Frontier College Frontiere
Organization profile published 1982
http://www.frontiercollege.ca/Year Published: 1982
Resource Type: Organization
Cx Number: CX2460
Frontier College, established in 1899, recognizes that many Canadians have had little opportunity to pursue an education.
Abstract: Frontier College, established in 1899, recognizes that many Canadians have had little opportunity to pursue an education. Within the Canadian context one of the main reasons for this is the lack of learning resources available to communities in northern and remote regions.
Frontier College attempts to compensate for this deficiency by co-ordinating the sending of volunteers to these regions. These volunteers act as learning resource people, using their skills and imparting them to the people they serve. At the same time there is an effort to bring learning tools and materials into the communities. The College attempts to match the needs of the people they serve by sending field-workers with skills appropriate to the needs expressed.
College placements participate in one of two models. The original model used and still in practice is the labourer-teacher model. In this model, the resource person holds a full-time job in a local industry (usually in a primary or construction industry). Through conversation with fellow employees during the working day, the labourer-teacher discovers the workers' educational concerns. In the off work hours, the placement designs programmes to meet these concerns, relying on aids supplied by government and service agencies.
The other model practised is that of the 'contract field-worker,' who works for and with local community organizations. Local people and the placement together identify needs and goals. Projects common to this model are adult education, economic development, local leadership and community organizing. Again, College field-workers' skills are matched to the needs expressed by participating communities. As a College brochure states, "the programmes attempt to leave the people with the abilities, self-confidence and the sense of worth necessary to take effective control of their own lives."
This abstract was published in the Connexions Digest in 1982.
See also CX770, CX1049.
