Ready to shine
The launch of Adult Learners’ Week offered a chance to celebrate a milestone in adult English education, the announcement of the inaugural Adult Learners’ Week scholarships and the achievements of some outstanding adult learners.
Stories
Taking the plunge
When she arrived in Sydney as a refugee from Syria in February 2018, Sophie Bejok fell in love with Manly beach. After enrolling in an adult learn to swim class, now she’s got her sights set on being a lifeguard.
Alphabet Soup for Stawell
A peer education program for LGBTI young people is kicking off in the Victorian country town of Stawell to improve support, acceptance and advocacy for trans and gender diverse young people in rural and regional areas.
Reducing homelessness
Ipswich-based inCommunity Inc. runs a training program that helps homeless people find stable accommodation and counters the real estate industry’s negative perceptions that homeless people make poor tenants.
Beyond the farm gate
A mental health project teaches women farmers to use digital technology to tell their stories of the struggles and hardships of life on the farm to educate, inspire and benefit other people living in rural communities.
Life after Holden
A free Microsoft digital skills certification program is offering former Holden workers and others affected by the Adelaide plant’s closure a digital edge when it comes to embarking on a new career.
Prescribing art
Healthcare workers in Sydney are prescribing art classes instead of medication as an antidote to stress, depression and loneliness and to improve the health and wellbeing of older people in their communities.
Turning pages for literacy
Almost 20 years ago Adult Literacy tutors Anne Dunn, Chris Malakar, Moira Hanrahan with Preston Reservoir Adult Community Education (PRACE) launched PageTurners, a best selling series of books for adult literacy students.
Spanner in the works?
A health literacy program run through Men’s Sheds is encouraging men to take a more proactive role with their health and take regular physical and mental health check ups as seriously as they do the servicing and maintenance of their cars.
Serving up culture
Murnong Mammas is an Indigenous catering group based at Castlemaine Continuing Education in country Victoria. The women have created work for themselves that is meaningful enjoyable and involves lots of experimenting and learning.
Reading Write Now
34 year old boilermaker Samuel Timney has struggled with literacy since he left school at 15. But becoming a dad and an urge to fulfill a dream prompted him to get help from WA’s Read Write Now program.
Pathways to education
For people who hated school, the idea of returning to education or training can be overwhelming. Youth programs that offer help in returning to learning are having a big impact in Melbourne’s west.
Positive start to parenting
A program in Bundaberg QLD helps new parents learn the skills they need for one of life’s most challenging and rewarding jobs. Positive Start Parenting originally began for young single mums but now includes dads and families.
Indigenous learnings
Charles Darwin University researcher Tracy Woodroffe is exploring ways that non-Indigenous educators could benefit from understanding Indigenous knowledge systems and approaches to education.
Igniting the artistic spark
ACT’s Belconnen Arts Centre’s IGNITE Alternative Arts Academy transforms the lives of people with physical and psychosocial disability through the arts. We talked to two participants about the impact of taking part.