Examples of Events
Promote cultural diversity with Cultural Diversity Weekend
Cultural Diversity Weekend is on Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 May 2008. For many people it is the starting point for their Adult Learners' Week activity. The Weekend enables an opportunity to organise activities which celebrate the similarities and differences that exist in Britain today. Cultural Diversity Day (as it was then known) was introduced in 2002 in recognition of the importance of the Equality and Diversity Agenda with a vision to support providers in its delivery. It is now an integral part of Adult Learners' Week giving providers the opportunity to widen participation and be responsive to the needs of the wider community - making it a learning journey for providers and learners alike.
The objectives of Cultural Diversity Weekend are to:
- Raise awareness and improve understanding between different cultures;
- Celebrate the similarities and differences between cultures;
- Encourage community cohesion;
- Provide support in challenging racism, xenophobia and intolerance;
- Support and promote activities and events celebrating diversity;
- Raise the awareness of policy makers to concerns and issues around the barriers to learning;
- Promote intergenerational learning between the older and younger sections of the community;
- Represent diversity in the broadest sense, promoting all equalities through various activities.
We believe that Cultural Diversity Weekend is key in delivering Adult Learners' Week messages. Adult learning has an important role to play in contributing to the development of employment-related skills but it does more too - promoting social cohesion and active citizenship, creating and sustaining cultural value and contributing to public health and general well-being in quantifiable ways. This is what Cultural Diversity Weekend is all about.
Taking action
Cultural Diversity Weekend provides a dedicated time and platform to raise awareness of the diversity of learning and learners. It enables providers to engage with learners through interests they are comfortable with such as faith, tradition, fashion and art, providing taster sessions that instil confidence to take 'first steps' to learning.
For example, in Stockport town centre on Cultural Diversity Day (as it was then known) 2007 a city centre wide 'Culturefest' took place where entertainment stages showcasing music and dance and an international market were connected by learning activities and taster sessions across the city centre. Over 75% of respondents to the evaluation said that it added to their knowledge and understanding of culture. But the event worked because it focused on diverse music, arts and food as a means of promoting learning activities .
"Cultural diversity initiatives provide an opportunity for people to come together and share ideas and good practice. So much good practice in the field of challenging racism and promoting cultural diversity through adult education goes unnoticed. Cultural Diversity Weekend provides an opportunity for you to showcase what you are doing in this area and for other providers to learn from your experiences. It also provides an opportunity for you to encourage learners from minority groups to take advantage of your services and explore a range of issues, discussions and ideas around an ever-changing Britain and Europe".
Lenford White - Development Officer, NIACE
If you run an event on Cultural Diversity Weekend 2008 let us know! We can help you publicise your events through the promoting your campaign part of our website and through the use of our online calendar.
Workplace activities on Learning at Work Day
National Learning at Work Day, which takes place on the Thursday of Adult Learners' Week, 22 May 2008, is all about making a difference in your workplace: a difference to the motivation, morale and skills of employees, and a difference to the organisational performance of your business.
From tackling team-building to launching a learning centre: it's up to you how you celebrate Learning at Work Day. If you can meet a particular business objective whilst making the learning fun and meaningful, then you'll be on to a winner. Offering a taste of fun and informal learning will attract employees who may not readily participate in learning, and act as a springboard to further learning and more formal programmes.
Amongst organisations that had participated in Learning at Work Day previously, just under a quarter said that as a direct result of Learning at Work Day participants were following higher level qualification-based courses. 65% said that participants were carrying on with courses studied on Learning at Work Day or consolidating their skills. Learning at Work Day doesn't have to be costly, either. Most event organisers spend less than £100 on their programme: a small investment for a potentially huge reward.
Learning activities in the workplace lead to:
- Improved quality and reduced error rates;
- Reduced staff turnover and absenteeism;
- Improved internal communication and reporting;
- Enhanced staff recruitment and induction;
- More effective redeployment of staff;
- Improved learning cultures;
- Increased internal promotion, releasing the potential of existing staff.
Taking action
An estimated 5,000 organisations take part in Learning at Work Day during Adult Learners' Week, from large corporations, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and public sector organisations to government departments. One such example is Innovia Films based in Wigton, Cumbria. During the Week employees were encouraged to take part in many different activities, with many swapping office chairs for inflatable exercise balls, in the most popular of many different learning sessions, giving staff a taster of further education at work. The company has also set up a learning centre and established links with the local college which runs different types of courses in lunch hours.
If you run an event on Learning at Work Day 2008 let us know! We can help you publicise your events through advice on the Learning in the workplace part of this website. On the Campaign for Learning site: www.learningatworkday.com you'll find everything you need to help make your Learning at Work Day a success. There's a step-by-step planner, an A-Z of activity ideas, downloadable posters and graphics, promotional tips, and guidance on evaluation. Remember to add your events to our online calendar online calendar.
Using media literacy and encouraging silver surfers
The evidence from previous Adult Learners' Week surveys shows that a huge amount of people learn because of, or for the benefit of, their family. They begin to learn something with this goal in mind and it is only later they realise the value of learning itself. Often connected to this 'family instinct' is the use of computing equipment and media literacy skills.
A project that took place two years ago in Dartmoor prison is a good example of this, where prisoners, in order to record themselves reading bedtime stories to their children, learnt a wide range of media literacy skills alongside. This stealthy project called 'Storybook Dad' introduced many prisoners to learning they might otherwise never have been remotely interested in. A similar project is currently being used to allow soldiers in the Army to stay in touch with their families.
On Silver Surfers' Day, Friday 23 May 2008, organisations across the country will open their doors to older learners (anyone aged 50 plus) with little or no IT experience. The focus of the day is to create small groups in communities within which older learners can become engaged with technology. Digital Unite are responsible for co-ordinating Silver Surfers' Day, in partnership with Ofcom and Adult Learners' Week.
Taking action
Why not:
- Use it to host an Invite your parents to work/Invite your grandparents to work day?
- Get a local school to do an Invite your grandparents to school day?
- Run some free sessions on on-line ordering in the local supermarket?
- Open your library doors to research your family tree on the internet?
- Open your bank's door with free sessions on on-line banking?
One of last year's participants Ray Bunnage ran an intergenerational event in a primary school near Cheltenham. He said: 'Silver Surfers' Day has proved to be useful to not just the older generation but to the children as well'.
Current trends like the interest in family history initiated by television programmes like the BBC's Who do you think you are? have been a popular choice amongst practitioners in recent times too when putting-on events. Libraries especially have been using this theme because most people have a natural interest in their identity and their family history.
Community Service Volunteers (CSV) Media is an organisation that encourages adults to get involved in volunteering. During Adult Learners' Week they often work closely with the BBC. In 2006 in the North of England both organisation encouraged the public to take part in media activity by inviting them into their local centres for tours and various learning activities.
In the East of England in 2007 media literacy events were held in the region which discussed the history of radio. Different cultural communities from the area including Portuguese, Russian and Indian came together to get involved in making programmes.
If you run an event on Silver Surfers' Day or a media literacy event during Adult Learners' Week let us know! We can help you publicise your events through the promoting your campaign part of our website and through the use of our online calendar online calendar.
Inspiring creativity and happiness
For some adults learning has nothing to do with qualifications at all. The learning is found in the activities themselves, be they focussed in arts, music or dance, and are often a very popular way of inspiring people back into learning.
One such project is called Inspired by. and is the national art competition run during Adult Learners' Week (May is also Museums, Galleries and Archives Month). The competition aims to encourage adults to take inspiration from works of art in museums and galleries in order to create their own work of art - which can then be put on public display at the participating venues.
The competition is a collaboration between the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE), and the V&A Museum in London as part of Adult Learners' Week.
Entries to the competition have been increasing year on year as more venues, tutors and students get involved. In 2008, the competition will take place at regional partner venues such as National Museums Liverpool, Tyne and Wear Museums, Manchester Art Gallery, The Potteries Museum in Stoke-on-Trent, and Bodelwyddan Castle in Wales.
Members of the public (over 16) studying arts and crafts part-time may enter the competition, as well as attendees at participating museums workshops. Applicants can submit work in any media, but entries should not be in a medium in which the applicants have a professional qualification or which represents their main occupation.
If there is not a museum near you taking part in Inspired by. why not organise your own event. There is a basic desire in all humans to be creative so discover what museums or art galleries are in your area and work with them to get adults involved in learning.
In 2007 the British Library held a special event for Cultural Diversity Day (as it was then known) where local colleges ran taster courses inside the museum. Visiting members of the general public could try out all sorts of activities including Arabic Calligraphy.
If you run an event during Adult Learners' Week let us know! We can help you publicise your events through the promoting your campaign part of our website and through the use of our online calendar.
.still stuck for ideas?
Taster sessions, demonstrations, workshops and exhibitions are all ways to attract potential learners but if you are still struggling to think of ideas for your event why not use the following themes to spark ideas for your activities. You can also use the online event archive to see what other people have done before to get some inspiration.
Our environment
Eco-volunteering is becoming a very popular activity during Adult Learners' Week with people that live in cities being taken on a day's volunteering trip to the more rural parts of a county. When they arrive the helpers get free training and hot and cold drinks for their efforts helping out with important environmental work like coppicing, glade clearing, woodland thinning and dead hedging.
In Sunderland exhibitions and demonstrations were shown in the foyers of the cities libraries. There was a ferry trip along the River Wear incorporating a visit to the wildflower park and local history discussions. There was also a cycle trip along the sculpture trail and plant a tree and conservation workshops. This kind of activity is a great way of introducing adults to 'green issues'.
At one event in the South West issues of energy were raised by a great event which included participants being able to pedal a stationary bicycle which was fixed to a generator to highlight energy usage in a house.
These sorts of events are wonderful for raising awareness of the important issues of sustainable development and caring for our environment. Why not incorporate them into your Adult Learners' Week activities?
Demography
Demography, simply put is the study of people and populations. This can involve the study of the populations of countries in general or the amount of people at a certain age, with a certain level of education, or the amount of births or deaths in one country in any one year.
For example, studies on the proportion of men and women in certain types of work can reveal intriguing results. Studies of the numbers of people involved in the Transport, Distribution and Warehousing sector in particular revealed recently that very few women work there. Consequently, during Adult Learners' Week last year, events like those organised in the North-West by 'Women on the Move' and 'Girls in gear' sprung up to encourage women to get involved in logistics, Long Goods Vehicle (LGV) driving training and other jobs in this sector.
Another way in which demographics were highlighted involved a recent project in Doncaster which highlighted how the UK has an increasingly aging population by using inter-generational learning. Getting old and young people to teach each other can be a hugely (and to some people surprisingly) effective tool. Events involved older learners collecting wartime memories and then learning how to create interactive CDs, which they presented to local school pupils. One of the volunteers, Mary, said, "I had been prepared to find the children bored and inattentive but at every school it has been the opposite. We could have been answering questions for at least another hour if it had been left up to them!"
Events that explore the theme of demography do not have to be limited to the world of work or to this country only as by looking at the figures relating to education and aging in other countries we can often gain insight into how our world works. For example demography can often help us not only understand the behaviour of our government better but also the behaviour of other governments in the more troubled areas of the world.