ACAL eNews July 2014

July 2014

In this issue

1. President’s Report and the C20 Summit

2. LLN in Australia LinkedIn Group

3. 2014 ACAL Conference • early bird closes July 31

Beat the winter blues and flu's, come to the ACAL conference in sunny Queensland 2-4 October 2014.

Feeling confused about the different ALN frameworks?

Session details

Keynote speakers

4. Webinar - 'Building Strength with Numeracy' free VALBEC resources

Introducing Australian adult numeracy resources - a QCAL ACAL webinar

5. 'Taking the Lead' professional development

6. SACAL Annual Conference 'Living with numbers'

Friday, August 29, 2014 - Education Developement Centre, Milner Street, Hindmarsh SA

1. President’s Report and the C20 Summit

I recently attended the C20 Summit representing Australian Council of Adult Literacy. The C20 (‘Civil Society’) Summit at the University of Melbourne was the first of the lead-in G20 ‘satellite’ conferences, providing a platform for dialogue between civil society and the political leaders of the G20 countries. Over the two days on June 20 and 21 2014, more than 80 leading international and domestic experts spoke on issues including tax transparency, anti-corruption, climate change and renewable energy investment, youth employment, food and resource security and infrastructure. Around 400 delegates were in attendance.

Read the final C20 Summit Communique.

Some of the points that stood out to me were;

75 million young people are unemployed in the world, 600 million young people are not in education or employment
G20 countries have 85% of the world’s GDP. Economic growth is slated as the best way to reduce poverty.
Corruption costs $1 trillion in developing countries
Informal work sectors play a large part in the economy. 75% of new jobs are at macro-economic level.
There is a lot of churn through education training however there are no jobs
We need to collaborate to address youth employment
ANDI, the Australian National Development Index is being developed by Deakin and others to measure what matters for quality of life in Australia. This will be an alternative measure instead of GDP as GDP can be impacted by disasters or crime proceeds. e.g. Victorian fires increased GDP, as can drug deal proceeds
Strong civil institutions should use existing structures really well, adhere to strong governance and transparency, be better connected with other CS orgs; engage with the state but keep their independence
As advocates we must stay true to what we know is right but engage, be practical, pragmatic, focused and be part of the conversation.

It was good to spend some time looking at a much larger picture of the world and reflecting on the positive impact that adult literacy and numeracy skills can have on peoples’ lives. So continue to be strong advocates for adult literacy and numeracy!

Jenni Anderson

ACAL President

2. LLN in Australia LinkedIn Group

Join this open LinkedIn group and discuss LLN issues.

This is an ACAL and ALA joint initiative and gives you an opportunity to be informed or discuss current research, forums, or issues.

Try it (no cost, no commitment).

3. 2014 ACAL Conference • early bird closes July 31

Beat the winter blues and flu's, come to the ACAL conference in sunny Queensland 2-4 October 2014.

Something for everyone! Choose from a selection of 16 hands-on workshops, 6 peer-reviewed papers and 28 presentations + keynote speakers.

Feeling confused about the different ALN frameworks?

Then come to the pre-conference forum on 2 October and hear all about them.

Registration now open.

Session details

Full details of the sessions will be available shortly.

Keynote speakers

We have a great line up of keynote speakers.

Professor Stephen Reder, Professor of Applied Linguistics at Portland State University
Professor Diana Coben, Director of the National Centre of Literacy and Numeracy for Adults, University of Waikato, New Zealand
Professor Trevor Gale, Professor of Education Policy and Social Justice, Deakin University
Dr Darryl Dymock, Senior Research Fellow at Griffith University will give the Arch Nelson Address.

4. Webinar - 'Building Strength with Numeracy' free VALBEC resources

Introducing Australian adult numeracy resources - a QCAL ACAL webinar

This interactive webinar will introduce the resource, showcase some of the new small group and pair activities and discuss the rationale underpinning the sections and the type of activities and practice sheets included in free VALBEC numeracy resources.

Date: Wednesday, 30 July, 4.00 pm AEST

Check times in other locations

During in 2013 VALBEC (the Victorian Adult Literacy and Basic Education Council) released a new adult numeracy resource 'Building Strength with Numeracy'. It was developed by Beth Marr, and is available on line for teachers to download free of charge. The resource contains revised, updated and expanded versions of activities from previous popular publications, such as 'Strength in Numbers', 'Mathematics a New Beginning', 'Breaking the Maths Barrier' and 'Numeracy on the Line' which have become out of date and difficult to obtain. It also introduces a number of completely new ideas and activities which have not been previously published. New sections will be added later this year.

Beth Marr is widely experienced in many aspects of adult numeracy education, including teaching, curriculum development, professional development and creation of resources such as 'Mathematics: A New Beginning', 'Strength in Numbers' and 'Numeracy on the Line', all of which promote active learning ideas for adult numeracy. She has worked extensively in TAFE and later at RMIT University in teacher training for VET teachers and trainers, including many projects with trainers from developing countries. Beth has recently worked on several teaching and resource development projects for adult learners in East Timor, including Ministry of Finance staff members, Timorese army officers and VET teachers and students. During 2013 – 14 Beth has delivered adult numeracy professional development workshops in cities around Australia.

Download the free resources

5. 'Taking the Lead' professional development

The 4 Steps to Taking the Lead professional development resource draws on, and then extends upon, the tips and information you will find on Service Skills Australia's Taking the Lead website (www.takingthelead.com.au).

Taking the Lead is Service Skills Australia's one-stop shop for information and advice on developing the language, literacy and numeracy (LLN) skills of those in the service industries.

This website provides information to help registered training organisations and employers. It includes this online PD resource; case studies showing how employers and employees benefit from training that supports and develops LLN skills; links to other useful sites; a searchable directory of LLN resources; the latest news and events on LLN training services and funding opportunities; and LLN tips giving comprehensive advice on how to improve LLN.

6. SACAL Annual Conference 'Living with numbers'

Friday, August 29, 2014 - Education Developement Centre, Milner Street, Hindmarsh SA

Keynote speaker - Sharon Stewart: Safety in Numbers

Guest speakers - Jiyue Hu and Yan Zhang: Course design for medical students, Chinese Second Military Medical University

Concurrent sessions:

Numeracy - making sense of the world - Jen Zhao
Financial Literacy Programs – Tamara Bennetts, Commonwealth Bank Foundation StartSmart Pathways, and Rachael Hayes, Smith Family Saver Plus Program

National Foundation Skills for Adults Strategy – finding ways to gather qualitative information – Teresa Howie

Keynote speaker – Ian Henscke, ABC Radio 891 presenter and journalist – Critical Maths

Practical sessions

Sue James – Fun with Maths
Penne Skewes – IPad/Phone Maths Apps for the classroom

More (PDF)