Adults Learning English and Maths: Reflecting on Policy, Research and Practice
At the start of the new academic year, most practitioners are facing significant changes and challenges including new qualifications in the shape of Functional English and Maths, changes in teacher education as a result of the proposals made by the Lingfield Review and a new Minister for Skills, Matthew Hancock. NIACE’s first joint annual conference with UCU and RAPAL asked this crucial question: What can we learn from research to help us deal with these challenges whilst keeping learners at the heart of our work
Professor Mary Hamilton from Lancaster University opened with a thought-provoking presentation on how literacy is represented in a range of public contexts, exploring the power of statistics and how they are used to build a deficit model for skills policy development. She reminded us that literacy and numeracy are more than a set of technical skills, but entrenched in notions of power and power relationships. Although we pay attention first and foremost to the contexts and purposes of literacy and numeracy, making interventions that respect and build on learners’ lives, the reality is that most practitioners are working in an environment that is driven by numbers and targets and where qualifications are used as a proxy for achievement. Professor Lyn Tett, University of Edinburgh and University of Huddersfield, also resisted this deficit approach and shared Scotland’s commitment to shaping policy through consultation with practitioners and to recognising a broad range of achievement including measuring distance travelled. However, her concern is that this may be lost as Scottish policy increasingly focuses on literacy as part of its employability agenda.
After a brief history of what had been achieved by the Skills for Life Strategy, Dr Susan Pember, Director of FE and Skills Investment at BIS, assured the audience that her Department was still committed to continuous improvement. She also explained that numbers are critical to convince government officials to take action and to measure impact, but was unable to stay for the Q&A where the debate continued. However, the mood remained generally positive as most participants felt they understood the policy context. They accepted both the need to challenge the power of numbers and resist a deficit model, but also recognised the need to build the case for continued funding.
The conference also offered a number of workshops for participants to choose from. Pauline Nugent from Pecket Learning Community, a user led voluntary organisation, made it clear in her workshop that although inclusion is expensive, exclusion is far more expensive in the longer term. Her centre has an ethos of peer learning, training and support and its literacy groups, for example, have been run by people who themselves find reading and writing difficult. Helen Casey’s (NRDC) workshop explored the changing patterns of teacher education and in their workshop, Vera Hutchinson and Irene Schwab (Institute of Education), outlined and explored the challenges of the new ‘2 for 1’ Literacy and ESOL initial teacher education qualification. Other workshops included a social practice approach to provide numeracy support for nurses; the Six Book Challenge and union involvement in English and Maths learning.
My workshop explored attitudes to maths and BBC Learning showcased its new Skillswise materials to support maths learning linked to Rip off Britain, as well as its latest section on reading for pleasure and brand new phonics tool. Participants discussed what resources work best and why, and what new online resources BBC Skillswise can develop to support the future teaching and learning of Functional Skills. Everyone agreed that BBC programmes have a huge potential to reach learners and that we need to find ways to maximise this by linking to online learning resources which perhaps use scripts from well known programmes and by better utilising the red button.
It was an interesting, vibrant and positive day with lots of networking and discussion – we have set the bar high. It was a pleasure to work with Amy Burgess and Alison Wedgbury from RAPAL and Dan Taubman from UCU – as a result, a joint conference to reflect on policy, practice and research will definitely become an annual fixture.
A short report of all the day’s workshops is available here – Workshop Reports.
