FE awards shine light on benefits of lifelong learning

While the decision to enter adult education isn’t always easy, it can have a transformational effect on people’s lives, as the winners of this year’s Festival of Learning Awards can attest. Kate Parker reports
6th August 2021, 12:00am
Fe Awards Shine Light On Benefits Of Lifelong Learning

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FE awards shine light on benefits of lifelong learning

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archived/fe-awards-shine-light-benefits-lifelong-learning

Lifelong learning is having a moment. The impact of the pandemic, combined with the effects of Brexit, means that hundreds of thousands of adults have recently found themselves out of work or needing to upskill or retrain. And, of course, as many people were forced to stay at home for long stretches over the past 16 months, they were taking up new hobbies in droves - hands up if you baked banana bread for the first time or downloaded Duolingo - and educated themselves from their own sofas, just for the joy of it.

The Department for Education is placing increased value on lifelong learning, too; the new Skills and Post-16 Education Bill currently going through Parliament includes a lifetime loan entitlement, equivalent to four years of post-18 education, to support adults who want to continue learning, as well as the introduction of flexible higher technical education for adults.

But although access is widening, and legislation such as the skills bill stands to support that further, lifelong learning isn’t always easy. For some, it’s the consequence of a major life change and an urgent need to retrain; for others, it can be about engaging with education for the first time after a rough start in life.

For this reason, it’s important to recognise some of the inspirational stories to be found in this sector of education. Each year, the Learning and Work Institute does just that, through its Festival of Learning Awards. It hands out 12 accolades, all of which celebrate the achievements of adults who have used learning to transform their lives for the better.

Here, we highlight three of the winners.

Paul Ackroyd: Learning for Health Award

Five years ago, bus driver Paul Ackroyd went to see his GP about a burning pain in his feet. The doctor suspected that there was a problem with Ackroyd’s peripheral nervous system and, after months of testing, he was diagnosed with small fibre neuropathy.

Ackroyd describes the symptoms of the condition as feelings of pins and needles, burning pains, and discomfort in his hands and legs. Despite taking a huge amount of medication, he’s often in a lot of pain. It’s a lifelong and life-altering condition, and one that he had no idea about before the diagnosis.

Eager to gain some control, he returned to education to learn more about his condition.

Ackroyd has been a bus driver for 34 years and, as a member of Unite, he qualified for free courses at the union’s learning centre in Bromley.

To begin with, he completed a level 2 in mental health, which looked specifically at diseases of the brain. “It really helped me to understand about the peripheral nervous system, and gave me the confidence to go on to research the illness in more depth myself, which my neurologist finds really annoying,” says Ackroyd.

“I was having a test on my sweat glands the other day, which would show if I was diabetic or had another type of neuropathy, and it came up on the screen, and it said that I possibly could have DSPN (distal symmetrical polyneuropathy). I said to my neurologist, ‘Oh yeah, so it’s definitely neuropathy somewhere’, and he was like, “You shouldn’t know what that is!” And I said, ‘Don’t you think it’s better that I do?’.

“There is a possibility that, within five years or 10 years, I could be in a wheelchair but learning about the condition myself gives me more clarity and, when I do go to the doctor’s, I’ve got a better understanding of what they’re telling me,” he explains.

Ackroyd quickly caught the learning bug and, to date, has completed seven level 2 courses in a whole range of subjects, from safeguarding to counselling. He knows he won’t be able to continue to be a bus driver for years to come - his condition won’t allow it - but he is keen to pursue a level 3 and 4 in counselling, and turn his trade to supporting other people.

Learning, he says, has given him the tools to plan for the future. “It just goes to show that no matter how ill you are, you can still learn things and new skills, and I am immensely proud of myself, I must admit - really, really proud,” he says.

Caras: President’s Award

For almost 25 years, the charity Caras (Community Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers) has been supporting refugees in South London to re-engage with education. Its Esol (English for speakers of other languages) programme was recognised at this year’s awards.

Helping students to learn English is the programme’s top priority. Teaching is conducted through a combination of classroom sessions, one-to-ones and group support. As well as traditional English lessons with a qualified teacher, participants benefit from activities such as drama, gardening and creative writing.

Alongside the main programme, learners can also take an exam course in English speaking and listening.

At the heart of everything Caras does is building confidence in English and encouraging learners to take the next steps in their lives.

“We specialise in working with people who are new to the UK and new to learning English,” says Dan Calvert, head of education at Caras. “Some learners are also new to engaging in education. We want to be a bridge into mainstream education, and we help adults to recognise that the best way to develop and realise their goals is to get into college.”

Rupkotha* knows the power that this type of education has at first hand. She’s been attending the women’s Esol classes twice a week for a year now - and the tools and confidence she’s gained have been life-changing.

“I feel really very good to speak, I don’t like to depend on someone. Sometimes, I talk with my neighbours - before, my children had to translate for me. I can answer questions when my children’s school calls me; I’m not scared like before,” she says.

Rupkotha says she’s made friends through the course, too, and feels she has gained “more power” not just through interacting with her peers but from the staff and volunteers as well. “For example, if I get a problem, I can imagine that they will absolutely help me, heart and soul. I love to think I have Caras,” she says.

And at the centres, learning is a two-way street, says Calvert.

“In our community, there isn’t a sense that the staff are the experts and learners are just learning from us: it goes the other way, too. All of our spaces are multilingual and I’m always learning languages, picking up on words. I learn a lot from the people who come to the groups and that’s what makes Caras special,” he says.

“We see people’s strengths, and we see the richness people have to bring in all kinds of knowledge and skills and perspectives, and we really want the whole community to benefit.”

*Name has been changed

Kirsty Young: Return to Learning Award

“It was amazing to be recognised with the awards. I hope other people from difficult backgrounds see it and know that returning to learning is worthwhile,” says Kirsty Young.

Returning to education has transformed Young’s life - and the lives of her children. From the age of 14, she was a victim of child grooming, suffering domestic and sexual violence. By the time she was 19, she had three children all under the age of 3, and was facing homelessness.

But after reuniting with her family, whom she had not seen for five years, she slowly started to reintegrate back into society. This wasn’t easy after all the abuse she had suffered and she experienced suicidal feelings. But going back to college, she says, was the first step towards rebuilding her life.

“I needed to fit back into society because I’d been isolated for so long. I couldn’t speak to people, I had no friends, I didn’t know how to socialise, I’d not worked,” she says. “I knew that I was responsible for my three children, and I had to offer them a future, so I felt college was the way to be able to do that.”

Young started on a level 1 health and social care course at East Riding College, and worked her way up to a level 3. She was nominated by the college for a Helena Kennedy Grant and went to the University of Hull, where she gained a degree in children’s interprofessional studies.

Young says it was challenging, especially when her children were so young, but that she had to take “a leap of faith”. She hasn’t looked back.

“Once you’ve got a qualification you didn’t think you could get, especially a degree, it motivates you to keep going,” she says. “You think: well, if I could do that, then what’s stopping me doing the next thing?”

Young is now back at East Riding College as a learning support adviser and, from September, she’ll be on PGCE training, hoping to become a teacher for students with special educational needs. Her children are all thriving, too: her daughter is hoping to go to university to be a nurse and her sons have their eyes on joinery and catering courses. Young is so proud of them - as they are of her.

“This whole journey has taught the kids resilience,” she says. “They know education is where they need to be but they also know it doesn’t matter if they find school very difficult. I tell them to try your best and get to college, where anything is possible.”

Kate Parker is a Tes FE reporter

This article originally appeared in the 6 August 2021 issue under the headline “Stories shine light on benefits of lifelong learning”

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