Project #1: Investigating Literacy and
Numeracy in Training Packages in the Horticulture Industry.
Ruth Trenerry [ Click
here for details]
Project #2: Practitioner Research
[Click here for details]
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SA's contribution to Project #2 is designed to
develop a visible research culture in adult education. Educators and learners from adult
language, literacy and numeracy provision in SA were asked to explore the ways in which
adult literacy, language and numeracy programs are able to respond to learners' needs, by
developing a number of research skills focussing on the issue of 'special needs'. A
proportion of the 'special needs' identified by the researchers were in the areas of
vocational and Women's Education. Over several months the researchers will be brought
together for three meetings to discuss such issues as getting started; the research
question(s)/focus; research methods; thinking about the research orientation. Researchers
will be supported by mentors throughout the project as an integral part of this
professional development project for adult literacy, language and numeracy educators.
For the past three years the University of
South Australia, in its capacity as a member of ALNARC (SA) has conducted a number of
consultations with industry and community groups to establish need in the area of
professional development and research expertise for adult educators.
A grant from the Spencer Foundation (USA) has
enabled ALNARC (SA) to more fully investigate the effectiveness and responsiveness of
literacy and numeracy provision for groups with identified special needs or circumstances.
We have undertaken this project by mentoring seven practitioner researchers who have
been concerned to ask the following questions:
How do educators and learners in language,
literacy and numeracy programs define/facilitate the concept of special needs?
How do language, literacy and numeracy
programs respond to these needs?
What are the outcomes of these programs?
In taking this umbrella approach, the project
has aimed to enhance debate about the issue of target groups and expand the discourses
available to educators to speak about the concept of special needs. At the same
time, the project has attempted to challenge practitioner researchers to be more explicit
about the particular needs they believe their learners have, and how they can be met.
Implicit in this challenge is first, an attempt to question the assumption that
‘target groupings are an accurate and useful mechanism for identifying learners’
needs and second, an invitation to teachers to show how teaching and learning strategies
are shaped by particular contexts.
The following
projects are the result of this joint effort between ALNARC (SA) and the Spencer
Foundation.
Coming through the doors. Women choosing
to study: why now?
Amanda Cawthorne-Crosby
Spencer Institute of TAFE, Coober Pedy [View Details]
Mutual Obligation: how to survive and
enjoy the experience
Sue Frischke
Spencer Institute of TAFE, Whyalla [View
Details]
Mandatory participation in
literacy/numeracy programs for unemployed young Australians: Whose interests are served?
Sarah Lindfield-Ide
Torrens Institute of TAFE [View
Details]
LANT and the country learner: a city
slicker’s perspective
John Stone
(J & B Stone, Private Training Providers) [View Details]
An investigation into how employers
perceive and identify language based barriers experienced by their employees, and what
measures, if any, they take to assist the employees to overcome these barriers
Jane Gunn
Protea Training, Training Consultant [View Details]
Reflections on becoming and being an
adult literacy educator
Jane McNamara
(Community literacy teacher) [View
Details]
Accredited curricula for the literacy and
numeracy training program for young job seekers
Wendy Stothers
(Teacher in Mutual Obligation Programs) [View Details]
Project
#1: Investigating Literacy and Numeracy in Training Packages in the Horticulture
Industry.
Ruth Trenerry
SA will undertake a small scale qualitative
study in a RTO. Students participating in an horticultural course at AQF Level 2 range
from Year 10 school leavers through to University graduates. Part of the research effort
will focus on the practicalities of training package delivery to learners who access
training in this course. The study will be a snapshot of teaching and learning as it is
experienced with/through the new Workplace Training Packages. Data collection will involve
a researcher shadowing a learning situation and collecting information and evidence to
substantiate a report on teaching and learning as it is being experienced under the new
training regime.
Click here for ordering details.
Project
#2: Practitioner Research
SA's contribution to Project #2 is designed to
develop a visible research culture in adult education. Educators and learners from adult
language, literacy and numeracy provision in SA were asked to explore the ways in which
adult literacy, language and numeracy programs are able to respond to learners' needs, by
developing a number of research skills focussing on the issue of 'special needs'. A
proportion of the 'special needs' identified by the researchers were in the areas of
vocational and Women's Education. Over several months the researchers will be brought
together for three meetings to discuss such issues as getting started; the research
question(s)/focus; research methods; thinking about the research orientation. Researchers
will be supported by mentors throughout the project as an integral part of this
professional development project for adult literacy, language and numeracy educators.
Coming through the
doors. Women choosing to study: why now?
Amanda Cawthorne-Crosby
Spencer Institute of TAFE, Coober Pedy
Mandy’s project endeavoured to
discover why women have made the decision to enrol in a course of study at the regional
location of Coober Pedy campus of TAFE. Mandy is particularly interested in whether the
hardships engendered by the town’s isolation have any impact on women’s decision
to study. She believes that the results of this study may well provide useful information
for future planning in the areas of education and community service.
Research findings:
The availability of child-care facilities
has been a very important factor in influencing the decision of women to study at TAFE.
Gaining skills to broaden future employment
opportunities has been another important reason underlying their decision to study at
TAFE.
The remoteness and isolation of the town has
not discouraged women from enrolling at TAFE but has, paradoxically, been a positive
factor for women because it has engendered a close and supportive learning community.
The closeness of the community has
engendered further enrolments because of the value placed on individual achievement and
success.
Click here to read the
full paper. (amanda99.doc 60kb)
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Mutual Obligation: how
to survive and enjoy the experience
Sue Frischke
Spencer Institute of TAFE, Whyalla
Sue has been interested in the perspective
that the students in her classroom bring to bear on their own learning. Her study focuses
on the reflections and responses of students as she works with them to explore their
learning potential. The economic environment in Whyalla is depressed and generational
unemployment is common. Any response to the learning needs of the student population must
involve lateral thinking. Sue’s research purpose has been to document the challenges
and successes of her literacy and numeracy teaching.
Research findings:
The need for course content to be
relevant to young job seekers, particularly those in the 15-18 year-old age group that has
been deemed youth at risk.
The need to provide literacy and numeracy
training along with vocational skills training.
The importance of developing personal and
social skills as an integral part of the students’ training.
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Mandatory participation
in literacy/numeracy programs for unemployed young Australians: Whose interests are
served?
Sarah Lindfield-Ide
Torrens Institute of TAFE
Sarah’s initial investigation centred
upon how the ‘literacy crisis’ was incorporated into government policy for young
unemployed people with training needs in literacy and numeracy. Sarah documented the
antecedents of this literacy and numeracy labour market program and the policy underlying
the Government’s recently introduced Mutual Obligation Program. She has, since then,
moved into the field to talk to providers and participants during the early months of the
program’s being implemented.
Research findings:
There is an urgent need for more funding for
adult learning, especially in the light of the survey by the Australian Bureau of
Statistics.
There is a need to broaden the spectrum of
literacies to include, in particular, oral communication skills, basic computer skills and
critical literacy.
Existing national literacy and numeracy
policy does not provide coherent employment, training and general education programs.
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LANT and the country
learner: a city slicker’s perspective
John Stone
(J & B Stone, Private Training Providers)
John’s research profiles a group of
learners in a rural-based program. He overviews the availability of employment
opportunities in the region and offers suggestions and strategies aimed at producing
positive results for the participants in his program. Constraints and limitations within
the program are considered in the research and opportunities offered by the curriculum are
reviewed from a regional perspective. John reflects on the content of his training
program, the learning outcomes and his experiences in trying to maintain the interest of
participants.
Research findings:
John has found that, in order to enhance the
employment opportunities of his students, it has been necessary to relate the content of
his training program to their non-academic skills and to the competencies
demanded by industry.
Employment opportunities for John’s
students in the area are severely restricted by the nature of the businesses which are
either highly automated or are one person enterprises or small family businesses employing
only family members and/or relying on seasonal employment, such as fruit picking.
The best way to teach his students, most of
whom share a background of academic failure and dysfunctional social relationships, has
been to move out of the classroom and to teach by incident rather than by rote and
recitation.
John has realised that, given the
backgrounds of his students, it has been difficult initially to elicit a positive response
from them. He has discovered, however, that they will eventually respond to an invitation
to describe what they enjoy and are good at rather than what kind of job they would like
to do.
The only way to work with these students is
to work with their strengths and to construct individual programs to meet their needs and
develop their strengths.
The government’s definition of literacy
does not adequately recognise very relevant literacies possessed by his student group, for
example, graphic literacy.
The social gains made by his students, their
recognition of their strengths and resultant increased self-esteem are as important as the
more practical skills given recognition by the LANT program.
John believes his task as an educator is to
go beyond teaching basic literacy and numeracy skills for employment purposes, and must
include social literacies for the benefit of individuals and the community.
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An investigation
into how employers perceive and identify language based barriers experienced by their
employees, and what measures, if any, they take to assist the employees to overcome these
barriers
Jane Gunn
Protea Training, Training Consultant
Jane’s research has centred round the
food and the nursing home industries where a large number of employees come from
non-English speaking backgrounds and where many possess a level of English which is
insufficiently high to cope with the technical demands of their occupations. Having
identified three main issues arising from this problematic area (productivity,
occupational health, safety and welfare, and teamwork) Jane was interested to ascertain
whether her perception of these issues was mirrored by employers in these industries and
to this end distributed copies of a questionnaire to employers in these industries.
Research findings:
The small number of returns (only four
replies to her questionnaire, one of these being illegible, were received) has meant that
Jane’s data have suffered from a lack of depth and breadth. Consequently she has had
difficulties generating themes across the data and drawing any solid conclusions.
Click here to read
the full paper. (janegunn99.doc
53kb)
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Reflections on
becoming and being an adult literacy educator
Jane McNamara
(Community literacy teacher)
Jane’s research has centred on
herself. Jane’s early childhood and adolescent struggles to overcome considerable
disabilities has made her extremely sensitive and responsive to people in society who feel
excluded because of language difficulties. Jane has examined her motives for teaching
literacy and has sought to test her philosophy of teaching against her pedagogical methods
in order to discover if she is practising what she is preaching. Jane’s need to
belong has informed her desire to help those excluded from mainstream society. She has
consequently identified a number of explicit strategies that are of relevance to her
teaching practice.
Research findings:
building high self-esteem in the learning
process and ensuring that students feel valued
ensuring that migrants maintain their ethnic
identity while at the same time mastering English
making learning relevant to students by
adopting a learner-centred approach to teaching
Contact Sue.Shore@unisa.edu.au for details.
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Accredited curricula
for the literacy and numeracy training program for young job seekers
Wendy Stothers
(Teacher in Mutual Obligation Programs)
Wendy’s research has examined the
curricula of two literacy and numeracy frameworks, namely the Certificate in General
Education for Adults with which she is very familiar and the Certificate in
Preparatory Education which is new to her (henceforth referred to as the CGEA and the
CPE). Both certificates are currently available for young job seekers in South Australia.
Her aim has been to test her hypothesis that the CGEA is a more appropriate and effective
curriculum than the CPE for young job seekers.
Research findings:
Contact Sue.Shore@unisa.edu.au for details.
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