Section 3: The difference adult literacies learning has made to working lives
Skills For Scotland: a lifelong skills strategy21 highlights the importance of learning in and for the workplace. Literacy and numeracy skills underpin many of the tasks we need to carry out in our workplaces, whether they involve completing forms and reports, understanding health and safety notices, or calculating accounts. Employees who undertake literacies learning in the workplace gain confidence in their abilities so that they can carry out their jobs more effectively, apply for promotion, take up further learning opportunities, participate in workplace activities and pursue qualifications.
Below learners and their employers describe the impact literacies learning has had on working life in Scotland:
"There are long-term benefits for the service, the employees' personal and family lives, and there are benefits for the wider community."
Fife employer
"I'm getting better at writing my reports for work."
Glasgow learner
"The course was a great help and gave me lots of confidence with my writing. I would love to do more in the future."
West Lothian learner
"Richard and the others who attend the MALANI classes in the store are very obviously more confident and more able to carry out their tasks."
Midlothian employer
"I passed my exams and now I'm an apprentice."
Glasgow learner
"Our chef is now a more confident, self-assured employee and this has improved relationships in the nursing home. We are now taking advantage of other WEA22 learning opportunities."
West Lothian employer
"I now understand why I need these skills."
Edinburgh learner
"I've gained the confidence to take up further learning and return to work and I now work part-time in ASDA."
Dundee learner
"It was really good and it was nothing like I expected and I learned how the skills would help me."
Edinburgh learner
"I can now take notes at training courses at work. Before I would not have written anything down. I feel more confident about trying now and will tell trainers if I need any more help."
Highland learner
"This has really helped me in my new post at a time when I wasn't sure I was going to be able to keep going."
Falkirk learner
"Employees' confidence has improved and there is evidence of their improved ability to complete care plans and understand legislation like data protection."
Edinburgh employer
"It was good because it helps me get closer to a job."
Edinburgh learner
These quotations are from adult literacies workers, talking about the impact that continuing professional development ( CPD) has had on their ability to support learners:
"The national seminars hosted by Learning Connections are informative, thought provoking and good for networking."
Feedback on a national event
" CoPAL is a very convenient way of sharing best practice and hearing about useful resources from other practitioners."
CoPAL member
"I enjoy the enthusiasm of the contributors. I am the right audience - a new tutor who wants to find out more and more."
Feedback on a numeracy seminar
"This training has given me a great insight into using really effective and adult friendly tools for tutoring numeracy."
Making Numeracy Count course participant
"Personally I find this very motivating as it gives me ideas."
Feedback on Learning Connections' Reading Seminars
"I've found CoPAL very helpful for sharing resources. I posted a message asking for information and got some very helpful replies. I also like the variety of different resources I've found there. I've used them myself and passed them on to colleagues who would not normally look online. I've enjoyed playing the games as well!"
CoPAL member
"… the firming of values and the confidence to voice opinions and suggest ways forward for the development of the strategic planning within the local authority. This has been apparent and evident in not only my change of approach towards my job but my confidence that what I am doing is valuable. This has, with no doubt, contributed to my promotion."
TQAL23participant
"In essence, TQAL has made a huge impact on the way I see my job, how it fits in to the whole, certainly HOW I do my job."
TQAL participant
"The levelling session was very good. I now feel confident in assessing learners' work and deciding the level the student is at. Assessing pieces of work students had done in the past and working out which level they were at was a good exercise."
Edinburgh tutor
National leadership and effective local action to maximise the difference adult literacies learning has made to working lives
This section illustrates learning programmes developed and delivered in partnership between literacies learning providers and employers.
Developing literacies skills for work
Flat-packed literacies?
Midlothian Adult Literacy and Numeracy Initiative ( MALANI) has worked with Edinburgh IKEA over the last year, supporting mainly young people on their supported employment programme. This programme offers supported work placements that may lead to part-time or full-time contracts, with organisations such as Capability Scotland, Thistle Foundation and Remploy. One of the agencies involved in the local scheme is Services in Training for Employment in Midlothian which MALANI has supported for a number of years.
Over the last year MALANI has begun to support workers at IKEA, including Richard who has joined one of the literacies classes there and is thriving. Richard said, "My MALANI class at IKEA has helped to increase my confidence, upped my speed at work and given me a better understanding of what I have to do at my job".
Social enterprise and literacies
Haven Products is a social enterprise firm, with approximately 139 employees, 80% of whom have a disability. Working in partnership with Adult Literacies Renfrewshire, Haven opened a Learning Centre in the factory in 2008.
Haven employee Martin decided to take advantage of the literacies sessions offered at the Learning Centre to improve his writing and communication skills. He worked on, and developed, his writing and other areas such as budgeting, form filling and numeracy.
Martin said, "The literacy course has had a massive impact on my life. Since taking part in the literacy classes, my communication and concentration have really improved. Basically, now I do things that I should've been able to do when I was fourteen - like buy my own clothes!"
Sasha bites off as much as she can chew!
Sasha, from East Ayrshire, wanted help as she prepared for her dental nurse exams. Her confidence grew as she worked with her tutor on a one-to-one basis. Among her goals was one to improve her numeracy, and in particular handling money so that she could work on the front desk at her dental practice. Good news came in the form of a thank you card from Sasha's dental practice, saying, "Sasha is now a qualified dental nurse!"
Developing the adult literacies workforce in Scotland
This section illustrates some of the many professional development opportunities that adult literacies workers have taken part in across Scotland during 2008/2009.
- A "Community of practice"
Learning Connections continues to facilitate a number of practitioner networks and to host national seminars and conferences. This year saw Learning Connections, in partnership with Scotland's Colleges, focus its efforts on promoting the use of its online Community of Practice, CoPAL24.
CoPAL was set up in 2005 to support networking and sharing of practice. It was relaunched at the beginning of 2009, and within the first three months the online forum saw an increase in activity with over 1000 practitioners visiting the site, including 101 first time users. New discussion threads were developed on working with young people; e-learning; numeracy; workplace; health and literacies; and work with offenders. The changing content is now highlighted to practitioners through monthly enewsletters. CoPAL is the place to find out the latest adult literacies news.
- Professional Development Award ( PDA): Developing literacies learning programmes for the workplace
The first candidates in Scotland to complete this new PDA were presented with their certificates by Keith Brown MSP, Minister for Schools and Skills, and Dr Janet Brown, Chief Executive SQA, at a ceremony at the Scottish Parliament. The qualification equips adult literacies workers in colleges, local authorities and voluntary organisations with the skills they need to engage with local employers, raise managers' awareness of the importance of literacy and numeracy in work tasks, and to plan and deliver programmes of learning that will benefit both employers and employees. The four successful candidates have delivered literacies learning for employees in the construction, care, retail and public sectors.
Keith Brown MSP, Minister for Schools and Skills, and Dr Janet Brown, Chief Executive SQA, congratulate Nicki Brown, Lorna McNeil, Jayne Gray and Jim Maguire.
- TQAL and Practice Tutor Award
The T eaching Qualification: Adult Literacies ( TQAL) entered a new phase of development in 2008 with 52 adult literacies tutors from across Scotland accessing either the Diploma in Higher Education (Adult Literacies) at Forth Valley College or the Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (Adult Literacies) at Dundee, Aberdeen or Strathclyde Universities. This second pilot of the qualification is fully funded by Learning Connections and has taken on board recommendations from the evaluation of the first pilot. An end of course conference in Stirling in September 2008 celebrated the achievements of the first cohort of TQAL students and Practice Tutors. Individuals who undertake a support and mentoring role in the workplace to those on TQAL can also access a Masters level qualification, the Practice Tutor Award, at Aberdeen University. This suite of qualifications has contributed significantly to the professionalisation of the adult literacies workforce in Scotland.
The first cohort of TQAL students, staff and practice tutors, Stirling, September 2008
This pilot programme of professional development in teaching numeracy was offered to paid and volunteer tutors over a four-month period ending in March 2009. It was funded by Learning Connections and managed and co-ordinated by Learning Link Scotland, the national intermediary for the voluntary adult learning sector. The project aimed to develop adult literacies workers' numeracy teaching skills so that they could better support their learners. Learning Link Scotland supported the development of tailor-made training sessions to meet the specific needs of practitioners from across the country.
The evaluation showed that the project had more than achieved its outcomes; 83% of the 161 tutors trained said their confidence and teaching skills were greatly improved by the training. A full report of the project and its findings will be available on Adult Literacies Online.
- Practitioner-Led Action Research ( PLAR) - the individual planning process
This project, led by the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh for Learning Connections, aimed to support adult literacies practitioners in research projects about the individual learning planning process, including the use of the Adult Literacy and Numeracy Curriculum Framework and the online Curriculum Wheel. It also aimed to provide practitioners with knowledge and support that would allow them to continue their involvement in research. This in turn will increase the research capacity and confidence of the adult literacies teaching community in Scotland.
A pack has been developed and will be available on Adult Literacies Online and in hard copy. It will include a "how to" guide, a final report and case studies from practitioners.
Practitioners are doing it for themselves!
During the past two years, four adult literacies workers in Scottish Borders (including the Literacies Co-ordinator), have been involved in action research, either through the TQAL or through the PLAR project. Their experiences have led the Co-ordinator to champion the development of a more integrated, reflective approach to training. As a result, a development worker has incorporated the role of Practice Tutor into their job, and now supports a local practitioner network, peer observation and delivery of the PDA: ITALL25.
- Professional Practice Seminars: teaching reading to adults
A series of three seminars was funded by Learning Connections and delivered by BlueSky Learning Limited, in collaboration with the National Institute for Adult and Continuing Education ( NIACE) and teacher trainers from the Institute of Education, University of London. Around 35 practitioners from across Scotland attended the seminars.
Practitioners identified specific issues they wanted to work on and planned an investigation into more effective teaching of reading. Over three months they carried out their investigations in their own work settings. There was also expert input on working with beginner readers, working with mixed ability groups and effective teaching and learning.
As the programme progressed, participants were able to share their experiences and refine their activity, completing the investigative process by producing reflective reports.
- PDA: Supporting individuals with dyslexia in learning and workplace settings
During 2008, Learning Connections funded a pilot course of this PDA in Stirling. Feedback from course participants was extremely positive and, in most cases, participants have become the main contact person for dyslexia in their area. In order to accommodate demand from practitioners
in the Highlands and Islands, a second pilot will be offered.