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The Contribution of Adult and Community Education

ACE Strategic Alliance

July 02 2009

This is the ACE Sector Strategic Alliance contribution to the new Tertiary Education Strategy, and was sent to the Minister on  July 2, following a meeting of the Alliance.  The Minister attended part of the Alliance meeting on June 30 and requested sector input to see how ACE can most effectively contribute to our communities, in a refocused environment:

Introduction

This document responds to a request by Hon Anne Tolley, Minister of Tertiary Education, at our meeting with her on 30 June 2009 for input from the ACE Strategic Alliance into the next Tertiary Education Strategy. The paper summarises the intended role, content, delivery strategies, capacity and outcomes of Adult and Community Education (ACE) for the next 3-5 years. The paper represents the views of the ACE Strategic Alliance.

What is ACE?

ACE is the transformational learning that adults and communities engage in to meet aspirations for themselves and their children. It is non-formal, individually tailored and delivered in innovative and flexible ways. In Aotearoa New Zealand, ACE has a long and proud history that spans all geographic and sub-sector boundaries.

The Role of ACE in the current environment

Over the next TES period, Adult and Community Education (ACE) will continue to play a pivotal role within the tertiary education system for tens of thousands of learners who do not come through traditional education routes. Government-funded ACE provision will serve learners whose first learning experience was unsuccessful, those seeking pathways into tertiary learning, and those who lack the foundation skills, literacy, numeracy and language, for work, life and further study.

Content of ACE delivery

It is anticipated that people will continue to engage in life-long learning across the full spectrum of interests and learning needs. Where the content of the learning is not covered by government policy priorities learners and providers will need to cover the relevant costs. The criteria for Government-funded ACE however, will be content focused specifically on foundation skills and programmes providing pathways into tertiary learning, literacy (including digital literacy), numeracy and language including English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), Te Reo Māori and New Zealand Sign Language.

Delivery strategies

ACE provision adds value to the total tertiary system by delivering learning that is more accessible, flexible and individually responsive than qualification-focused education. The ACE sector will continue to find innovative ways to respond to the changing economic environment, the role of education in addressing social cohesion priorities and to target learners who are otherwise disengaged from tertiary education.

Capacity of the system

In recent years the ACE sector has cultivated a store-house of capacity through strategic TEC investment into infrastructure, quality and professional development. Teaching and administration staff and volunteers are trained and their work is quality assured.

In 2010 and 2011, significant funding reductions will be introduced to school and institution-based ACE. As the sector reshapes itself to meet new criteria, professional and organisational development will be necessary. As the changes to the funding bed down, TEC and the sector will need to work together to monitor that provision and capability are geographically and culturally aligned with the target groups. The quality standards achieved by the sector in the previous TES period will also need monitoring as new groups engage with foundation skills and pathway programmes, literacy, numeracy and language provision.

Collaborative networks, professional development strategies and infrastructure will also need to adapt to meet new requirements. Ongoing dialogue between the sector and Government will shape the details of the sector’s direction.

Outcomes

Because ACE provision is part-time and non-standardised in its nature, its outcomes are not best measured by enrolment and completion data or other purely quantitative measures. Successful ACE provision:

• engages learners who have not been well served by education in the past
• increases foundation skills for individuals and whanau
• contributes to the overall cohesiveness of the community.

In the upcoming period, the ACE sector will have been successful if it has refocused its provision on second chance and foundation learners including a higher proportion of Māori, Pacific and ESOL learners. Partnerships with other parts of the sector as well as connections to community and business will forge meaningful pathways for these learners. ACE will lead to increased capacity for adults to learn, work, and participate in the community; and to be healthy, independent, contributing members of society. The TEC and the sector will have implemented an agreed approach to demonstrating these outcomes.

During the current economic situation, pathways for learners into work and institutions will be more difficult than other times; however, ACE provision will continue to build the national skill-base through the recession. As the economy recovers into the future, the contribution of the ACE sector will ensure that productivity issues and skill shortages are reduced by having a more skilled and informed population base with an increased capability to engage successfully in learning.