eVALBEC
August 2008
This
is the electronic newsletter of VALBEC, the Victorian
Adult Literacy and Basic Education Council, and is
sent to about 850 practitioners on the first of each
month (other than January). It is also available in
the ‘News’ section of our web site http://www.valbec.org.au
Disclaimer: The activities, goods and services mentioned
in eVALBEC are not endorsed by VALBEC in any way. People
should make their own judgment about the suitability
of each item.
How to submit items: http://www.valbec.org.au/05/news.htm
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IN THIS ISSUE OF eVALBEC:
1. ACAL Conference
2008 • Early bird registrations close August
19
2. ACAL Literacy Live Room Tuesday 19th August at 8pm
Aboriginal Literacy: Bridging the Distance to Learning • A
Snapshot from Canada
3. Course contacts
4. Fine Print • Spring 2008 edition
5. Numeracy training for the staff of the Ministry
of Finance in Dili
6. VALBEC Spring Forum – Friday 26 September
at CAE – Numeracy and more
7. Next committee meeting
8. Subscribe to eVALBEC?
9. Unsubscribe?
10. Contact VALBEC
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Early bird registrations
close August 19
1. ACAL Conference
2008 • ‘Surfing outside the flags: catching
waves, avoiding rips’
Surfers Paradise on October
2 to 4, 2008
Register online http://www.astmanagement.com.au/qcal8/
Pre-Conference Forum – Thursday 2 October
Adult literacy, numeracy and lifelong learning: a cross-sectoral
dialogue
Join Senator Ursula Stephens (Parliamentary Secretary
for Social Inclusion) and Dr Chris Duncan (ABS) in
examining the implications of the ALLS survey for different
sectors and work towards developing a framework for
social inclusion through building literacy into a whole
of government approach to policy development.
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2. ACAL Literacy Live
Room Tuesday 19th August at 8pm
Aboriginal Literacy:
Bridging the Distance to Learning • A Snapshot
from Canada
The Sioux Hudson Literacy
Council is making groundbreaking strides to reach adult
Aboriginal learners who reside in 35 remote, isolated
communities of Northwestern Ontario, Canada, often
only accessible by plane in the summer months and ice
roads during the winter. Over the last three years,
the Sioux Hudson Literacy Council has been offering
solutions for the literacy learner at a distance with
a unique website with direct links to synchronous online
classrooms and offers a solution to the growing number
of Indigenous learners who have little or no education.
Presenter: Michelle Eady is the Distance Projects Coordinator
for the Sioux Hudson Literacy Council in Sioux Lookout,
Ontario, Canada and a Ph D Candidate at the University
of Wollongong, NSW.
More details and registration at http://www.acal.edu.au/litlive.htm
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3. Course contacts
What courses and programs
do you offer? One of the most frequently visited page
of the VALBEC website is where we list YOU!
Check your listing at http://www.valbec.org.au/05/contacts/contacts.htm
Add or amend information at http://www.valbec.org.au/05/contacts/addnew.htm
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4. Fine Print • Spring
2008 edition
FP is being prepared
at the moment (free to members)
Contents
- VALBEC Celebrates 30 years by Lynne Matheson
- Learning in Community – the theory, the practice
and the big questions by Liz Suda
- The Healthy Multicultural School Canteen as a Site
for Adult Learning by Frances Newell
Practical Matters
- Are you hearing what I’m saying? by Chris Tully
and Vicki Doukas
Beside the Whiteboard
- Profile of North Melbourne Language and Learning
featuring Natalie Warren and Lisa O’Farrell
CGEA Update
- Part 1 – CGEA Youth Program – Swinburne
TAFE
- Part 2 – The Ceeja Change We Had to Have? by
Gail Pratley
- CGEA Moderation Western Metropolitan Region of ACFE
Providers by Lisa Bartels
Open Forum
- Watch this Space – Stakeholder responses to
the Securing our Future Economic Prosperity Discussion
Paper June 2008 by Lynne Matheson
Foreign Correspondence
- Skills for Life in England, Wales and Northern Ireland
or Be Careful What You Wish For by James Simpson
Book Review – True Blue? On Being Australian
By Jacinta Agostinelli
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5. Numeracy training
for the staff of the Ministry of Finance in Dili
The skills involved
range from very early level arithmetic, particularly
subtraction and division, through to using
simple formulae. There is a major focus on concepts
of fraction, decimal and percentage and on using short
cut methods to calculate these, rather than the formal
algorithmic approach.
Training will continue until at least the end of November
and possibly through next year but we are one teacher
short at the moment. Adult numeracy teachers who can
come for approximately two month blocks on a rotating
basis to keep the
training program lively and fresh for its duration
are welcome. Longer stays would also be possible.
Suitable teachers should have had experience working
with adults and definitely some numeracy teaching experience
are required. It would also help if they had worked
with interpreters in the past and /or had experience
teaching
indigenous Australians or African refugees.
Email Beth Marr on bmarr@mof.gov.tl or bethmarr@westnet.com.au
ASAP.
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6. VALBEC Spring Forum – Friday
26 September at CAE – Numeracy and more
Presenters will include
Noyona Chanda, adult numeracy specialist at LLU+
(formerly the Language & Literacy Unit) at London
South Bank University. Noyona will be in Australia
to speak at the ACAL conference on the Gold Coast in
early October. More details available later via
eVALBEC and http://www.valbec.org.au
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7. Next committee meeting
The next committee
meeting is scheduled for August 7 at the Royal Standard
Hotel, North Melbourne at 6pm.
Co – Presidents Ann Haynes and Lynne Matheson,
Secretary Jeannie Turnbull, Treasurer and ACAL rep
John Radalj, and general committee members Teresa Cusack,
Pauline O'Maley, Dianne Parslow, Gail Pratley,
Kerrin Pryor, Corinna Ridley, Yvonne Russell, Debbie
Soccio and new members Marie Bonne and Sandra Wolfe.
If you’d like to attend the meeting please let
us know.
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8. Subscribe to eVALBEC?
Click this link <mailto:info@valbec.org.au?subject=eVALBEC_Subscribe> and
we’ll put you on the list to receive this monthly
enewsletter.
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9. Unsubscribe?
Just click this link <mailto:info@valbec.org.au?subject=eVALBEC_Unsubscribe> (no
typing required!) and hit Send or,
send an e-mail with the word Unsubscribe in the subject.
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10. Contact VALBEC
eVALBEC is the monthly
electronic newsletter of (VALBEC) the Victorian Adult
Literacy and Basic Education Council.
E-mail: info@valbec.org.au
Web: http://www.valbec.org.au
Postal: Box 861 Springvale South VIC 3172
Ph: 03 9546 6892
Fax: 03 9546 0421