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9 Stimulating the demand for learning
There should be a national publicity campaign to stimulate the demand for learning
Partnership approaches should stimulate demand locally
The power of the media and of new technology must be harnessed to stimulate demand and make learning more accessible
Summary
A national publicity campaign is needed to stimulate the demand for learning. The campaign should make use of the media to convey its message about the value of learning. There should be a 'Charter for Learning' setting out learners' entitlements. The Council should recognise in its aims a responsibility to stimulate demand. The power of television and new technology to deliver accessible and attractive open learning should be fully exploited.
Recommendations
The government should:
- in creating the 'University for Industry', draw upon the expertise of the Council. further education providers and other key organisations, to develop a service which will meet the needs of the widest spectrum of learners, and support the 'New Learning Pathway'
- legislate to make it a duty for all terrestrial television channels to educate as well as to entertain and inform
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- work with the BBC and independent broadcasters to explore the possibility of dedicated television channels to support learning
- take steps, in partnership with key national players, to create a mass demand for learning which includes the whole spectrum of the population
- develop a comprehensive 'Charter for Learning', which should be promoted through a national publicity campaign and logo
- make it a key role of the local strategic partnerships to promote clear and consistent messages about the value of learning and the range of opportunities available, and to collaborate with the 'University for Industry' at local level
- develop the role of the Employment Service in promoting the value of, and the opportunities for, learning, particularly to those with little recent experience of learning or who lack basic skills and qualifications
The Council should:
- recognise in its aims that it has responsibility to work with others to encourage and promote demand for learning
- welcome and promote the potential new role for the further education sector created by the 'University for Industry'.
Changing the Way We See Learning
What is needed is a sea-change in the public attitude to learning. We have seen the evidence of many initiatives to widen participation at local and national levels. All this work is raking place without the benefit of the kind of loud, visible and entertaining publicity campaign which, on a daily basis, persuades the population that it needs all sorts of products, many of which are a lot less useful in the long term than education and training.
A society which is so expert in selling goods should be able to find ways of selling education. The idea of 'learning gain' should be regarded as being just as important for individuals and society as good health and physical
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fitness. The links between mental and physical fitness should be made and emphasised: the benefits which arise from learning in terms of relaxation, self-esteem, social and family development and economic advancement.
We need to publicise the value of learning nationally, taking advantage of all the means at our disposal. The media - newspapers, magazines, radio and television - have the power to bring the message into every home in the land. They can promote a positive view of learning as a friendly, accessible activity, using images and drama story-lines which sell these ideas in a simple way. New technology can transform learning and free it from the constraints of time and place, but only if it is energised in the right way.
Breaking Down the Barriers to Learning
Traditional approaches to attracting learners are not reaching a wide enough spectrum of the population. Promotional activities are successful in recruiting people who are receptive to the idea of learning: people for whom learning holds a promise of benefit. The challenge is to reach the non-learners - people who do not respond to prospectuses, leaflets and advertisements, no matter how well they are produced. These are people who feel that learning is not for them, and who do not seek information. (1)
Reaching Out
There is much exciting and innovative work going on which stimulates wider participation. Many in the further education sector run successful outreach courses, which bring people into education who would not have dreamed of going to main college buildings. There are many voluntary organisations which work with people from under-represented and underprivileged groups, such as those excluded from school and young offenders, and help them to achieve. Outreach and voluntary provision is meeting the needs of some groups in some localities, but it is not on a large enough scale.
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Stimulating Demand for Learning in the Workplace
There have been a number of initiatives to stimulate demand for learning in the workplace, many of them funded directly or indirectly by government. Despite all the activity, there remains considerable scope for improving training and educational opportunities for people in work, particularly the unskilled and workers in small and medium-sized firms who are less likely to be offered training.
Working Together to Promote Learning
The strategic partnerships we propose would work together to promote a demand for learning. They would jointly identify under-represented groups in their area and find ways of stimulating demand amongst those groups. The Employment Service, for example, is ideally placed to widen participation in learning among unemployed people and part-time workers. This should involve helping people to find ways of improving basic skills, encouraging manual workers to make positive use of their time out of work to learn and get qualifications.
The partnerships would combine traditional promotional methods with outreach and community work and use of the local media. The partnerships would present a clear and consistent message about the value of learning and the range of opportunities available. This would be mutually beneficial to the partners and would result in a more efficient use of resources. Would-be learners would be encouraged to contact information. advice and guidance services jointly provided by the partners or other local networks. These services, in turn, would help to stimulate demand. They would collect information about clients in the locality, and their needs, to inform future strategic planning.
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Harnessing the Power of the Media: A National Strategy
The massive potential of the popular media to stimulate the demand for learning is largely unexploited. Newspapers, magazines, local and national radio, cable and mainstream television can and do already reach learners. The SSe, in particular, has a long and honourable history of educational broadcasting. But the media's capacity to reach members of the general public, to help them to see learning as something relevant and beneficial to their lives, has yet to be developed in any deliberate and systematic way.
There is strong evidence of the effectiveness of campaigns in the national media. In 1995, some 250,000 people asked for information packs after three 90-second advertisements for the Basic Skills Agency Family Literacy Campaign were shown by the BBC. Co-ordinated national publicity campaigns for education have proved their worth. Adult Learners' Week is an annual event which is co-ordinated nationally by NlACE, the national organisation for adult learners. There are 5,000 local events and broadcasting on all terrestrial, cable and satellite television channels as well as BBC and commercial radio. A free telephone helpline has attracted up to 57,000 callers annually, a third of whom take up courses as a result of the advice, and more than half of whom are long-term unemployed people. (2)
It is time to draw the lessons from these examples, and build upon existing government initiatives to increase the take-up of learning. The government should take the lead in stimulating the demand for learning. The initiative should be ongoing, popular in appeal, draw in all providers, make use of the media and be co-ordinated with local activity. It should harness the enormous potential of the national and local media to reach people in their own homes and workplaces, and to convince people that learning can be relevant and beneficial to their lives. The government should call upon the expertise of media professionals to help it design the best approaches.
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A New Charter for Learning
As part of the strategy to stimulate demand, there should be a new 'Charter for Learning'. This would set out the rights of all individual learners aged over 16. It should explain in simple terms what every learner is entitled to in terms of advice and guidance, funding, support, teaching and the quality of education and training.
The launch of the 'Charter' should be part of the national publicity campaign to stimulate demand. It should be co-ordinated with local activities designed to draw people's attention to local advice and guidance services and to the range of courses available. There should be a recognisable logo for the 'Charter' which can be used to identify local activities which promote learning.
Publicity should be generated through advertisements, newspaper and magazine articles and short, dramatised publicity films, all featuring the logo. Television companies should be persuaded to include more positive images of education in their popular soap operas and dramas. Realistic story-lines can provide good role models and raise people's awareness that education is for 'ordinary' people, too. For example, the well-liked character Michelle Fowler in Eastenders took an access course and went to university. More stories of this kind can help to encourage viewers to take the plunge into education and training
Technology: A Revolution in Learning
We are moving into a world where the media and information technology will revolutionise access to learning. The danger is that these services, if not harnessed for the benefit of all, will focus their attention on those customers who can pay well: large companies, universities and individuals with credit cards. Terrestrial television companies have already been freed from the obligation to provide educational programming, under the Broadcasting Act 1990. This should be reversed as the first step towards building a new
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relationship between education and the commercial media. Such a reversal would emphasise that organisations which wield as much power as commercial television companies are expected to exercise social responsibility.
The time has come for the combined potential of television and technology to be properly exploited for the benefit of learners in further education. Some colleges have already recognised this. They have developed regional computer networks, so that students in remote locations can have access to interactive open learning materials. One college offers video-conferencing with schools to deliver language teaching. Another has its own cable television station broadcasting four hours a day. Some colleges are collaborating in ambitious 'teleregion' projects with other colleges, universities, local authorities and others. A number of colleges and the National Open College Network have collaborated with the BBC offering viewers the chance to seek accreditation for learning, based on the 'Summer Nights' programmes broadcast by the BBC. The Open University has demonstrated what television can do for learners, when supported by written material and tutoring.
Derwentside College: telematics
The college is running a rural vocational training project jointly with Northumberland TEC and the Rural Development Council, supported by the European Social Fund. People in remote rural areas, who already possess a suitable computer, are provided with a modem to enable them to access distance learning materials. Instruction is given in the use of e-mail. Project participants download learning packages directly to their own computers. There is on-line support through a graphical bulletin board. Tutorial support is also delivered electronically and through use of the telephone, fax and voice mail. The project is already recruiting students from small and medium-size enterprises and from amongst the housebound and disabled.
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Advances in technology mean that learners can now access course materials directly through the Internet or local computer networks, no matter where they live, what time of day or year they need to study, or whether they are physically disabled. This has the potential to offer learners more than convenience. Complex concepts can be explained with the help of animation. Learners can interact with the material on the computer, for instance, trying out the effects of different solutions to a problem. They will be able to gain access to libraries of support materials.
The Higginson Committee on learning and technology made a number of detailed recommendations to the Council in 1996. (3) These timely recommendations have since been further developed to prepare the college sector to make the best use of new technology. They include the setting up of projects by colleges to demonstrate particular applications, such as networked course information services or a catalogue of teaching material to be made available on computer networks. The local computer networks developed by colleges and others should be interconnected. A continuing research programme is recommended to examine the effectiveness of new approaches to reaching and learning using new technology. A national staff development programme has been launched to train 50,000 staff in the use of new technologies.
Technology and Adult Learning
Television and computer technology together have the power to revolutionise learning for the twenty first century. They can bring learning to everyone - at home, at college, in workplaces, prisons and outreach centres. We welcome the government's proposals for a 'University for Industry' (Ufl). The intention is to improve the availability and quality of learning materials for adults, increasing and widening participation and stimulating demand through new technology.
One of the important areas that Ufl will target are people working in small and medium-sized enterprises that, often due to lack resources, undertake
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little or no training. It could be the hub of a national learning network extending to workplaces, homes and local learning centres. These local centres might include libraries, colleges, schools after hours and community centres. The intention is that Ufl will not award its own qualifications. Rather, it will act as a 'cataloguer' and 'broker' of information, materials, courses and services. It will provide access to user-friendly venues on the Internet and create links with tutors and other learners. It will sustain a system of support and guidance services and stimulate mass-marketing of learning opportunities,
The Ufl could be the most exciting innovation ever in further education. We want it to reach out to all potential learners, not just those in employment. We want entry points which are not tied too rigidly to particular vocational routes. The media and technology should be used to support general and academic courses for adults, such as English for speakers of other languages and access courses. It may be that the title 'University for Industry' is too specific to cover the range of lifelong learning activities which are needed.
There is great potential for the use of the media and technology in supporting the 'New Learning Pathway'. Television programmes or video recordings could provide illustrated lectures which might be used by individuals at home or in open learning centres, as well as by teachers working with groups. Students working independently could download written text from computers. They could interact with materials on their machines. Tuition, assessment and support could be provided through local colleges and other providers, either in person or electronically. These developments need not kill off the traditional aspects of adult education, such as group work, which have great value in themselves. Rather, they would allow for greater flexibility in the way programmes are delivered.
When developing the Ufl, the government should work closely with the Council, further education providers and other key organisations to devise a service which will meet the needs of the widest spectrum of learners and support the 'New Learning Pathway'. Its proposals to exploit the benefits of
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new technology for learners should build upon the work of the Higginson Committee. The government should work with the BBC and independent broadcasters to explore the possibility of dedicated television channels to support learning.
The Council
The Council has a part to play in creating a culture of innovation and collaborative practice. It should recognise that the motivation of learners is central to widening participation and should recognise in its aims the responsibility to work with others to encourage and promote demand for learning.
Endnotes
1 Individual Commitment to Learning: Understanding Learner Motivation. Crowder and Pupynin of Minds at Work. Employment Department, 1995
2 NIACE research for the committee
3 FEFC, Report of the Learning and Technology Committee, FEFC. Coventry. 1996
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A Widening Participation Committee
Terms of Reference
To identify:
a. those who do not now participate in further education;
b. those for whom the quality of participation indicated by completion and achievement rates are less than the norm for the sector;
c. how participation may be increased and the quality of participation improved;
and to recommend to the Council:
a. how its strategies, including the funding methodology, should be developed both to increase, and to improve the quality of participation; and the achievement of the national targets;
b. how information on good practice in institutions in developing and implementing strategies to increase and improve the quality of participation should be disseminated;
c. how the Council should monitor and evaluate the effect of its strategies;
d. any further work which needs to be undertaken in relation to increasing and improving the quality of participation.
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B Widening Participation Committee
Evidence
The conclusions of the committee are based on a wide range of evidence.
This includes:
- a review of research and literature by the Centre for Economic Performance. This was published as Widening Participation in Further Education and Training: A Survey of the Issues in September 1996. Copies were sent to colleges and others funded by the Council. Further copies are available from the Centre for Economic Performance
- a study undertaken by FEDA on the implementation of a credit framework for further education
- a study undertaken by NIACE on stimulating demand for further education among underrepresented groups by collaboration with the media
- a review of research and literature on student financial support in the further education sector and its impact on participation by the Policy Studies Institute
- six evidence sessions from national organisations: National Commission on Education, Association for Colleges, Confederation of British Industry, Further Education Development Agency, Association of County Councils/Association of Metropolitan Authorities, National Union of Students
- the responses to a request for data and other evidence which was published and widely distributed in February 1996.
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There were 533 responses to the request from national organisations, colleges, higher education institutions, local authorities, adult education services, training and enterprise councils (TECs), careers services, private training providers, local voluntary organisations and individuals working in further education. The major issues raised were student financial support, funding and the Council's funding methodology, partnership and collaboration, guidance and flexibility of provision
- the responses to the committee's publications Pathways to Success and consultation document. There were over 200 responses. There was general support for the initiatives and agreement about the need to target people of 18 years of age and above. A number of helpful suggestions were made and these will be taken account of the development of the 'New Learning Pathway' and in the invitation to apply for funds for the strategic partnerships
- 12 presentations from the Council, Professor John Tomlinson, chairman of the learning difficulties and/or disabilities committee, the Department for Education and Employment, the Further Education Funding Council for Wales, the Further Education Funding Unit of the Scottish Office, the National Institute of Adult and Continuing Education, the Basic Skills Agency, the TEC National Council and the BBC Education Service
- the findings of a seminar of experts with experience of a range of public and private organisations; it debated the impact on widening participation of approaches based on market principles and competition and those which involved partnership and planning
- the findings of a seminar of experts on the development of the 'New Learning Pathway'
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- the findings of a seminar on funding issues and options for change: it debated how good practice in widening participation could be reflected in funding arrangements and how under-represented groups could be identified in the current funding arrangements
- visits to colleges and other providers, attendance at national and local conferences and meetings of the Council's regional committees
- analysis of the individualised student record and other data by the staff in the Council's research and statistics team
- specialist research and analysis of inspectorate evidence by the staff of the Council's inspectorate
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C Widening Participation Committee
Chairman
Helena Kennedy QC
Members
Pat Brookfield Former vice-principal, Joseph Chamberlain Sixth Form College
Imtiaz Farookhi Former chief executive, Leicester City Council, chief executive, National Housebuilding Council
David Eade Chief executive, Barnsley College (to August 1995)
Richard Guy Chief executive, Manchester Training and Enterprise Council
Mike Harrison Vice-chancellor, University of Wolverhampton
Tony Higgins Chief executive, Universities and Colleges Admissions Service
Ted Parker Principal, Barking College
Alison Scott Principal, Somerset College of Arts and Technology
Maggie Semple Director of education and training, The Arts Council of England
Anne Sofer Former director of education and community services, Tower Hamlets
Judith Summers Chair, executive committee, National Institute of Adult Continuing Education
George Sweeney Principal, Knowsley Community College (from September 1995)
Ann Tanner Managing director, Tanner Foods Ltd (to February 1997)
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Co-opted Members
Pam Gibson Head of customer and community services, Kent County Council
Barfuor Adjei-Barwuah Education staff, Further Education Development Agency
Anna Reisenberger Head of programme, participation and achievement, Further Education Development Agency
Assessors
Valerie Bayliss Department for Education and Employment (to November 1995)
Felicity Everiss Department for Education and Employment (from January 1996)
Stephen Kershaw Department for Education and Employment
Observers
Elaine Allinson Further Education Funding Council for Wales (to December 1996)
Ann Jenkins Further Education Funding Council for Wales (from January 1997)
Joyce Johnston Further Education Funding Division, The Scottish Office (to September 1996)
Maureen McGinn Further Education Punding Division, The Scottish Office (from October 1996)