Enriching lives, inspiring learners Tuesday, May 17, 2011 - 09:07

NIACE's Annual Policy Conference - Enriching lives, inspiring learners - as part of the 20th Adult Learners' Week, was on the theme Culture, community and inspiration in informal adult learning.

Held at the British Library in London, the conference:

• explored how the concepts of culture and community can inspire and motivate adults to become active learners;

• considered how informal and non-formal learning help adults to enrich their own lives and the lives of those around them;

• highlighted ways in which providers of learning opportunities are innovating in respect of curriculum design and delivery, focussing on four themes: digital technologies, inclusive communities, an open knowledge economy and health and wellbeing; and

• considered how better to recognise, quantify and value the wider public and private benefits of informal and non-formal learning.

Enriching lives, inspiring learners was participatory in style - a text wall will display feedback, will allow participants to pose questions to speakers and panellists and will encourage discussions with the hosts of learning zones. Participants also had the opportunity to hear from:

• Baroness Blackstone
• James Clegg, Head of Development & Talent for Bupa Care Homes
• Sharon White, Programme Director for Skills, Reed
• Rajay Naik, Director of Government Relations, Open University
• Stephen Uden, Head of Skills & Economic Affairs, Microsoft
• Robin Simpson, CEO, Voluntary Arts England

The conference was for:

• anyone who wants to better understand how informal learning shapes and is shaped by wider cultural forces and how it can strengthen and enrich communities both economically and socially;

• educational and community leaders at local and national level who are concerned with how ideas, skills and values are transmitted through traditional and new media as well as face-to-face teaching and learning; and

• anyone wanting to explore, in the context of the Big and Good Society, how new learning communities and forms of association can develop to offer high-quality learning opportunities to adults.