.

 

As Reder states, when we look further at into the actual learning facility behind this metaphor, we see that students come to the program from different directions and depart towards different destinations. The adult education program helps them choose the best path as they leave the program and provides them with the resources and supports to become persistent lifelong learners and reach their destinations (Lesgold & Welch-Ross, 2012; Miller et al, 2011).[1]
 

In my next blog, I will look at how programs in the northwest are operating like the busy intersection, how that applies to literacy and training, and the effect of the boom and bust cycle on training and re-training.

---

[1] Reder, S. (2012) The Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning: Challenging Assumptions. Montreal, QC: The Centre for Literacy. (Research Brief). 1-6.

[2] Leander, K. (2009) As cited in Reder,S. (2012)

Living the Boom and Bust Cycle: Update on Houston

Literacy struggles came to a head in Houston last month as employees from our second largest mill learned that Houston Forest Products will cease Houston operations in late May, 2014.  For some of the millworkers, to say “this changes everything” would be an understatement.   Consider this scenario: It is 1983 and you are a 16 year old, with Grade 10. You hear that you can work at the local mill for great money. You get the job and the big cheques come in. Then the car, the house, the wife and kids, and the payments. Now you are pretty much committed to this job and the lifestyle it provides.    Thirty years fly by. All the employees are notified of the mill closure in five months. You are now 46 and feel you have no skills and no credentials. You still have a house, a wife, kids and lots of bills that are your responsibility. Maybe not a lot in the bank—retirement is still 19 long years away. Suddenly, your job is no longer provides the stable future you used to rely on.    As an ex-worker you face many choices and challenges over the next few months. If you have low literacy skills you will find yourself particularly challenged. Not only are the choices tough, stay for the severance pay or quit now and find another job, apply for EI now or later, and to top it off you find out that the powers-that-be are still in the “wait and see how it all plays out” stage for some of the important information. (In the literacy world, we would call this a classic Level 5 Essential Skills Critical Thinking exercise. And yes, Level 5 is the highest level; the one we save for astronauts and rocket scientists.) This situation throws you into a stressful critical thinking exercise—and on top of that, there is the added stress that your life depends on you and your family’s decisions.    Houston Link to Learning has stepped in to assist Northwest Community College as they work to capacity assisting the displaced workforce with resume writing and learning plans. Both the Career and College Prep Coordinator and the Adult Literacy Coordinator have a steady stream of workers in their offices.  Resume writing is high demand, Houston Link to Learning began offering the service one day per week and now is up to two days, with other practitioners ready for the overflow.   How to articulate the workers’ skills, how to work with the folks in a respectful manner, how to stay hopeful in the face of despair, how to ask the right questions on the right day to figure out the workers’ future needs, are all skills that we, as literacy practitioners, are working hard to master.     To me, the current Houston condition is the sad reality of the resource industry. The ups and the downs, as you folks in Kitimat and Terrace know only too well. (I could keep adding towns to this—this is our shared regional reality—boom and bust.)   As Regional Literacy Coordinator, I will keep track and share our regional realties as we work through this current boom and bust of resource development. Please send me your “literacy lens” community updates of how the boom or bust is affecting you and your community. Or is your community immune? (For example, I have no idea what is happening in these terms in Haida Gwaii.)   I welcome submissions from anyone with the literacy lens, practitioners, learners, workers. Please send your thoughts to:  dmcrae@nwcc.bc.ca    I will be sharing these as they come in.