Integrated Foundational Learning (IFL) project & workshops

• IFL Projects:
  The Integrated Foundational Learning (IFL) program is for instructors and facilitators of adult learning. The program trains educators how to recognize and address the learning needs of participants who learn at a foundational level. To learn how many Calgary agencies and their educators have used this program, see the links below.
  • The IFL Project – Phase III: Fall 2014 – Winter 2016
  • The IFL Project – Phase I & II

• Resources

The IFL Project – Phase III: Fall 2014 – Winter 2016

Calgary Learns received funding for phase III of the IFL program from The Calgary Foundation. The program design was enhanced through the incorporation of many of the recommendations from the program’s External Evaluation (2014).

The new & improved modular design of the IFL program included:

• Workshops open to all community adult educators
• Additional session for Advanced Facilitation
• Supporting the creation of an IFL Community of Practice

We offered workshops and mentorship. Organizations could take the workshops without continuing with the mentorship.

Workshops (maximum of 3 people per organization):

The cost for attending the workshops are $20 per workshop for members or $30 per workshop for non-members.

Mentorships include

• Literacy and Essential Skills Mentor to support program
• Customized workshops
• Mentorship applications will be available in February 2016

The mentorship requirements are:

• a minimum of 2 staff attend all workshops (except facilitators with more than 1 year facilitation experience can choose whether or not to attend the Introduction to Facilitation Skills workshop),
• the capacity to work with a mentor for 20 hours minimum during 2016,
• the willingness and capability to make modifications to programs to better serve learners

This IFL program is funded through the generous support of

The IFL Project – Phase I & II

The Integrating Foundational Learning (IFL) Project Report can teach you how to identify and include literacy and Essential Skills in your everyday programs. Calgary Learns funded Literacy Alberta to deliver the first IFL Project. The project ran from September 2010 to October 2011 with seven Calgary Learns-funded organizations participating.Due to the success of the first IFL Project, we chose to expand the reach of this training in Calgary. Calgary Learns ran the second IFL Project from July 2012-December 2013 with eight local organizations participating. With our commitment to the helping foundational learners, Calgary Learns broadly shares the program learnings and welcomes other organization’s to use resources that may assist them to better serve their learners.

Resources

• Integrating Foundational Learning – Phase III: Strengthening Community Practice. Project results and case studies report (2017): Learn more about IFL, its evolution and application to foundational learning. The case studies from the participating agencies provide insight and open-source tools for use by community adult educators
• Integrating Foundational Learning: A Training and Mentoring Project for Community Organizations Working with Adult Learners (May 20, 2014), this article from Bow Valley College’s ‘Stories from the Field’ provides an excellent overview of the IFL program.
• Integrating Foundational Learning – Phase II: Stories of change. Project results and case studies report (2014): Learn more about IFL, its evolution and application to foundational learning. The case studies from the participating agencies provide insight and open-source tools for use by community adult educators
• Evaluation of the Integrating Foundational Learning Project report (2014): Learn about Phase II of IFL’s successes, challenges and recommendations for moving forward as outlined by Bow Valley College’s Adult Literacy Research Institute, the external evaluator.
• Integrating Foundational Learning – A training and mentoring project: Project results and helpful practices (2012): Learn what happened during the first IFL Project, including successes and challenges. It also includes helpful practices and tools for including literacy and Essential Skills in your programming, and Foundational Learning Checklists which will help you identify the literacy and Essential Skills you already teach and the ones your clients or learners may need to learn in order to fully engage in your programs.