In Germany and Canada, the integration of immigrants into the labour market is closely related to the various approaches towards the recognition and validation of informal learning. This paper aims to analyse the informal learning measures undertaken by immigrants as well as those offered by employers in the health and information and…

This chapter addresses learning and nonformal education in the course of organizing migrant and immigrant (im/migrant) temporary agency workers through the Immigrant Workers Centre (IWC) and the Temporary Agency Workers Association (TAWA) in Montreal. The IWC/TAWA organizing approach with agency workers is based on community organizing, activist…

In the context of Canada's reliance on immigration for social and economic development, an effective language policy for migrant students is essential for educational systems. However, existing language policy research puts little emphasis on parental agency, particularly immigrant parents. The qualitative study presented here therefore explored…

Like the immigrant clients they serve, service providers have been overlooked in adult education literature, yet their roles are crucial for addressing the serious concerns of refugees and refugee claimants who flee their home countries hoping to find safe refuge in another country.

Available statistics and literature indicate that Somali-Canadian youth face unique challenges in their everyday lives. Somali students have a 36.7 % dropout rate (Jibril, 2011). Somali-Canadian community members in Edmonton contend that Somali-Canadian students are labelled with behavioural or cognitive disorders, diagnoses that do not take into…

The Commission on International Adult Education (CIAE) of the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE) provides a forum for the discussion of international issues related to adult education in general, as well as adult education in various countries around the globe. These papers are from the CIAE 2020 Virtual International…

Gaining proficiency in the host country language is a key element to successful integration of new immigrants. In this article, the author adopts Bourdieu's perspective that accumulation and conversion of forms of capital is only possible through practice in a social field; therefore, the author puts forward the idea that language capital…

This paper examines literacy and language learning across the lifespan within the context of immigrants in the Canadian context. It explores the process of improving literacy skills and acquiring second or third language skills through the systems of formal, non-formal and informal learning, as defined by the OECD [Organisation for Economic…

The American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE) was founded in 1982 as the result of a merger between the National Association for Public and Continuing Adult Education (NAPCAE) and the Adult Education Association (AEA). This prestigious association is dedicated to the belief that lifelong learning contributes to human…

This article explores the informal learning processes and the changes in the values of a group of 200 Latin American immigrants to Canada. Results show that the majority of the respondents underwent at least one political or civic learning process, like increasing tolerance or environmental responsibility. The findings also suggest a number of…

Purpose--The paper seeks to explore workers' learning in relation to the racialized and gendered organization of contingent work. Design/methodology/approach--This paper is informed by Marxist theorization of labour power and learning. It draws on the interview data of 24 highly educated immigrant women from the research project "Skilled In…

People learn in many different ways and in many different places. What is learned informally or experientially is often the same or similar to what may be learned in traditional formal learning environments. There are many reasons why recognizing experiential learning is viable educational option, more so in today's economy than ever before. Prior…

Reports a study which examined the ability of adult immigrants to communicate as they were completing a 30-week, 900-hour second language program and then again six months later. Two cohorts of learners were interviewed: one comprised of immigrants from Southeast Asia and the other of Poles and Latin Americans. (Author/SED)

Many immigrants, refugees, and aboriginal Canadians learn their own languages in the normal, informal way. These minority languages learned informally are not valued as a skill that yields returns in the labor market in the same way the official languages or formally learned languages do. What counts as a skill in a society, in a given point in…

Unlike many recent immigrants who entered Canada as highly trained professionals in their countries of origin, most of Canada's immigrant garment workers are working-class women with little education. The Apparel Textile Action Committee (ATAC) and Homeworker's Association (HWA) are among the bodies that were established to assist immigrant…