Adult literacy in the news!

Read the recent Sunday Age report by John Bailey on adult literacy in Australia. The success story of Samuel Talbot-Dunn highlights what can be achieved through the right program, professional guidance and persistence. The article refers to recent government initiatives and the need for further investment programs and the LLN workforce.

Read The Australian report on the AiG research looking at workplace literacy.

Twilight Forum

"Innovative ways of working with migrant and refugee young adult migrants"

Julie Palmer and Fran MacMahon Sers presented at the VALBEC Twilight Forum held at Goulburn Ovens TAFE on 27th April.  

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Innovative ways of working with migrant and refugee young adult migrants

VALBEC Regional Twilight Forum, Shepparton, 27 April 2010

A New Start for Young people from Refugee amd Migrant Backgrounds

The Young Adult Migrant Education Course (YAMEC) at Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE provides a holistic post compulsory education program for young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds. The course is designed to address the education and settlement needs of this group of new arrivals through targeted curriculum, speakers, excursions, short courses, community projects and work experience. Students are supported with pathway planning and any barriers to engagement by experienced teaching staff and a Managed Individual Pathways (MIPs) Officer.
This interactive forum will examine the good practice principles that underpin the YAMEC program and will look at recent research on development of materials for young ESL students with disrupted or no prior education.

These students are aged from 15-26 years of age and usually have not completed secondary schooling. Their experiences as refugees and a range of resettlement issues impact on their engagement in education to develop further English language and literacy skills.

The presenters are Fran MacMahon Sers, who has taught in the program for 11 years and is now the YAMEC Coordinator and Julie Palmer, an experienced ESL teacher who coordinates a post beginner class of YAMEC students at Collingwood campus.

The Twilight forum will be held on Tuesday 27 April from 6pm to 8pm at the Multicultural Education Centre Conference Room, Goulburn Ovens Institute of TAFE, Fryers Street, Shepparton.

'Whose knowledge counts? A Canadian Perspective'

VALBEC's global literacy connections were further consolidated when Tannis Atkinson, an adult literacy teacher from Ontario, Canada visited Melbourne recently. Tannis was in Australia to attend the International Conference on Migration, Citizenship and Intercultural Relations, organised by Deakin University. A former editor of the journal Literacies, Tannis is now a doctoral student at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) in Toronto under the supervision of Associate Professor Nancy Jackson.

Tannis was in Melbourne to present on her doctoral research in which she is examining changing adult literacy policies in Canada and how these might be interpreted through the lens of governmentality. Tannis also made time to speak at a VALBEC Twilight Forum on a hot evening at the North Fitzroy Star Hotel on some of these changing policies and how these have impacted on adult literacy practice and the culture of teacher research.

From Tannis' description of the adult literacy situation in Canada strong parallels could be drawn between Australia and Canada – policy changes accompanied by an increase in regulatory measures of accountability with a decrease in funding being one. Tannis finished on a more positive note with her report on signs of hope which can still be found in some of the between spaces of adult literacy practice.

Links referred to by Tannis in her Twilight Forum presentation

If VALBEC members are looking for Canadian practitioner research on specific issues, they are welcome to contact Tannis by requesting her contact details from info@valbec.org.au

l to r: Tannis Atkinson, Pauline O'Maley	l to r: Beverley Campbell, Tannis Atkinson, Peter Waterhouse

Snoeks Desmond, family literacy expert from South Africa, visits Australia

International relations between South Africa and Australia were strengthened in recent weeks with the visit to Australia of Snoeks Desmond from Durban. Snoeks is an early childhood development and family literacy expert whose visit was supported by ACAL and VALBEC. Her visit included participation in the recent ACAL conference in WA, and in Melbourne she gave presentations at a VALBEC Twilight forum, at the University of Melbourne and at Church of All Nations, Carlton. Snoeks spoke about her work with the Family Literacy Program, which she established in 2000 in the province of Kwa Zulu Natal. Snoeks is now on the board of the Family Literacy Program and in addition she travels into other African countries advising governments and other agencies about setting up their own family literacy programs. Kwa Zulu Natal is where Alan Paton's novel , 'Cry the Beloved Country' is set. It is now the province most affected by HIV AIDS and Snoeks talked about how important literacy is in educating about such issues as HIV AIDS and health and sanitation. The Family Literacy Program is a non-government organisation which has won several significant adult education and literacy awards. Snoeks' presentations provided a moving account of the work of the family literacy program, and a small glimpse into life in this part of South Africa.

www.familyliteracyproject.co.za

www.reflect-action.org

Snoeks Desmond presented VALBEC with the traditional bead work made by women from the Kwazulu Natal Family Literacy Project.