LIT2T Leadership Guide

54 TO: TABLE OF CONTENTS factors. Leadership in the sector is shaped by over-arching guidelines and regulations, which in turn reflect the guiding hands of funding or umbrella organizations and the people who lead them. Bates makes a persuasive argument that healthy organizations are “fit for purpose’…. they are organized to ensure that their goals and purposes are achieved in the most effective and economical manner” (BATES, 2005). The LINC program enjoys good ratings from participants and good language and settlement outcomes on one hand, and a surprisingly low rate of participation among qualified newcomers on the other (CIC Eval, 2010). This contradiction may be a symptom of poor learning technology uptake, which would improve access by increasing flexibility and allowing newcomers with work and family commitments to participate. Bates statement that, “The current structure and organization of most universities and colleges is largely historical … largely unsuited to new forms of technological delivery” could easily apply to the adult settlement language training sector (BATES, 2005, P. 36) . The challenge LINC practitioners face is common to schools of all kinds: “There are incompatibilities between the demands of the new technologies and the traditional school. Technology makes life more difficult for teachers. It requires new skills that teachers often have not learned in their professional development” (COLLINS & HALVERSON, LOC293) . The authors add: “Computers have not penetrated the core of schools, even though they have come to dominate the way people in the outside world read, write, calculate, and think” (IBID, LOC305). An argument can be made that if the LINC program doesn’t integrate learning technology, many learners will pursue learning by other means, undermining a sector already regarded as expensive by policymakers. References: Bouchard, P. (2013). Education Without a Distance: Networked Learning. In Nesbit, Brigham, Taber, & Gibb, T. (EdBuilding on Critical Traditions Adult Learning and Education in Canada (pp. 305 – 315). Toronto, ON: Thompson Educational Publishing Collins, & Halvarson, R. (2009). Rethinking education in the age of technology (Kindle ed.) New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Craig, A. (2009). Literacy matters: Helping newcomers unlock their potential. TD Bank Financial Group. Retrieved from http://library.nald.ca/item/8527 Blakely, & Singh, D. (2012). LINC and CLIC: Looking Back, Looking Forward. INSCAN, Special Issue on Settlement Language Training, 7-11. Dieleman, C. (2012). Provincial ESL Programming. INSCAN, Special Issue on Settlement Language Training , 12-15. Evaluation Division, Citizenship and Immigration Canada. (2010). Evaluation of the language instruction for newcomers to Canada (linc) program (Ref. NER201102_01E). Retrieved from website: http://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/384737/publication.html Spencer, B. & Lange, E. (2014). The purposes of adult education: A short introduction. Toronto, ON: Thompson Educational Publishing. Walker, & White, G. (2013). Technology Enhanced Language Learning: Connecting Theory and Practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.