The Literacy Lab - Where We Are

Please check this page for periodic updates on the Literacy Lab. We aim to update monthly. 

Literacy Lab Where We Are Updates

We’ve now entered the prototyping phase. Since January 2025, we’ve engaged with folks who have insights into three solution areas the lab will focus on: newcomer reading instruction, literacy within Indigenous families, and the overlooked early years of literacy development.

In March, we hosted a Solution Identification Workshop, where we brainstormed and tested bold ideas to see which ones had the most potential to become real solutions.

This April, we held Solution Refining & Prioritization Workshops, where we selected three bold idea to prototype for the rest of 2025. They are:

  1. Literacy Kit: This kit would foster early and lifelong literacy within Indigenous families through accessible, culturally grounded, and family-centred learning resources. Rooted in Indigenous perspectives, this kit aims to provide families with culturally specific materials, tools and resources to support in-home literacy development and increase caregiver involvement in the children's educational journey.
  2. The Early Words Festival: The festival aims to broaden public understanding of the importance and breadth of language acquisition skills while bringing the entire literacy community together. The proposed solution is an accessible, inclusive event (i.e. a festival) that focuses on interacting with youth and their parents/caregivers around language acquisition activities which extend beyond reading text (e.g. singing, puppets, theatre, storytelling, etc.). The festival aims to enhance knowledge of how to create rich language environments at home and celebrate the diverse languages, cultures, and literacy traditions that shape our communities.
  3. Parent Education for Understanding School in Calgary: These sessions are intended to help newcomer caregivers understand the local school system, covering report cards, curriculum, available supports, and online tools and empowering them to advocate for culturally responsive reading instruction at school and to support their children’s learning. Hosted in spaces where newcomer families feel safe and welcome, with content delivered by schools and newcomer-serving organizations, the sessions are guided by newcomers’ needs and will ideally be delivered in their preferred languages, with childcare provided.
Exploring One More Idea:
In addition to the solutions being prototyped by small teams, the Literacy Lab is also exploring another promising idea outside of a formal team structure. Originally, this idea focused on creating a database to help newcomers find literacy resources for children up to grade 3. Now, we’re looking at how we could enhance an existing Calgary-based database using AI to improve the user experience and search quality.

 

 

The Literacy Lab - What's Been Happening

 

Our journey in the Literacy Lab so far: Early 2024 – Laying the Foundation The journey began in February 2024 with the official launch of the Literacy Lab, setting the stage for a year of exploration, collaboration, and learning. By April 2024, momentum picked up with the Lab Counsel Launch, bringing together key stakeholders and community voices. This was accompanied by the first round of Community Systems Workshops, where initial ideas and shared challenges began to take shape. 🧠 Spring to Summer 2024 – Understanding the System In May 2024, the focus turned toward Initial Challenge Mapping, diving deeper into the context and lived realities influencing the system. These efforts continued through additional Community Systems Workshops, helping connect patterns and perspectives. June 2024 marked the start of intensive Mapping, Research, and Interviews, culminating in a Lab Counsel Map Review to reflect and validate emerging insights. The work deepened over the summer, with ongoing research and interviews extending into July and August. These months also featured a Teacher Candidate Workshop and the Indigenous Perspectives Circle, ensuring that diverse, grounded experiences informed the evolving picture. 🛠 Fall 2024 – Deeper Engagement The fall brought opportunities to synthesize and reframe. In October 2024, Mapping & Interview Updates provided fresh insights, which were further explored in a Lab Counsel Workshop. In November, the momentum continued with another round of Community Systems Workshops, followed by a Literacy Counsel Meeting in December to prepare for the shift from understanding to action. 💡 Early 2025 – From Insight to Action With a strong foundation in place, January 2025 saw the start of Solution Brief Development, translating insights into concrete, community-rooted ideas. This was followed by Community Solutions Workshops in February 2025, where stakeholders collaborated to refine potential paths forward. Finally, in April 2025, the project enters a key phase with Proposed Solution Workshops, setting the stage for tangible change and implementation.

 

 

 

The Literacy Lab - What's Coming Up

 

  • We have formed small, six-person solution teams to experiment with each idea. These teams will collaborate closely to conduct a small-scale ‘test’ of their solution, then refine it for a second test in the fall of this year.

  • Literacy Lab Wrap-up:
    The lab will conclude by the end of 2025 with a year-end showcase presenting insights and outcomes from the prototypes and the lab process overall. This showcase is open to the public and we’d love to see past Literacy Lab participants there! We’ll be sure to send out more information on this as the date gets closer.

Have questions about this? Contact Lori De Luca, the lab manager, at ldeluca@mtroyal.ca. 

  • Lit Lab Photos

Are you interested and want to be involved?

Learn More Back to the Main Page

 

 

Calgary Foundation Logo

The Literacy Lab is generously funded by an anonymous donor through the Calgary Foundation.

Stay tuned for project updates and ways to engage.