More, Different and Better

On the last day of Black History Month, I have the final interview in NIACE’s series to celebrate unsung heroes across the learning and education sector. Karen King won a 2012 Adult Learners’ Week award, because despite the challenges of working as a carpenter in a male-orientated environment, a quest to find out more about her rights has led to a new role as a Health and Safety and Computing advisor. 

Tell me a bit about your early years and schooling.

I was born in Hackney in 1970 to West Indian parents. For a couple of years I went to a school not too far from the family home, but then my parents sent me to the Caribbean to go school there. They intended to migrate to the Caribbean, but that did not pan out, so they decided to then bring me back in to London.

When I went to secondary school my parents didn’t like how the system was working – they felt that the Caribben was the best option for me – and eventually they found a private school they liked. 

It was the only private school that was doing O-level qualifications at the time. A lot of the teachers there were black teachers from the Caribbean and they had the mind-set that discipline was paramount. We were never seen on buses screaming and shouting, as our headmaster said he wanted us to be ladies and gents when we left school. There was always constant encouragement from teachers, which kept us going.

How did you get into construction?

After school I went back to the Caribbean and worked with an uncle of mine who was an architect and I found it quite interesting. I came back again to London and embarked on a building and construction course.

By that time I had my son, which was quite hard to juggle as a single mum. Just getting to college was difficult for me, with the demands of taking care of the home and looking after my son as well.

I had no financial help – my income support had to stretch to support my travel, materials, books, bills – that was a tough to deal with, but I was very determined.

What other courses have you done?

When I returned to London I couldn’t find work. I saw an advert in the paper for a women’s only establishment offering assistance with NVQ in whatever given trade you wanted.

I started in carpentry and did my NVQ 1 and NVQ 2. After that I went to college in Hackney and did my level 3. Then onto Lewisham College and completed a leadership course.

Lewisham College and UCATT pushed me to do more courses and I now work for UCATT in the Training and Development Department.

How has winning a 2012 Adult Learners’ Week award impacted on you?

When I was doing the courses, it was not something that I thought I needed to be recognised for. I did it for me, no one can take away what’s between your ears.

I believe we should always have that hunger to learn – everyday we should be learning something. It doesn’t stop once you have landed yourself a job, you make sure that you continue the learning process.

Are the barriers for black learners now the same as they were 30 years ago?

The barriers are not as apparent as they were when our parents came over. They talked about not being able to buy houses and so on. Now there a lot more opportunities that people can access.

What irks me is that our youth are not accessing them, they are not hungry enough. We all come across barriers, but it’s down to the individual. They have to be hungry for it.

How can we inspire more people into learning?

We need more workshops for people to get involved in. And guest speakers going into schools and saying that it’s ok to be whatever you want to be. Asking what people like doing and helping them to harness that and achieve it.

Interview with Paul Jarvis, Adult Learners’ Week award winner

Interview with Suzanne Overton-Edwards, Principal of Gateway College

Interview with Gary Chin, Principal of Greenwich Community College

Interview with Satnam Gill, Principal of Working Men’s College