I took on board Colin and Catherine's point about not rushing into anything without taking the time to broaden the constituency and engage more interest. The timescales Colin suggested, in terms of regional meetings possibly in January, seemed sensible and realistic. However, in the meantime, we seem not to have gathered much more interest, at least here on the blog, and risk losing momentum, I think. I appreciate that there seem to be technical difficulties with the blog, and it would be good if we could move to a form of online participation that is as accessible and open as possible. Maybe a small group, with some technical expertise, could take this forward? Colin and Sharon, did the contact with NIACE lead nowhere? Does anyone know what was decided about the Literacies online forum with SFEU? Perhaps we could take some of the discussion into that forum to reach a wider audience?
As for regional meetings...I think, on the ground we might be able to generate interest in the different geographical areas and possibly the face to face contact might rejuvenate both ourselves and others. Perhaps we could plan towards an open Scotland-wide meeting, building on regional meetings, early in the new year. I am happy to try to work with some others in the north to try to get a regional meeting in January. Graeme, Chris, Alasdair are you willing to help me with this?
There's obviously quite a few of you in Glasgow...what about Edinburgh? Catherine, could you help with this, connecting in the people you have already had conversations with? What about the south? Are there other exisiting 'nodes' that would make a sensible focus for regional meetings? Kathleen...what about Stirling? Ayrshire?
If we had a definite timescale for a national meeting, with some people at regional level working towards this, we might be able to pick up the momentum again.
I'm not much in favour of 'leaders', but if we are to get something national off the ground it seems we need champions in each area, and each aspect of the project, who will help move things forward.
Personally, I am still convinced that there is a need for an independent association - some things seem to be getting worse in Adult Literacies in Scotland at the moment rather than better. Certainly the problems identified early on in this blog are not going away - but it's going to be an uphill struggle to move this from being an extension of TQAL to something that is genuinely inclusive. I am convinced we CAN do it though if we work together and don't lose heart.
I'm going to start trying to get a northern meeting organised. I'll keep you posted as to our progress with this.
Aileen Ackland
Thursday, 20 November 2008
Friday, 7 November 2008
another member
Hi
having struggled to get in, am at last in the blog but not at all sure how to use it. However, I am sure we need a forum for discussion of the ways to develop literacies practice and that it needs to have face to face (regional?) aspects as well as online discussion until we all catch up with the basic IT processes and feel comfortable with them.
Chris
having struggled to get in, am at last in the blog but not at all sure how to use it. However, I am sure we need a forum for discussion of the ways to develop literacies practice and that it needs to have face to face (regional?) aspects as well as online discussion until we all catch up with the basic IT processes and feel comfortable with them.
Chris
Tuesday, 4 November 2008
RaPAL
I attended the 2nd Management Committee of RaPAL on 27th October (Sorry for the delay in getting back to you with this, but I have only just worked out how to
Wednesday, 22 October 2008
steady as we go!
I think it is important for all of us to stop for a moment and reflect on what we are doing in where we are at this moment.
While some of us are prepared to push ahead at speed to form a steering group other practitioners haven’t even got to the starting blocks yet.
Yesterday I attended the Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector literacy network meeting, where I spoke to some practitioners whom I had sent the blog address so that they could participate in the debate.
While they were very supportive of the idea, they felt that the blog was engaged in a conversation of which they were not a part and felt that it was a continuation of the TQAL course. This highlights the danger of the forum being seen as a clique by those who were not involved in TQAL.
Although I am aware of the need to set up a steering committee of some type to take things forward I would like it to be more representative of the wider groups within ALN in Scotland and not just former Tqallers.
I briefly spoke at the meeting to encourage those present to sign up and engage in the formation process and the debate on what we should stand for and how the forum can best represent the interests of all ALN practitioners.
It is possible that there are other reasons for people not participating more fully beyond TQAL land. These could be that they are not aware that it exists yet or that they know it exists but have not been given instructions as to how to log on. This is something I had struggled with myself and had some difficulty with the VLE.
In order to rectify this situation, and to rescue the whole project, I would suggest that people who are already participants on the blog, personally invite some people onto the blog by using the envelope icon to email someone a post. Send it to people you have emails for but are not too familiar with and ask them to sign in. Explain that they do not have to participate if they feel uncomfortable about this, but that it is good to join so that we can get an idea of the numbers that are interested it the formation of the practitioners’ association (for want of a better term).
Tell people how they can post a blog or leave a comment and also how to add themselves to the list of followers. I tried to invite the whole of the GCVS Literacy network group but it only allows for 10 emails at a time. I intend to invite as many people as possible using this method even if I don’t know them or don’t see eye to eye with them on other issues. The point is we must get more people involved.
On other issues, I think the formation of a steering group should be held off at the moment until we get more people involved. I think the time lines set out already are too narrow and unrealistic and this has been recognised by some colleagues. There is no need to rush this. It is better to nurture something that will be enduring and truly reflective of a cross section of practitioners from different areas of ALN. However, I do believe that we should be forming some type of manifesto that sets out our priorities and goals for the association. I would like to see an association formed that was going to allow for practitioners within ALN to celebrate the work that they are involved in, promote the social practice model over skill based and deficit models and allow for the sharing of experience and innovation. It should also be an arena where we can address the issues facing ALN practitioners the length and breadth of the country regarding precarious work situations and contract uncertainty as well as challenging deteriorating conditions of employment. There are many other things that the association should stand for such as helping to combat poor information channels to overcome the feeling of isolation in some areas of our work.
Of course there would have to be some management/finance structure as well in order for the association to function and work out how we can fund events like regional and national fora. It has to be democratic and if officials are elected to posts then they must be held accountable with the right of instant recall if necessary.
We should be aiming for some time towards the end of January to be having a series of regional meetings with the aim of having a national conference in April 2009. Nala in the Republic of Ireland set out a series of regional meetings and then moved toward a national conference where delegates voted on a programme of aims and objectives.
As for the support required to set up a website and produce a newsletter, time sometimes moves slowly in these areas in organisations due to other commitments and therefore, various avenues should be explored.
I am sure if we can thrash out some type of blueprint/manifesto by using the wiki or continuing the discussion blog then we can attract more of our ALN colleagues towards our ideals and aspirations.
While some of us are prepared to push ahead at speed to form a steering group other practitioners haven’t even got to the starting blocks yet.
Yesterday I attended the Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector literacy network meeting, where I spoke to some practitioners whom I had sent the blog address so that they could participate in the debate.
While they were very supportive of the idea, they felt that the blog was engaged in a conversation of which they were not a part and felt that it was a continuation of the TQAL course. This highlights the danger of the forum being seen as a clique by those who were not involved in TQAL.
Although I am aware of the need to set up a steering committee of some type to take things forward I would like it to be more representative of the wider groups within ALN in Scotland and not just former Tqallers.
I briefly spoke at the meeting to encourage those present to sign up and engage in the formation process and the debate on what we should stand for and how the forum can best represent the interests of all ALN practitioners.
It is possible that there are other reasons for people not participating more fully beyond TQAL land. These could be that they are not aware that it exists yet or that they know it exists but have not been given instructions as to how to log on. This is something I had struggled with myself and had some difficulty with the VLE.
In order to rectify this situation, and to rescue the whole project, I would suggest that people who are already participants on the blog, personally invite some people onto the blog by using the envelope icon to email someone a post. Send it to people you have emails for but are not too familiar with and ask them to sign in. Explain that they do not have to participate if they feel uncomfortable about this, but that it is good to join so that we can get an idea of the numbers that are interested it the formation of the practitioners’ association (for want of a better term).
Tell people how they can post a blog or leave a comment and also how to add themselves to the list of followers. I tried to invite the whole of the GCVS Literacy network group but it only allows for 10 emails at a time. I intend to invite as many people as possible using this method even if I don’t know them or don’t see eye to eye with them on other issues. The point is we must get more people involved.
On other issues, I think the formation of a steering group should be held off at the moment until we get more people involved. I think the time lines set out already are too narrow and unrealistic and this has been recognised by some colleagues. There is no need to rush this. It is better to nurture something that will be enduring and truly reflective of a cross section of practitioners from different areas of ALN. However, I do believe that we should be forming some type of manifesto that sets out our priorities and goals for the association. I would like to see an association formed that was going to allow for practitioners within ALN to celebrate the work that they are involved in, promote the social practice model over skill based and deficit models and allow for the sharing of experience and innovation. It should also be an arena where we can address the issues facing ALN practitioners the length and breadth of the country regarding precarious work situations and contract uncertainty as well as challenging deteriorating conditions of employment. There are many other things that the association should stand for such as helping to combat poor information channels to overcome the feeling of isolation in some areas of our work.
Of course there would have to be some management/finance structure as well in order for the association to function and work out how we can fund events like regional and national fora. It has to be democratic and if officials are elected to posts then they must be held accountable with the right of instant recall if necessary.
We should be aiming for some time towards the end of January to be having a series of regional meetings with the aim of having a national conference in April 2009. Nala in the Republic of Ireland set out a series of regional meetings and then moved toward a national conference where delegates voted on a programme of aims and objectives.
As for the support required to set up a website and produce a newsletter, time sometimes moves slowly in these areas in organisations due to other commitments and therefore, various avenues should be explored.
I am sure if we can thrash out some type of blueprint/manifesto by using the wiki or continuing the discussion blog then we can attract more of our ALN colleagues towards our ideals and aspirations.
Although it would be ideal to have fair representation from all areas I think Catherine has a point when she talks about setting up the 'bones' and adding the meat later. I feel we have to take a more direct approach in order to progress. Catherine has been very pro active and has tried to provide guidance whilst Tina has tried to pull together a steering group.
Why has this not been more productive??? Do we, initially, need to move away from a democratic stance and appoint a 'team leader'????
Why has this not been more productive??? Do we, initially, need to move away from a democratic stance and appoint a 'team leader'????
Friday, 10 October 2008
Steering Group
It's exciting to see that we are thinking about moving up to the next level and I do think we need to be careful how we proceed and that Tina has a point about being rudderless, although we do want to hear from all those indians. Having no idea at all about how to take this further, I'm happy to leave it with those in the know but if I can be of any assistance, I'm more than happy to have a go.
How many people do we need for this group and what kind of skills are desirable?
I did come across a site 'Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations' which has information about setting out a constitution and structures, but don't know if its relevant or not. The site address is: http://www.scvo.org.uk/scvo/Information/DisplayResults.aspx?al=t&TCID=123&PageName=Forming%20a%20Voluntary%20Association if anyone want to have a look.
I thought we could perhaps use the wiki to set out a constitution and then we can add and amend it as it goes along.
How many people do we need for this group and what kind of skills are desirable?
I did come across a site 'Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations' which has information about setting out a constitution and structures, but don't know if its relevant or not. The site address is: http://www.scvo.org.uk/scvo/Information/DisplayResults.aspx?al=t&TCID=123&PageName=Forming%20a%20Voluntary%20Association if anyone want to have a look.
I thought we could perhaps use the wiki to set out a constitution and then we can add and amend it as it goes along.
Friday, 3 October 2008
The Practical Issues
In the VLE where this discussion began Tina suggested some prompts for us to begin to think about how we might go about setting up this association, from reading all the comments so far on both the VLE and the Blog I agree that we should return to these prompts and begin to answer them systematically.
However, while I agree these issues are important ones to think about I must reiterate that I don’t think it’s appropriate for those of us who have contributed so far to make any decisions before we have done the work of engaging as many other practitioners as possible to participate in this discussion. I do however agree that we can’t just keep on talking and I’m not suggesting that, what I do suggest however is that we start to look at timelines for discussions to begin and end. With this in mind I think we should give ourselves one week from today to email as many of our contacts who work in the field and invite them to join the discussion. I suggest a deadline for spreading the word as Friday 10th October. After that date I think we will have demonstrated that we have given others the opportunity to join and it would then be appropriate to vote on the other matters outlined by Tina. I have taken the liberty of taking Tina’s original questions and adapting them to include the concerns raised throughout the discussions.
Name of the Association
Paid subscription/membership – other funding options
Format of management committee/steering group/core team
Roles and responsibilities of all members
Constitution
Regularity of face to face meetings – national and regional
Website – NIACE support or independent
Issues and Concerns – the activist professional
Any other business
I also think we should be looking at building a ‘database’ of our particular areas of experience/expertise so that we can decide on the best people to take forward particular pieces of work. For example Rosie recommends Sharon for setting up the website either with independent funding or in partnership with NIACE. I think this is a great idea as Rosie is obviously aware of Sharon’s expertise in this area. I also get the impression that Brian knows a thing or two about business matters so I think it’s important that we all recognise that everyone has something valuable to contribute. Again I think we need a timeline for adding this information and I think the 26th would also be suitable to ensure that by the beginning of November we are ready to vote on all the major issues with as much input as possible from the widest range of sources within the field.
Catherine
However, while I agree these issues are important ones to think about I must reiterate that I don’t think it’s appropriate for those of us who have contributed so far to make any decisions before we have done the work of engaging as many other practitioners as possible to participate in this discussion. I do however agree that we can’t just keep on talking and I’m not suggesting that, what I do suggest however is that we start to look at timelines for discussions to begin and end. With this in mind I think we should give ourselves one week from today to email as many of our contacts who work in the field and invite them to join the discussion. I suggest a deadline for spreading the word as Friday 10th October. After that date I think we will have demonstrated that we have given others the opportunity to join and it would then be appropriate to vote on the other matters outlined by Tina. I have taken the liberty of taking Tina’s original questions and adapting them to include the concerns raised throughout the discussions.
Name of the Association
Paid subscription/membership – other funding options
Format of management committee/steering group/core team
Roles and responsibilities of all members
Constitution
Regularity of face to face meetings – national and regional
Website – NIACE support or independent
Issues and Concerns – the activist professional
Any other business
I also think we should be looking at building a ‘database’ of our particular areas of experience/expertise so that we can decide on the best people to take forward particular pieces of work. For example Rosie recommends Sharon for setting up the website either with independent funding or in partnership with NIACE. I think this is a great idea as Rosie is obviously aware of Sharon’s expertise in this area. I also get the impression that Brian knows a thing or two about business matters so I think it’s important that we all recognise that everyone has something valuable to contribute. Again I think we need a timeline for adding this information and I think the 26th would also be suitable to ensure that by the beginning of November we are ready to vote on all the major issues with as much input as possible from the widest range of sources within the field.
Catherine
Thursday, 2 October 2008
Our vision
In a comment on the last blog, Brian said...'what's important is to be sure what is our purpose. This for me as many have also said needs to be our priority. We need to think this through as it's important we don't replicate what already exists.In going forward then perhaps we should consider constructing a constitution or vision/mission statement. This could be done by requesting everyone who wants to should contribute a post on the blog with their ideas in no more than 6-8 points. '
Catherine said... 'I agree with Brian that we should be post our own views on what should be in a constitution / mission statement in around 6-8 bullet points. Again I think we should set a deadline for the completion of this activity (taking account of the views of any new members who join by next Friday). How about Friday 26th October?'
How about adding a comment to this blog with a summary of your vision?
Catherine said... 'I agree with Brian that we should be post our own views on what should be in a constitution / mission statement in around 6-8 bullet points. Again I think we should set a deadline for the completion of this activity (taking account of the views of any new members who join by next Friday). How about Friday 26th October?'
How about adding a comment to this blog with a summary of your vision?
Monday, 29 September 2008
The moment has come....
Over the past months, several people in different groupings and in different places have begun to talk about the idea of a Scottish Association of Adult Literacies Practitioners. Committed to taking forward new principles of practice flowing from the explicit adoption, in policy, of a social practices perspective of literacies, practitioners across Scotland continue to encounter structural barriers related to conditions of employment and short term funding. Often struggling in isolation, many are finding it hard to maintain morale and sustain and develop practice consistent with the shared set of values.
The final gathering of practitioners associated with the pilot TQAL programme culminated in a discussion of the need for an independent association of practitioners. Building on the connections made through TQAL, it was suggested that we should establish a national association which might engage with the concerns of practitioners and develop a collective voice with which to influence policymakers and employers.
Although some face to face, possibly regional, meetings were felt to be important, it was considered urgent to establish an online forum for further discussion about how to progress this idea.
This blog will hopefully allow us to promote the idea widely to practitioners across Scotland, air our concerns and consider how we might proceed. Please contribute your ideas and let others know about the blog. ( If you click on the envelope icon below, you can email your friends this post.) If you want to be able to post a new blog ( click on the pencil icon below) rather than simply add comments, please leave a comment with your email address and you will receive an invite to join the list of blog authors. Remember you can subscribe to the blog and also add yourself to the list of 'followers'. This will help us get an idea of the number of people interested in the idea of the Practitioner Association.
The final gathering of practitioners associated with the pilot TQAL programme culminated in a discussion of the need for an independent association of practitioners. Building on the connections made through TQAL, it was suggested that we should establish a national association which might engage with the concerns of practitioners and develop a collective voice with which to influence policymakers and employers.
Although some face to face, possibly regional, meetings were felt to be important, it was considered urgent to establish an online forum for further discussion about how to progress this idea.
This blog will hopefully allow us to promote the idea widely to practitioners across Scotland, air our concerns and consider how we might proceed. Please contribute your ideas and let others know about the blog. ( If you click on the envelope icon below, you can email your friends this post.) If you want to be able to post a new blog ( click on the pencil icon below) rather than simply add comments, please leave a comment with your email address and you will receive an invite to join the list of blog authors. Remember you can subscribe to the blog and also add yourself to the list of 'followers'. This will help us get an idea of the number of people interested in the idea of the Practitioner Association.
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