Contents

Features

The centre of attention: ACE community building hubs
by Bernadette O'Connor, Sue Olney and Theresa Mitchell
A project where ACE organisations provide local community groups with tailored training and support continues to gain pace.

Bottling Magic: the Partner-Assisted Learning System
Judy Buckingham
Interpersonal relationships play an important role in learning, and here is a system where two people-one with a disability, and one without-can form a partnership to work and learn together.

The ACE experience: pedagogies for life and employability
by Jill Sanguinetti, Peter Waterhouse and David Maunders
What inherent skills do ACE teachers use? Are some taught and others gained or 'absorbed' through exposure to the workplace, and how are they used?

Actions speak louder: learning literacy through drama
by Karen Dymke
While there is often drama in the classroom, the characters in this program are exponents of the 'life method'.

Regulars

Practical Matters
New technologies mean students can become creative rather than passive learners. As Simon Goodrich says, it's not a matter of linking the curriculum to media, it's about linking the media to the curriculum.
Open Forum
Many inmates of this prison are Indigenous Australians from remote communities of the Northern Territory. Besides teaching English, Leni Shilton tries to help students make a conceptual shift in thinking to use their imagination in the written form. Speaking of imagination, the Ministerial Statement on ACE was released in June and Liz Suda, Jan Corben and Megan Langdon comment on the statement and the consultation process.
Foreign Correspondence
Humidity, flies, noise, disapproving officials ... no, it's not a Mallee classroom. But while teaching in Vietnam presents more than a few challenges, it is all outweighed by the experience and job satisfaction, as Mary Collins explains.
Policy update
Katherine Percy examines the effect of New Zealand's small population, location and socioeconomic structure on the government's implementation of its adult literacy policy.
Beside the Whiteboard
With a career harking back to 1975, Jan Corben is ready (almost) to hang up her pens and pencils.