The Australian National Training Authority through the Department of Employment Training and Youth Affairs, funds ALNARC to promote research activity in adult literacy and numeracy. The Consortium represents a national collaboration between five university-based research centres and it offers a model of innovative research management based on collaborative research and responsiveness to state-based needs. Details of previous research programs can be found on the publications link of this website.

Message from the Chair of Directors What is the role of a government funded consortium charged with generating research in the field of adult literacy and numeracy? As the current Chair of ALNARC Directors I can say that this question provides our group with an important entrée into the debate about what ALNARC is, what our sphere of influence might be, and how we draw critical friends around us to collaborate in this venture. In broad terms our role is to produce research processes and outcomes that will contribute to a lively and critical debate about Australian adult literacy and numeracy policy, theory and practice. At the same time we know this debate needs to be situated in a wider discussion about international developments, national concerns for citizenship and work and some very fundamental concerns about the ways in which literacy and numeracy practices can operate in inclusive and exclusive ways, even in the same breath. We invite you to join us in critical debate and to be involved in research as a researcher, reader of research and of course as an active critic. For in developing a strong culture of public debate about these issues we may come to a better understanding of the depth and scope of responses needed to address the complex communities of practice that exist in contemporary Australian contexts.

Chair of the Directors Sue Shore

Purpose of the Consortium

ALNARC has a range of functions, all of which are designed to foster a culture of inquiry about adult numeracy and literacy provision in contemporary Australian communities, education settings and workplaces. Activities include the following:

• national research projects guided by ANTA and DETYA priorities and stakeholder consultations
• professional development activities that explore the implications of research outcomes for provision and the wider questions of use and utilisation in local settings
• development of publications about adult literacy and numeracy and dissemination to a range of audiences in policy, industry and community settings
• collaboration with existing research and advocacy groups to stimulate national and international debate about adult numeracy and literacy
• development of position papers to provide strategic guidance for future literacy and numeracy provision

National Office

The National Office provides overall coordination for ALNARC projects and activities. It is currently hosted by Victoria University. The National coordinator is employed to run the National Office, liaise with state Directors, ensure that information about the ALNARC research program is widely disseminated and that consultation regarding national projects are well publicized and effective in feeding into the outcomes of the research.   Personnel Carolyn Ovens Carolyn is the National Office Coordinator of ALNARC. She has been involved in language, literacy and numeracy (LLN) first as a primary, secondary and later, tertiary teacher. In the past ten years as Training Liaison Officer for the Queensland Council of Unions, Carolyn has promoted workplace and community LLN at the levels of policy formulation and implementation. She has represented industry on the ALNARC advisory committee in Queensland and chaired the departmental grants fund, The Community Literacy Program. Her particular research interest is the ways young people can be engaged in LLN, the current impacts of social welfare policy on young people and their social inclusion. She has an interest in supporting initiatives such as LLN and information technology and was part of a team which established an Indigenous Learning Centre in a community-based independent school in Brisbane. Her role as the National Coordinator is to support the State Directors of ALNARC through the Chair of their committee, Dr Sue Shore to achieve the outcomes of the Year 2001 Workplan. She undertakes this role by working collaboratively with the teams of researchers to progress LLN practice and policy in Australia. National Office Coordinator Carolyn Ovens

National Advisory Committee

Each State has an Advisory Committee to assist it in its work. The National Advisory Committee provides broad advice about research directions. Its membership consists of Centre Directors, representatives from ANTA, DETYA, national industry training advisory bodies and the Australian Council for Adult Literacy. The annual research program, and the subsequent advisory needs of the research teams undertaking each project, shapes the constitution of the National Advisory Committee.

Professor Kaye Schofield, RCVET, University of Technology, Sydney is the current Chair of the National Advisory Committee.

Contacts

Chair: Commitee of ALNARC Directors Dr. Sue Shore University of South Australia Phone: 61 8 8302 6286 Fax: 61 8 8302 6239 Email: sue.shore@unisa.edu.au National coordiantor Ms Carolyn Ovens School of Education Victoria University, Footscray Park Campus PO Box 14428 Melbourne Vic 8001 Phone: 03 9688 5085 Fax: 03 9688 4646 Email: carolyn.ovens@vu.edu.au ALNARC Contacts Click here to view full contact details of ALNARC Centres in a PDF file.