Adult Learning Australia
Adult Learning Australia (ALA) is Australia's national peak body for adult and community education.[1] The adult and community education sector is one of four sectors on the continuum of education and training provision in Australia, alongside Vocational Education and Training (VET), higher education, and the school system.
Members include community centres, neighbourhood houses, registered training organisations, TAFE and university staff. The ALA headquarters are located in Melbourne. The organisation promotes adult learning and is the main advocacy body for adult learning in Australia[2].
History[edit]
The Australian Association of Adult Education (AAAE) was founded at a meeting in Hobart, Tasmania, in 1960. In 1989, AAAE amalgamated with the Australian Association of Community Education to form the Australian Association of Adult and Community Education (AAACE)[3][4].
The name Adult Learning Australia (ALA) was adopted in 1998 to reflect a changing adult education environment. It confirmed the association's view that the learner is the central focus of the organisation's attention, and that learning occurs through informal and non-formal means, as well as through the formal tertiary education and training.
In 2008, State, Territory and Australian Government Ministers with responsibility for Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs, endorsed a Ministerial Declaration on Adult Community Education (ACE).[5] This statement recognised the importance of ACE in providing pathways to further education and training for 'second chance' learners or people who have had interrupted or negative experiences of education including early school leavers, unemployed adults, new migrants and people with disabilities.
Adult education in Australia[edit]
Adult and community education organisations offer a mix of informal, non accredited and accredited courses and classes. The types and variety of adult education offered in each state and territory differs according to funding arrangements and local priorities. ACE organisations typically offer courses and classes for:
- hobby, leisure and personal enrichment
- basic adult education in English language, literacy, numeracy, communication and problem solving skills
- vocational education to assist adults to retrain or upskill for work.
Mission[edit]
Adult Learning Australia advocates for continuous learning throughout the adult years (both formal learning, non-formal learning and informal learning), which enables people to:
- participate in meaningful work
- engage fully as a citizen in a vibrant democracy
- live in harmony in a diverse, multicultural and rapidly changing society
- manage health and wellbeing.
Adult Learning Australia's vision is for equitable access to lifelong and lifewide learning for all Australians.
Methods[edit]
ALA undertakes this work by:
- advocating nationally for greater attention to adult and community education policy and funding[6][7]
- advising all levels of government from local through to state and federal on adult learning in Australia[8][9][10]
- conducting research to inform and improve best practice for adult learners[11]
- providing a course directory that links learners with adult and community education providers
- developing and resourcing networks of practitioners including adult educators, trainers and tutors
- promoting the benefits of adult learning across Australia through national events such as Adult Learners' Week[12][13]
- providing information and analysis of the theory, research and practice of adult education and learning through publications including a quarterly magazine and a refereed academic journal[14][15]
- representing Australia at international forums such as American Association of Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE) in the United States, Learning & Work Institute in the UK (formerly NIACE), the International Council of Adult Education, Australian Coalition for Education and Development (ACED), and Asia South Pacific Bureau of Adult Education (ASPBAE) of which ALA is a founding member[16].
The Board of ALA comprises elected representatives.
Policy areas[edit]
Adult Learning Australia makes recommendations to government in the following policy areas:
- Adult literacy[17]
- Non-formal lifelong learning[18][19]
- Indigenous adult education[20][21]
- Youth engagement[22]
- Learning for civic participation[23]
- Learning for an ageing population[24][25][26]
- Learning in rural and regional Australia[27][28]
- Adult and community education sector in Australia[29]
Publications[edit]
Adult Learning Australia publishes resources across a wide range of topics, for providers, researchers, students, policy makers, managers and more.
Quest[edit]
Quest is published quarterly. It features a mix of feature writing, news, analysis and stories from the ground for a national and international audience.
Australian Journal of Adult Learning[edit]
The Australian Journal of Adult Learning (AJAL) is published three times each year. It promotes critical thinking and research in the field of adult learning as well as the theory, research and practice of adult and community education. Each issue features articles that have been double, blind-peer refereed.[30]
See also[edit]
- Adult Education
- Adult Learners' Week
- Community Education
- Education in Australia
- E-learning
- Lifelong Learning
- Registered Training Organisations
- TAFE
- Vocational education
References[edit]
- ↑ "Who we work with". Victoria Department of Education and Training. Retrieved 2017-06-04.
- ↑ "Skills, agencies, committees and councils". Commonwealth Dept of Education and Training.
- ↑ "Australian Association of Adult and Community Education: our values, our future". NCVER VOCEDPlus.
- ↑ Morris, R.(2011) "Arnold Hely and Australian adult education". Australian Journal of Adult Learning. 51 (3)
- ↑ "Publication archive". scseec.edu.au. Retrieved 2017-06-05.
- ↑ "Training college watchdog urged to stamp out 'spruikers'". ABC News. 19 October 2014.
- ↑ "CCA endorses Adult Learning Australia's push for a national Australian Lifelong Learning Policy". Community Colleges Aust. 20 April 2018.
- ↑ "Skills, agencies, committee and councils". Aust Govt Dept of Education and Training. 27 May 2019.
- ↑ "Adult community education". QLD Department of Employment, Small Business and Training.
- ↑ "Who we work with". Victoria Department of Education and Training.
- ↑ "Research, statistical and other information sources". Australasian Vocational Education and Training Research Association Inc.
- ↑ "What is Adult Learners' Week?". Adult Learners' Week.
- ↑ "Launch of Adult Learners Week 2017". The Hon Karen Andrews MP.
- ↑ "Australian Journal of Adult Learning – AJAL".
- ↑ "Australian Journal of Adult Learning". NCVER VOCEDPlus.
- ↑ "European Basic Skills Network". 27 May 2019.
- ↑ "Call for lifelong learning policy". Australian Council for Adult Literacy.
- ↑ "Rethinking community-based learning" (PDF). Adult Learning Australia. 2014.
- ↑ "Lifelong learning: An organising principles for reform" (PDF). Adult Learning Australia. 2018.
- ↑ "Aboriginal literacy program flourishes". Literacy for Life.
- ↑ "Indigenous intergenerational learning" (PDF). Adult Learning Australia. 2014.
- ↑ "Disengaged youth and ACE" (PDF). Adult Learning Australia. 2014.
- ↑ "Learning and civic participation" (PDF). Adult Learing Australia. 2014.
- ↑ "Calls to support over 65s who want to keep working". SBS News. 27 May 2019.
- ↑ "Helping seniors engage in the digital age". Department of Social Services.
- ↑ "The ageing population, New opportunities for adult and community education" (PDF). Adult Learning Australia.
- ↑ "Beyond the farm gate". National Centre for Farm Health.
- ↑ "The role of adult and community education in rural and regional Australia" (PDF). Adult Learning Australia. 2014.
- ↑ "Australian ACE environmental scan" (PDF). Adult Learning Australia. 2017.
- ↑ "Australian Journal of Adult Learning". Informat.
External links[edit]
- Official website
- Adult Learners Week site
- American Association for Adult and Continuing Education
- Learning & Work Institute (formerly NIACE)
- International Council of Adult Education
- Asia South Pacific Bureau of Adult Education (ASPBAE)
- Dept of Industry, Innovation and Science
- VOCEDPlus
- Australian Journal of Adult Learning
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