All classes are conducted in English, but women may utilize their first languages when doing so would assist in better comprehension of the English material. Participants write a monthly report on thy program, as well as reports on various speakers and films presented. An important writing exercise is a three-stage life story, which enables participants to look at their own childhoods, teenage years and adult years.

Women who are released from the institution are referred to literacy programs on the outside. Motivation and attendance in this program are extremely high, probably due to a number of factors. The design is student-centred, with topics generated from learners' actual life experiences, and reflecting their needs, aspirations and realities. The relatively high pay scale makes it attractive to women, and provides a sense that they are accomplishing something important. In addition, the instructor for the program is a Native woman, whose own cultural background resonates with that of many inmates. As noted earlier, it is much easier for women to learn in environments which validate and support the realities of their own lives.

5.3 Profile 3

Another provincial institution provides a program with two full-time staff and 14 learners, resulting in a seven-to-one student-teacher ratio. This program offers Adult Basic Education, computer training, and life skills training. There is a writing group which currently meets twice per week, and a book of women's writing has been published.

Like the first program profiled, this program suffers from a high rate of turnover, which hampers continuity and reduces group cohesion. Inmates who attend the literacy program are actually offered a financial disincentive, since attendance pays only $3.00 per day, compared with $6.00 per day for kitchen work. In addition, when women attending the program are released, no mechanisms for referral or appropriate follow-up are in place.

While the program appears to be adequately staffed, it can be seen that a number of factors discourage attendance. Inadequate pay scales seem to denigrate the importance of adult learning, and no specific efforts were detected to meet the women where they were at. This provides a useful example of the dangers of trying to impose one particular program model, without being sensitive to the needs and realities of the women who could benefit most from literacy training.

Funding for this program comes from a local community college and the Department of the Solicitor General.