Category: ACE

Posted on

‘A reservoir of learning’: the beginnings of continuing education at the University of Sydney

Author/s: Darryl Dymock

Edition: Volume 49, Number 2, July 2009

Summary: Adult education has often been on the margin of university offerings in Australia and elsewhere, sometimes regarded as ‘non-core’ business or at least as a financial drain on the institution. At the University of Sydney, however, adult education has managed to survive in one form or other for over 140 years, currently through the Centre for Continuing Education. Partly this has been due to the support of influential academics who have believed in the principle of ‘extra-mural’ studies’, if not always agreeing with the way it has been delivered or funded. Research in the university’s archives and through contemporary accounts shows that the pattern of provision was established in the 1890s and first 20 years of the twentieth century, particularly through the development of tutorial classes in a relationship with the Workers’ Educational Association, following a model established in Britain at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. However, the research also reveals that the relationship between the first Director of Tutorial Classes and senior members of  Sydney University was not always harmonious, especially against the background of the conscription debates of World War I.

Keywords: adult education, relevance, funding, Centre for Continuing Education, Workers’ Educational Association

Facebooktwitterlinkedinmail  Share a copy of this abstract.

This article is part of AJAL, Volume 49_2. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

 

Posted on

Informal learning: a discussion around defining and researching its breadth and importance

Author/s: Barry Golding, Mike Brown and Annette Foley

Edition: Volume 49, Number 1, April 2009

Summary: Informal learning has often been seen as formal learning’s ‘poor cousin’. Our paper explores and discusses new and different ways of thinking about defining, valuing and researching the breadth and importance of informal learning in diverse national and cultural contexts. This includes a consideration of the power relations that can act to devalue informal learning. It is underpinned by a recognition that not only do a relatively small proportion of adults currently engage in formal learning, but those who do tend already to be dedicated and successful lifelong learners. It leads to a discussion about how informal learning might be framed as part of the solution to adult exclusion, seen to be aggravated by unnecessary adult educational hierarchies, accreditation, assessment and formality.

Keywords: informal learning, inclusion, context, cultural

Facebooktwitterlinkedinmail  Share a copy of this abstract.

This article is part of AJAL, Volume 49_1. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

 

Posted on

Conceptualising adult and continuing education practice: towards a framework for research

Author/s: Benjamin Tak-Yuen Chan

Edition: Volume 49, Number 1, April 2009

Summary: Adult and continuing education practitioners are the core group of staff that enable the lifelong learning enterprise. However, there are few studies that look into the domain of practice of these practitioners, which is shaped by the organisation and its wider external milieux. Research on this topic naturally calls for the elucidation of practitioners’ values and practice-related orientations that have structuring properties on practice. This paper argues that the theorising of practice must pay attention to the issue of ‘duality of structure’ for the values of practice. It also suggests drawing from a range of theories to help establish the practice-to-milieu connection. Theories may also assist in bridging the abstract-to-reality gap when translating from values to actions. Whilst theories can offer explicative potential for practice, their use is facilitated only through availability of analytical frameworks to organise the practice of teaching adults and program planning into a logical series of components and processes. In this connection, a teaching practice model and a program planning practice model, based on systems theory, are proposed to guide future research.

Keywords: lifelong learning, practice, teaching practice, program planning

Facebooktwitterlinkedinmail  Share a copy of this abstract.

This article is part of AJAL, Volume 49_1. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

 

Posted on

Agenda for a national association 50 years on

Author/s: Barrie Brennan

Edition: Volume 50, Number 3, November 2010

Summary: I was honoured to be asked by the current Editor to write a response to W.G.K. Duncan’s 1961 paper, ‘Agenda for a national association’, in the first number of the Australian Journal of Adult Education , the journal of the newly established Australian Association of Adult Education (AAAE). The brief has been interpreted in this way. Duncan viewed AAAE as an ‘outsider’ and proposed challenges for the new association without giving guidance as to how the challenges may have been met.

Keywords: Adult Learning Australia, challenges, relevance

Facebooktwitterlinkedinmail  Share a copy of this abstract.

This article is part of AJAL, Volume 50_3. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

Posted on

Recollections on the Association over five decades

Author/s: Arch Nelson (1960s), Barrie Brennan (1970s), Dianne Berlin (1980s), Alastair Crombie (1990s) and Roger Morris (2000s)

Edition: Volume 50, Number 3, November 2010

Summary: In 2010, fifty years after the establishment of the association now called Adult Learning Australia (ALA), the association still faces the dilemma about how to sell its message that adult learning matters. The dilemma is one of philosophy: in the nineteenth century, it was liberalism versus utilitarianism; in the mid-twentieth, the instrumental versus cultural; today, the dichotomy is couched in terms such as ‘social inclusion’ versus ‘productivity’.

Keywords: Adult Learning Australia, relevance, philosophy, social inclusion, productivity

Facebooktwitterlinkedinmail  Share a copy of this abstract.

This article is part of AJAL, Volume 50_3. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

Posted on

Diversity and excellence: prompts from the history of the tertiary education sector

Author/s: Francesca Beddie

Edition: Volume 50, Number 3, November 2010

Summary: In 2010, fifty years after the establishment of the association now called Adult Learning Australia (ALA), the association still faces the dilemma about how to sell its message that adult learning matters. The dilemma is one of philosophy: in the nineteenth century, it was liberalism versus utilitarianism; in the mid-twentieth, the instrumental versus cultural; today, the dichotomy is couched in terms such as ‘social inclusion’ versus ‘productivity’.

Keywords: adult learning, relevance, liberalism, utilitarianism, social inclusion, productivity

Facebooktwitterlinkedinmail  Share a copy of this abstract.

This article is part of AJAL, Volume 50_3. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

 

 

Posted on

Teaching adult education history in a time of uncertainty and hope

Author/s: Tony Brown

Edition: Volume 50, Number 3, November 2010

Summary: Adult education’s continuing purpose has been questioned by writers for over twenty years and today the re-organisation and closure of some University departments brings this issue to the fore. This paper takes up the theme of really useful knowledge in a changing world from the standpoint of teaching adult education history to graduate students. Many enter their new field of practice unaware of the specific social contexts of the foundations of adult education in different places, or the genealogy of its current manifestations. Examining these different contexts, traditions, practices and practitioners can enable students to better locate themselves, connect with different traditions, understand the past and position themselves for their future. Secondly, the paper considers the idea of locating oneself in a rapidly changing political economy that has emerged from the global economic crisis and recession, the effects of which are expected to continue into the next decade.

Keywords: adult education, history, graduates, social context, political economy

Facebooktwitterlinkedinmail  Share a copy of this abstract.

This article is part of AJAL, Volume 50_3. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

Posted on

Literacy practitioners’ perspectives on adult learning needs and technology approaches in Indigenous communities

Author/s: Michelle Eady, Anthony Herrington and Caroline Jones

Edition: Volume 50, Number 2, July 2010

Summary: Current reports of literacy rates in Australia indicate an ongoing gap in literacy skills between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian adults, at a time when the literacy demands of work and life are increasing. There are many perspectives on what are the literacy needs of Indigenous adults, from the perspectives of community members themselves to the relatively under-researched perspective of literacy practitioners. This paper provides the insights, experiences and recommendations from adult literacy practitioners who work with adult Indigenous learners in communities across Australia. Focus group interviews, using an online synchronous platform, were used to elicit views about the literacy needs of Indigenous adults in communities and the successes in and barriers to meeting those needs. The practitioners also shared their views on the use of technology in literacy learning. Together, these views can inform future directions in curriculum design and teaching approaches for community-based Indigenous adult literacy education.

Keywords: literacy, Indigenous, practitioners, online, synchronous platform

Facebooktwitterlinkedinmail  Share a copy of this abstract.

This article is part of AJAL, Volume 50_2. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

Posted on

Becoming an Australian citizen: Some dimensions of assessing a citizenship-type literacy amongst adults

Author/s: James A Athanasou

Edition: Volume 50, Number 1, April 2010

Summary: This paper evaluates a 20-item assessment of citizenship literacy in an adult sample comprising 179 persons of English-speaking and non-English speaking background. The results indicated that the assessment was internally consistent and that as expected it distinguished English-speaking from non-English speaking participants. The pattern of answers provided an initial, albeit partial, understanding of what might constitute citizenship information but it also highlighted some limitations. The assessment failed to tap the ability levels of those with higher knowledge. Nevertheless, the results also indicated some deficits in adult general knowledge. The potential failure rate even with a cut-off point of 60% correct was quite high. Just over one-in-five failed to pass. The results have implications for the proposed revisions to the Australian Citizenship Test.

Keywords: citizenship test, literacy, NESB

Facebooktwitterlinkedinmail  Share a copy of this abstract.

This article is part of AJAL, Volume 50_1. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

Posted on

Looking forward: Community Gateways at Victoria University

Author/s: Christine Mountford

Edition: Volume 51, Number 4, Special edition, December 2011

Summary: The mission and values of Victoria University provide the underlying criteria for the development and implementation of the Community Gateways initiative, which aims to transform the lives of those living in the west of Melbourne through the power of further education. Community Gateways takes the university into the community by providing career education and counselling, skills recognition, recognition of prior learning, workshops and short training opportunities to engage the community ‘on their own turf’, and to support their access and success through career-aligned course choice. To be truly effective in the community, Community Gateways has utilised a cooperative approach to engage with over forty community organisations, including community centres, neighbourhood houses, local councils, youth centres, libraries, and ACE and ACFE providers.

A resurgence of interest in values associated with community, social cohesion and cultural diversity has provided the platform for these relationships to develop. Community Gateways strengthens access to learning and employment in the region for many people who currently are unsure of how to access education and training opportunities. Through the provision of complimentary, professional careers counselling, community members are encouraged to consider their career options as the basis for making appropriate training or further study decisions. In this paper I will explore the development of the program and share the learning and achievements to date.

Keywords: Victoria University, community gateways, ACE

Facebooktwitterlinkedinmail  Share a copy of this abstract.

This article is part of AJAL, Volume 51_4_Special Edition. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.