Programmes > Id f'Id > Services > The Community Literacy Outreach Project
The Community Literacy Outreach Project
(Id f'Id mal-Komunita`)
On 21 st November 2001 , the European Commission adopted a Communication on Making a European Area of Lifelong Learning a Reality. This EU ‘Memorandum on Lifelong Learning' suggests that the provision of education and training is one of the policy areas to be part of the democratic process of citizenship where the l ocal and regional authorities are also the ones that provide the infrastructure of access to lifelong learning. Mobilising the resources of regional and local authorities in support of lifelong learning is therefore essential. Equally, civil society organisations and associations have their strongest roots at local level, and typically possess vast reservoirs of knowledge and experience about the communities of which they are part.
The Community Literacy Outreach Project is based on the following guidelines: “Services need to be planned and delivered in order to respond to…individual needs. Services must not be delivered in inflexible packages or be based on a stereotype of families' needs and priorities. These have to be discussed and negotiated” (UN, 1994).
The Maltese NMC states that “at the community level, the parents are amongst the most important partners in the educational process… the process of curriculum development in the school should also benefit from the knowledge and skills of those community members who are prepared to dedicate some time to the school. Community members should support the work that the teacher carries out during class hours” (NMC, pp.44-45).
Broad and specific aims
The Community Literacy Outreach Project's broad aims are: • to harness the collective energies and resources of community based organisations for the promotion and enhancement of family learning;
• to ensure that the responsibility for maximising children's learning and growth is effectively shared by families, educators, community members, non-profit organisations and Local Government;
• to empower local families to take a proactive and dynamic role in their children's education.
The specific aims are:
• to establish a consistent partnership with the local primary school – based on the continuous exchange of information and active involvement - in the promotion and implementation of community education projects;
• to enable the community members to understand that the locality is not only a place where people work, reside and serve, but also where they can engage in collaborative learning and inter-personal communication;
• to introduce an innovative approach to learning by tapping on local resources and transforming them into interactive learning tools.
To reach these goals, activities are developed, including creating skill-building activities to build family literacy within the community. Thus ‘Building the Capacity of Parents' rather than ‘Increasing Parental Involvement' is the ultimate driving force. A detailed procedure manual on this project is being finalised.
This project started off with a pilot phase during the summer of 2003 in Senglea . This was followed up with an expanded project in Senglea in the summer of 2004. In 2004 another locality, Cospicua , was also included.
Two community literacy initiatives took place on a much smaller scale: one was done in collaboration with Mellieha Local Council during the Book Week celebrated in the locality on 15 - 16 th October 2004, and the other was done in collaboration with B'Kara local council on the occasion of the ‘Car Free day' on the 19 th of September 2004, where parents from the locality organised literacy and fun activities together with other families from the locality.
In the beginning of 2005, the FES and the Libraries and Archives Department held discussions in connection with an initiative regarding the local libraries in Cottonera and the Community Literacy Outreach Project. An inter-agency agreement between the two entities was signed. This project will be implemented during April- August 2005. This project is part-financed under the Structural Funds Programme for Malta (2004-2006)/ European Social Fund. This initiative is called: ‘ Establishing a team of Parent Volunteers for Community Literacy in the Cottonera region ' .
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The Community Literacy Outreach Project Procedures Manual
A first draft of the procedure manual of the Community Literacy project was developed.
This procedures manual should serve as guidelines for Id f'Id Animatos and personnel involved in this project.
The Senglea Community Literacy Outreach Project
The first Community Literacy Outreach Project took place in Senglea during Summer 2003, then again in the Summer of 2004. The Senglea Community Literacy Outreach Project had two components: (i) a Family Literacy Club and (ii) a Community Literacy Outreach.
A group of volunteers from the locality together with FES teachers/Animators organised a half-day twice a week summer club for the local primary school-age pupils. The first part of this summer club consisted of a family literacy hour, where parents joined in during purposefully planned family literacy activities. The other component was the community literacy outreach itself where literacy sessions were held among the community members at the seafront, involving the community based organisations and talented individuals from the community. The time frame of the Senglea Community Literacy Outreach project was six weeks duration during the summer period.
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The Cospicua Community Literacy Outreach Project
The Community Literacy project in Cospicua took place in Summer 2004 and was a direct result of the successful experience in Senglea during the previous summer, although it worked on a quite different level. Due to the reality of the locality, the community involvement aspect was still at the experimental stage. The project had three components:
(i) A one and a half hour family-literacy session were held three times a week. In these sessions literacy activities were integrated with crafts, drama, music, sports and cookery. Parents were encouraged to take an active role, both in the preparation and delivery stages.
(ii) Rather than directly involving the community based organisations, once a month the literacy activities turned into a ‘show and tell' held in the different parts of the locality. The parents and children who participated in this project did not only demonstrate and celebrate their successes, but also encouraged other families who were passing by to join in this initiative.
(iii) Besides, in order to reach out to parents, educational outings related to the literacy themes were organised every fortnight.
The time frame of the Cospicua Community Literacy Outreach Project was of 15 week duration from July to October 2004.
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‘Establishing a team of Parent Volunteers for Community Literacy in the Cottonera region'
The broad aim of the project is to nurture a culture of family reading. More specifically, the project aims to seek ways in which parents from the Cottonera region could be trained to provide community literacy services under the guidance of FES professionally trained staff. These volunteers would be trained and supported to work closely with the community libraries in order to nurture and promote a family reading culture in a region where such a culture needs support.
It is expected that the community libraries in the Cottonera region become a hub for family-focused library and fun activities. Hence, the aims of the project are:
- to help in a more holistic provision of educational services to children and adults, using the local libraries as their base,
- to involve and empower other families in such activities as shared reading, paired reading, story telling, making and using big books and story bags and a range of activities,
- to create educational discussions and workshops for families.
Results of the Community Literacy Outreach Project (April 2003 – March 2005 ):
1. The 2003 Senglea Community Literacy Outreach Project managed to reach a wide audience through the active involvement of a number of community-based organisations (CBOs) under the leadership of the Local Council. These included local pet owners and crafts people, the local band club, football club and youth group. In 2003, 39 pupils participated on a regular basis while the number of regular parents was that of 14.
2. Following the 2003 Senglea Community Literacy Outreach Project, one of the initiatives taken by the FES during the scholastic year 2003/2004 in conjunction with the Senglea state primary school was an Id f'Id parent-to-parent course on How to help our children in a practical way in mathematics . The parent leaders co-delivering this parent-to-parent course together with the FES Id f'Id Animator were the same parents who were actively involved in last year's Community Literacy Outreach Project. The school administration noted that while in the previous years parental participation in this locality for such activities was quite poor, this time forty-five parents were accepted for the course while other interested parents had to be refused for logistical reasons. This is a significant shift in the perception of parental involvement in education and lifelong learning scenario.
• The very positive experience of the Community Literacy Outreach Project held in Senglea in the summer of 2003 has prompted both the Senglea Local Council and the FES to embark on a similar joint project in the summer of 2004. The 2004 Community Literacy Outreach Project also aims to increase the chances that the FES programmes carried out in the local state primary school during the scholastic year 2003/2004 have an effective follow-up during the summer months. It also laid the ground for fresh initiatives in the locality, in conjunction with both school and Local Council, to be taken in the scholastic year 2004/2005. Such a strategy had a greater impact on the students' academic achievement and parents' own lifelong learning journey. The parent leaders identified by the school and the FES are all part of the helpers group of the Senglea Local Council. Besides, these same parent leaders are either members of the School Council and/or the school's Ladies Circle . Hence, the link between the school, the Local Council and the community continued to be enhanced both through the implementation of this project and throughout the scholastic year 2004-05. As a result of this constant effort from all parties involved, the Senglea Community Literacy Outreach Project of Summer 2004 has greatly improved: 40 children and 30 parents participated regularly.
• The Cospicua Community Literacy Outreach Project, which took place betwen July till early October 2004, thirteen children were reached. The average attendance was 8 children per session. A maximum number of 10 parents were reached through the project. An average of 8 parents accompanied their children during each session.
• The sessions included literacy, crafts and cooking sessions in the premises of the local council, water games and music in the local primary school and show and tell activities out of doors. The animators appreciated very much the cooperation shown by the head of school of Cospicua primary C. She put music and PE equipment, as well as the school building, at the animators' disposal.
• As the project developed, the parents took a more active part, participating in regular evaluation and planning sessions. They chose the venues for educational outings, suggested crafts activities and organised and delivered cooking lessons to the children.
• When the school started, the parents helped FES personnel to disseminate their services in Cospicua. They participated in meetings for parents where they shared their experiences regarding their active involvement in the Summer project and also put up an exhibition with the work they had done all along the project.
• All the parents involved in the project involved themselves in FES projects in the first scholastic term. Four parents got involved in Klabb Hilti. Three others helped in the organisation of a parent-to-parent course entitled: How to help our children read better in English. Another parent participated in the Nindokra+ course for prospective childminders. Presently she is giving her services during FES initiatives. No Id f'Id courses were held during the second school term but another Id f'Id course is being held during the third term as a response to the parents' specific request for a course on how to help their children use the computer. Two of the parent leaders are parents who had participated in the Summer Club. Another parent leader is one of the participants in the first Id f'Id course who had shown her willingness to become a parent leader.
• Following his positive experience in the Summer Club, one of the FES animators is now a Community Lifelong learning Centre coordinator in Birgu.
• Although at its embryonic stage, the project ‘Establishing a team of Parent Volunteers for Community Literacy in the Cottonera region', is already showing some positive results: twenty participants from the region are attending the course
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Voices
“Jiena hadt pjacir li kemm jien u t-tifel hadna sehem,
tghallimna t-tnejn” Genitur“Kollox ghogobni – tahlita tajba ta' crafts u taghlim, tal-banda,
tal-futbol – kollox interessanti” Genitur“Jiena dan il-programm sibtu interessanti ghaliex fejn jidhol it-taghlim tat- tfal dejjem issib xi haga x'titghallem. L-iktar parti li ghogbitni hija l-parti fejn jiehdu sehem biex jitkellmu ghax it-tifel tieghi huwa misthi”. Genitur
“Jiena hadt gost ghax tghallimt aktar kliem bl-Ingliz,
tghallimt nirrecta, edukajt ruhi u ghamilt aktar hbieb godda” Tifel“Jiena nhobb nirrecta, u toghgobni l-idea li x-xoghol
tieghi qieghed fi ktieb max-xoghol tat-tfal l-ohra”. Tifla
tel: (00356) 21455600, 21455607, 21455653 fax: 00356 21455625
e-mail: fes@gov.mt
