foundationskillsworkshop

toc =Building foundation skill provision capacity= //A facilitated discussion for the Cooperative Learning Ltd network of providers//

//Adult education should be an ongoing journey (both informal and formal) that continually prepares one for ‘life’ – not just for the workforce but whatever directions a citizen might wish to follow to grow themselves, their local community groups and society.// //(Paul Adams and John O'Neill in the [|NZ Journal of Teachers' work])//

Background readings

 * Black.S & Yasukawa.K (2010) [|Time for National Renewal: Australian adult literacy and numeracy as 'foundation skills'] originally published in 'Literacy and Numeracy Studies' Vol 18 No 2 2010
 * [|Foundation skills taster courses] - DEEWR
 * Leske.A, [|Blind date: an exploration of potential partnerships between literacy teachers and community service workers]
 * NCVER, [|Bringing a social capital approach into the teaching of adult literacy and numeracy: Good practice guide]
 * Lo Bianco.J (2010), [|Getting Serious about Adult Literacy in Australia]- keynote tot he 2010 ACAL conference (audio file)

Stats
Some [|Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (ALLS) findings]: - Approx 7 million (46%) Australians aged 15 to 74 years had scores at Level 1 or 2 on the prose scale, a further 5.6 million (37%) at Level 3 and 2.5 million (16%) at Level 4/5. Results for document literacy were similar to prose. - On the numeracy scale, approx 7.9 million (53%) Australians were assessed at Level 1 or 2, 4.7 million (31%) at Level 3 and 2.4 million (16%) at Level 4/5. - Literacy levels tended to decrease with age, with higher proportions of people in the older age groups attaining skill scores lower than Level 3. The exception to this was the 15 to 19 years age group, which had lower levels of literacy than the 20 to 24 year age group. On the problem solving scale, approximately 10.6 million (70%) Australians were assessed at Level 1 or 2, 3.7 million (25%) at Level 3 and 800,000 (5%) at Level 4 (table 1). - across all the scales, those employed had the highest proportion with scores of Level 3 or above (prose 60%, document 61%, numeracy 56%, problem solving 36% and health literacy 47%). Those not in the labour force had the highest proportion assessed at Level 1 or 2 for the prose (63%) and document (67%) scales, while for numeracy, the unemployed had the highest proportion attaining Level 1 or 2 (73%).

1. Finding common ground
[15 mins] How do we define being 'literate' in 2011? What has changed? Agreement on a shift to 'foundation skills'?

Brainstorm, discussion and drafting/refining definition
 * ACTIVITY:**

2. Celebrating our strengths
[15 mins] What core factors have given life to your LLN provision to date? What have been the highlights? What makes us "community" providers? What are community colleges programs fundamentally for? (niche) What are we already good at?

Personal reflection and group discussion in 2 groups focusing on LLN and community
 * ACTIVITY:**

3. Looking ahead
[30-40 mins] What is your preferred future? What new opportunities exist? - potential (WELL, community based service courses, ACE VET, Social inclusion, other?) How might our culture need to evolve? What is missing? What would heighten vitality and health of your foundation skills programs? Who is the target market for LLN/Foundation skills ? How will you find out? Who are the stakeholders involved with these target markets with whom they need to network and develop partnerships? What is on your scope? What are the gaps and opportunities for amendment to scope or partnerships? What are the opportunities for consortium (Cooperative Learning) funding applications?

What is needed right now? Small groups focus on one each - staffing - resources - scope - research/consultation
 * ACTIVITY:**

4. Action
[20 mins] what resources and structures are needed to actualise your dreams? What guidance and scaffolding is needed to support implementation? What needs to happen and by when?

group discussion and documentation suggestions: checklist, Diigo group - http://groups.diigo.com/group/communitycolleges
 * ACTIVITY:**