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.
Stories
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.
Learning to believe
Pip Giles’ return to learning as an adult is paying off. She recently got a tattoo of a pair of wings with ‘Believe in yourself’ written underneath. It’s her new motto because she’s found herself doing things she’d never imagined.
Crunch time at Woodend
Imagine a dreary mid-winter’s day in the small country township of Woodend in Victoria. You hurry down a deserted and cold street and open the door to an old warehouse. Inside it’s warm and cosy.
Power through power tools
A Women’s Shed that teaches women trades skills is flourishing in Orange, New South Wales. Women of all ages are learning trade skills and tool handling skills for the first time. One of them is Carmel Hanrahan, 72.
Lifting with Linfox
A partnership between Kensington Neighbourhood House and Linfox offers industry training and a pathway to better paid and more stable work. For process worker Abdulrahman the course has opened a door of opportunity.
Classroom to shelter
An innovative education program in domestic violence shelters in Adelaide’s western suburbs is helping women on the path to recovery, to make career plans, set goals and gain financial independence.
Cafe with a conscience
Hamlet Café is a not for profit social enterprise that aims to provide Tasmanians who have had trouble finding work with hands on training in hospitality skills, confidence and practical work experience.
Campaign for adult literacy
A whole-of-community adult literacy campaign based on a revolutionary Cuban education method is having life-changing results in Indigenous communities in outback NSW. Literacy for Life is a campaign, not a course.
Digital disadvantage
As digital technologies become increasingly central to the way we work, live and socialise the disadvantages of not being digitally connected increases. Australians unable to access digital technologies are increasingly being left behind.
On the road
A driver education course is helping Indigenous people in regional and rural NSW to get on the road. Getting a driver’s licence for indigenous Australians in remote and regional areas can be a real challenge.
Learning champions
Community Learning Champions in inner Melbourne’s culturally and ethnically diverse neighbourhoods support and encourage friends, neighbours and peers to take up quality learning and employment opportunities.
The joy of wheels
Bike rider training for adults is flourishing in the municipality of Leichhardt in Sydney’s inner west. The Rusty Rider course for those aged 25 and over turns those who are wobbly on two wheels into confident cyclists.