Sessions
Choose 1 from each of 4 groups when you register
10.45 am Group A
(FULL) A1 Progressing the Foundation Skills Strategy for Adults
This panel session will provide participants with an update on national collaborative actions to support the National Foundation Skills Strategy for Adults. Members of the National Foundation Skills Strategy Project Team will present information on a number of national initiatives and provide an opportunity to discuss: the workforce profile and professional development needs of practitioners delivering foundation skills; ways to connect with the activities of the national Foundation Skills Community of Practice Network; examples of implementing the Foundation Skills Training Package from workforce development projects conducted in 2013; findings and recommendations from the independent evaluation of the 2013 Foundation Skills Workforce Development project activities.
Wing-Yin Chan Lee is the Educational Manager, Foundation Skills for TAFE SA. She has been involved in many state and national LLN initiatives including training, professional development and resource development projects. Her team has built a successful track record of delivering WELL training across industry sectors, including a number of award winning projects. As Project Manager for the National Foundation Skills Strategy Project, Wing-Yin has led the implementation of a range of collaborative, national activities to support and progress the National Foundation Skills Strategy for Adults.
Anita Roberts has worked in the vocational education and training system at the national level since 1995 and has extensive experience in language, literacy and numeracy (LLN) policy in the VET sector. She has co-ordinated a variety of LLN projects and authored a number of reports and publications on behalf of Industry Skills Councils. Anita worked closely with Innovation and Business Skills Australia (IBSA) on the development of the FSK Foundation Skills Training Package and associated support materials. She is currently working with TAFE SA as project co-ordinator for a collaborative national project to implement the National Foundation Skills Strategy for Adults.
Louise Wignall has worked in the education sector for the past 25 years as a teacher, resource developer, policy advisor and quality assurance manager with a specialisation in adult literacy and learning in the community, vocational education and training (VET) and the workplace. She has worked on a number of State and National strategic initiatives and most recently was the project consultant for the Scoping a Foundation Skills Professional Standards Framework project as part of the Foundation Skills Workforce Development Project Team.
A2 EAL Teaching resource - Fish Forever
Yarraville Community Centre and Fisheries Victoria have created a resource for EAL teachers. Fisheries educational activities aim to inform the public, about protecting our fisheries supply for now and the future. This resource will assist EAL teachers in adult education to spread key messages to CALD communities about fishing legally, safely and sustainably. Included are reading, writing, numeracy, speaking and listening tasks that are mapped to the EAL Framework (Access) Certificates I-III. The resource contains flashcards, notes to teachers, answers and suggested games, additional activities and resources. Find out where to get this resource and how to use it in your classroom in this one-hour hands-on workshop. This resource is not just about fishing! It's about understanding our eco-system, making healthy, legal and environmentally friendly consumer choices, water safety, and interacting with the law.
Meg Cotter, Yarraville Community Centre, has worked as an English language teacher, coordinator and education manager in adult education for several years. In that time she has written a number of EAL teaching resources. She believes the adult English language classroom is an invaluable opportunity to invest people from CALD backgrounds with knowledge and skills for living in Australia.
Anne McLaughlin, Fisheries Education@Marine and Freshwater Discovery Centre Queenscliff, has facilitated learning experiences for 20 years with students from kinder, primary and secondary schools. She likes to provide 'hands on' learning experiences to engage students and motivate them to actively participate in helping to sustainably manage Victoria's natural resources.
A3 Enhancing speaking skills online
At CAE, we have developed online tools and tasks to enhance our face-to-face delivery of English for Health Professionals. In particular, we wanted to create tools to give learners extra opportunities to improve their speaking skills outside of the classroom. This workshop will show how Voice Thread and Moodle can enhance spoken communication, awareness of pronunciation, cultural awareness in the professional context and improvement of language and lexis. Many lessons have been learned along the way and we have faced quite a few technical difficulties; we continue to work to improve our online delivery.
Jill Lewis has had many different roles in the language and literacy field over the last 25 years. She is currently an ESL teacher at CAE, but has also held management roles, has done project work and curriculum development in the language and literacy area.
Josie Rose is the team leader Delivery Innovation at the CAE. She has extensive experience in the design and development of blended online courses for a range of learner cohorts.
A4 First Peoples: A Victorian Story
The recently opened 'First Peoples' exhibition in Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre at Melbourne Museum, is a shared endeavour of Museum Victoria and the Victorian Aboriginal community. The First Peoples Yulendj Group of Elders and community representatives have brought their knowledge, stories, culture, objects and images to guide the exhibition's development. The exhibition tells the story over 2,000 generations of the First Peoples of Victoria and the diversity of languages and cultures that have shaped our shared history. This session will provide an overview of the content of the exhibition and explore opportunities for adult learners to make a deeper connection with the history and culture of Victoria's First Peoples.
Liz Suda is Program Coordinator of Humanities Education at Melbourne Museum. For the past four years she has been involved in the development of this new exhibition at Melbourne Museum. As an experienced adult educator, Liz has worked in a range of educational settings.
11.50 am Group B
B1 What is FSAT? Just another acronym to add to the list or is it more?
The Department of Industry has contracted the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) to develop a free online Foundation Skills Assessment Tool (FSAT) to identify and assess an individual's foundation skill levels. The FSAT will be based around the theoretical underpinnings of the Australian Core Skills Framework (ACSF) and the Core Skills for Work Developmental Framework (CSWDF). Although still under development, this presentation will offer insights and information about not only what is going to be included in FSAT, but how such assessment tools are developed so they are valid and reliable and how some skills can be assessed using computer adaptive features to target the assessment appropriately. Examples of some of the assessment items will be shared and feedback sought from participants?
Dave Tout has had over 40 years experience in the education sector, with most of those being in the VET sector, and has worked within a range of programs in schools, TAFEs, community providers, universities, AMES and industry. He has had wide experience not only in teaching and training, but also in working at a state, national and international level in research, curriculum, assessment and materials development. Dave was one of the authors of the ACSF and has also been involved in international assessments such as ALLS, PIAAC and PISA. He has overall management responsibility for the content development of FSAT at ACER.
B2 Learn Locals working with business
Two Learn Locals, Wyndham Community and Education Centre and Kyabram Community and Learning Centre, tell their stories of working with local businesses to enhance the skills of employees and community members. Hear the stories of successes, frustrations and the secrets of success when working with local businesses.
Judy Bowman worked as a Primary teacher before moving Adult Education in 2002 at Wyndham Community and Education Centre – teaching English as a Second Language. She has been the Training Services Manager for the last 4 years and is currently the Education Manager. Judy is also a member of the Business and Industry Group and the Wyndham Humanitarian Employment and Training working group. Both of these groups work on employment and training opportunities for Wyndham residents.
Carolyn Goode has been working in the vocational education and training space for just over 10 years. At present Carolyn is the Training Manager for Kyabram Community and Learning Centre which is situated in the Goulburn Valley. Carolyn considers that strong community and industry links are an essential aspect of the role of a regional RTO.
This presentation features two LLN teachers reflecting on their journey with Moodle and will showcase their experience in using Moodle as a tool for incorporating a multimodal approach to LLN in the classroom in both fully-online and blended delivery environments. They will illustrate how they worked in collaboration with VET teachers to produce meaningful learning and assessment activities that catered to a diverse range of learners including just in-time learning activities and quizzes. This presentation will include a list of resources that the presenters found useful in facilitating learning in an e-learning platform.
Hilary Dolan works at NMIT with a range of VET teachers in support of students' LLN needs as well as developing resources and activities used in LLN Teacher Development programs. Hilary has taught across a diverse range of educational contexts including secondary schools and TAFEs in Victoria and Ireland. One of Hilary¹s interests is how digital technology can be used as a tool to engage students in participatory and meaningful learning.
Gilda Alavuk has worked in Further Education for over 20 years particularly in Adult Basic Education, (WELL) Workplace English Language and Literacy and Youth programs. Gilda is currently a LLN teacher at NMIT and works with students in the construction trade areas. She has a strong interest in digital literacy and creating online resources for a diverse range of learners.
B4 A finer grained assessment for literacy learners
A key challenge for many LLN programs is effective measurement of outcomes. This challenge is compounded when funding bodies, trainers, tutors and learners seek outcomes from short, targeted LLN projects or from LLN support that occurs over long periods but for only 1 to 2 hours per week. Seeking to meet this challenge, a trial to explore a finer grained assessment approach for literacy learners is underway in Tasmania, under the auspices of 26TEN (The Tasmanian Adult Literacy Action Plan). This trial is exploring ways of using the ACSF (Australian Core Skills Framework) to report on learner progress not easily captured through increases in ACSF core skill or indicator levels. The session will include an outline of the trial project and small group activities discussing issues of progress, evidence and viability.
A research paper underpinning the trial will be made available prior to the session and attendees are asked to look at the paper's Table 1.
Michael Christie is Senior Policy and Project Officer - Literacy Services at LINC Tasmania. He has worked in the University and Adult Community Learning sector since 2004. Michael was adult literacy coordinator at Bridgewater LINC until recently, and has research interests in using narrative methods to track education outcomes.
Jennifer Dunbabin is Senior Project and Policy Officer - Adult Literacy at Skills Tasmania. She has worked in the VET sector since 1999, specialising in workforce development, e-learning and most recently adult literacy. She manages the 26TEN Grants program which funds LLN projects in the community and workplace.
1.40 pm Group C
C1 Don't forget the numeracy in LLN
Numeracy in the LLN acronym is often the forgotten partner or the poor cousin to literacy and language, yet there is evidence to show that its role is equally as important, and that we face more challenges with numeracy. This practical workshop will highlight a few issues and challenges relating to the numeracy story and provide a number of examples of different strategies we can use to teach numeracy effectively to enhance learner's numeracy and mathematical skills. Suitable for anyone teaching L or L or N anytime, anywhere, or anyhow.
Dave Tout is an experienced numeracy educator who is particularly interested in making mathematics relevant, interesting and fun for all students especially those students who are disengaged from mathematics. He has worked in a range of literacy and numeracy programs in schools, TAFEs, community providers, universities, AMES and industry. Dave was involved in the development and introduction of curriculum and assessment frameworks including the CGEA, VCAL and the ACSF, and has also written a number of teaching, assessment and professional development materials and resources, and has presented on a wide range of topics at numerous local, regional, national and international conferences and events. He is particularly renowned for his hands on workshops, which not only make maths fun, but also provide teachers with practical examples of how a range of maths and numeracy topics can be made relevant and practical.
C2 Facilitating LLN skills in informal work-based learning
LLN skills are best learnt in context and by using authentic, real life situations. Up to 80% of workplace learning occurs through 'informal learning'. So how can LLN practitioners in the workplace capitalise on these key learning strategies to optimise learning? This workshop will provide a pedagogical framework and practical strategies to transform the way we teach LLN skills in the workplace. This workshop is part of a WELL Resource project funded in the 2013 funding round - WELLRES13044 'LLN Skills in Informal Work-Based Learning'.
Debbie Sperandio has 20 years experience in WELL programs across a range of industries including: manufacturing, engineering, food processing, polymer and plastics; construction; maritime; transport and logistics; warehousing, aged care, community services, children's services. She has successfully implemented and facilitated over 45 WELL funded programs. Debbie is also a course developer and facilitator for the Vocational Graduate Certificate in Adult LLN and facilitator of the Certificate IV TAE and Diploma in Training and Assessment.
C3 Higher Order Thinking Skills and the Adult Learner
This workshop will draw on Bloom's taxonomy and Bernard's research. Bloom's taxonomy will be reviewed, followed by a discussion on how to develop a 'hook' into a topic to encourage higher order thinking skills. Participants will work in a group planning activity to apply the concepts to a CGEA class. Michael Bernard's research into attitudes and behaviours for learning will be added to the teaching strategies and plans.
Since joining Holmesglen TAFE in 1992, Rhonda Raisbeck has had various roles, including: teaching and managing CGEA courses at all levels; teaching in the CSWE and Certificates in ESL/EAL courses at TAFE and in workplaces; teaching and coordinating teacher refresher programs for overseas trained teachers; presenting professional learning to colleagues and teaching in graduate program to train Language, Literacy and Numeracy teachers. Rhonda has also worked as a volunteer literacy tutor, teacher, committee of management member and trainer of volunteer adult literacy tutors in a community based program at Boronia for 27 years.
C4 Getting Beginners to write – using formative assessment
This workshop will provide participants with the importance of formative assessment and providing ideas and tools to use with students at beginning levels to enhance and develop their writing skills. The workshop will explore scaffolding writing processes and introducing participants to tasks that have worked in the classroom and provide students with the steps needed to write independently.
The workshop combines the extensive experience of two ESL teachers who are working in the Skills for Education and Employment (SEE) program in the Learning for Employment consortium.
Natalie Nawrocki has worked as a teacher in Adult Education with students from CALD and literacy backgrounds for 18 years. In the last 8 years she has worked in the Skills for Education and Employment program which was formally known as the Language literacy and numeracy program (LLNP). Currently she works in this program at Djerriwarrh Community and Education Services in Sunshine. In addition to undertaking assessments she also teachers a pre-literate class using the Australian Curriculum standards framework.
Ana Paula Balica has worked as an ESL/EAL teacher since 2000 overseas and in Australia. In 2009, she joined Community West in St Albans as a Language, Literacy and Numeracy trainer and assessor in the Skills for Education and Employment Program.
2.45 pm Group D
(FULL) D1 Why e-learning is in need of a facelift
This presentation will outline the pedagogy and andragogy behind e-learning. It will explore how we can evaluate the costs and benefits of e-learning and why this is needed. Through examples of practice we will consider equity issues associated with a new digital divide based on the way people use technology. Participants will be encouraged to reflect on the potentials and pitfalls of e-learning with their learners with the potential for a new picture of successful implementation to emerge.
This presentation will encourage evaluation and reflection of e-learning in Adult Basic Education in a broader social context.
Daniella Mayer and Tracey Amman from Chisholm Institute have been working as a team for a number of years. Their experience as practitioners is supported by professional development in the form of research and further study across VET and e-learning. Daniella is currently undertaking her Master of Education with a focus on education technologies and Tracey has been instrumental in incorporating digital literacy into CGEA programs.
D2 Measurement skills for work
Low numeracy skills limit labour participation, wage levels and workplace productivity. All workers across all jobs in all industries need numeracy skills, and in particular, measurement skills. Measurement underpins the success and welfare of a modern workplace and touches almost every part of working life. This is a hands-on workshop where participants will take and use measurements. It will explore the measurement skills areas needed in the workplace and support practitioners to meet the measurement skills needs of their learners.
Tina Berghella, Director, Oggi Consulting Pty Ltd, has a background in manufacturing and project management. Tina has worked on a range of WELL funded strategic, resource and training projects, and has a particular interest in workplace numeracy. She is a member of the Training Package Quality Assurance Panel, the WELL Quality Assurance Panel and the Foundation Skills Champions Network. She is currently working on a WELL funded resource with David Tout called Numeracy by Measure.
Learning English through song is a creative way to assist students in their language development. Learning songs can help students retain information they have learnt in class, as well as improve their pronunciation, literacy and grammar. This workshop demonstrates how you can engage your students and liven-up your classes by teaching songs at beginner and intermediate level. The workshop will also give teachers strategies to write songs relevant to their students' needs.
Sharon Duff has 20 years experience teaching, delivering workshops, and developing resources for new migrants, including writing materials for the AMEP Distance Learning course 'Your Call'. She recently co-founded Urban Lyrebirds, and co-wrote the 'Sing with me!' series. She is currently writing resources and presenting 'Sing for Your English' workshops.
Carmel Davies has over 20 years experience teaching English language skills. She has written and co-written numerous EAL resources including, 'What's the Law: Australian law for new arrivals', 'Pictures to Words Book 1' and 'Sing with me'. She was recently awarded a Churchill Fellowship to travel and research 'ESL through Performance' and is currently presenting workshops on music and EAL.
D4 Going to the Learner and using local community projects as a learning platform
Developing English language skills within the context of project work provides the opportunity for learners to develop their employability skills as well as address their need for greater social inclusion within their local community.
Learners gain valuable skills and knowledge through being supported in initiating, developing and participating in local community events. The learners receive feedback and are able to assess their own progress through the successfulness or otherwise of the project itself. The workshop will provide a framework in which to plan, map competencies and develop resources for a unit of work that is project based.
Carole Pondevie-Lay has been a ADL/ESL teacher for 16 years in the AMEP and ontributed to developing the curriculum for the mother and child English language program. She is currently working for the Jesuit Social Services for the Jesuit Community College as a Project officer for programs in the Flemington, Collingwood and Richmond Housing Estates and in St Albans.
Australia’s largest English and literacy bookshop. Call us on (03) 84179500.
provides a range of educational programs and resources including school tours.
Practical and hands on literacy and numeracy resources
Short, easy-to-read stories designed by experienced teachers to suit the needs of adults learning to read.
The peak body for the Neighbourhood House and learning Centre Sector in Victoria
Active, Informed, Committed Practitioners