Schools, vocational and adult training centres are not only part of the educational system, they are part of the communities they serve. This connection is important in Anglophone communities, especially those that only represent a small percentage of the total population in their area. The benefits of this connection have been well demonstrated in a wide variety of contexts: The school’s impact on students is strengthened by the support of family and community, while the latter are strengthened by the support of the school. ‘Together we’re stronger’ is a particularly apt expression to describe the potential of collaborative school-community relations: schools/centres, community groups and other public and private sector agencies working together to improve the opportunities to and from life-long learning for youth and adults and contribute to the overall development of the community

It is for this reason that the “Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport” (MELS) is supporting the development of 15 Community Learning Centres that will be located in schools across Quebec. The support consists of funding and technical help for a period of three years starting in November 2006 and videoconferencing equipment.

The CLCs initiative is aimed at supporting the development of a diverse group of CLCs that will serve as ‘hubs’ for English-language education and community development in their respective communities, as well as offer models for future practice. Some of the key results anticipated from CLCs are:

• Provide access to the conditions deemed necessary for student success
• Respond to the particular culture and needs of the communities they serve
• Provide services that are accessible to the broader community
• Deliver a range of services that are self-supporting and sustainable over time
• Integrate existing services and resources with those available from external agencies
• Develop financial/resource partnerships that insure long-term sustainability
• Resonate within their communities as a successful response to their needs
• Demonstrate flexible and innovative approaches to service delivery

Ideally, the 15 CLCs will deliver educational and support services that are conducted in a seamless and integrated fashion and bring various agencies to pool resources and share the responsibility of service delivery. The general approaches will be to:

• Develop an ongoing network of collaborative partnerships
• Nurture symbiotic relationships between schools/centres and their communities
• Enhance access to services for the English-speaking community and improve student retention and success rates.

Specific services may include:

• Educational &complementary services
• Integrated childcare and/or pre-school
• Assessment and referral services
• Complementary health &social services
• Parenting and family education and support
• Multi and intergenerational learning activities
• Community development & support
• Preparation for careers & employability
• Corporate training and development
• Networking and IT support & leasing

Ideally, participating schools are ready for comprehensive change. The 15 CLCs were selected using the following criteria:

• Nominally - 1 project per school board
• Up to 3 “applicants” or projects proposals per school board
• Prior “pilot projects” automatically chosen if certain criteria are met
• Priority to “last English institution” in the community
• Priority to schools with high potential for community involvement and benefits
• Representation of primary and secondary schools and adult centres
• Range of urban, rural, and remote sites
• Variety of agency partnerships planned
• Diversity in approaches to the development of a CLC

The Framework consists of five major action steps (shown on the next page) that are to be undertaken by school/centre and its community partners to create a CLC. In general, the CLCs will be developing action plans that focus on student success and community development. The Framework developed for CLCs is not a blueprint but an open-ended guide. Its purpose is:

• To be comprehensive but practical;
• To work with existing policy and practice;
• To respond to the needs of all partners;
• To be advisory, not prescriptive.

Throughout the process, the 15 CLCs will receive technical support from a team based at LEARN. The team is composed of a project manager, community development agent, and research and evaluation coordinator. Their role will be to support the capacity development of CLC stakeholders and help them seek ways of ensuring the sustainability of CLCs. The team’s activities will include:

• Training of and bi-monthly meetings with the 15 CLC coordinators and ad-hoc meetings with partnership table when additional help is needed
• Provide specific guidance to CLCs on conceptual and practical issues (e.g., partnership building, community-based learning, leadership, and evaluation)
• Conduct site visits to CLCs
• Provide direct support to principals and coordinate a principal’s network
• Organize professional development for teachers to use the VCN in the classroom
• Develop a network and resources on Community-Based Learning for teachers
• Organize annual conferences for CLC stakeholders
• Organize and coordinate provincial-level advisory groups on policy, community-based programs, and research and evaluation.
• Facilitate the conduct of a three-year external evaluation of the CLCs.
• Disseminate interim and final evaluation findings to stakeholders.

The five major action steps in the framework are:

STEP 1: EXPLORE
In this step you explore the possible creation of a CLC: a formal partnership of one or more schools/centres, public or private agencies and community groups, working together for the benefit of students, families and community.

STEP 2: INITIATE
The purpose of this step is to initiate the partnership, a key transition point where commitment replaces contemplation. From afar, the steps look the same for any CLC but up close they will be different, depending on your context and the kind of CLC you want to create.

STEP 3: PLAN
The purpose of this step is to develop an Action Plan which maps the ‘pathways to change’,’ in accordance with the terms of the Partnership Agreement.

STEP 4: IMPLEMENT
The purpose of this step is to implement the Action Plan developed in the previous step.

STEP 5: EVALUATE
The purpose of this step is to evaluate the performance of the CLC in accordance with Step 3.4 of the Action Plan.