Let's not lose heart

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