Interview – Philippa McLean

by | May 1, 2021 | Interviews

Phillipa McLean

Interview link available to members here

“I don’t feel sorry for learners – I am genuinely interested in them and I believe they absolutely have the right to literacy and numeracy, and to good quality literacy and numeracy”

This week I had the pleasure of chatting to Philippa McLean, who has worked across most areas of adult literacy provision in Australia. Her experience includes establishing and teaching classes, writing the ACSF and the Digital ACSF, teaching teachers, pre-accredited programs, VET, Literacy for Life, LLN qualifications, developing resources, and examining the workforce. Philippa’s advice is to avoid blaming students and others – and to never limit the students you are working with.

Here are a few quotes to inspire. Watch the video for the full breadth of Philippa’s wisdom grown through years of varied experience:

On teaching methodology:  “If you want to be a good LLND teacher and assessor you’ve got to have a variety of tools in your toolkit”

On the Digital ACSF: “We need to really rethink what it means to do reading and writing and numeracy. We’ve got to have the courage to look at our own practice“
On compliance and auditing: “Through compliance and auditing we actually made teachers lose their confidence“
On teachers: “When I’m doing PD I see how dedicated these teachers are – that is humbling“
On what we need for the future: “we need to fight for a variety of provision”
 
Philippa‘s insights into literacy now and into the future will start you thinking about your own involvement in adult literacy and how you interact with students, teachers, and other stakeholders.