Open Access“Do you take

cripples?”Gerardine, Rob, Matt, Sam and Jo

Hypothesis

•Open Access policies fail to meet the needs of

lifelong learners• Open Access is a piece

of worthless ideology

Sampling frame

We examined the Open Access policies and procedures at:BCoTQMCAlton College

What is Open Access ?

“Also called an open panel, allows participant to see another participating service provider without a referral”

www.jpflanagan.com/html/mtoqfaq.html

What is Open Access ?

•Please tell us!

What is Lifelong Learning?

“The process of changing perceptions and practice to meet the rapidly changing demands of the knowledge society by moving away from learning as a preparation for life and work , to learning as an integral part of life and work”

www.ao.bham.ac.uk/aps/glossary.htm

What is Lifelong Learning?

“Adult education”ww.dabra.com/dictionary.html

Physical Access: Open access?

Stuff this, I’m off to Alton College

•There is a good ramp leading to the doors

•The doors are automatic

•The entrance is all glass, giving all visitors a less intimidating view.

Alton College

Physical Access: Open access?

Basingstoke College of Technology

Queen Mary’s College

This building is used for special needs students.It is away from the main buildings and in need of repair

Alton College

This lift was installed to enable wheelchair users and those with mobility problems access all the facilities in the library

Alton College

These doors only open one way, are heavy and difficult to open

This effective clear width diagram shows the optimum design for wheelchair friendly entrances

Wheelchair access

Representations of students in Alton's full time prospectus

Wasp86%

Over twenty2%

Ethnic10%

Disability2%

Representations of students in BCOT's full time prospectus

ethnic3%disability

0%

over twenty5%

wasp92%

Representations of students in QMC's full time prospectus

Disability0%

Ethnic15%

Wasp69%

Over twenty16%

Chicken Pie chart!

Current opinion

• The three pools of future labour are • Women• Immigrants• Older peopleBut :• The government will only fund free tuition

to level 2, or• Adults who do not have a level 3

qualification in a geographical area with a recognised skills shortage

Peter Kingston, Guardian 08/02/05

Current opinion

Peter Kingston • “It really requires us to stop treating

adult skills as a sideshow compared with universities and schools”

• “one years additional schooling for young people adds 6% per capita to a nations GDP”

The Guardian, 8th February 2005

Organisation for EconomicCo-operation and Development

• The OECD is carrying out a large scale survey into adult skills to establish whether European states should shift funding to adult education – the results are anticipated in 2009 when the current bulge in 16-19 year old ends

The Guardian, 8th February 2005

•Poor self efficacy prevents many people

from attending FE

•The recent advertising campaign ‘Get rid

of your gremlins’ aims to show people they

can be empowered and welcomed

Barriers to Learning

• Cultural – class, ethnicity, gender and age

• Structural – money, time travel, guidance, peer pressure, class size, teacher/parent relations, teacher/student, social deprivation

• Personal – family pressure, family view of education, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, self efficacy, expectations

Socio-Political Issues

• Lifelong learning (L3) increases self efficacy and social engagement

• 90% of adults recognise the benefits• 33% say it is not for them• There is no money available for L3

• Money is directed toward Skills and Employability

• The overall perception is that Further Education is just for teenagers

The Guardian, 8th February 2005

The Moser report• Sir Claus Moser, chairman of the Basic

Skills Agency, was commissioned to write a report in 1998. He found:

• 7 million adults in England have problems with literacy and numeracy

• One in five adults are functionally illiterate – if you gave them the Yellow Pages they would not be able to find a plumber

www.tes.co.uk/search/story

NIACE National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (England and Wales)

• According to NIACE 80% of learners in FE are adults

• NIACE are launching an enquiry into the future of adult education – with an emphasis on funding!

• The fear is that most of the cash is going into Tomlinson’s 14-19 project

Case Studies

• Part of Bcot’s open access policy involves school students with special needs experiencing classes across various curriculum areas

• Recently, one group had organised a visit to Davy Close

• On arrival, one student could not manage the busy and dangerous walk to the entrance, one was unable to climb the stairs to the classroom….

• And a third was in a wheelchair

Case studies cont..

• A young mother wanted to enrol on a fulltime childcare course

• Despite several meetings with the course and nursery staff, she was unable to organise childcare for her baby to fit around her studies

Over to you….

• What can we do?

• Would you come back to learning?

• Do you see your future teaching

adults or teenagers?

Clap-o-meter

Chicken feed

Key Skills L1

PGCE standard

Finger-lickin’ good!

Look out for the Movie version of our presentation, Starring

• Drew Barrymore as Jo Hatton

• Liz Hurley as Gerardine Chapman

• Jude Law as Matthew Hudswell

• Richard Gere as Rob Lowthian

• Angelina Jolie as Sam Wrigley

This was a skivers-at-the-back production for the University

of Portsmouth