ALCN Ripples - June 2023

Posted July 1, 2023 - 17:20

I sincerely welcome our new Executive, appointed at our AGM in May. I am particularly pleased to welcome new members to the Executive - Silvia Velez from Melton City Council, Dianne Hillier from Wollongong City Council, and Kay Delahunt from Tamworth Region. Diane Tabbagh is reappointed as Chair of the ALCN and I thank her for her continued support and leadership.

Our Friday Forum meetings are going from strength to strength - make sure you read the report from our First Nations Discussion held on 26 May where Romana Shepherd and Donna Goldie, Townsville City Libraries, discuss working together and share resources and advice on how to make such a partnership work.

Note dates for your diary - Friday 22 September where we will have discussions from George Osborne, Manager Economic Development, Hume City Council, on extending the learning city approach to other areas of local government, and Friday 27 October Danielle Marie, Learning & Partnerships Coordinator, Brimbank City Council reflect on the process of renewing a learning community strategy.

Enjoy reading and please send me more of your incredible stories of hope to share with others.

With my best wishes.

Leone

Dr Leone Wheeler
Hon. CEO
Australian Learning Communities Network
Website: https://alcn.com.au/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aus.alcn
Email: [email protected]

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Annual General Meeting

The ALCN Annual General Meeting was held on 30 May 2023. We welcome the following Executive Members for a two-year appointment (2023-2025):

Silvia Velez replaces Adam Josfovski and is from Melton, Victoria - a member of the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities (GNLC).
Diane Tabbagh from Wyndham, Victoria, is also a member of the UNESCO GNLC. Diane has also been reappointed as Chair of the ALCN.
Dianne Hillier replaces Lara Pugh and is from Wollongong City Council, NSW.
Kay Delahunt, from Tamworth Region, NSW, replaces Max Eastcott and represents ALCN on rural and regional matters.

Jim Saleeba, Albury Wodonga, NSW will remain as treasurer until June 2024. Dr Donna Goldie, Townsville City Council, Caroline Jones, Canning City Council (member of the UNESCO GNLC), Western Australia, and Benita Parsons, Port Adelaide Enfield (PAE), South Australia, are also appointed until June 2024.

A big thank you to all ALCN Executive members for their continued support. I acknowledge and thank two long-standing ALCN Executive members - Max Eastcott, CEO Gywdir Shire Council and Jan Simmons, from Ballarat who have contributed so much over the year to the development of the ALCN. I also thank Adam Josfovski for his work on the Executive in supporting our work and ensuring Melton is an active member of the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities.

Snapshot of the Work of the ALCN

Jose Roberto Guevara, President for the Council of Adult Education (ICAE) and Associate Professor of International Development, RMIT University, provided an amazing summary of the work of our ALCN members and how this work localises the work of UNESCO GNLC and Adult Learning and Education (ALE). One of the slides is illustrated below:

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The full presentation and read the Annual Report is available here.

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Welcome to Ballarat City Council
Joanne Lockwood, Coordinator Ballarat Library and Learning joins our network. We look forward to receiving stories from Joanne and she investigates lifelong learning and learning cities on behalf of Ballarat City Council.
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Report on Friday Forum - First Nations Discussion held on 26 May 2023

We heard and learnt from Romana Shepherd and Donna Goldie - Townsville City Council, about Aboriginal engagement.

Romana Shepherd, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Library Resource and Engagement Officer, Kalkadoon, Waanyi, Kuku Yalanji was born on Mitakoodi Country Cloncurry. Romana has extensive experience working for Townsville LGA in various roles including procurement, administration, customer services with one year in her current role in libraries.

Romana provided a “Little People Acknowledgement of Country” by demonstrating with actions and words. The key idea is to make the Acknowledgement of County fun for young people.

Donna who is the Coordinator Learning and Information Services, Townsville City Council reflected on the importance of the recruitment process to engage the services of Romana. Donna recommends taking your time, and researching the role thoroughly. Donna researched the Townsville Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) and based key selection criteria around this document. Donna was also careful about the title to ensure that as well as library resources, the title included the word engagement.

Romana spoke about the various roles she is does! Firstly, visiting the community and knowing the networks. Secondly, understanding in detail the indigenous colllections and programs. Activities have included – visiting the women’s prison, book club, events with the Torres Strait Islander communities; author talks, Sorry Day talk in the library; performances by traditional owners; Family History Club, performance and weaving workshops by traditional owners, 80^th anniversary for the TSI battalion. She started a First National Craft and Yarn group.

One issue was that people were uncomfortable with coming into the library for a yarn, but a Craft with Yarn programme was much more acceptable.

Romana’s previous work in procurement helped with her new role – especially in building the collection. Romana also worked with Learning and Information Officers on a Train the Trainer project – providing them with information and resources. This helped reduce cultural fatigue.

Donna said it was important to know your audience – planning for events includes food, tea, and coffee using indigenous suppliers. FOOD MATTERS AT ALL EVENTS.

It is the partnerships you create. The multiskilled nature of the facilitators. Many artists are dancers and weavers. Create a network of artists, painters, writers, and poets. Share the work available across several facilitators. It is important to fund the facilitators.

Romana also spoke about displaying the Uluru Statement of the Heart at the library and having books suitable for young readers about the Statement.

The most important thing is engagement with the community and LISTENING.

Reference recommended by Donna:

Thorpe, K., National survey on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment in Australian libraries: Research report. 2021, University of Technology Sydney
Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research: Ultimo, NSW. Available from https://read.alia.org.au/national-survey-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-is...
Note: Friday 26 May is National Sorry Day
A day to acknowledge the strength of Stolen Generations Survivors and reflect on how we can all play a part in the healing process for our people and nation. While this date carries great significance for the Stolen Generations and other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, it is also commemorated by Australians right around the country.

Dates for your Diary - Next Friday Forums

Friday September 22 – 3-4 pm (AEST). Suggested topic: Lifelong learning for Life and Work including a presentation on the Advantages of Extending the Learning City Approach into other areas of Local Government and beyond featuring George Osborne, Manager Economic Development, from Hume City Council.
Friday, October 27 – 9.30-10.30 am (AEDT). Suggested topic: Community Engagement – reflecting on the process of renewing learning community strategies with an opening presentation from Danielle Marie, Brimbank City Council. Note the change in time to accommodate an international audience.
Friday, 8 December - 3-4 pm (AEDT). Reflections.

Please email Sharyn. [email protected] to attend.
If you are interested in hosting a session or attending Friday Forums later in the year please email [email protected] or Silvia Velez - [email protected].

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Diane Tabbagh reported that Wyndham and Melton co-hosts have taken the difficult decision to pause the Global Learning Festival for 2023 as they determine what future opportunities can be taken that will meet the changing needs of the global learning community.

The ALCN supports dialogue with our international colleagues and to that end, we are working with Wyndham and Melton and other partners to ensure two of our Friday Forum discussions and other Webinars are open to GLF and PASCAL colleagues. More details to follow.

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Network Update

Our main network updates can be found in the ALCN Annual Report.

Melton City Council
Silvia Velez attended the Public Libraries Victorian Conference on 11 and 12 May and took notes on the many innovative examples. The conference was opened by Hon Melissa Horne MP, Minister for Local Government, who affirmed her love of libraries and their importance in her life. Minister Horne thanked participants for the wonderful work they do every day and asked that they keep going as their importance in our communities cannot be understated. Some highlights

Libraries for Health and Wellbeing - a State Library of Victoria study into how libraries help communities stay healthy and improve their lives.
'Words Grow Minds Campaign' – Former Federal Minister Kate Ellis is the CEO of Raising Literacy Australia. The marketing campaign aims to promote literacy to young families by increasing awareness of simple ways to promote literacy in children (talking, singing, reading and playing).
‘Sign With Me’ – Brimbank Libraries has trained 20 of their staff in Level 1 AUSLAN (Australian Sign Language), resulting in positive outcomes on inclusion and accessibility for their members with hearing disabilities.
'What do Libraries Bring to Public Play?' - Danielle Wyatt (University of Melbourne) and Dale Leorke (RMIT) talked about their findings published on their book ‘The Library as a Playground'(2022). There were some really interesting findings from research done in Australia, Singapore, Denmark and Sweden about how libraries are progressing the space of 'Public Play’.

For more information contact Silvia - email: [email protected].

Wyndham City Council
I was pleased to attend a Learning Community Strategy Consultation meeting for the development of the new LCS for 2024-2029. The discussion was lively and while participants acknowledged the tremendous impact of the LCS 2018-2023, there were gaps that will be addressed in the new strategy. Read more here.

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Lifelong Learning Handbook

UNESCO UIL. 2022. Making Lifelong Learning A Reality: A handbook. 2022, UNESCO_UIL: Hamburg, Germany. View at https://uil.unesco.org/making-lifelong-learning-reality-handbook

This handbook provides education stakeholders with practical guidance on lifelong learning.

The book contains an overview of key concepts, policy issues, technical knowledge and practical approaches, it demonstrates how lifelong learning can be strengthened in policy-making and implemented at national, regional, local and institutional levels.

For example, sometimes our practitioners are asked to define lifelong learning and its relevance to work across their community or local government organisation. This handbook from UNESCO Institute of Lifelong Learning includes the following definition:

Lifelong learning is embedded in the integration of learning and living, covering learning activities for people of all ages, in all life-wide contexts, and through a variety of modalities that together meet a range of learning needs and demands (UNESCO UIL, 2022 p. 16).

All age groups are covered from birth and extending to the whole lifespan. All levels of education from early childhood, primary, secondary, adult, university and TAFE. All modalities of learning - formal, non-formal and informal (covering schools, families, workplaces, communities, libraries, museums, online and distance learning). Learning is for a variety of purposes - for life and for work. Most importantly learning provides individuals with opportunities to develop their capabilities to reach their full potential, no matter the starting point in life and contributes to the development of an advanced economy and inclusive society.

Readings/Resources

Source: APO
Learning starts at the local library: the role of NSW public libraries in solving the State’s early literacy crisis. View at https://apo.org.au/node/322400

There is a wealth of national and international research evidence that public libraries play a key role in developing early literacy skills.

Providing high-quality early literacy activities to NSW children through public libraries — community spaces that are free, welcoming and accessible — is a critical and cost-effective strategy to redressing the State’s literacy declines.

This report analyses the most up-to-date data on childhood and adult literacy to show the extent of the looming literacy crisis facing NSW, and to outline the consequences for the state of not urgently addressing declining literacy standards.

UNESCO UIL, 2021. Curriculum globALE: competency framework for adult educators. UNESCO UIL, Institute for International Cooperation of the German Adult Education Association, German Institute for Adult Education, Leibniz Centre for Lifelong Learning, International Council for Adult Education. Available from https://uil.unesco.org/adult-education/curriculum-globale-competency-fra...

Curriculum globALE aims to:

enhance professionalization of ALE by providing a common reference framework for adult learning programmes and a suggested standard of competencies for adult educators;
support adult learning and education providers in the design and implementation of ‘train-the-trainer’ programmes;
foster knowledge exchange and mutual understanding among adult educators worldwide.

The curriculum constitutes a workload of approximately 800 hours distributed over a range of thematic units and other types of learning formats.

World Economic Forum [WEF] 2023, The Future of Jobs Report - Insights Report May 2023. Geneva, Switzerland. Available from https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Future_of_Jobs_2023.pdf

This report is based on a unique survey-based data set covering the expectations of a wide cross-section of the world’s largest employers related to job trends and directions for the 2023— 2027 period. Key findings:

Economic, health and geopolitical trends have created divergent outcomes for labour markets globally in 2023.
Technology adoption will remain a key driver of business transformation in the next five years.
The largest job creation and destruction effects come from environmental, technology and economic trends.
Within technology adoption, big data, cloud computing and AI feature highly on likelihood of adoption. The human-machine frontier has shifted, with businesses introducing automation into their operations at a slower pace than previously anticipated.
Analytical thinking and creative thinking remain the most important skills for workers in 2023.