International Adult Learners’ Week (IALW) 2010 in Canada will be held from March 1 to 7, 2010. The event celebrates adult learners across the country and the joy of learning throughout life. For a list of IALW 2010 activities in Canada, visit the National Adult Literacy Database.
IALW has been celebrated in Canada since 2002. The Canadian Commission for UNESCO coordinates the event, working with a growing number of partners across the country. These include federal, provincial/territorial, and municipal governments, literacy organizations, the education community, and professional, social, environmental, and cultural organizations. Working together, the commission and its partners aim to ensure that adult learning will become more prominent in the years ahead.
This year, IALW shares its theme, “Living and Learning for a Viable Future – the Power of Adult Learning,” with the Sixth International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VI), held last December in Brazil to emphasize the achievements of adult education globally. The conference ended with a call for governments to “take forward, with a sense of urgency and at an accelerated pace, the agenda of adult learning and education,” through the Belem Framework for Action.
As part of the IALW celebration, the Canadian Commission for UNESCO has prepared a special publication, titled Opening up the Possibilities, which reports on the key ideas and issues arising from CONFINTEA VI. The magazine also features success stories by adult learners in Canada, as well as ideas and perspectives of partners within the adult-learning community.
The Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) promotes the celebration of International Adult Learners’ Week (IALW) across the country.
Spotlight on provincial and territorial IALW events
Alberta
From March 1 to 7, 2010, Alberta will join other provinces and territories in celebrating International Adult Learners’ Week in Canada.
Community learning organizations, postsecondary institutions, libraries, and other organizations are partnering across Alberta to organize events to promote the power of adult learning. To learn more about events happening in Alberta, visit the Alberta government’s Adult Learners’ Week web page.
Quebec
The 8th edition of the Semaine québécoise des adultes en formation, Quebec’s version of IALW, will take place from March 20 to 26 2010. This event is coordinated by the Institut de coopération pour l’éducation des adultes (ICÉA) [Institute for cooperation on adult education].During the course of the week, more than 700 activities will be organized across all regions of Quebec, by the 17 regional councils.