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On
this page you will find articles on issues of concern to teachers
and students, reports of recent TESL Kingston workshops or panel
discussions, as well as news of upcoming events and opportunities. Enjoy!
Click here to check out our new resources on the Teachers' Page!
And click here to check out our new Facebook page!
A Review of
Vesna Nikolic's Workshop: "Fascinated by the Brain"
Internationally Educated Professional Conference in Kingston
English Classes for Immigrants aren't Old School!
TESL Kingston Members Rise to the Challenge!
Integrating Diversity for a Dynamic Kingston: An Exciting New Initiative!
Review of: "Put Some Drama into your Classroom!"
Volunteers Needed
Ontario Government Launched Online Registration For Health Care Connect
For those who missed TESL Kingston's AGM on May 11th!_This is for you
Women's Day in China--a Report from Stephen Chappell
Home Language and the English Learner...A Review
A Trio of ESL Week 2008 Events! Check out the pictures...
Great Canadian Resources Online..Check out Books with Legal Photocopying!
Immigrant Services Kingston & Area
Canadian Coalition for Immigrant Children & Youth: Update!
Preliminary Online Equivalency
Credential Evaluation for Newcomers
Website for Immigrants
Interested in Refugees' and Immigrants' Rights?
A Review of Vesna Nikolic's Workshop:
"Fascinated by the Brain" |
This workshop, sponsored by TESL Kingston and held on January 23rd at Kingston Literacy LINC's site was a compelling one that opened up new ways of thinking about our teaching, and about the health of our own brains. Vesna had us spellbound throughout this presentation.
The brain contains 100 billion neurons, each one of which connects to at least 1000 and up to 10 000 other neurons, a mind-boggling complexity. Until recently, it was thought that the various parts of the brain responsible for speech, learning a language, interpreting or playing music, controlling muscles, etc., were hardwired for that specific function, and incapable of healing if injured. But it is now known that the brain is much more plastic than previously thought. It can reorganize itself as necessary, even in adulthood. People who have suffered brain trauma or strokes can recover many of their lost abilities through appropriate therapy that helps those neurons to form new connections, and to do so in an undamaged part of the brain.
From our point of view, one of the most exciting implications of this is that teachers can make a difference in brain development, even in older students. For an intriguing glimpse of some of the amazing resources designed to build on this concept, take a look at this site: http://www.scilearn.com/resources/
But beyond the specific learning tools she described, Vesna described the differences in the brains of boys and girls and what strategies are effective in the classroom to accommodate these differences and promote higher levels of learning. As well, she pointed out that the physical requirements of the brain at any age for optimal health and function are quite simple: healthy food, sufficient water intake, physical exercise and mental exercise. All our other organs wear out with age, but the brain continues to get sharper the more it's used! So check these sites to explore a variety of brain fitness tips and programs that can benefit you and your students:
http://www.positscience.com/
http://health.howstuffworks.com/how-to-improve-your-memory.htm
http://www.amenclinic.com/
And guess what one of the key activities for sharpening our brains is? Yes, indeed—learning a new language!! So you can encourage your students by telling them they're increasing their brain function as they learn. And perhaps, if we were learning a new language while teaching English to our students, we might even get a new perspective on the processes involved!
Although, given the two birthday cards I forgot to send last month, I have a feeling I should begin with the site that shows how to improve one’s memory...
For pictures of this event and a brief write-up in SNAP Kingston, go here:
SNAP Kingston February Issue
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Internationally Educated Professionals Conference
A Free Symposium for Business Owners, Managers, Human Resource Personnel, and Internationally Educated Professionals
Monday, March 1st, 2010, 8.00am - 4.30pm
Four Points Sheraton, Kingston |
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KEYS Employment Services has been asked to co-ordinate and host the Internationally Educated Professionals’ (IEP) conference in Kingston on Monday, 1st March, 2010 at the Four Points Sheraton. They have an exciting conference planned and are fortunate to have been able to bring Steve Robbins, Paul Hatala and Lionel Laroche together at the same conference. The sector panels, presentations and exhibits promise to be informative and these events will be followed by an opportunity for employers, industry experts and internationally-educated individuals to network and to gain an understanding of the level of both talent and opportunity which exists in this community.
The Internationally Educated Professionals’ (IEP) conference is a free, one-day annual forum designed to provide interactive learning for Internationally Educated Professionals on ways to access meaningful employment and bring employers and immigrants together. The conference will provide employers with an increased understanding of cultural differences between themselves and internationally educated professionals, strategies to benefit from the expertise of internationally trained professionals, and tools to integrate an increased number of educated newcomers into their organizations.
The conference will also provide immigrants with strategies to access employment within various sectors, information on licensing and regulatory bodies, current and up-to-date labour market information, and opportunities to connect with informed and experienced professionals.
The IEP Conference is funded by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) and delivered by COSTI in Toronto through a partnership with KEYS Employment Services. Simultaneous translation in both official languages will be provided.
Please pass on the IEP Conference information to internationally-educated professionals and local area employers.
Keys and their partners appreciate your help in promoting this event to internationally-educated professionals and employers in your community. Assisting our students to find employment in their fields will benefit them, their families, and the entire community
Download the PDF Poster here.
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English Classes for Immigrants Aren't Old School! |
TESL Kingston Members Rise to the Challenge!
I think the organizers of the new KIP initiative in Kingston discovered the potential of TESL Kingston members on December 1st, when so many responded with such enthusiasm to my e-mailed plea for participation in this gathering. A number of ESL instructors took their classes along with them, so there were plenty of knowledgeable contributors to the focus groups. I have heard various estimates of attendance numbers, but it seems apparent there were more than 100 participants. Considering the poor attendance at the focus group that was initially organized for ESL providers, this is quite an achievement. The two biggest challenges facing newcomers are mastering English and finding a job. There is an obvious connection between the two, making it very important for this committee to hear directly from both teachers and students.
The morning began with a summary of the previous meetings and background to the KIP initiative. (See background article below.) Scott Clerk
outlined and reviewed the process for everyone. At the meeting, KIP had the room set up for various groups:
a) newcomers
b) businesses
c) educators
d) established immigrants
e) social services
f) employment groups
In these groups people discussed 32 proposed outcomes that were gathered from the last meeting. Their job was to streamline these into categories.
After the break, they reconvened in different groups according to these new streamlined categories and were asked to identify some goals and outcomes.
These categories, goals and outcomes will be used in the formation of a Strategic Plan.
Participants felt that the most exciting part of all this is the formation of a Council that will guide immigration issues in Kingston. This Council is starting to take a more tangible form and a web portal is being developed.
There were suggestions that the groups might have been more effective had they been smaller, and held in a space with better acoustics, but I suspect that based on the last turnout, Scott Clerk didn't expect so many to attend! On the other hand, participants also noted that the meeting was very well organized and facilitated.
More information will be forthcoming, and will be reported here, so keep an eye on this space!
My thanks to Peg Deaton,
David Craig, Lea Westlake and Hal Schipper for contributing to this report, since I was unable to attend the meeting myself.
Susan Bain
Webmaster, TESL Kingston
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~Integrating Diversity for a Dynamic Kingston~
The Kingston Immigration Partnership working with the
Welcoming Communities Initiative
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The WCI is a collaborative effort
between universities and local
stakeholders to promote newcomer
inclusion and to help small and
medium-sized cities benefit from
diversity. To achieve these goals and
to capitalize on the proximity of
researchers to community
organizations and municipal agencies,
the project is building a durable
research and governance
infrastructure. This infrastructure will
support policy and best-practice
research and will help to forge
connections among researchers, local
stakeholders and government
agencies.
Funding for this initiative has come from Citizenship and Immigration Canada under the Ontario Region's “Call for Proposals for the Welcoming Communities Initiative: CIC's Contribution to Canada's Action Plan Against Racism”, and also from a project of the Ontario
Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI), entitled “Making Ontario Home: A Study of Newcomer Settlement
Services Uses and Needs.” A good deal of the research is being carried out through Queen's University, as Kingston has been chosen as one of two locations for pilot projects.
Work in Kingston has been facilitated by the project's Local Engagement Committee, formed through a partnership between Queen's and the Kingston Immigraton Partnership (KIP), a project funded by a Local Immigration Partnership (LIP) grant. This is a new project of KEDCO, KEYS, and KCHC. These close and active ties between university researchers and their community partners produce a wider range of expertise and contacts, while providing the community
with valuable information and access to university resources. KIP is actively creating and working with a variety of focus groups, some of which include representation from TESL Kingston and local community ESL providers.
So why should Kingston welcome this initiative? Aside from the obvious humanitarian benefits of fighting racism and facilitating the successful settlement of newcomers in Kingston, what many people seem not to realize is that smaller centres such as Kingston do not manage to retain many of the immigrants who arrive here. Some of the reasons are evident, and others are much less clear.
But one thing is very clear. One only needs to look at the demographics of cities such as ours to realize that we very much need much larger numbers of immigrants to settle here if we wish to thrive as a community.
The Kingston Immigration Partnership is a community-driven initiative to help build Kingston as a prosperous and diverse city through a collaborative approach to the settlement of immigrants.
According to Jeff Garrah, CEO, Kingston Economic Development Corporation (KEDCO): “Improving access to the local labour market for immigrants and strengthening the capacity of our community to integrate immigrants is critical to the future of Kingston.”
The service utilization aspect of the study will examine newcomers' experiences and satisfaction with the
services currently in place in Ontario's small and medium-sized cities. The target groups are newcomers who are currently using services, past users and those who, for one reason or another, have never used newcomer services.
Critically, the research will distinguish the needs of specific demographic groups, at both province-wide and regional levels. Policy recommendations should emerge for all levels of government, as well as best practice
recommendations for a range of service providers. The study will also benefit service providers who have yet to develop special newcomer practices.
Through seven scheduled assemblies, KIP will provide opportunities for the community to discuss and debate how best to move forward on issues of immigration and diversity. The next step will be to craft a community-defined strategy for attracting, retaining, supporting and integrating newcomers to Kingston. By March, 2010, they will form a Council to coordinate and integrate settlement and attraction services. |
For those who weren't able to make it to Pamela Robinson's dynamic workshop on October 3rd, here are a few highlights from....
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Put Some Drama into your Classroom!
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Pamela began with a carefully designed series of warm-ups. These served a dual purpose: to show us how to get the students relaxed and loose enough to feel comfortable in the activities that followed, and also to provide specific exercises to help certain students to form the English sounds that don't occur in their first language.
We all participated in a variety of dramatic activities, including mime, role plays, skits and more. In each case, Pamela was explicit about how to use the activity to promote language goals, from developing vocabulary and improving pronunciation to using effective body language in communication and reinforcing grammar structures. |
Activities included, (but were not limited to): using discourse chains, creating roleplays based on pictures or problem-solving or proverbs, many ways to use tongue-twisters effectively, acting out scripts and scripting text, mime, and improvisation. Rarely have I seen such concentrated involvement of over 40 people in a very full, two-hour workshop! Participants chose not to take the scheduled break, but to keep the considerable momentum going. All of us are eager to try these out in the classroom.
Congratulations, Pamela! Yours was a stellar performance!! |
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Volunteers Needed at ISKA! |
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Immigrant Services for Kingston and Area needs volunteers and volunteer families who are willing to meet for one to two hours a week with newcomers to Canada to help them to practice English and answer questions about life in Canada. For a glimpse into the joys of volunteering with newcomers learning English, check out this Globe and Mail article:
I found my family in the classroom.
Interested? Phone: 613-544-4661 or Email: info@iska.kchc.ca to offer your services.
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Ontario Government Launched Online Registration For Health Care Connect on July 21, 2009 |
Ontario is giving people the ability to register online to find a family doctor. Urge your students who are still without a family doctor to try out this service.
The online service - being offered through Health Care Connect - is the next step in the McGuinty government's plan to increase access to family health care. The most recent data shows that approximately 800,000 more Ontarians have a family doctor now than in 2003.
The Health Care Connect online registration tool provides:
- Round-the clock access to on-line registration
- Options to register more than one patient - you can register your family and dependants
- Registration that will connect patients to a Care Connector - a nurse who will help patients without a family health care provider to find one
- Security features to protect the privacy of your personal health information
- A link to the Health Care Options website, a medical services directory with a built in mapping system, for patients to find their local health care options
QUICK FACTS
- 51 percent of Ontarians who have registered with Health Care Connect have been connected to a family health care provider, 81 percent with greater health care needs have been connected.
- The Primary Care Access Survey 2008 shows 300,000 patients have been attached since 2006, building on the 500,000 attached between 2003-2006.
- Health Care Connect will continue to register patients via the toll-free number: 1-800-445-1822.
To find out more about registering online, go to Health Care Connect or
call ServiceOntario, INFOline at
1-866-532-3161
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Annual General Meeting
Monday, May 11th, 2009, 7-9 PM |
For those of you who didn't make it to the AGM, you missed a rollicking lecture by Janice McAlpine that had us all laughing while learning a lot we didn't know about Canadian shibboleths!
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As you can see, some of us continued conversations with her after her presentation, and were still laughing!
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Janice is Director of the Strathy Language Unit at Queen's University, a language research unit which produces the Oxford Guide to Canadian English Usage (1997, 2007), supports dictionary projects such as the historical Dictionary of Canadianisms and the bilingual Chinese Dictionary of Canadian English, and publishes occasional linguistic studies on Canadian English. Prior to directing the Langauge Unit, she was an instructor in the Queen's School of English.
Those who attended will easily put her insights to good use in their classrooms, and I suspect we'll all be on the alert for still more shibboleths. Such an intriguing word!
Thank you Janice!
Thanks also to Kingston Literacy's LINC program, who provided the space and facilities for the AGM, and printed our new brochures for us.
And to Pearson Longman Publishers, who provided books for our draw and set up a great display of materials available at a discount and without shipping fees.
Refreshments were delicious, and the hand-made jewellery offered for sale was a great hit, as you can see below..
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| A special vote of thanks to our two retiring Board members, Helen Holmes and Tiffany Myers for their untiring efforts. Both have agreed to continue to offer their expertise on a part-time basis as ex-officio members of the Board. Meanwhile, we are delighted to welcome two new members: Jade Garrison and Xuemei Li--both very talented people who will be a great asset to our Board. |
Women's Day in China: by Stephen Chappell |
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March the 8th was Women's Day in China. It is celebrated in a big way here. Most women in the workplace get a half-day holiday . in addition they often receive a sum of money from their employer or a trip to some scenic spot. Children will often give their mothers cards and gifts somewhat akin to the western Mother's Day.
Our Foreign Language Department treated all the women teachers to a countryside outing. Foreign teachers in China are always regarded as special guests so my colleagues and I were invited along. I decided to invite some of my closet female friends and their children to dinner to celebrate the day. |
| It was such a special evening. I had arranged some games and asked the children to provide some musical entertainment, namely the violin and the accordion. They performed superbly. The handsome fellow in the foreground of the picture above is Alexis, our newly arrived French teacher from Bordeaux, France. |
Editor's Note: For more interesting articles by Stephen Chappell, see our Teachers' page.
Home Language
and the
English Language Learner
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This was a free workshop for professionals working with children 0 to 6 years, but also geared toward professionals teaching ESL to adult parents of children.
It was presented by Alka Burman, an Early Years Literacy Specialist supporting the unique language and literacy needs of newcomers.
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Why is it so important to support the development of pre-literacy skills anong pre-school children whose first language is not English?
Because a child who lives in a world with two languages needs to be able to grow and learn in both languages, which obviously includes reading in both languages.
Research has shown us that that maintaining the home language is key--it's the foundation for English langauage learning because it allows for transfer of knowledge and skills.. Bilingualism at an early age expands linguistic ability, and the language learning in the first language provides the scaffolding for learning the second one.
It's important to provide opportunities for children to plan, recount, explore, predict, analyze, report and explain whatever the object of curiosity may be.
For children to learn to converse, they must
- manipulate real materials
- bring their own experiences to learning and share these
- build positive relationships as social skills are taught and practised
- enjoy extended experiences
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All these activities are just as valuable if they take place in the mother tongue. In fact, the level of development of the mother tongue is a strong predictor of a child's ability to learn a second language. Denying them the opportunity to use their home language is a "subtractive" strategy. The child will tend to lose its culture, conversational skills and depth of communication.
What does this have to do with those of us who teach ESL to adults?
1. Often, our students are worried about what to do about their children. They may feel they have to speak English at home so the children will learn quickly. Wong-Fillmore (1991) has shown us that children usually learn English instead of their home language, but if children "forget" their home language, they become unable to communicate with their parents, their extended family and especially, their grandparents. This is a high price for parents to pay for sending a child to child care--the possible loss of the ability to transmit their culture and values, and the loss of the connection between generations.
Parents reading or re-telling stories to their children is one of the best ways for this communication and connection to take place. Also, as Jim Cummins (1985) has pointed out, it is important that both languages continue to develop, both to increase their abilities in English, and also to improve their job opportunities as adults.
So the least we can do is encourage our students to use their first language at home, and English everywhere else. It would be good as well if we helped parents network with other families with the same linguistic background. ISKA is an excellent resource for this.
2. We can find ways to include kids with their parents whenever possible--for example on field trips, pot lucks or craft days.
3. We can translate/explain (or arrange for translation of) documents, newsletters or a few key phrases essential for the children and their parents when dealing with school or day care. Other parents can sometimes translate, and a good website for this is listed below.
4. We can encourage our sudents to spend language-rich time with their children while cooking together, going out together or shopping together.
Who else is in a position to advise our students if we are not?
If you are interested in finding more information on this topic, try these resources:
For parents:
www.linktolearning.com (for all grades and subjects)
http://www.settlement.org/edguide/ (The Newcomers' Guide to Elementary Schools in Ontario-available in many different languages)
For teachers:
http://www.iteachilearn.com/cummins/index.htm An incredible resource provided by Jim Cummins!
http://www.freetranslation.com/
Great tool for the ESL writing workshop classroom.
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Celebrated ESL Week
with Three Exciting Events on November 6th!
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Limestone Community Education Centre
Presented an
ESL Multicultural Day |
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With Special Musical Guest......MARIO FRANCO
All those who attended enjoyed a feast for all their senses!
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TESL Kingston, in partnership with ISKA, presented a very special Open House ...
Honouring Multicultural Gifts to Kingston
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Those gifts include such things as...
- filling the gaps in our labour force and keeping us competitive
- increasing our supply of health care professionals
- starting successful businesses, which provide needed services and jobs
- paying taxes that support our infrastructure and pensions
- providing an incredible array of cultural contributions as artists, musicians, writers, dancers, actors and artisans
- creating the delicious diversity of ethnic restaurants now available in Kingston
- volunteering their time and talents in a multitude of ways
- sharing their expertise by teaching others
-and of course, creating jobs for ESL providers! |
We are immensely grateful to the special guests who graced us with their presence, (including Jack Chiang, the Hon. Peter Milliken, Dr. Sonilal Pancham, Ms. Hersh Sehdev and former Mayor Isabel Turner, to name only a few!), and for the inspiring and interesting insights they offered to all present.
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We applaud the ESL students who participated, and who took full advantage of the networking opportunities there.
We also applaud the Hon. Peter Milliken, who followed up his speech at the Open House by paying a visit during ESL Week to Pamela Robinson's
LINC Level 1 class, currently housed in a local church basement. Peter participated in a "which one is different" exercise, coming up with creative answers along with the rest of the class! Everyone enjoyed the contact.
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Loyola Community Learning Centre in Belleville presented an...
ESL Multicultural Fair called
Windows on the World
Many special visitors enjoyed the wonderful displays, foods and crafts! |
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Great Canadian Resources Online
Here are some resources both students and teachers will find useful:
RUN OF THE TOWN-Stories of an unfettered youth.
by Terrence Rundle West
"WINNER OF THE 2007 NORTHERN LIT AWARD"
Your mother lets you out to watch two lumberjacks in a vicious fist-fight. "Just stay back", she warns. You have Run of the Town. This is Hearst, Northern Ontario and environs, mid-20th century.
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This award-winning collection of short stories about life in
small-town Canada in the middle part of the last century
teaches your students a little about Canada while they
learn English. While listening to the recorded stories,
students can follow along in their books. When they come
across a word or idiom they don’t recognize, they can
reference the accompanying vocabulary sheets. The
workbook, including assignments for individuals or small
groups, is also available online for downloading.
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Package includes:
**Award-winning book Run of the Town
**CD with 8 recorded stories from the book
**Vocabulary of colloquial terms and phrases
**Worksheets of content questions
**Questions for group discussion
Cost
**1 book + 1 CD + workbook $40.00
**3 books + 3 CDs + workbook $100.00 |
For more information or to place an order contact:
1-800-465-6072 or orders@gsph.com
General Store Publishing House
499 O'Brien Rd., Box 415
Renfrew, ON K7V 4A6
Or click here!
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Thane Ladner is a small publisher of Canadian ESL resources who has been publishing reproducible ESL books for adults in the settlement/LINC programs since 1993. His products are unique in that:
* they are Canadian
* they are written by teachers working in the settlement programs
* each book comes with photocopy permission for one address - the photocopies are for students attending classes at that one address only, so if you have students attending classes at 5 addresses, buy 5 books
* the books are easy-to-use for both teachers and students
* his most recent books are geared toward CLB
* many of his newest books come with an audio CD
Take a look at his website, and check out his collection of resources. You can search by topic or by level.
Here's his contact information:
Thane Ladner
Canadian Resources for ESL
15 Ravina Crescent
Toronto ON M4J 3L9
tel 416-466-7875 fax 416-466-4383
Email: info@eslresources.com |
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Arrival Survival Canada
* Provides newcomers with the detailed information they need to be successful in their first year in Canada.
* Connects with newcomers through stories about immigrants’ authentic experiences and successes.
* Engages readers with dynamic maps, graphs, and tables that help them relate to and understand the text. |
* Helps newcomers learn fun, interesting facts about Canada with the Did you know… feature boxes.
* Encourages newcomers to be active readers and personalize the universal information in the book to their specific needs with the Creating Your Canadian Experience feature at the end of each unit.
* Includes a glossary of key terms to explain new, unfamiliar, and specifically Canadian words.
See Oxford University Press for more information.
How to Find a Job in Canada :
Common Problems and Effective Solutions, a companion volume to Arrival Survival Canada.
From résumé writing to Canadian workplace etiquette, the book uses a problem/solution format to answer newcomers' most common questions.
Also available from Oxford Press
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From the diverse cultures of Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Vietnam, Germany, Guyana, Somalia, and others, immigrant children write of their experiences leaving their homes and moving to a new country. The stories, poems, and pictures in Our New Home tell of the fear and sadness, the excitement and challenge of moving to another world and forging a new sense of self in a new land.
The editors of this book bring rich backgrounds to it. Emily Hearn has written programs for the CBC, TVO and the National Film Board, books for children, and a natiural history comic strip for OWL Magazine.
Marywinn Milne's career spans 30 years with the Toronto District School Board in a variety of teaching roles, including those of teacher librarian and ESL/ESD teacher.
Our New Home was just released in October by Second Story Press, a small Canadian publishing house with a reputation for publishing high quality books, fiction and non-fiction, for both adults and children. Their children's book, Hana's Suitcase – the nonfiction tale of a Japanese historian and a little girl who perished in the Holocaust -- is part of the award-winning Holocaust Remembrance Series for Young Readers and has won many awards.
For ordering information, see Second Story's website:
http://secondstorypress.ca/books/140-our-new-home
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Do you know about the Learning English section on the BBC website ? it has lots of information, and myriad activities for both students and teachers, as well as blogs, and other contacts with learners from around the world. Looks like fun. Of course, there will be some unfamiliar British vocabulary, but that's not a bad thing! Thanks for the tip, Margaret!
Click here to have a look: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/
And while you're at it, don't forget about our own CBC's Learning Tool for ESL
CBC Ottawa and various community partners, including Carleton University and OCISO, have created an exciting ESL learning tool based on TV and radio clips from the CBC Archives website. Take a look and share this resource with learners! www.cbc.ca/ottawa/esl
In case you haven't explored it yet, the settlement.org website, run by the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants, (OCASI), has a wealth of resources for ESL teachers and students alike. There are two sections: one for immigrants, full of articles you can use in the classroom on such topics as education, health, money management, and much more, and one for those of us who serve immigrants, with many resources and articles that can contribute to our effectiveness, and also to our wellbeing. It's well worth taking a little time to explore both sites, which you can enter here: http://settlement.org/path.html
The Canadian Immigrant is an online magazine full of information, resources, success stories, thought-provoking articles and pictures. It can be an invaluable classroom resource, as well as providing pertinent and enjoyable reading for students at home.
To view The Canadian Immigrant magazine, click on this link: http://www.canadianimmigrant.ca/
The Link is a two-hour daily radio show aimed at connecting new immigrants to Canada and Canada to the world. Plug into the show for immigration news and stories. Find out what's new and exciting on Canada's cultural landscape. And get the pulse on what's happening in Canada today. Whether you live inside or outside the country, just click on The Link and get connected.
To check out The Link at Radio Canada International, click on this link: http://www.rcinet.ca/rci/en/emissions/1952.shtml
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Immigrant Services Kingston and Area (ISKA) |
All sorts of new things are happening at ISKA these days. Remember to check their website so you can refer students appropriately. For more information and updates on services, click here:
http://immigrantserviceskingston.ca
Be sure to download their monthly calendar of events and their newsletters from the website.
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CANADIAN COALITION FOR IMMIGRANT CHILDREN & YOUTH
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Call for submissions for the CCICY Newsletter 'Soap-Box'
The CCICY Newsletter now has a regular 'soap-box' feature where members are invited to post on a topic related to immigrant children and youth. Folks are invited to submit pieces (300 or fewer words) on the following topics:
Policy issues
Programming
Issues and Trends
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Legislation
Services
News about your organization or from your region. |
Soap-box submissions may be edited for length and content and are subject to approval by the Newsletter editor and Barbara Burnaby. Deadlines are the second Friday of each month. Click here to submit.
T he reason that CCICY was created is to address the education needs of immigrants by creating collaborative dialogue between the two levels of government who have those two responsibilities. Currently, the federal government has responsibility for immigration and the provinces have responsibility for education.
As a National Coalition, CCICY has faced many challenges including the need for funding and a structure to support the work. Each province is working on the issue in different way, utilizing different structures and CCICY has much work to support the work of the provinces while working towards a collaborative approach. Their goal is to promote information-sharing, dialogue and collaboration amongst all stakeholders to achieve their vision of having an education system that effectively supports all children and youth in becoming contributing members of Canada's society.
In the city of Edmonton there has been a great effort to unite individuals and organizations that already support and seek to better support our immigrant and refugee children and youth and their families.
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They began meeting in May, 2008 at the Big Brothers/Big Sisters centre in Edmonton and continue to explore ways of supporting each other and work collaboratively on projects and advocacy. This is a very promising development!
For more information on further developments, and also for a very comprehensive listing of upcoming conferences on diverse topics, check out their online newsletter at the following link: http://www.lerc.educ.ubc.ca/CCICY/newsletter.html |
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Preliminary Online Equivalency
On September 5, 2006, World Education Services (WES) announced their launch of an online credential equivalency service. The Preliminary Online Equivalency (POE) is a self-directed web-based service where individuals or institutions can look up equivalencies of international academic credentials instantly. We believe this online service will help immigrants to Canada as well as educational institutions, employers, regulatory bodies and potential immigrants to Canada who are still overseas. |
Initially, POE will contain credential equivalencies for twenty-five countries: Australia, Brazil, China, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, The Netherlands, Turkey, UK and USA. We expect the list will grow very soon to encompass the vast majority of countries.
This self-assessment tool is currently limited to a post-secondary degrees and recognized degree-granting institutions. It does not include secondary-level or other types of institutions and credentials.
The equivalencies provided are based on information in WES database. There is $30 fee to review equivalencies for three international credentials. This fee can be credited towards the cost of a formal evaluation report.
Note: Since the statement of equivalency is not based on a review of actual documents, it has no formal status, and cannot be used by an individual as proof that they have earned the degree described. Only a formal evaluation report can be used for purpose of degree authentication.
For more information, or to access the Preliminary Online Equivalency, click here.
Credential Evaluation for Newcomers
by Peg Deaton, Roving Reporter, TESL Kingston
On May 31st, 2006, Nancy Millward of World Education Services (WES) gave a
presentation at St. Lawrence College on the whys and hows of credential evaluation
for newcomers.
She stated that approximately 40% of employers indicate that they would screen out internationally-educated applicants because they do not know how to assess their education. In order to break that barrier of what employers are thinking, WES
aids foreign-trained professionals to apply for employment, apply for licensing or certification with professional associations, enter apprenticeship training programs and
even to immigrate to Canada. For employers in Canada the biggest issues are understanding foreign credentials and ascertaining language skills.
In working with the applicants there are three key questions: Does the work they do belong to one of the regulated professions? How will a credential assessment help them get a job? Why choose World Education Services?
WES is an international not-for-profit agency whose mission is to facilitate the employment and academic integration of immigrants through the provision of credential evaluation services. WES is recognized and funded, by the Government of Ontario, Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. It has 30 years experience and does approximately 55,000 evaluations annually.
For teachers of these professionals the following contact information may be useful:
www.wes.org/ca At this site the individual may download the application form or complete the form on line.
www.edu.gov.on.ca (or call 1-888562-4769) At this site or phone number the individual
may obtain information related to regulated professions.
416-651-1496 Costi Translation Services
http://www.ilc.org/index.php or call 1-416-326-5775 At this site or number questions may be asked with regard to apprentice training.
www.apprenticesearch.com This site gives information about jobs for apprentices.
www.SkillsInternational.ca This site is a very new venture. It contains a searchable database of candidate profiles and is dedicated exclusively to profiling the skills of immigrant job seekers in Ontario. This tool unites pre-screened, internationally trained individuals with employers who need their skills.
www.wes.org/ca/apply/westoeic.asp This site allows newcomers to apply online for an evaluation of international educational credentials as well as registration for a TOEIC test.
For those using WES, Nancy stated that the most important document for foreign trained professionals to obtain is their transcripts. These should be sent directly from their university abroad to WES in a sealed envelope. Once those are received, their standard service is fast – 7 businesss days. For one fee, WES evaluates all the professional’s formal academic degrees or diplomas issued by educational institutions.
An on line application may be made to www.wes.org/ca/application . To check the status of a report online, the applicant may go to https://www/wes.org/ca/appstatus
For no extra charge, a second original copy of the report is sent directly to an institution of the professional’s choice. Course-by-course evaluation reports are preferred by educational institutions and licensing bodies. An evaluation can be used for employment, continuing education, licensing, entry to apprenticeship training programs and immigration purposes.
The cost of a document-by–document report is $115 per application. The cost of a detailed course-by-course report is $200 per application. An upgrade from document-by-document to Course-by-course report is $150. Rush service is available at an extra cost:
same day service is $200, 3-day service is $100. Nancy recommends that one use the
same day service only if transcripts are already in the WES office.
If you would like a WES staff to contact you for an “Information Session” on their Evaluation Services and outreach to employers, contact Nancy Millward at 416-972-0070 ext. 26 or Kevin Kamal 416-972-0070 ext. 25.
You may order materials from WES to give to your students, including WES application forms in English or French, brochures about the TOEIC-WES application, WES hire-smart booklets, WES postcards, and a brochure on understanding a WES report. For these
materials contact Kevin or Nancy at the above numbers. |
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