2018 Conference Date - Friday 7 December

The 2018 NSWALNC Conference will be held on Friday 7 December. Put it in your diary. Registrations will open in August.

Seminar - 5.30, Tues 8 May 2018 - Erik Jacobsen's article "Workforce Development Rhetoric and the Realities of 21C Capitalism"

       The Council has had feedback from several members that they are finding it increasingly difficult to stay current with, and access scholarly research that could inform our practice. This year, we plan to host at least two seminars where colleagues in the field can read and discuss some recent research publications together. A member of the Council Committee will lead the discussion.

       Our first such seminar will focus on a 2016 paper written by the Erik Jacobson, an ABE researcher in the USA: ‘Workforce Development Rhetoric and the Realities of 21st Century Capitalism’. In his paper, Jacobson calls upon those in the field of adult basic education to question some of the premises upon which many adult literacy and numeracy programs, particularly for long-term unemployed people, are based. He then argues that ‘students and teachers in adult education should focus on developing structural analyses of the situation [where large numbers of people find themselves in poverty] and push for substantive changes in the economy’. In preparing for the seminar, we invite you to consider the following questions:

• How do the premises upon the programs Jacobson critiques compare with the
• premises that are salient in Australian discourses surrounding programs such as SEE,
• and adults identified as low literacy/ numeracy learners;
• How do you understand the shift in focus of adult education that Jacobson is
• advocating for; do you believe this is also needed in Australian ABE?
• What would an adult education program with the kind of changes Jacobson is
• advocating for look like; what would it mean for the role and capabilities of ABE
• teachers?

         Participants at this seminar will be expected to have accessed and read the paper beforehand, so that the seminar can focus on discussion of the paper. The paper is freely accessible at:

https://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/lnj/article/download/4898/5257

Erik Jacobson is also the author of Adult Basic Education in the Age of New Literacies (2016, Peter Lang Publishing).

Date: Tuesday 8 May, 2018

Time: 5.30-6.30 followed by light refreshments

Venue: University of Technology Sydney (Broadway) Bldg 10, level 5, room 580.

Cost: free for financial members of the Council, $20 for non-members (you can join the

Council at the seminar and not pay the $20).

RSVP: nswalnc@gmail.com