Conferences coming up!

There are a number of conferences coming up in the next few months beginning with our own WA Adult Literacy Council (WAALC) State Conference “Getting back to our roots: Literacy for empowerment” at the Central Institute of Technology, Leederville Campus on the  18th and 19th of July so if you are planning to attend you need to register soon. For more information and registration visit the Conference page on the WAALC website

Registration is now open for this year’s 2013 Australian Council for Adult Literacy (ACAL) Conference “Local Practices Global Contexts” to be held in Sydney from September 30th to October 2nd

For anyone with an urge to travel registration is also open for the 2013 US Conference on Adult Literacy “Together, leading change” is being held October 31st  to November 2nd in Washington, D.C.

Also coming up – there are no details on the website yet, is the 2013 Australian WELL Practitioners’ Conference in  Canberra on the 21st and 22nd November. Watch the website for further information.

Literacy for empowerment?

The Western Australian Adult literacy Council (WAALC)  chose the title  Getting back to our roots: Literacy for empowerment for their 2013 Conference as a follow on from last year’s theme At the heart of the matter: identity and trust in adult learning.

But just what is literacy for empowerment? What roots are we getting back to?

When WAALC was incorporated back in 1986, the adult literacy field was rooted in the idea that adult literacy initiatives were needed to empower individuals and their communities to address injustice and inequality.  Students themselves were encouraged to set the objectives and to acquire skills they wanted and needed to make their lives better.

Today, such a notion may seem quaint and old-fashioned alongside the current emphasis on frameworks that define in little assessable chunks at graduated levels what literacy is required to be taught and learnt with the purpose of building Australia’s workforce skills. When practitioners try to match these modern frameworks to real people learning for real purposes, sometimes they find learner-centred activities are pushed to the fringes.

However, teachers still report that the most exciting things that happen in adult literacy classes can’t be counted against the frameworks. And many of them don’t clearly match to the objective of  the development of human capital to improve Australia’s productivity though I am sure in the long run, they do!  After all more justice and equality means more people can participate in the activities of society more fully, including employment.

So WAALC is working on a program that will acknowledge the reality of the system-driven frameworks while supporting practitioners to find ways to hold on to the importance of individual and community empowerment as a central objective of our work.

So if you want to contribute to this conversation, put 18-19 July 2013 in your diary. Registrations will open soon: keep an eye on the WA Adult Literacy Council website

Hope to see you there!

Cheryl Wiltshire

2013 WAALC State Conference Convenor

 

Report from WAALC conference 2012

This year the theme of the annual Western Australian Adult Literacy (WAALC) Conference was At the heart of the matter – identity and trust in adult learning.  The intention was to place people – teachers and learners – at the heart of educational quality and ask the question: what makes learning work for people?

The WAALC Conference Committee chose to address  the factors that make the difference between accessible, effective literacy services, and those which, for adult literacy learners, just replicate what didn’t work well enough in the first place.

This theme opened up discussion about the human element, and how what happens during initial schooling almost always impacts on, and must be acknowledged and addressed in literacy learning.  Conference delegates focused on what learners have told us, and showed us, and proved to us over and over again – that understanding, trust and commitment between teacher and learner is central to successful adult literacy learning.  Sixteen workshops were delivered at the conference to explore and renew our focus on the heart of the matter: ways of working that meet the needs of learners and, as a natural result, achieve better outcomes for the wider society as well.

The keynote speakers were Ruth Wallace, from Charles Darwin University in the Northern Territory, and Susan Bates, recently returned to Western Australia from working in adult literacies in Scotland. Both provided practical advice about how identity and trust could be built to contribute towards literacy development, despite the conflicting demands on teachers and learners.

The response from adult literacy teachers across WA was brilliant, with wholehearted support for the opportunity to explore in depth what is At the heart of the matter – identity and trust in adult learning. 102 delegates attended the 2012 Conference over two days.  One delegate described the experience:

This year the theme was close to what I feel, what we often forget in the game of outcomes, certificates, reporting and paperwork – that at the heart of the matter we are dealing with human beings who are most often disempowered, and our role above all is to help them build confidence and empower them, help them to see and work from their own strength (Delegate, WAALC Conference 2012).

 

 

 

 

Conferences! WA, Interstate, or International?

WAALC Conference • 11-12 July, 2012

Central Institute of Technology Perth

At the heart of the matter – identity and trust in adult learning

As the OECD becomes convinced that the best performing education systems are those that strive for equity and quality, Australia continues to put its faith in the power of measurement and accountability to deliver ‘market changes’ that will improve outcomes in all our education sectors. This conference will place people – teachers and learners – at the heart of educational quality.  We want to move away from framing debates around policy imperatives, economic outcomes and abstractions such as ‘core skills’ or ’employability skills’.  We are asking the question: what makes learning work for people?

What causes a person to be able to learn? How do people develop resilience? What does it take to build confidence? What is it that teachers need to know and understand about their adult learners and their learner’s lives? How do differences between the identities of teachers and those of their learners impact on relationships and learning? How can teachers develop relationships with learners that enable them to understand how a person thinks and feels and does things? How will they use this understanding to create environments in which people can more successfully learn?

And what of the people who are teachers? What do teachers need from the system so that they can continue their own learning? What skills and knowledge do beginning teachers need – does initial training provide these? How can teachers use the variety of strengths they find in their students to harness learning energy? How can teachers consciously build social capital in their learning environments as a basis for and outcome of learning? How can teachers get support from their peers?

Develop a proposal now if you have information to share that will renew our focus on the heart of the matter: ways of working that meet the needs of learners and, as a natural result, achieve better outcomes for the wider society as well.

Call for papers closes 24 April 2012

http://www.waalc.org.au/12conf/callforpapers.htm

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ACAL Conference – Joining the Pieces: Literacy and Numeracy – one part of the picture

19-21 Sept • Hobart

The 2012 ACAL conference will explore three key questions about adult literacy and numeracy. These questions are about how we connect, co-operate and create.

Submit a proposal for a session that will:

  • stimulate thought and discussion on relevant issues and practice
  • be interactive and encourage dialogue
  • display innovation and flexibility in practice/research
  • demonstrate effective practice in a range of settings
  • exemplify adult learning principles
  • critique changes in state and federal government policies and priorities
  • communicate developments and findings in research and research practices.

Proposals are due by 12 May, 2012

http://www.tcal.org.au/12conf/index.htm

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VALBEC Annual conference  ‘Read the word, Read the world •  May 25 2012

Venue: William Angliss Conference Centre Melbourne

The program offers plenary sessions and a choice from fourteen workshops. Keynote speaker is Rowena Allen ACFE Chair.

Registrations are now open

http://www.valbec.org.au/2012conf/index.htm

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Australian Council of TESOL Associations International TESOL Conference (ACTA) •  Cairns •  3rd to 5th July 2012

‘TESOL as a Global Trade – Ethics, Equity and Ecology’

http://www.astmanagement.com.au/acta12/

Pre-conference symposium Monday 2 July 2012 at the Cairns Convention Centre

‘Teaching and learning pronunciation: Local and global perspectives on research and practice’

EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION CLOSES 20th APRIL 2012

Complete your registration and payment now to be eligible for the Early Bird discount registration.
Registration fees will be increased by $100 after the 20th April.
Registration to the Pronunciation Symposium held on the 2nd July is an
optional extra. Special discounts are offered to those attending the
conference.

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International Conference of Adults Learning Mathematics

The 19th International Conference of Adults Learning Mathematics – A Research Forum (ALM19) is to be held in Auckland, New Zealand, from Tuesday June 26 to Friday June 29 2012.

ALM is an international organisation which brings together practitioners and researchers who are involved in mathematics and numeracy education for adult learners in order to inform policy and practice. Information about the conference, the call for papers and registration are available at: http://literacyandnumeracyforadults.com/Professional-Development/Conferences/2012-ALM19-Conference

 

WAALC 25 years on

Members of the Western Australian Adult Literacy Council (WAALC) celebrated a milestone last Saturday.  We marked 25 years as an incorporated body by gathering for a BBQ at the Lower Chittering Volunteer Fire Brigade shed.  One of our lifetime members, Theo Bekkers, is a volunteer fire fighter in his local brigade.  Theo and his colleagues invited us to hold our celebration in their fire shed where they introduced us to the firefighting equipment and shared their experiences of fighting major fires, including the recent one in Margaret River.

WAALC committee with 25th anniversary cake.The shed provided an ideal spot for eating, socializing and the formalities of the afternoon. WAALC Committee members provided the nibbles and dips, salads and sweets and the fire fighters brought meat for the BBQ.

The event was marked by a general meeting which conferred lifetime membership of WAALC on the following people in recognition of services to WAALC:

  • Erica Daymond
  • Carmel Jennings
  • Margaret McHugh
  • Stephanie Mitchell
  • Robyn Rennie
  • Jo Taylor
  • Jim Thompson
  • Cheryl Wiltshire

We also launched a video describing what WAALC means to members; this will be available soon on the WAALC websitePhotos of past events combined with video footage of our most recent conference means that literacy workers past and present are included.

A chance to learn more about the equipment used by volunteer fire fighters.

The highlight of the afternoon was the chance to learn more about the equipment, language and processes that the volunteer fire fighters use to respond to bushfires. It was impressive to see what the fire fighters are willing to offer on an entirely voluntary basis: large amounts of time committed to training and preparation and instant response in the case of a fire emergency.  The fact that their work is potentially dangerous highlights their contribution. It makes our efforts in organising a national conference once in a while seem a little tame in comparison!

An added bonus for the teachers amongst us were the free resources to use in class this summer.

As an association operated entirely by volunteers WAALC can learn much from other volunteer organisations. The Lower Chittering Fire Brigade offers a great model of how volunteers are recruited and supported (they have 40 active members drawn from a very small community).  What both sets of volunteers shared was an enthusiasm for their different fields of activity: firefighters talk non-stop about ‘putting the wet stuff on the red stuff’ just as literacy folk talk never stop talking about literacy!

The event has made me reflect more deeply on our role as an association. We are often so caught up in the legal requirements of maintaining an incorporated body that we lose focus on our purpose and our achievements. I think our raison d’être is well described in Beverley Campbell’s Reading the Fine Print: A History of the Victorian Adult Literacy and Basic Education Council (VALBEC) 1978-2008 where she offered this description of our Victorian counterpart:

“VALBEC is a forum where teachers learn to read and interrogate the professional texts which shape their subjectivity and where they learn to read themselves and others as adult literacy and basic education practitioners. Through participation in professional activities, teachers are apprenticed into the culture of adult literacy and basic education. Their sense of professional identify is formed.

A professional organisation is where personal professional confidence is nurtured. VALBEC has provided a context where teachers can develop the confidence to articulate what they believe, by writing articles for publication or in running workshops at conferences. Teachers join professional organisations for different reasons: some want only support, others are willing to take on more up-front leadership roles. Those who do take on these challenges find that they learn new skills they were unaware they possessed.” (2009, p262)”

A sincere thankyou to our hosts from the Lower Chittering Fire Brigade for providing us with such an interesting and enjoyable way to celebrate our 25th year.

Cheryl Wiltshire, WAALC secretary