Executive+Summary

Version:1.0 StartHTML:0000000183 EndHTML:0000007931 StartFragment:0000002547 EndFragment:0000007895 SourceURL:file://localhost/Users/allisonhone/Desktop/Executive%20Summary.doc **Team Municipal_Muddle**
 * Executive Summary**

Emergency preparedness is a key component of a functioning society. To that end, a need to establish a pandemic preparedness orientation program was identified by the province of British Columbia. Municipalities were charged with establishing a program to prepare for the possibility of a pandemic. The municipality of Fort St. John collaborated with a provincial working group to establish such a program to serve as a certified training program for the city’s municipal officials and heads of major departments. These recommendations were made to the Public Health Agency of Canada regarding how best to enhance provincial capacities.

The creation of such a program involves a careful look at the assumptions held both about the course, and about the learners. In designing a course that will be administered to both elected officials and heads of government departments, it is essential to realize that, although the individuals may seem homogeneous in their experience, age, and career, they are clearly heterogeneous in their learning styles. They will have a mixed level of formal education, and exhibit both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Malcolm Knowles suggested that adult learners also seek courses that are well organized with clear expectations. Any course that is designed for such a diverse groups of adult learners needs to take these assumptions into consideration.

Another key element in course design is an investigation of learner styles. David Kolb establishes four distinct learning styles: diverging, assimilating, converging and accommodating. Each learner style possesses different traits. For example, a divergent learner enjoys hands on exploration and conversations, whereas an assimilating learner prefers concepts and theories. As a result of these different traits, it is vital to address each learning style in some format to ensure engagement by the learner. Kolb also outlines a four stage cycle through which learners progress; a cycle of thinking, acting, experiencing and reflecting. To that end, a course on pandemic planning must involve a combination of face to face learning, and an online component. Readings can be provided prior to the start of the course to allow assimilative learners to be prepared. The face to face component is more suited to the divergent and accommodating learners who appreciate hand on learning. Finally, the convergent learners will appreciate the online component. Having both a face to face component and an online component will also address the divergent backgrounds of the parties involved, some of whom may actually live some distance away.

The working group makes these recommendations to the city of Fort St. John, and tasks the Safety and Emergency Management Coordinator with the creation of this pandemic preparation course. The course should be offered at least once a year, and successful learners be provided a certificate at the conclusion of their training. The Northern Lights College in Fort St. John holds excellent promise in helping to administer the course. A suggestion by the working group is to have a provincially certified training program for all municipalities, which would allow officials to transfer their certification to new positions in the province.