Transcript No Slide Title

MEETING THE CHALLENGE
A Guide to Essential Skills and TOWES
WHAT ARE ESSENTIAL SKILLS
 “enabling” skills that help people perform
tasks required by their jobs.
 skills that provide workers with a
foundation for learning other skills.
 skills that enhance the ability to adapt to
change.
Workplace essential skills are the
Velcro to which other training sticks
Which Essential Skills do YOU
rely on…
 At
work?
 At home?
THE 9 ESSENTIAL SKILLS
INCLUDE…
1.
READING TEXT refers to reading material that is in
the form of sentences or paragraphs such as
regulations, letters, memos, and reports.
2.
DOCUMENT USE refers to tasks that involve a
variety of information displays including graphs, lists,
tables, blueprints, and schematics.
3.
WRITING pertains to tasks involving the completion
of documents such as forms and writing text.
Essential Skills continued…
4.
NUMERACY refers to the worker’s use of numbers
and includes skills involving money, scheduling or
budgeting, accounting, measurement and
calculation, and estimation.
5.
ORAL COMMUNICATION involves a worker’s use
of speech to give and exchange thoughts and
information.
6.
THINKING SKILLS refers to the worker’s ability to
problem solve, make decisions, plan and organize
job tasks, use memory and find information.
Essential Skills continued…
7.
WORKING WITH OTHERS pertains to the skills
that workers need to work successfully with others
to carry out their tasks.
8.
COMPUTER USE refers to the worker’s use of
computers and related equipment to perform their
jobs
9.
CONTINUOUS LEARNING pertains to the
worker’s requirement to participate in an ongoing
process of acquiring skills and knowledge.
9 Essential Skills
1. Reading text
2. Document use
3. Numeracy
4. Writing
5. Oral communication
6. Thinking skills
7. Working with others
8. Computer use
9. Continuous learning
BACKGROUND
Heavy investments are made in the area of Essential
Skills because of:
1. Canada’s skill deficit
2.
Their impact on Canada’s GDP
3.
Their impact on safety
4.
Their requirement for employment
5.
The need for a valid measure of workplace
competency
Canada’s Skill Deficit
22 country survey (IALS) determined the
literacy levels of adults and the impact
of literacy on economic success and
global competitiveness.
IALS developed new 5 point scale to
measure proficiency.
International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS)
Fireworks in the Netherlands
In millions of Canadian dollars
2
2
2
3
2
4
2
5
2
8
Victims of fireworks
3
1
1992
1991
2
1990
0
1989
1988
1987
1986
800
Number
treated in hospitals
1200
1000 600
800
400
600
400 200
200
0
0
’83 ’84 ’85 ’86 ’87 ’88 ’89 ’90
’83 ’84 ’85 ’86 ’87 ’88 ’89 ’90
Level 2 (Document Use) In what year were the fewest number of people
in the Netherlands injured by fireworks?
Level 3 (Document Use) Describe the relationship between sales of
fireworks and injuries due to fireworks.
Canada’s Skill Deficit
Key Findings from IALS:
•
•
•
•
Literacy is firmly linked to economic success and
productivity.
Changing workplace requires higher levels of
literacy
Respondents scoring <3 out of 5 lack the skills
needed to transfer existing knowledge to new
environments.
Many Canadian adults have limited literacy skills.
PERFORMANCE OF CANADIANS
A significant portion
of Canadians are at
the two lowest levels
in three important
essential skill areas:
reading text,
document use and
numeracy.
Canadian Workforce Distribution by Level
35%
32%
30%
25%
20%
25%
23%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4/5
Source: Matching Canadians’ Literacy Attainment to
Actual Occupational Requirements, May 2001.
IMPACT ON CANADA’S GDP
Research indicates
that a 1% (5 point)
gain in Essential
Skills scores, on a
per worker basis,
would increase
Canada’s GDP by
1.5 %. This gain
would be realized
year-after-year.
.
Relationship between GDP per capita and per cent at
Reading Text - Levels 1 and 2, population aged 16-65, 19941998
Impact on Safety
Research conducted by
groups such as the
Canadian Trucking
Human Resources
Council shows that
workers with skills at
Levels 1 & 2 were
150% more likely to be
involved in a workplace
accident than those at
level >3.
.
Workplace demands for Essential Skills
100%
Jobs for which no
post secondary
education is
necessary
increasingly require
a minimum of Level
3 (e.g. cashier,
security guard or
labourer).
Reading
text
80%
60%
40%
Document
use
20%
Numeracy
0%
level 1 level 2
lowest
level 3
level 4/5
highest
Source: Matching Canadians’ Literacy Attainment to
Actual Occupational Requirements, May 2001.
Two worlds?
School
Work
Sample: Academic-Based Question
Question 1 - Alberta English 33 Grade 12 Diploma Exam
(1999)
In the phrase “a sorrow wandering in the halls
of memory” (line 5), the author effectively uses:
a) imitative harmony
b) personification
c) alliteration
d) irony
Sample: Workplace-Based Question
What is the catalog number and description of the part
from the 7700 series mask shown below?
Note: supporting document not shown
___________
Catalog number
____________
Description
TOOLS AND APPLICATONS
Essential Skills Research Project & profiles
TOWES
Measure Up
AWAL - Applications of Work & Learning
ESSENTIAL SKILLS PROFILES
 Government has profiled the
Essential skill requirements for 200
NOC job classifications; by 2005
all job classifications will have
been profiled
 Each profile provides detailed
information about how Essential
Skills are used by workers in that
job classification.
 Research results are available,
free of charge
www15.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca
TOWES “G SERIES”
 Three generic versions
 Paper & pencil test that uses authentic


workplace documents to test essential skill
proficiency in reading, document use &
numeracy
Compares test results to national standards
established by HRSDC
Results comparable to more than 300
occupations
G SERIES… Education Benefits
 Accurate measure of client employment
readiness compared to national
occupational standards
 Pre-employment, career, integrated
training and pre-apprenticeship
programs
 Career counseling
Your turn:
Find the
Essential Skills
1. What is it? Text Document Mixed
2. What type of reading skills are required to
answer the questions?
3. What other skills are required: Numeracy?
Document use? Thinking skills? Other?
4. What type of activity would you design to
work on other skills, using the same text or
document?