Without quite matching the commitment to life-long learning of 'The Learning Age' eleven years ago, there is much to welcome about 'Informal Adult Learning: Shaping the Way Ahead', today's adult learning consultation from the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS).
The breadth and scope of the consultation is impressive. When did we last see such recognition of the public value of adult learning through the contribution of other Government Departments? The document also well reflects the contrast between traditional approaches to learning and the more diverse opportunities which are emerging.
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Has your experience as a learner has enabled you to manage your health, play a full and active role in society or to keep your independence and control over your life as you grow older? Help us to make sure that the government receives feedback from all kinds of adults in learning. |
Learning is a life-force which everyone possesses from birth. It is innate, along with instincts to breathe and feed, and without it the quality of our lives is greatly reduced. Learning is life-enhancing, life-transforming. It is a force for inclusion, for socialisation and for civilisation, especially in face-to-face situations.
Learning in isolation without that structure of human interaction can and does lead to more sinister and divisive outcomes as we know to our cost, for instance since 9/11. The internet and interactive TV can and should be an integral part of everyone's active learning in the 21st century.
Some adults will be more confident and able than others to meet their learning needs through such media, but all of us benefit from structured support involving teaching and face to face experiences with fellow students. If we are to create in this century the "tolerable society", for which adult education pioneers like RH Tawney strove, we need a blend of both. This consultation is a unique opportunity for every adult learner to shape the way ahead.
I would like to see evidence of the hidden contribution adult learning makes to the economy and to the quality of life in communities. If your experience as an older learner has enabled you to manage your health, play a full and active role in society or to keep your independence and control over your life as you grow older, you are contributing actively to meeting the goals of the Departments of Health and Work and Pensions, and you should provide that evidence.
What has adult learning enabled you to do now that you weren't able to do previously and how does that make life better, for you, your family, your community, your employer? Let's grasp this opportunity to make a compelling case for the public value of adult learning. Students in the WEA, and adults on part-time courses across the country, will welcome the opportunity to engage in the consultation.
We often hear that WEA students are convinced that their participation in adult learning adds significantly to their value as citizens. They are concerned that as a result of fee increases, their classes are at risk of becoming the preserve of those with wealth. Age discrimination legislation has denied pensioners the right to a subsidy, and working people without surplus income are unable to afford the increasing cost of much adult education.
WEA students believe that opportunities for serious education should be open to all, and lifelong learning for its own sake should be accessible and affordable to all adults.
DIUS is seeking wide-ranging debate and feedback through the consultation, and offers a long list of questions to stimulate thought and discussion.
In addition to these questions the consultation document makes statements that should also lead us to think about the following seven points:
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What is meant by ‘informal’ learning? Is it more or less important than skills? Do we accept the examples of informal learning mentioned in the document which, for example, could be seen to include internet ‘googling’? |
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Is there sufficient concern expressed about the precipitous drop in adult learners (1.5 million over the last 2 years according to the LSC)? |
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Is there too much emphasis placed on voluntarism as a solution? |
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Do you sense that the illustrations given of contribution by seven other government departments could be used as an argument, by government, for DIUS to spend less? |
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Is there an impression that the internet is the solution, and that structured teaching and learning is part of yesterday's model? If so, what do you think? |
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Are the challenges (in access, cost, confidence) facing more disadvantaged adults glossed over? |
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Is the neat ‘jigsaw’ of adult learning on page ten of the consultation document something that students (and tutors and provider organisations) recognise, or is the tapestry more torn and frayed than that? |
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Personally, I want to use questions like this to provoke a wider debate across the WEA and among those many adults participating in learning, interested in making a response in their own right.
By 15th May, the closing date of the consultation, through the WEA's response, and by forwarding responses gathered here through our website and other planned events, we hope to have contributed to thousands of other responses from learners, tutors, WEA branches and our partner organisations.
Informal Adult Learning - Shaping the Way Ahead: Make your response
We look forward to reading your responses.
Richard Bolsin
WEA General Secretary, February 2008
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