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Latest News: March 2005
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Learning and Older People
On 23rd March 2005 the Government published its older people’s strategy (Opportunity Age-Meeting the challenges in the 21st century (cm 6466) and web links). A full NIACE response will follow, but in an initial comment, NIACE Development Officer, Jim Soulsby said:
“NIACE welcomes the efforts of Government to bring together in a single coherent document all the different strands of work that have been developed over the last few years to help create a better quality of life for older people. This recognises the value of learning and the importance of the public education system to help deliver that aspiration.
“The educational needs of older people have not featured as highly before. NIACE believes that access to high quality education can enhance quality of life, and equip older people to make sense of their life’s experiences to date, plan for the future and assess what their skills requirements might be – whether for extended employability, engaging in community activities, relating to grandchildren and other generations or simply meeting people and being stimulated. The paper acknowledges and recognises the health benefits of learning and stresses the Government’s commitment to safeguard the continuing availability of a wide range of learning for leisure, personal interest and community development purposes”. (Para. 3.27).
NIACE is also pleased that the upper age limit of 55 on HE student loans is being removed from 2006.
The paper recognises the difficulties of working with different agencies and departments, funding requirement, assessment procedures and claims processes and NIACE looks forward to seeing how the suggested streamlining and changes in ways of working at local levels with local authorities and others will work. NIACE has long advocated the better joining up of services (including education) and that this integrated approach makes it easier for older people not only to access services to better influence their creation and development. NIACE is delighted to see how the voice of older people is considered integral to the roll out of all the changes suggested in the paper, but we believe much more work is required to ensure that more and different older people are given opportunities to engage in these processes. NIACE’s work on an ‘empowerment’ curriculum with the LSC goes some way to helping broaden the base of older people engagement by providing opportunities for them to build up their skills, knowledge and confidence in these areas.
The Government is also to be applauded for its growing recognition of the likely impact of demographic change and its desire to better understand and respond to this change. NIACE hopes that the Government will develop and sustain a dialogue with all the agencies interested and concerned with demographic change and in particular draw upon the Green paper recently published by the European Commission ‘Facing demographic changes, a new intergenerational solidarity’ which considers the impact on employment, families, work life balance and the reasons for low birth rates.
The paper is not just about better management and co-ordination of existing work, there are new developments suggested.
 | Link-Age Plus (Para 4.54) will be an integrated service that can include adult education. |
| Areas of new work within Link-Age will also include front line public sector staff being able to offer initial support and guidance on a wide range of services including life long learning. (Para 4.50) |
The papers main thrust is about ensuring older people are allowed to continue contributing to society particularly through employment (Chapter 2). It refers to better retirement and pension planning, working with employers, extending learning opportunities, reform of incapacity benefit, carers rights, age equality in employment and the new Commission for Equality and Human rights, new pension rules, and better information and guidance. NIACE hopes that in all these actions the needs of older people are central. NIACE hopes the planned actions will be permissive rather than prescriptive.
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Strategy can be employment-led but must be learner-centred
On Tuesday 22nd March the government published "Skills: Getting on in business, getting on at work" (Cm 6483), a white paper rearticulating its skills strategy. (www.dfes.gov.uk/publications/skillsgettingon/).
A full NIACE response will be published shortly but in an initial comment, NIACE senior policy officer, Alastair Thomson, said:
"NIACE welcomes the re-affirmation of Government's awareness of the growing importance of adult learning as a driver of both economic prosperity and of social justice. There will, quite simply, not be enough young people entering the labour market to fill all the new and replacement jobs needed over the next decade so it is imperative for the UK to increase the employment rate. That will be achieved by concentrating on attracting women from minority ethnic communities, by older people delaying full retirement and by more people moving from benefits into work as well as from inward migration. This is a massive education and training challenge that extends beyond a narrow skills agenda - it also plays out in issues of culture change, quality of life, citizenship and social inclusion.
"Although much of the white paper is a progress report, its publication alongside the first four sector skills agreements indicates that some of the government’s expectations of employers may be bearing fruit. As members of the Skills Alliance, NIACE finds much to support - although there are disappointing omissions too.
"Firstly, the reaffirmation of the value of learning for personal development and the continuation of the funding safeguard (paras 231 and 232 of part two) sends an important positive signal. In addition the increasing recognition of the importance of information and guidance should be good news for adults as is the piloting of a level 3 entitlement; one-to-one skills coaching under the New Deal for Skills; the expansion of the adult learning grant; the development of Sector Skills Councils and support for the role of trade unions in lifelong learning. We also applaud the decision to issue a green paper on offender education later this year and the forthcoming paper on an ageing society.
"We believe that the strategy should be employment-led rather than employer-led and that it must engage with individual men and women as they use learning to transform their lives. We must never forget that people are not simply units of production and consumption.
"There are, however, some worrying flaws. It is disappointing that, although older learners are highlighted as pensioners, the Government has yet to grasp the scale of change needed if education and training is to deal with the consequences of an ageing adult population that will need to extend its engagement with the labour market to later in life. In addition, the strategy avoids mention of the education and training challenges of a workforce with increasing numbers of migrants in it. Furthermore there are no participation targets (either overall or at Level 3) and the opportunity to trial paid educational leave and workplace learning committees has been missed.
"We remain concerned whether the strategy will be properly resourced. Despite the welcome additional resources invested by Government, we remain concerned that we have yet to secure a large enough combination of public and private investment to bring the UK into line with other OECD countries despite some closing of the gap.
“We are hampered by the way the 2000 law was written in England and Wales which means that the needs of the 16 - 19 group must be met while everyone else has to wait to see what is left. This means that the more young people extend their education beyond 16, the tighter the squeeze on public resources for adult learning - unless spending is routed differently. This is a perverse consequence of parliamentary drafting as much as a deliberate choice from a government that has been sympathetic to the idea of lifelong learning.
"We want to see a levelling up not a levelling down and will continue to work with Government to realise the best possible deal for adult learners."
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Protecting Adults Learning
At a full-to-capacity lobby of parliament on budget day (16th March), the Minister and MPs of all parties were left in no doubt about growing concerns that the policy for Lifelong Learning is not properly resourced. Despite record levels of funding, a poorly drafted law means that the price of recruiting more young people is paid by adult learners.
NIACE has given wholehearted support to the Protecting Adult Learning Campaign led by the Association of Colleges (AoC). The lobbying meeting heard from the National Federation of Women’s Institute as well as NIACE director Alan Tuckett, AoC chief John Brennan and a spirited input from former cabinet minister Tony Benn.
NIACE Senior Policy Officer Alastair Thomson who was there commented:
“We will use the celebrations around Adults Learner’s Week in May to keep on reminding Parliament that we must secure proper facilities for Lifelong Learning.”
Related Link: ‘Don’t let flawed law wreck adult learning’, says NIACE
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Have a go and Write About It – Inspirational Big Book Tour Launched
A giant mobile book will be stopping off in various cities across England as part of a nationwide journey giving local people a unique opportunity to unleash their creativity and get writing. The big book tour will electronically capture pieces of inspiring writing from people in 28 towns and cities across England as part of Write About It - a national writing campaign created by NIACE, the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education, and supported by the European Social Fund and the Department for Education and Skills.
Write About It aims to enthuse adults to write about their lives and their interests in ways that are creative, imaginative and fun. By focusing on creative writing, rather than reading or form filling, this campaign hopes to encourage people who don’t think they can write to have a go.
Toby Walker, Campaign Co-ordinator of Write About It, said:
“Everyone has something to write about like a precious memory or a powerful thought which triggers an emotional reaction. We all have experiences that we want to share - perhaps a memorable holiday or our favourite football team winning against all the odds. Whatever makes us laugh or cry can be expressed by putting a pen to paper and having a go at writing about it.”
He continued:
“We want to encourage as many people as possible to join us on the big book tour across the country. By the end of the month the big book will have visited hundreds of people in towns and cities throughout England. Not only will we have collected some real insights into our everyday lives but the creativity people will have discovered could open up all sorts of new possibilities – who knows where it might lead.”
The writer Ian McMillan will be joining the Big Book Tour in London and will also be holding a special creative writing master class for learners. Adding his support to the Write About It Campaign, he said, “If education is the cake, then continuing education is the cherry on top and I'd like to cut myself a slice.”
| Source: NIACE Press Release: "Have a go and Write About It – Inspirational Big Book Tour Launched" (PDF file) Released On 15/03/2005 |
| Learn more about the campaign at: Write Where You Are |
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NIACE Activities Highlight Importance of Demography
NIACE has recently published a policy discussion paper, Demography and Older Learners with contributions from leading figures in the field. It reviews the implications of demographic change and the challenge facing policy makers, education providers and the workplace as it affects the engagement, retention and enrichment of older adults.
Click here to view more detail of Demography and Older Learners
NIACE's new Workplace Development Officer, Anne Hansen, discusses the implications of demography for the Sector Skills Agreements.
Download Anne Hansen's Article on Sector Skills Agreements (PDF file)
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‘Don’t let flawed law wreck adult learning’, says NIACE
A decision to put the educational needs of teenagers before the needs of adults is distorting lifelong learning policy according to the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE), the leading advocate of adult education.
NIACE is giving its full support to the national Protecting Adult Learning campaign led by the Association of Colleges (AoC), aiming to safeguard future funding for millions of adults – young and old and in all their diversity - to ensure they retain their right to learn throughout their lives, regardless of their personal circumstances or background.
Alastair Thomson, Senior Policy Officer at NIACE, said:
“The biggest difficulty lies with the 2000 Law which made clear that the Learning and Skills Council must meet the needs of 16-19 year olds first - and can only spend what is left - on the education and training of anyone else.”
He continued:
“Over the next four years there’s going to be an increase in the numbers of 16 to 19 year olds and more of them will stay on in education. But unless additional money flows in, the price of this welcome success with young people will be paid for at the expense of adult learning opportunities – an unanticipated consequence rather than a deliberate decision from a government that has been instinctively sympathetic to the idea of lifelong learning.”
“We want more 16 year olds to extend their education but this should not reduce opportunities for adults to learn. We are fully behind the Association of Colleges and everybody else who wants to protect adult learning,” he ended.
| Source: NIACE Press Release: "‘Don’t let flawed law wreck adult learning’, says NIACE" (PDF file) Released On 01/03/2005 |
| Sign the AoC's petition at: Association of Colleges Fair Funding Campaign |
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Teaching with digital technology: new guides
NIACE has published a new series called E-Guidelines, which provide guidance and support, accessible advice and useful examples of good practice for adult learning practitioners wishing to use digital technology in all its forms to help their learners.
Currently there are four titles being produced, all priced at £8.95 each, with a further four on their way later in 2005. Below are details on the four titles available now. Click on their titles for full details
e-guidelines 1:
Online resources in the
classroom - Using the World Wide Web to deliver and support adult learning
by Alan Clarke and Claudia Hesse
This guide will help tutors of any subject who need or want to use online resources in a face-to-face context. It uses examples of good practice to show how to combine traditional and e-learning approaches in the classroom, advises on ways to prepare and conduct classes using the Web, guides practitioners in the choice of appropriate content, and recommends relevant websites for many subject areas.
Covering different approaches of how to the use the Web in teaching and learning, the guide also describes ways to create your own content.
e-guidelines 2:
Digital cameras in teaching
and learning by Phil Hardcastle
As digital cameras become more widely available, this practical guide
explores the role they can play in supporting adult and community learning.
Setting their use into current thinking about learning styles, author Phil
Hardcastle explores how digital cameras can help make learning more effective.
It provides many examples of good practice in the application of digital
photography in the teaching and learning process, enhancing materials created by
tutors, recording learners' achievements by the use of images, or providing
technical illustrations and feedback. The guide includes 'Working with...'
sections including practical tips, technical advice and step-by-step
instructions as well as a glossary and listings of other useful resources.
e-guidelines 3:
Developing e-learning
materials - Applying user-centred design techniques to create learning materials
for adults by Shubhanna Hussein
This book guides adult learning practitioners through a
user-centred approach to designing e-learning resources. Applicable to all
subject areas, it provides examples and guidelines for ensuring that e-learning
resources meet usability criteria. The book is written specifically for those
from a non-technical background and provides case studies from practitioners who
are using aspects of the user-centred approach to design e-learning resources
for their students.
e-guidelines 4:
e-learning in outreach
by Glyn Owen and Khawar Iqbal
This book addresses the challenges of making e-learning work effectively in outreach provision. Covering all aspects of teaching, learning and the management of learning, and the use of technology in an outreach context, it provides information, guidance and support for practitioners who wish to engage in e-learning in the community, whether they are already engaged in outreach or not.
Forthcoming books in this series will include titles on:
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Using e-learning with ESOL. |
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Using e-learning with modern foreign languages. |
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Embedding ICT in the curriculum. |
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Reaching disadvantaged learners through ICT. |
The e-guidelines, priced at £8.95 each, are available to purchase from the NIACE Online Book shop
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