April 2017
In this issue
1. From the Vice-President
2. ACAL Conference
Call for presentations extended
3. Membership renewal
4. Foundation Skills Professional Standards Framework
5. Reading Writing Hotline
6. Review of FSK - Have your say
7. Excellence in Language, Literacy and Numeracy Practice Award
8. State Conferences
WAALC Conference - Building digital capabilities in the adult learning environment
SACAL Conference - The Domino Effect and adult education
VALBEC Conference - Teaching and Learning: Reflection on practice
9. Update on WA Foundation Skills Curricula
10. Resilience: Stories of Adult Learning
1. From the Vice-President
Hi All,
ACAL has been working hard this month. As Vice President, I have temporarily taken over some of the responsibilities of the ACAL president, Jenni Anderson, while she is taking some time off regular ACAL duties due to personal reasons. I have been working with the office bearers and the wider ACAL committee to continue the President's work and I am heartened by the commitment and engagement of the ACAL community.
Please continue to send in your stories and information relating to the history of ACAL as we compile this to record our history in recognition of the 40th Anniversary this year.
The call for papers for the 2017 ACAL Conference in Darwin is extending into April. Proposals will be considered up to April 30. Wider preparations for the Conference are really ramping up and the NT team are looking forward to welcoming you in September. With keynote speakers confirmed and many exciting proposals received, I look forward to sharing some announcements with you soon. Stay tuned!
Over the past month there have been workshops around the use of the Foundation Skills Professional Standards Framework. I attended the Melbourne workshop and appreciate the time and energy that has gone into this work. Further information is included in this edition and feedback from the field is so valuable. ACAL will prepare a response at the end of the consultation period so you might like to send your feedback to us or directly to Louise Wignall and Anita Roberts.
PwC are continuing their review of the FSK training package. Please see the call to respond so that your experiences and expertise can help inform this review.
ACAL is moving into the social media world as a Facebook presence is being developed. We look forward to developing and extending our outreach so we can connect with you. Our beginning site can be accessed on https://www.facebook.com/acal.edu.au/ and we look forward to seeing this grow in 2017.
Please email us at info@acal.edu.au input for our 40th anniversary year or with feedback as we'd love to hear from you.
Daniella Mayer, ACAL Vice-President
2. ACAL Conference extension
Call for presentations extended
Please head to the ACAL conference website to put in your proposals for the 2017 ACAL Conference in Darwin. Following a number of requests, the conference committee has agreed to extend the call for papers until the end of April, so we look forward to hearing from you. The conference strands include:
-
21st Century identities and citizenship traditions
-
Institutional and nation state routines and participation practices
-
Digital and computational practices in a mobile world
As the 40th Anniversary year for ACAL is a significant milestone, there will be the opportunity to reflect on the timeline that has brought us to this point and to celebrate the rich history that we share. If you have anything that you think captures critical moments in this shared history, please send them to info@acal.edu.au as we would love to hear from you.
With the keynote speakers due to be announced soon and the details of fabulous opportunities to engage with the colour and character of Darwin, we hope you can start planning your attendance for September this year.
3. Membership renewal
Fees for 2017 have been set at
-
Student $59
-
Individual $70
-
Organisations with 10 or fewer staff $155
-
Organisations with more than 10 staff $250
Join or renew online (pay too if you wish)
Request an invoice (tell us your name and organisation)
4. Foundation Skills Professional Standards Framework
Members may be aware that a number of tools have been developed to accompany the Foundation Skills Professional Standards Framework, in order to assist practitioners to map their capabilities against the framework. These were introduced to practitioners at series of meetings which were held around the country in previous weeks and will be followed by a series of webinars to publicise and interpret the framework more widely. Louise Wignall and Anita Roberts have asked for feedback from the field; and we urge you engage with the webinars and consider the use of the framework in your context so that a range of responses from the field can be considered.
Foundation Skills Professional Standards Framework - Final draft for trialling
5. Reading Writing Hotline
In February the Reading Writing Hotline launched its 'LLN in the Workplace' project to promote the services of the Hotline to industry, and ultimately to promote the benefits of a focus on the importance of developing appropriate LLN competencies for workers. Kate Carnell, the Small Business Ombudsman starred in a promotional video.
6. Review of FSK - Have your say
We remind you that PwC's review of the FSK training package is underway, and that we still have an opportunity to have our say. We urge you to complete the survey so that the views of a range of  practitioners will be made known.
The survey will remain open until the 13th of April
Training Products Improvement Survey
7. Excellence in Language, Literacy and Numeracy Practice Award
Above: 2016 Australian Training Award winners
The 2017 Australian Training Awards’ Excellence in Language, Literacy and Numeracy Practice Award is open now for nominations.
Entries close Wednesday 31 May 2017.
8. State Conferences
WAALC Conference - Building digital capabilities in the adult learning environment
Change of date WAALC conference
This year's state Western Australian conference Conference has been delayed from April to 14th July 2017.
The first keynote speaking Helene Markmann on 'Digital Technologies to Engage and Connect Learners'. Keep an eye on our website for updates.
Call for papers has been extended. Make your contribution right now!
SACAL Conference - The Domino Effect and adult education
August 18, 2017
SACAL will hold it's state conference on Friday 18th August at the Education Development Centre, Hindmarsh. 8.30 - 4.00
The title; The Domino Effect and adult education promises to be thought provoking.
VALBEC Conference - Teaching and Learning: Reflection on practice
May 19, 2017
As teachers, we are continually learning from our students and working to improve our practice and learner outcomes. At the same time, we seek to expand our knowledge about teaching and learning in adult language, literacy and numeracy.
This conference will explore how and what we learn as teachers and how this is transferred into the classroom.
9. Update on WA Foundation Skills Curricula
It is a busy time for course accreditation in the west. If you want to keep up with changes to the WA suite of courses, visit our teacher network at alan.spruz.com.
Search for CAVSS, USIQ and EGE: reaccreditation for all of them is in progress right now.
10. Resilience: Stories of Adult Learning
Resilience: Stories of Adult Learning is an anthology of adult learner stories, a testament to the resilience of human lives, the critical role of lifelong learning, and how adult literacies weave through our journeys, visibly and invisibly.
This is a project of RaPAL (UK), ACAL and Festival of Learning.
The editors gathered the authentic voices of learners across many different adult learning environments in Australia and the UK, collecting over a hundred stories and publishing them in a collection in multiple formats, including paperback, e-book and PDF.
If you're working in adult education, you'll be very familiar with the themes of this publication. Some of the themes are challenging and disturbing, and will resonate strongly for adult learners you're working with. These stories could be used in class as models of personal narrative; they could also be used as potential inspiration for adult learners creating their own recount of overcoming adversity, or looking for reasons to persevere with their own learning
Free download
It's available as a PDF, ebook or Kindle version.
You can download and use 'Resilience: stories of adult learning' in any way you choose. We simply ask you acknowledge if you take extracts.