Teaching for social capital outcomes: the case of adult literacy and numeracy courses

Author/s: Jo Balatti, Stephen Black and Ian Falk

Edition: Volume 47, Number 2, July 2007

Summary: There is strong evidence that participation in education and training can produce social capital outcomes. There is also strong evidence that such outcomes are useful outcomes; they can enhance the development of other outcomes often called human capital and they can contribute to the social-economic wellbeing of the learners and the communities in which they live. Yet, little research has been done on the pedagogy and other conditions that produce social capital outcomes in education and training. This paper reports on a research project that investigated what teachers do to produce social capital outcomes in adult literacy and numeracy courses.

Keywords: social capital outcomes, human capital, wellbeing, socio-economic

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Art, disability, learning and the dance of my life

Author/s: Faith Thorley

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

Summary: I use my passion and skills as an artist to deal with my various disabilities resulting from brain tumour surgery. The ‘artvantages’ of this approach have been many: improved self-esteem and a greater sense of wellbeing, to name just two. On reflection and after revisiting the experiences of my healing journey, I now know when this journey began. Today I’ve come to recognise its beginning as the onset of my personal transformation.

My aim in this paper is to explain how I believe my personal transformation happened after my brain tumour surgery and to describe the transformative learning process that followed. I will support these explanations with valuable insights that I’ve gained from research in adult education and my involvement with others with disabilities. Next, I will introduce my interpretation of a phenomenon that I call ‘arts-based resistance learning’. This has been a major phase in my personal transformative journey and the subject of my current PhD inquiry. I am strongly committed to my research inquiry because it is uncovering new ways of using art to enhance life, which gives me hope, and may inspire and so assist other like afflicted people, health professionals and concerned individuals.

Keywords: disability, transformation, brain tumour, adult education, wellbeing

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

All over, red rover? The neglect and potential of Australian adult education in the community

Author/s: Barry Golding and Annette Foley

Edition: Volume 51, Special edition, December 2011

Summary: Consistent with the ‘looking back, moving forward’ conference theme, in this paper we undertake a critical, research-based appraisal of the current, arguably neglected state of adult education in Australia in 2010, and proceed to paint a picture of how a different and potentially more positive future might be realised. Continue reading “All over, red rover? The neglect and potential of Australian adult education in the community”