Here’s my draft abstract for the literacy and numeracy conference later in the year. Tell me what you think or what you’d be most interested in hearing or discussing with this as the general theme (assuming it’s accepted).
Literacy and numeracy is a tough business to work in due to the increasing demands of… well, everything.
Government policy, assessment requirements, administration workload, not to mention living in the most information rich and technologically advanced century in human history make our work in adult literacy and numeracy education increasingly complex.
How do you improve your own outcomes, and those of your learners, AND survive and possibly even thrive in a rapidly changing and seemingly unpredictable tertiary education landscape?
Here’s one possible answer: You might need to think more like an entrepreneur (even if you’re “just” a tutor).
In this workshop, Graeme Smith from ALEC discusses how he’s applied entrepreneurial thinking to his own work in the literacy and numeracy sector in Aotearoa New Zealand. This includes an introduction to some of the digital tools Graeme uses.
Small group discussion will focus on how literacy and numeracy educators can get started on thinking more like entrepreneurs in the business of improving adult literacy and numeracy education outcomes.
Hi Graeme, I think that experiencing how variable and the contextually driven nature of adult literacy and numeracy is the key. Just as the entrepreneur needs to know their market, so the practitioner needs to understand the adult learners’ context and motivation. I’m afraid this doesn’t always resonate with The Progressions and the assessment Tool, but it is the reality of learners lives. It’s about student centredness rather than tutor centredness.