Uncharted Territory - Essential Skills Ontario

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTSThere are a number of people without whom this paper would not have been possible.I have worked with Ron Samson, Researcher at Essential Skills Ontario, for over twoyears. I still never cease to appreciate the care and thoughtfulness he brings to eachpiece of our work. His provocative thinking was a critical ingredient in writing thispaper.The paper would not have been possible without Ghazal Niknazar, Senior ProjectCoordinator at Essential Skills Ontario. Her points of view on the topic greatlyenriched the paper, and she somehow managed to deal with my eccentricities duringeach edit. We also thank Lesley Brown, Executive Director at Essential Skills Ontario,for her sustained interest in social innovation and how it can be used to solveintractable social challenges. As always, Lesley gives us the space to research issuesand engage in meaningful conversation. Danielle Olsen, from the Hospitality TrainingCentre, who, at a young age, is already an experienced social innovator, providedsubstantive feedback during many iterations of the process. The depth and acuity ofher comments resulted in many improvements. Norman Rowen, the former ResearchDirector at Pathways Canada, in reviewing the early stages of the paper, provoked usto think more. Despite his bristling at the term social innovation, he is a trueinnovator in program design.We are indebted to Linda Shohet and Jocelyn Charron at The Centre for Literacy.Their patience, guidance and shared interest led to a deeper understanding of socialinnovation and the possible implications for the field of literacy and essential skills.While our debates about wording were often difficult, we genuinely appreciated theirassistance in navigating this terrain.Finally, and most importantly, we thank the many participants and presenters at TheCentre for Literacy’s Fall Institute on Social Innovation. Their experiences with socialinnovation provided us with specific examples of how social innovation might beapplied in our field. Our heartfelt appreciation to everyone who participated in andorganized the Institute, and our sincere thanks to everyone mentioned above.While many people contributed to our work, any errors contained in this paper ofcommission or omission, of fact or interpretation, remain my own responsibility.John MacLaughlinFebruary 20132• Uncharted Territory: Can Social Innovation Revitalize Literacy and Essential Skills Programs?
AUTHORSJohn MacLaughlinJohn MacLaughlin is Manager of Research and Business Development at EssentialSkills Ontario (ESO). He has recently developed a series of discussion papersincluding Menial No More (2011), Clearer Sightlines to Employment (2012), IndustryShared Approaches (2012), and From Better Skills to Better Work (forthcoming).These papers are shaping the way policy makers and programs are thinking aboutlabour force development and the related priorities. John conceived of, developedand was the founding Executive Director of Preparatory Training Programs (PTP) inToronto from 1990 until 2003. He spent the next six years in senior advisory rolesin international vocational education and training in South East Asia. John hasextensive experience in applying innovative concepts and translating them into onthe-groundstrategies. He has worked in community development and adultliteracy, and has more than twenty-five years of experience in educational research,evaluation and policy analysis.Ron SamsonRon Samson, Researcher at Essential Skills Ontario, brings a passion to the field ofworkforce development and is interested in advancing Ontario’s and Canada’straining systems through innovation. During his time at ESO, Ron has donebackground research for numerous reports including: Realizing Local WorkforcePotential through Workforce Planning Boards and Regional Literacy Networks, andthe Ontario Adult Literacy Curriculum Framework Goal Descriptions. His latest workis focused on career ladders and place-based strategies. After graduating fromUniversity of Toronto as an Honors Specialist in Employment Relations, Rontravelled to India and worked as a microfinance consultant for two years and as aHuman Resource assistant at Daimler.Uncharted Territory: Can Social Innovation Revitalize Literacy and Essential Skills Programs? • 3
Page 1 and 2: TheCentreforLiteracyLe centre d’a
Page 3: TABLE OF CONTENTSOverview . . . . .
Page 7 and 8: INTRODUCTIONWhat is social innovati
Page 9 and 10: FIVE DRIVERS OF SOCIAL INNOVATION1.
Page 11 and 12: THE PROCESSES OF SOCIAL INNOVATIONF
Page 13 and 14: WHERE DOES SOCIAL INNOVATION HAPPEN
Page 15 and 16: WHERE DOES SOCIAL INNOVATION HAPPEN
Page 17 and 18: NEW MODELS FOR A NEW WORLD4.2 New C
Page 19 and 20: NEW MODELS FOR A NEW WORLDThree cha
Page 21 and 22: NEW MODELS FOR A NEW WORLDCharacter
Page 23 and 24: NEW MODELS FOR A NEW WORLD4.5 Socia
Page 25 and 26: NEW MODELS FOR A NEW WORLDFrom an i
Page 27 and 28: CAN SOCIAL INNOVATIONS HELP LES PRO
Page 29 and 30: TO CONSIDER: A CHALLENGE TO THE FIE
Page 31 and 32: GLOSSARYSocial Enterprise LendingTh
Page 33: WORKS CITEDAcker, C. & Rowen, N. (F
Page 36: ISBN: 978-1-927634-00-4 Copyright

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