Learner Story |
"Since starting to develop my skills I have found that, after all these years, I am able to learn." |
Staff tutors and volunteer tutor assistants had established very positive and productive relationships with their learners. They were welcoming, friendly and supportive and took very good account of the needs of all learners, particularly those who had low confidence and self-esteem and were nervous about engaging in learning.
All staff took very good account of learner needs. They applied effectively the social practice model12 advocated by Learning Connections in the Adult Literacy and Numeracy Curriculum Framework for Scotland (May 2005)13 to provide relevant learning activities tailored to meet individual interests and aspirations. Staff contextualised lessons well and took care in planning activities, often gathering and using different types of resources based on the individual interests of their learners.
Most staff used creative and innovative teaching approaches to engage learners in learning activities. A few tutors also provided very good opportunities for learners to experience different types of learning. This approach was very effective in helping learners to develop confidence and recognise their individual learning preferences. In the majority of classes, groups of learners discussed their learning and designed and planned activities with staff. Most tutors made good use of project-based activities to involve learners in negotiating and setting short and longer term class goals and agreeing the content and format of learning activities to meet these goals. In one-to-one programmes, there were many good examples of tutors working with employed learners, relating activities to learners’ workplaces. However, in some cases staff used outdated and less engaging approaches, some of which were insufficiently focused on empowering learners to make progress within a social practice context.
Although all staff planned their activities well, they were often impeded by the poor quality and availability of resources, particularly ICT. As a result, in most cases, staff did not make sufficient use of ICT to enhance the learning process.
The majority of staff had participated in appropriate development activities to broaden and deepen their teaching skills.
An online community of practice for adult literacies (COPAL), co-hosted by Learning Connections and Scotland’s Colleges, provided good opportunities for practitioners working across different sectors to share practice and resources. Learning Connection’s national practitioner networks helped to increase staff expertise by focusing on specific areas of literacies, including Youth literacies and Using ICT to support literacy learning. Almost all tutors had undertaken training or attended professional development events provided by Learning Connections or other agencies. Some tutors had undertaken Professional Development Awards (PDAs) related to adult literacy, for example the PDA Working with adults with dyslexia.
Most tutors had undertaken the PDA Introduction to Tutoring Adult Literacies Learning (ITALL) either before or soon after starting to work with learners. However, most tutors did not have sufficient, regular opportunities to discuss and identify their individual training needs. In most cases, tutors did not have sufficient opportunities to share practices and approaches to help them learn from each other. It was too early to gauge the impact of the recently-introduced Teaching Qualification in Adult Literacies (TQAL) on the quality of learning and teaching.
Learning centre managers and delivery staff had established very positive relationships with their learners. Teaching staff were approachable and attentive and took care and time to meet the needs of their individual learners. They planned their learning activities well and contextualised learning to engage, motivate and encourage learners. They took very good account of the interests of individual learners and groups and gathered resources and tailored content to extend these interests. Learners, particularly those with previous negative experiences of learning, valued greatly the approaches and level of support they received from staff.
A wide range of innovative projects and initiatives, including theatrical events, writer in-residence projects, programmes for families and parents and peer tutoring schemes, had been very effective in encouraging and helping many learners to take part in learning. In many cases, offenders were engaging in learning for the first time in many years, and in some cases for the first time since primary school. Story sacks, Home from Home, Storybook Dads and other family learning initiatives had been very successful in engaging learners in literacy development activities directly linked to family needs. Several such initiatives are highlighted in the HMIE/HMIP publication Learning, Skills and Employability: A review of good practice in Scottish prisons (June 2008).14 In one prison, a project based on the life of Mary, Queen of Scots had been highly successful in engaging learners in different types of learning to develop their literacy skills.
However, insufficient links among the various providers often prevented staff from being able to incorporate literacy development within wider prison projects and activities. Most staff found this frustrating and considered they were unable to reach those most in need. However, there were a few good examples of staff beginning to take steps to overcome this through providing literacy support in work sheds and vocational training areas, such as within the painting and decorating work stream. These developments had been very successful in destigmatising literacy support and had helped learners to develop their literacy and vocational skills simultaneously.
In prison learning centres, most staff made very good use of resources, including computers, to enhance the learning process. Learners did not have access to the Internet. However, the SPS planned to provide learners with access to a prison-wide intranet later in the year, to enable them to access wider e-learning opportunities. There were some instances of literacy and library staff working together to improve services for offenders. In one prison, proactive library and adult literacy partnership staff had established effective literacy support referral arrangements and jointly planned resources to enable individual learners to further their interests and extend their reading skills.
Most staff had participated in training events to help them improve and develop their learning and teaching approaches. At national level, Learning Connections and Scotland’s Colleges provided useful forums and events for staff to discuss and share their approaches to helping offenders develop their literacy skills. However, at local level there were insufficient arrangements for staff working within individual prisons to share and adopt effective practice.
Staff had established very positive and productive relationships with their learners. They were approachable, helpful and responsive to learners’ individual needs and aspirations. Staff took very good account of learners’ previous experiences of learning and helped them to explore different types of learning and to discuss and identify their preferred learning styles. Learners enjoyed and valued their relationships with staff and the level of support they received to help them achieve their individual goals.
Staff planned learning activities well. They drew on learners’ interests and life and work experiences to contextualise learning. In most colleges, staff supporting learners on vocational programmes worked closely with subject specialists to plan activities and make them vocationally relevant. There were very good examples of staff devising resources to meet the needs of specific groups of learners, including creating wordbooks of terms used in different industries to help learners develop spelling skills. More than a few staff took good account of the types of assessments used in vocational programmes and simulated situations to help learners practice organising their thoughts and approaches to applying their literacy skills.
College staff worked well together to plan and deliver literacy support for specific groups of learners. In some colleges, literacy staff worked alongside vocational staff in classrooms and workshops to help learners develop and consolidate their skills. In others, core skills and vocational staff worked together to contextualise unit materials. These approaches were very effective in helping learners to develop their literacy skills and improved the overall learning experience.
Most college staff made effective use of ICT to enhance the learning process and enable learners to develop wider knowledge and skills. Learners had very good access to centralised college facilities and resources and most of them enjoyed and valued their access to libraries and drop-in learning centres outwith class times to extend their learning. Most college staff were very good at incorporating small episodes of independent learning, often including use of ICT, to help learners gain practice and confidence in working on their own.
In most colleges, staff had good opportunities to identify their training needs and access support to help them develop and extend their skills. Staff development programmes provided by Scotland’s Colleges and Learning Connections had enabled staff to learn from each other and their partnership colleagues. Overall, staff made good use of these opportunities to share and adopt good practice, extend their skills and develop new teaching approaches.