Just very briefly, we’ve been looking for an opportunity to showcase some aspects of the NCALNE work that we’ve been doing with the Department of Corrections, and I’d like to ask the following:
- Would you like to come to our plenary session at the Literacy and Numeracy (LN) symposium on Friday 28 June at 1pm at Waikato University?
I’m doing a joint presentation with Rachel Buliff and three instructors from the Department of Corrections (DoC). I think that if you could attend it would be really great for the following reasons:- The TEC initiated this work between ALEC and the DoC several years ago as a special interest project and this is your chance to see how it’s developed.
- For the last couple of years this work has been funded 100% between a significant contribution from the DoC combined with the regular TEC educator study grants that we get – so it’s the closest to a really good sustainable model that we’ve got for this kind of work.
- The training has stepped up since we’ve done this. On the one hand we’ve tightened up on many aspects of the training and assessment and we feel that the underpinning knowledge base has really come of age and matured. On the other hand, Corrections have really lifted their game as well and we’re getting a different class of instructor now.
- The DoC is on the verge of a “tipping” point in terms of embedding LN across the organisation. We haven’t hit every instructor or department yet, but there is a critical mass now.
- This year we’ve pushed out into Community Probations as well as working with Residential Managers to embed LN into the work that they do in relation to some aspects of training. This effectively joins the dots between training and education outside of prison (Community Probations), into prison (Trades instructors), into the cells (residential managers), and then back out into the community (Probations again). We’ve also started a relationship and conversation with the Maori Focus Units.
The work here is a good “poster child” if you need a model of how the PD and other aspects of the LN infrastructure are working. It’s by no means a perfect model, but it is a great model with lots of good stories.
We’d love to see you and any of your team there. You can register here.
