At the root of the Hants Learning Network Association (HNLA) is a community committed to its members. Located in Windsor, Nova Scotia, HNLA’s work began in 1994 “with just a few tutors visiting people in their homes and helping to improve their literacy. The idea started growing from there,” says Cathy Caldwell, Lead Teacher who is now in her 18th year with HNLA.
From there, “we sort of started spreading our wings trying to fill some of the gaps that we saw in the community,” Caldwell explains.
Among other services, the HNLA now offers G.E.D. preparation classes, family literacy programming and adult learning courses.
No matter what course the learners are taking, however, they are integral in choosing their own learning path. While HNLA used to give their learners letter grades at the mid-year mark, the instructors now engage them in a mid-year reflection and dialogue to ensure they are involved in their own learning process and goal-setting, explains Christine Hooper, an instructor at HNLA.
Among other services, the HNLA now offers G.E.D. preparation classes, family literacy programming and adult learning courses.
No matter what course the learners are taking, however, they are integral in choosing their own learning path. While HNLA used to give their learners letter grades at the mid-year mark, the instructors now engage them in a mid-year reflection and dialogue to ensure they are involved in their own learning process and goal-setting, explains Christine Hooper, an instructor at HNLA.
Employability, the ultimate goal of many of the learners at HNLA, is now an important aspect of the organization’s curriculum development.
“We’re listening to our students,” Hooper goes on to say. “When they say they have a goal, we try to figure out how they can achieve that goal…It’s always tying it back to curriculum, but we’re very creative, and I think that’s the exciting part about what we’re doing here.”
To celebrate Financial Literacy Month, the Hants Learning Network Association offered its first Money Matters workshops this November.
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