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7. CONTINUING EDUCATION AND TRAINING FOR ADULTS
7.1 Policy & Legislative Framework
Under the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act
1992 (section 1) the duty was placed upon the then
Secretary of State to secure the provision of further
education in Scotland. The Act also empowers local
authorities (in section 2) to provide adult education as
part of further education provision. This type of further
education is now known in Scotland as 'community learning
and development'. After the publication of 'Communities:
Change through Learning' (1999) the Government published
SOEID Circular 4/99, which gave guidance
to local authorities. They were asked to work with other
organisations with an active interest in informal education
to produce Community Learning Strategies by March 2000.
In 2000 the Scottish Executive established the Community
Education Training Review (
CETR) to examine professional training
in this field. This report was published in May 2002. The
recommendations in the
CETR were put out for consultation,
following which the Scottish Executive issued a policy
response, Empowered to Practice - the future of community
learning and development training in Scotland. Work to
implement this policy response is well under way and
continues.
Following extensive consultation, the Scottish Executive
published new guidance on community learning and
development - 'Working and learning together to build
stronger communities' - in January 2004. The guidance
includes, for the first time, national priorities for
community learning and development as follows:
- Achievement through learning for adults: raising
standards of achievement through community-based
lifelong learning opportunities incorporating the core
skills of literacy and numeracy, communications,
working with others, problem solving and
ICT;
- Achievement through learning for young people:
engaging with young people to facilitate their
personal, social and educational development and enable
them to gain a voice and place in society; and
- Achievement through building community capacity:
building community capacity and influence by enabling
individuals, groups and communities to develop the
confidence, understanding and skills required to
influence decision-making and service delivery. This
could include enabling communities to provide and
manage services to meet community needs.
Other current national priorities include the more
effective measurement of inputs, outputs and outcomes in
this area. Learning Connections is taking forward a
Performance Information Project in partnership with the
field to address this.
Community Learning and Development is now seen as a
major part of the Scottish Executive's community
regeneration and community planning policies and is being
given higher priority in the implementation of the Scottish
Executive's Lifelong Learning Strategy for Scotland - Life
Through Learning - Learning Through Life (February
2003).
7.2 Management/Organisations Involved
Following the reorganisation of local government in
1996, the new authorities adopted different approaches in
the provision of community education services. Local
authorities now discharge their responsibilities for
community learning and development through a variety of
structures and with the main role in service delivery being
located within a range of departments.
In 2004, responsibility for policy advice to Ministers
on all matters relating to community learning and
development was passed from the Scottish Executive
Development Department to Learning Connections, part of
Communities Scotland's Regeneration Division, which has
responsibility for Community Learning and Development
issues, and for support to the Adult Literacy and Numeracy
field.
7.3 Funding
Local government received a Grant Aided Expenditure
allocation of £110m for community learning and development
in 2003-04 (04-05 figure £116m). In addition, the Scottish
Executive's Education Department (
SEED), Scottish Executive Development
Department (
SEDD) and Enterprise, Transport and
Lifelong Learning Department (
SEETLLD) spend several million pounds
annually on grants to voluntary community learning and
development bodies, on capital grants for local facilities,
on direct grants to the national development centres and on
support for
ICT developments. The Scottish Executive
has also allocated £9m over 3 years to help Community
Planning Partnerships engage communities in regeneration.
Much of this is spent on building community capacity. Since
2001, over £30m has been allocated to Community Learning
Partnerships for adult literacy and numeracy work.
7.4 Human Resources
Initial qualifying training for community learning and
development practice is at university degree level. The
training involves both academic and practical work. The
guidelines for community education training (encompassing
adult education, community work and youth work) are
published by the Community Education Validation and
Endorsement (CeVe) Committee of Communities Scotland. All
courses of training for professional community education
practitioners must be endorsed by this body.
The Scottish Executive published its response to the
report of the Community Education Training Review (
CETR) in February 2003 (Empowered to
Practice: The future of Community Learning and Development
training in Scotland). The key announcements included: the
introduction of a degree in community learning and
development; expansion in work-based training routes;
expansion in pre-degree level programmes aligned to the
Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework; introduction
of professional registration; and establishment of a
professional body to oversee the endorsement, validation,
accreditation of training and registration of professionals
practising in this field.
Communities Scotland are taking forward development of a
new national training programme for adult literacy and
numeracy practitioners, providing improved training options
for volunteer tutors and professional staff. The first
modules of the new programme are now being piloted.
Current providers include the Universities of Dundee,
Strathclyde, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Recent years have
witnessed the development of flexible and work-based models
for professional training, with a particular emphasis upon
widening access to community activists.
In 1999 the Government gave formal recognition to a
National Training Organisation (
NTO) for community learning and
development. This is called PAULO, named after Paulo
Freire. The
NTO had a
UK-wide brief, and a Scottish Panel. It
has been responsible for the development of national
occupational standards and for labour market and training
research. National Occupational Standards are currently in
place for Community Development Work and Youth Work.
In 2001 the
UK Government announced that all
NTOs would be replaced by Sector Skills
Councils. PAULO has been one of the partners in the
formation of a Lifelong Learning Sector Skills Council, now
established as Lifelong Learning
UK (
LLUK).
7.5 Organisation
7.5.1 Types of Training Institutions
Adult education and training is offered by community
learning and development services of local authorities,
voluntary organisations, commercial and industrial firms,
colleges of further education, higher education
institutions, including universities and other
providers.
A number of adults also attend secondary schools for
part of the time and take particular classes with the
pupils. Adult education is also provided by the education
units within Her Majesty's Prisons.
Another body with a considerable interest in adult
education is the Health Education Board for Scotland (
HEBS), which has responsibilities for
providing further training for professionals in the
National Health Service (
NHS) and also for educating the general
public on health issues, for example on sexual health
issues, smoking and the misuse of drugs.
7.5.2 Access Requirements
It is a characteristic of many courses offered through
adult education that they have no formal entry
requirements. This is true of certain courses across the
whole range from basic education to degree level courses.
Most of the courses at lower academic levels can be entered
without previous qualifications, but it is also possible to
take courses leading to recognised qualifications in the
Open College or leading to a degree of the Open University
without formal entrance qualifications. In other courses
the normal entry requirements are considerably reduced for
adult learners. Successful completion of an access course
is often sufficient.
7.5.3 Objectives of the Programmes
Because adult education is not a stage or level of
education but is defined by those who receive it rather
than by what is offered, its coverage is enormous. For
adults who wish to learn, it provides opportunities to
satisfy their own interests; and for adults in employment,
it provides learning opportunities linked with that
employment. It provides for adults with special needs, such
as those arising from low levels of literacy, or from
disabilities or long-term unemployment. Each of these
categories requires a wide range of provision, ranging from
courses which are intended to stimulate interest to
vocational training, professional training and academic
study. Courses are offered at all levels.
The general aims are to provide educational opportunity
to meet the needs of as much of the population as possible
and to focus education on the issues and aspirations that
individuals, groups and communities face in their daily
lives. The precise objectives vary according to the type
and level of activity. The objective may be the successful
acquisition of a new skill, the acquisition of formal
qualifications which could enhance the career prospects of
the person involved, or the achievement of a development
objective for the community.
Local Authorities
All 32 of Scotland's local authorities have sections
within them which are the main providers of community
learning and development and which are responsible for
Community Learning Strategies and Plans.
Local authorities play a crucial role in co-ordinating
the development of community learning strategies and plans
and co-ordinating local action on adult literacy and
numeracy with partners from
FE colleges, the voluntary sector and
other providers.
Voluntary Organisations
Voluntary organisations play an important part in adult
education at both national and local levels. The Workers'
Educational Association (
WEA) has for many years provided a
service similar to that provided by the Continuing
Education departments of the universities. Other voluntary
bodies offering adult education include the churches, the
Scottish Community Drama Association (
SCDA), Linking Education And Disability
(
LEAD) and the English Speaking Union (
ESU) as well as a number of small local
groups. There is also a wide range of voluntary
organisations involved in those aspects of community
learning which are not normally grouped in Scotland under
the heading of adult education.
Companies and Businesses
More and more companies, irrespective of size or the
particular market in which they operate, are examining ways
of developing the skills of their staff. Managers in
particular play a crucial role in developing the skills and
motivation of others and are increasingly being given the
opportunity to take competence-based management courses
with appropriate certification at the end of them.
Many firms, especially large firms, are able to provide
in-house training and re-training courses, organised by
their own training officers and certificated by the firms
themselves. Increasingly, validation and certification of
such courses is carried out by the
SQA. Businesses are now also closely
involved in helping to implement the Government's New Deal
programme for the long-term unemployed by offering new jobs
with training possibilities.
Further Education Colleges
Further education colleges offer an extensive variety of
provision to adult returners, which includes
non-certificated short courses ranging from computing to
first aid; courses leading to the Scottish Qualifications
Certificate, National Certificate, Higher National
Certificate, Higher National Diploma and Scottish
Vocational Qualifications, including Scottish Group Awards;
adult basic education; courses for adults with special
educational needs; tailor-made courses for industry;
professional updating; and courses providing access to
higher education. Colleges also make extensive provision
for students who live at a distance and who cannot come to
the college. The majority of the student population of
FE colleges are adults over the age of
25.
Higher Education Institutions
Higher education institutions (
HEIs) (see section 6B for more
information) have responded to the growth in adult student
numbers. They have developed special access programmes,
usually in association with further education colleges. The
range of provision available to adults through
universities' Continuing Education departments is wide and
includes professional updating, access courses, open
lecture programmes, pre-retirement courses, part-time
degrees, community outreach, courses for women returners
and disadvantaged groups, and in-service training for
HM Forces and the police service.
On-site provision to local companies also features
within these university programmes. Part-time courses
leading to diplomas and degrees are offered by a number of
the universities and particularly important in this
provision for adults is the contribution made by the Open
University (
OU), which has an office and 15,000
students in Scotland.
The Open College
The Open College, which was set up on a
UK basis to extend vocational training
options through distance learning, has drawn a number of
its students from Scotland.
Other Bodies
Among other bodies providing adult education, the
Scottish Trades Union Congress (
STUC) offers courses in health and
safety, employment law, technology and employee counselling
as well as sponsoring a university Diploma in Industrial
Relations. A very important role is also played by the
British Broadcasting Corporation (
BBC) which provides for the whole of the
United Kingdom both through overtly educational programmes
(
e.g.BBC Learning Zone), for example foreign
language learning programmes or programmes dealing with
major issues, but also indirectly through the educational
content of some of its other programming. Although on a
more modest level, local broadcasting also makes a notable
contribution.
Other providers include the National Extension College
and the Open College of the Arts. There are also a number
of independent colleges which provide, for example,
secretarial training and modern language teaching for
adults. Important national umbrella bodies supporting adult
education include Learning Link and the Scottish Adult
Learning Partnership.
7.5.4 Main Principles of the Organisation of
Time and Venue
In local authorities and voluntary organisations (and in
some other providers), staff are generally based in local
communities and have a key role in identifying learning and
development needs. Much of their work involves
collaborative action and partnership working with other
agencies and with community organisations.
It has been estimated that, in an average week in the
academic year 1999-2000, local authorities employed
approximately 1,200 professional staff in community
learning and development and some 11,500
temporary/part-time staff. Well over 20,000 volunteers were
also involved in the course of the year.
There is a great variety in the length of courses, which
can vary not only according to the level of the course.
Some may last only for a few weeks and others for several
years, according to the mode in which they are taken. One
of the major advantages of some of the more advanced
courses for adult learners, such as the courses of the Open
University (
OU), is that they allow qualifications
to be taken at a pace which allows the learner to follow
his or her normal employment while taking the course.
Although some courses for adults are delivered on a
full-time basis during the day, many others involve
part-time attendance, attendance at weekends or in the
evenings. Flexible Learning Units (
FLU) have even been set up by a number
of
FE colleges to enable students who do
not have regular opportunities to study to follow courses
as and when they are able, assisted by specially appointed
tutors.
7.5.5 Curriculum
There is enormous variety in the curricula offered and
the subjects taken, which vary both according to the level
of the course and the people at whom the course is aimed.
Many courses involve formal lectures, seminars and
discussions but there is now a very wide use of flexible
learning, using computers, taped lectures and telephone
links with a tutor, or attendance at an out-station using,
for example, an electronic whiteboard or video
teleconferencing.
These last methods have been found particularly
effective where students live in the more remote areas. In
community contexts, the community learning and development
practitioner may work with existing community groups, or
may create new groups and negotiate a learning agenda with
them. The degree of formality of this process varies
greatly according to circumstance. Programmes are
negotiated with local people. Community learning and
development approaches place particular emphasis upon
linking learning with social action, around issues of local
concern,
e.g. health, crime, environment.
7.5.6 Quality Assurance
At national level, evaluation of the work of
organisations in the field of community learning and
development and youth work is carried out in Scotland by
HM Inspectors of Education, whose right
of entry to educational institutions was confirmed by the
Education (Scotland) Act 1980. Education authorities also
carry out quality assessment of the various aspects of the
educational provision which they make and produce reports
for internal use.
To assist them in their task of evaluating the work of
educational institutions,
HM Inspectors have devised a range of
inspection or evaluation instruments. These include
statements of standards, methods of analysing
organisational aspects of educational institutions as well
as assessment, curriculum design and development plans.
Most importantly, sets of quality indicators have been
established against which the work of establishments in
every educational sector can now be measured. In May 2002
HMIE published a new self evaluation
framework entitled 'How Good is Our Community Learning and
Development?'
HMIE inspect local authority provision
for this area on a regular basis.
7.6 Guidance/Counselling Services
All institutions of further and higher education offer
student guidance, counselling services and on-going
support, with specially appointed staff providing the same
kinds of personal, curricular and vocational help as
guidance staff in schools. In every case the final
decisions rest with the student. The careers service in the
various institutions can also play a vital role for
students in obtaining jobs at the end of their course.
In post-school education, institutions, by the terms of
the Further and Higher Education Charter for Scotland
(1993), are expected to provide advice and guidance on a
number of different levels. Through a prospectus they will
give information about the courses offered, the resources
available to students, for example libraries and access to
computers, the health, welfare, social and recreational
facilities, and links with industry.
In relation to individual courses, they generally
provide a range of information, including, for example,
details of aims and content, entry requirements, how the
course is taught, the qualifications awarded on completion
and the possibilities of further study and careers to which
it may lead. They also provide details of fees payable,
extra expenses likely to be incurred and the support
offered. Information is also provided about accommodation
for students, child-care support and support for overseas
students.
On a more personal level, there are various counselling
and guidance services, which differ in their organisation
from institution to institution but which are designed to
give help and advice to students about personal problems
and about their progress on their course.
In addition to arrangements made by individual
institutions, there are a number of other sources of
information designed to help students. These are either
published as books,
e.g. Universities Scotland's 'Entrance Guide
to Higher Education in Scotland'; or are databases,
e.g.TAP (Training Access Points), which are
very widely available,
e.g. through Job Centres and some public
libraries, and offer information on a range of education
and training opportunities; and
ECCTIS (Education Counselling and Credit
Transfer Information System), which gives information on a
UK basis of vacancies on higher
education courses and on provision for students with
disabilities.
7.7 Assessment, Accreditation &
Recognition
Evaluation of students' work against the objectives of
the courses which they are taking is important in adult
education as in other parts of the educational system. A
particularly important area of evaluation for adult
education is the evaluation of the experience which adults
bring to education. In the course of their working life
many employees have acquired knowledge and skills which are
not recognised by certification but ought to be. In order
that these employees may receive credit for this learning,
and develop a basis of qualifications from which they can
go further, systems known as the Recognition of Prior
Learning (
RPL) by which earlier learning may be
assessed and certificated, are currently being tried out,
for example by some
FE colleges.
Much of the evaluation in adult education is linked to
guidance, one of the aims of which is to help adults assess
their educational development and make appropriate choices.
Evaluation is also concerned with whether the adults' needs
have been met.
The modular courses validated and certificated by the
SQA provide an incentive to those adults
involved in vocational training. Adults in schools aim for
SQA certification of their external
examination results. Those studying in further education
aim for the National Qualifications and Scottish Vocational
Qualifications. Those studying in further or higher
education may be able to accumulate credit towards degree
awards or professional recognition and, in fact, many do so
through the Open College or the Open University or by
taking more traditional types of course on a part-time or
full-time basis.
However, the majority of community learning and
development activities and programmes are
non-certificated.
The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (
SCQF) currently incorporates all the
mainstream Scottish qualifications from National
Qualifications Access level to Higher Education Doctorate
level. See section 3B.3 for a fuller description of the
SCQF. Future
SCQF developments will include
consideration of how community learning & development
provision can be incorporated into the framework.
7.8 Statistics
'Learning Connections, Communities Scotland' is
currently working in partnership with the
CLD field on a Performance Information
Project.
Community Learning and Development (local government
spend) £109.7 million (Grant Assisted Expenditure 2003/04
figure).
learndirect scotland (The Scottish University for
Industry's (
SUfI) branded learning services (to 31
March 2003):
- 341,089 learner enquiries
- 450
learndirect scotland branded learning
centres
- 55,378 learning centre users
- 35,030 Small & Medium Enterprise (
SME) employees assisted
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