Adult Learners' Week: 20 years of inspiration
"The learning has completely turned my life around," says Bob Wells, winner of the outstanding learner of the year award for London last year. His comment is typical of the hundreds of award winners over 20 years of Adult Learners' Week. What they have in common is that they all achieved something they thought impossible.
Charis Sebastian, a single mother who had never worked, got a placement with Carmarthen county council supporting disaffected 14- to 16-year-olds and is now taking City and Guilds qualifications. "If I hadn't taken this first step with Jobforce Wales, I don't think I would have done any of this," she said.
In England and Wales more than 130,000 people took part in over 4,000 events last year. Some 90,000 visited the campaign website and 80% of people who called the helpline enrolled on a course. In 1997 Unesco adopted the idea; now more than 50 countries have similar festivals.
Numerous further education organisations see benefits in the awards week. Lynne Sedgmore, executive director of the 157 Group, says: "We have seen, over the years, clear and increasing evidence that Adult Learners' Week inspires more people to take up learning." This view is shared by the Association of Colleges, whose spokesman added: "So many colleges are involved each year because their own research indicates that the week stimulates interest in courses."
Indeed, the week rapidly became a festival of learning as more and more organisations, from the European Social Fund to education publisher Pearson, signed up to sponsor awards. Saul Nassé, controller of BBC Learning, says: "We are proud to sponsor the digital participation award for the second year."
It's a long way from 1992, when Niace decided to spend £5,000 on a national festival. At the time, it was very much against the culture of adult education to single out individuals or groups, but the organisation wanted to use winners to show the public what learning could do for them.
The involvement of broadcast media helped fuel success as each ITV region showcased award winners, Channel 4 made a documentary and the BBC produced short plays to promote learning. Local authorities and other organisations supported the helpline. Another crucial feature was that partner organisations could offer whatever learning they liked to the public, from IT to cookery to horticulture to needlecraft, in places such as museums, libraries and even supermarkets.
"It's the mix of activities and media support that has helped make it more than the sum of its parts," says Alan Tuckett of Niace." And the annual participation survey has influence on policy makers. SJ