NIACE ESOL policy conference Thursday, March 12, 2009 - 12:31

A policy conference focusing on recent developments in the field of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) was held in London, on Thursday 12 March 2009. The conference looked at ways to prioritise the most excluded individuals and communities for ESOL provision and was organised by NIACE on behalf of DIUS.

ESOL Policy Conference - Moving Forward was chaired by Derek Grover CB - Chair of the National ESOL Forum - who also chaired the NIACE Committee of Inquiry on ESOL. The Committee's report - More Than a Language (October 2006) - was the most significant and wide-ranging report on ESOL for many years.

Other key speakers included:

• Helen Kaczmarek, Assistant Director - ESOL and IAL - DIUS
• Helen Casey, Executive Director, NRDC
• Anne McKeown, Professional Development Manager, NATECLA

A series of workshops saw planners, practitioners and learners involved in the four test areas of the government's new initiative - ESOL and Community Cohesion - reporting back in detail on their experiences in planning and delivering the programme.

The conference was aimed at:
• ESOL providers
• managers and key agencies
• Local Authorities

Chris Taylor, ESOL Programme Director at NIACE, said:

"The day was rich and varied giving delegates the chance to hear about recent government developments in ESOL and how different test areas developed their ESOL and community cohesion strategies in their own way. As in all areas of adult learning policy, the conference raised as many questions as it did answers."

"The round table discussions were lively and controversial and delegates were invited to record their thoughts on a graffiti wall. Many of them found the day stimulating and thought-provoking and DIUS hopes to run further ESOL policy conferences in the near future."