Ballroom Dancing, which used to be considered solely a social pursuit, has blossomed into one of the most entertaining and enjoyable ways to socialize and to stay in shape.
Continuing Education + Job Training // Publishing since 1999
Ballroom Dancing, which used to be considered solely a social pursuit, has blossomed into one of the most entertaining and enjoyable ways to socialize and to stay in shape.
Julie Jackson and I first met at a public library concert two summers ago when she sat next to me.
“Enthusiasm is a state of mind natural to the lover of art,” wrote Max J. Friedländer, “indeed, to him almost something natural.”
Educational providers are constantly developing new courses to help us stay up to date.
Readers of Learning Curves will recognize the name of the WEA initiative called University in the Community.
I often chatted with Tim when he worked at a store near Toronto’s Main and Gerrard Streets.
Beginning this journey back to school has been a long one, and has not been easy.
There is no static profile for students who come to PTP Adult Learning and Employment Programs.
We all make plans but then life happens.
Have you ever felt that you should have gone further with your education? That you were capable of more?
The experience of a new culture is oftentimes eye opening and the shock that comes with it can sometimes leave us in awe.
When I first met Susan Shin in November 2017, she was a college student studying international business.
David is sitting in my office on a frigid February afternoon, explaining how he came to be studying – and succeeding – at U of T after being away from school for so many years.
Most people are surprised to learn that the Canadian Mothercraft Society’s reputation of providing high quality early education
We know that climate change is happening. We also know that it’s the result of increased carbon emissions from human activities like land degradation and the burning of fossil fuels. And we know that it’s urgent.
According MHCC, the average age of a Canadian trucker is 47 years old. By the age of 40, more than half the population have,
The world of work is competitive and further education may give particular candidates the competitive edge and legitimacy needed in their professions.
John has been a residential building custodian for many years on my street.
I am the coordinator of a humanities-based, adult education outreach program called University in the Community (UitC).
Little by little the walls of stigma surrounding mental health are starting to crumble.
Have you ever watched Storage Wars on TLC? On a recent episode there was a mime helping the storage guys.
Often we put off calling a university or college as we didn’t finish high school or did poorly or did it in a different country in a different language.
As regular readers of Learning Curves will already know, adult education programs are as varied as the interests of the people who sign up for them.
Before we talk about Municipal Elections and Adult Education, let’s look at Municipal elections in general and then the upcoming one in 2018 which is different.
Educational institutions are constantly developing new courses to help their students stay up to date and often they work in partnership with a professional group or industry.
The years of retirement should be a golden period. It means, one will be dignified, having a decent lifestyle, enjoying the fruits of their labour, families and friends.
When I first met Mugi last year, she was working at a Chinese supermarket. As we got to know each other, Mugi told me she would soon start evening English classes.
We don’t have a choice how crisis comes into our lives. Sometimes, we see it coming and we can prepare for it, while other times, we are just thrown into it by surprise.
As a person who firmly believes that one should always be striving for personal growth, I share my “aiming for success” story, in the hopes that I can inspire other older adults to keep reaching for their educational goals.
Art gives us an experience like nothing else can. Art exhibitions, whether in a formal gallery or part of an informal event, provide the opportunity for art to be explored.
The Arab Community Centre of Toronto (ACCT), whose Head Office is located in Etobicoke and has been providing services for over 30 years, aims to be inclusive of both Arab and non-Arab communities with assistance to those new to Canada with settlement and social services in many languages in addition to Arabic, including English, French, Punjabi, Russian and Dutch.
There are a variety of programs, services and events which are accessible to anyone with an interest in Japan and its culture.
When Saigon fell to the Vietcong, I was only in kindergarten. But soon, school became “re-education”. We swept streets and picked up garbage.
Despite its humble thrift store origins a century ago, social purpose enterprises have been gaining ground in recent years as a viable form of both employment and skills training.
The Workers' Educational Association of Canada (WEA) has been a champion of free, public education for adults since its beginning in 1918.
As the late American journalist, Christopher Morley, once said “There are three ingredients in the good life: learning, earning and yearning”.
In the last issue of Learning Curves, an article, which I wrote The new, new economy, described how citizens around the world
The world of work is competitive and further education may give particular candidates the competitive edge and legitimacy needed in their professions.
The Jewish Russian Community Centre (JRCC), which operates branches including in Toronto, Thornhill and as far away as Ottawa, serves as a support system for Russians of the Jewish faith from the former Soviet Union.
Often adult students had dropped out of high school, though they do this less than they used to, and later they often decide to go back to school. But there has been few community accessible learning information services to help adults go back. So often they start back based on what a friend advises or at an educational program they know in their area or at a program they have seen an ad for.
David Li has found the secret of teaching the complicated and rigorous practice of accounting by breaking it down to a simple and elegant format that is easy to understand.
Do you prefer to learn using images and pictures? Or do you like to learn using sound and music? Or do you prefer to learn in groups with other people, or by yourself?
Don’t let yourself get caught in the all-too familiar trap of waiting until your children have gone back to school before thinking about your own continuing education.
For several years, I would see Sonia’s welcoming smile behind a local library’s reference desk.
For many people, attending university after high school can be an intimidating task – especially at an institution like the University of Toronto.
Most people will remember November 4, 2008 as an historic moment when Obama was elected president of the United States. But, I will always remember it as the day I decided to go to grad school.
It is exciting to see that the Community Hubs Advisory Group, established by Premier Kathleen Wynne and chaired by Karen Pitre, is currently engaged in consultations across the province.
It’s Monday morning, and another week of work begins. Upstairs I hear my neighbour stirring
On my street lives Aaron Siu whom I met four years ago.
Recent news stories reporting that Toronto public schools are “under-utilized” paint a wildly inaccurate picture
Adults thinking of going back to school, often have the following start dates in mind: fall term: September, winter term: January, spring term: May. This picture limits your choices.
In part one, we learned that eighteen-year old Sarah came from Tehran during the Gulf War to marry forty-year-old Yousef.
On March 20, 2014, Bryan Wright, a great friend of Learning Curves, died suddenly at the age of sixty-five.
Summer holiday mode is over, you have turned your mind to work mode, the kids are settled in school and you have time to think about taking a course yourself, only to find the Fall term has already started at many places.
One summer, I temporarily rented an apartment where two young women next door welcomed me.
In the last few years, we have been increasingly made aware that Canada needs skilled tradesmen, perhaps more than it needs the lawyers or dentists that parents want their children to become.
These days when you say that your grandparents rock, you don’t mean in a rocking chair! Baby boomers, many of whom are now seniors, have dramatically changed the face of retirement.
se are just a few of the things one might overhear me saying, to my incredibly active three year old son, at any given time.
Summer is not a down time for learning. It is just that in the summer, it’s more work to find what’s offered.
According to a report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives titled Degrees of Uncertainty:
If you are a job seeker, a question you might be asking is ‘how do I fit into a workplace that seems to be resistant instead of accepting?’
On October 24th I attended the Annual General Meeting of the Toronto Workforce Innovation Group
If you have ever wanted to learn a new language, you will soon discover that it takes time and patience just to decipher the pages of online information, let alone to figure out how to register for a class.
Once told he would never be anything more than a dishwasher, author Jonathan Mooney has not only come to terms with his cognitive differences, but graduated
Let’s say that you have been out of school for a few years working at a job that pays the bills but doesn’t interest you the way it once did.
Are you a job seeker over the age of 45 who suspects that age is the barrier to your employment success?
Ontario has never had a Premier with such deep commitment to adult learning. Consider the following about Kathleen:
In the Winter 2012 issue, Learning Curves did a feature article on the GED General Education Development Test which, if you pass, earns you a high school equivalency certificate.
Because of the difficulty of drilling down into online calendars for schedules, Learning Curves has just picked one course area to survey this year: computers.
Of the three terms, the spring term has the most varied start dates. Course starts go from mid April to mid May, unlike the fall term where most start in the first week of September and the winter term in the first week of January.
ou are an adult who didn’t get a high school diploma, for whatever reason, you probably don’t want to re-enroll in a high school program and work your way through years of classes.
Just as there are in-class courses to attend in June, July, and August, there are distance education courses too.
I’m a Torontonian. Having lived in this city for sixty years, I have been witness to many changes here
Returning to school for most people can be a worrying experience at the best of times.
The Toronto District School Board offers Literacy and Basic Skills (LBS) programs at over 30 locations throughout Toronto.
A listing of schools by community in Toronto and the GTA
Can you imagine a senior who is 74 years old learning English from Zero? How could I learn English at my age?
Summer is a great time to take a course! Although the selection is more limited than in the fall, winter and spring terms, most educational providers offer courses during the summer months.
The world of work is getting more competitive with inflated credentials required for positions which once required only a high school diploma, with the disappearance of “good” jobs because of offshoring, technology replacing people and so on.
Have you always dreamed of being an artist? Looking to change careers and get into the arts, but not sure if it’s quite right for you?
The growth of entrepreneurial spirit is an important factor in turning around economic downturns.
For forty years or more our world has become more and more a “global village” because of advances in communications technology
June is Seniors’ Month and an appropriate time for Learning Curves to look at the learning needs of seniors
Internationally trained lawyers have one of the most challenging professions in which to re-certify when moving from one country to another.
Many of you newcomers who were doctors, dentists, nurses etc. in your homelands find recertifying in Canada too costly and too lengthy.
This is the third in a series of articles on professional associations which internationally trained professionals may join in order
An easy way for newcomers to find Canadian-born professionals who work in the same field is to go to the nearest public library and ask for the Associations Canada Directory.