Feilte 2014

Talking about teaching: tearing down the walls

90 Minute Workshop Title:

A model relationship in further education training

Michael Kenny, M.Agr.Sc, PGDHE, MIITD, Lecturer, Department of Adult & Community Education, Maynooth University (Ollscoil na hÉireann Má Nuad)

http://www.nuim.ie/adult-and-community-education

Programme Director: Higher Diploma in Further Education https://www.nuim.ie/study-maynooth/postgraduate-

studies/courses/higher-diploma-further-education

The REGIONAL Maynooth University Team delivered a 90 Minute

Workshop Titled:

A model relationship in further education training (FET)

See programme following

The workshop firstly engaged the attendees to consider what is the school:

And 2nd who is the learner?

The workshop examined the notion of

Workshop examined

the journey of lifelong

and lifewide learning.

The participants in

the workshop used in

A3 sheet with a

diagram (depicted on

this page) to collect

comments on A model

relationship in

further education

training (FET)

The

comments

from the

participants

are

presented

following

The journey of learning should be needs led and learner centred rather than being linear.

The journey of learning should be constructed around a community hub with an emphasis on collaborative learning.

Multiple intelligences and different learning styles need to be accommodated within the journey of learning.

It is possible to have smaller learning groups if we use peer learning.

Training and education should be integrated with combined teachers and trainers.

Learning should be underpinned by self development, metacognition, and critical thinking.

Education should be flexible and responsive to learning needs.

Need for greater emphasis on the qualitative aspects of learning

The middle, i.e. second level education, is out of sync with whole-of-life learning.

Education is for the total person.

The learning Is presently disjointed.

There is an increasingly important question: Education for what?

Overemphasis in further education and training on preparation for jobs.

The REGIONAL EU project is conducting comparative analysis on policy making methodologies in adult learning.

For this workshop if we look at the most recent policy document on adult learning, White Paper on Adult Education – Learning for Life (2000) what does it say that reflects the above comments (3 quotes).

lifelong learning is an:- "….All purposeful learning activity, whether formal or informal, undertaken on an ongoing basis with the aim of improving knowledge, skills and competence." (White Paper on Adult Education – Learning for Life, 2000, p.56)

Real commitment to a strategy of lifelong learning raises fundamental questions about the nature of learning and the validation of such learning. The "lifewide" nature of lifelong learning accepts the reality of learning in a multiplicity of sites and through multiple sources. (Learning for Life, 2000, p.154).

The White Paper on Adult Education –Learning for Life (2000) highlights that “ … many workers in the community and voluntary sector with expertise and experience in this area but who lack the professional recognition of a formal qualification”.

Work

sheet

used in

the

workshop

Feilte 2014A model relationship in further education training

Thank you for the input of those who attended

END