Setting the Course for Success: Workplace Literacy Skills Training at the Ark

This case study examines the workplace education program at The Ark/ Lunenburg County Association for the Specially Challenged, a small Nova Scotia community organization dedicated to providing services for persons with special challenges, including intellectual and physical disabilities and mental illness.

Vocational training and work activity were the mainstays of The Ark’s workplace education program when it was first established in 1997. Today these opportunities still exist, but the programs have expanded to include far greater educational and recreational opportunities, including basic life skills, literacy, numeracy and computer skills training. Basic skills training was established at the workers’ request and is intended to grant them greater independence.

Workplace education has increased workers’ skills, beliefs and behaviours that are necessary to succeed in the workplace. Workers at the Ark have the confidence to apply skills to new and unfamiliar situations, and show initiative, commitment and persistence to get the job done.