Conestoga news

September 23, 2011 12:41 PM

Conestoga College Participates in National Project

The SCALES Project (Supporting the Canadian Advancement of Literacy and Essential Skills) is a national project where partners across Canada have come together to research how career practitioners are using ‘Essential Skills’ within their current career development practices, what other Essential Skills tools are needed and to create these tools to assist career practitioners in further implementation of Essential Skills. The project is funded by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada—Office of Literacy and Essential Skills and the partners in the project include: CONNECT Strategic Alliances (the lead organization), Douglas College (British Columbia) and Nova Scotia Community College.

Conestoga is participating in two ways. As Conestoga’s Essential Skills Specialist, Pamela Jadischke was selected to work on this three-year project as a ‘Subject Matter Expert’ in Essential Skills and has been involved in both the research and the tool creation. Also, Conestoga’s Employment Ontario Employment Services program staff were selected along with other local community organizations that provide employment services to participate in research interviews during the Organizational Needs Assessment phase and will be involved in the piloting phase. The piloting phase will include a three-day training session to assist career practitioners in further understanding the use of Essential Skills and current Essential Skills tools as well as learning about the new tools that have been created. Following the training, career practitioners will participate in seven months of piloting the new tools with their clients and providing feedback on the tools from their own as well as their clients’ perspectives.

If you would like more information on this project, please feel free to contact Pamela Jadischke (519) 885-0300 x5542 or pjadischke@conestogac.on.ca