Month: October 2020

Adult Learners Week 2020

5th – 11th September Adult Learners Week 2020 in Scotland. We want to highlight all of the fantastic work that Community Learning and Development (CLD) do to deliver high quality adult learning opportunities across a wider variety of areas. These include social isolation, health and wellbeing, digital inclusion, English as a Second Language (ESOL) , literacies, numeracy/maths, family learning, community inclusion, progression pathways, financial inclusion, personal development and active citizenship. 

  The thing that surprises most people about CLD is the variety of roles and diversity of learning that is covered. People who work in CLD often have a variety of disciplines to cover and ensure they are equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to provide these. The CLD Standards Council is the professional body for people who work or volunteer in CLD. 

 Adult Literacy & Numeracy in Scotland follows a social practice model. It looks at the skills, knowledge and understanding that a learner has to build on and relates learning to a context within personal, family, working or community life. Provision is offered in a learner centred way and can use real life resources such as bills, letters, newspapers or other household resources to support learning to have a real life context. 

Community based ESOL is delivered by CLD teams across Scotland. Scotland has supported the Syrian Resettlement Scheme in recent years which also links to ESOL provision and wider CLD activity in communities although this can look different in different local authorities.  ESOL learners can come from any country in the world and groups can be made up of a variety of languages and cultures. 

 Community based adult learning in CLD can cover a wide variety of learning opportunities that are intended to be informal, relaxed, friendly opportunities that aim to break down barriers for learners who are hardest to reach. These can be adults with multiple barriers such as mental health, physical health, learning difficulties, alcohol and drug addictions, long term unemployment and social isolation among others. 

CLD Adult Learning covers a variety of areas such as confidence building, health issues, bereavement, life changes (such as divorce, redundancy) focussing on areas of high deprivation where poverty impacts on households and families. 

 CLD is a value-based practice and CLD professionals have committed themselves to the values of self-determination, inclusion, empowerment, working collaboratively and the promotion of adult learning as a lifelong activity. Programmes and activities are developed in dialogue with communities and participants, working particularly with those excluded from participation in the decisions and processes that shape their lives. 

 The focus of CLD in all areas of adult learning are improved life chances for people of all ages, through learning, personal development and active citizenship resulting in  stronger, more resilient, supportive, influential and inclusive communities. 

 The Education Scotland CLD Team works to support the CLD sector in delivering high quality learning opportunities relevant to the communities that are in need. The team supports professional learning across different areas of adult learning in CLD and supports the creation of new policies and strategies. They are keen to share and promote interesting practice that is of interest delivered by CLD workers who work tirelessly to improve the communities and individuals they work with.   

Follow @edscotcld for more information

Family Learning during Adult Learners Week 2020

by Susan Doherty

A brief history of Family Learning and how it links to Adult Learning in Scotland…

Family Learning encourages family members to learn together as and within a family, with a focus on intergenerational learning. Family learning activities can also be specifically designed to enable parents to learn how to support their children’s learning.

‘Family learning is a powerful method of engagement and learning which can foster positive attitudes towards life-long learning, promote socio-economic resilience and challenge educational disadvantage’ (Family Learning Network, 2016).

To highlight the amazing work in family learning during Adult Learning Week I thought it would be good to reflect on where we have come from and all of the hard work that practitioners have done to get us to where we are today…

In 2016 we worked with practitioners, researchers, policy colleagues and stakeholder/partner agencies to write the Review of Family learning in Scotland. This document set out to capture what practice, research, policy and strategy looked like at that time and set out some key recommendations to take forward. These recommendations formed the building blocks of what family learning looks like in Scotland today.

At its core family learning is an approach to engaging families in learning outcomes that have an impact on the whole family. It can support improved attainment, attitudes towards lifelong learning, health and wellbeing, confidence etc. which leads to positive outcomes for both adults and children. Family learning is a negotiated process born out of the needs of families and the individuals within them. It builds the capacity from where people are and celebrates in their successes. Although universal, family learning can be used as an early intervention and prevention approach which reaches the most disadvantaged communities and can help close the attainment gap through breaking the inter-generational cycles of deprivation and low attainment. For adults this can be the first step to re-engage with their own learning and help them to support their child’s.

Since 2016 we have developed the Family Learning Framework  and informed the Engaging parents and families – A toolkit for practitioners. Family learning is also present in the ELC Realising the Ambition, CLD Adult Learning Statement of Ambition, and HIGIOS 4 and HGIOELC documents. This highlights the breadth of where family learning can and does have an impact – from early learning to adult learning. Practitioners have shaped all of these documents and their voices can be heard throughout.

Engaging families in a family learning programme can have an impact on their immediate identified need however through research we also know it can extend beyond the duration of the intervention and provide lasting impacts and improved outcomes.​

In practice family learning can take many forms which is driven by the needs of the families. Family learning practitioners are creative, nurturing and responsive to the needs of their families and understand their communities and the challenges that they face. They almost always work in partnership which supports robust services that have strong referral pathways for further learning as appropriate. Practice has shown us that practitioners value the time families spend together over a coffee to chat and build relationships and fun is the magic ingredient that keeps them coming back.

We have many wonderful case studies that we can share with you from across Scotland and we would encourage you to look for more on the National Improvement Hub. Here are just some that you may find interesting:

For more information on Family Learning, Parental Involvement/Engagement and Learning at Home, or to share your practice, please contact: susan.doherty@educationscotland.gov.scot and/or beverley.ferguson@educationscotland.gov.scot

Adult Learning – National Organisations

Here at Education Scotland we have been promoting Adult Learners Week and would like to take this opportunity to highlight the wide range of third sector organisations that also contribute to Adult Learning in Scotland. We do not have space to name everyone but here is a few of the national organisations. We know there are also lots of local community organisations too. Please tag us at @edscotcld  and we are happy to promote any adult learning happening out there! 

 Or feel free to tag Education Scotland CLD Officers @LauraMc50938627 @soozeeps @MacdonaldDehra

 There are a wide range of third sector organisations that contribute to Adult Learning…below you can read about some of the main organisations in Scotland and access their websites and twitter to learn more 

 WEA – Workers’ Education Association (Scotland) 

The UK’s largest voluntary sector provider of adult education in England and Scotland. Founded in 1903, the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) is a charity dedicated to bringing high-quality, professional education into the heart of communities. With the support of nearly 3,000 volunteers, 2,000 tutors and over 10,000 members, they deliver friendly, accessible and enjoyable courses for adults from all walks of life. 

 They have a special mission to raise aspirations and develop educational opportunities for the most disadvantaged. This includes providing basic maths, English and IT skills for employment; courses to improve health and wellbeing; creative programmes to broaden horizons and community engagement activities that encourage active citizenship. WEA’s members also help support their mission and campaign for adult education. 

www.wea.org.uk/ @WEAScotland

 Learning Link Scotland 

Learning Link Scotland was established for and by third sector adult learning organisations. Learning Link’s vision for Scotland is for a learning nation where Scotland is not only the best place in the world to grow up in but also the best place to learn. 

 At the heart of their vision is that adult learning in Scotland will be recognised by all as a central element of personal and community empowerment. They strive to ensure that people will have access and equal opportunity to strong, independent and vibrant Third Sector adult education, and that organisations work in partnership with others to fulfil lifelong learning, social inclusion, and democratic aspirations. 

Their purpose is to ensure Third Sector adult learning organisations work together to create a successful, dynamic and forward-thinking Scotland.

www.learninglinkscotland.org.uk @LearningLinkSCO 

 Lead Scotland 

Lead Scotland is a charity supporting disabled people and carers by providing personalised learning, befriending, advice and information services.  They have projects across Scotland and a national helpline and information service.  The local services are community and home based, one to one or in small groups so that people have the right support to learn and participate. Lead Scotland support people to build a bridge to reach their ambitions of personal development, learning, volunteering and work. At a national level, they provide information and advice on the full range of post-school learning and training opportunities, as well as influencing and informing policy. 

www.lead.org.uk @leadscot_tweet

 Scotland’s Learning 

Scotland’s Learning Partnership is the national partnership for adult learning bringing together the interests of learners and providers in Scotland. By working to develop equality in the relationship between learners and providers we aim to: 

  • Advocate the common interests of learners and providers to key policy makers and politicians 
  • Promote non-formal adult and family learning through the Adult Learners Week and Family Learning Week campaigns 
  • Create, design and deliver innovative projects that reach the most excluded groups 

www.scotlandslearning.org.uk @SLPLearn