DEMONSTRATING TRANSFORMATION TONY JOWITT PRINCIPAL NORTHERN COLLEGE

1.The College and its context 2.College project – Literacy through IT 3.Implications of project for transforming learning in the wider college 4.Implications for Inspection

THE NORTHERN COLLEGE FOR RESIDENTIAL ADULT EDUCATION CORE VALUES Commitment To Adults And Adult Learning Commitment To Residential Learning Commitment To Widening Participation Commitment To Provision Of The Highest Quality

WIDENING PARTICIPATION A COMMITMENT TO REACHING LEARNERS FROM THE MOST DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITIES 2002/03 % of students declaring disability/learning difficulty 30% % of students unemployed/unwaged 58% % of students attracting WP uplift60% % of students with no qualifications above Level 177% % of students from minority ethnic communities11%

PROVISION OF THE HIGHEST QUALITY 2002 – 2003 Retention Rate98% Achievement Rate90% 2003 ALI INSPECTION GRADES Leadership and Management2 Humanities1 Foundation2 Community Action2 Basic Skills2

EMBEDDED BASIC SKILLS Background Learners held back from developing IT skills because of difficulties in reading, writing and following instruction Text based nature of ICT Learners did not recognise skill needs

IMPACT ON IT SKILLS Difficulties in presentation of information Learners able to access information on the Internet but limited utilisation Documents of poor quality Limited communication using

TEACHING IT WITHOUT CONSIDERING BASIC SKILLS ‘The equivalent of teaching someone how to drive without giving them any road sense’

ADVANTAGES Huge improvement in quality of documents produced by learners Learners have increased confidence and able to take opportunities for further skills development Accelerated learning Skills developed in context Sitting of National Tests Lack of stigma Relationship between IT and employment Flexibility of this approach Differentiated learning

DOES NOT WORK ON DEFICIT MODEL Development of self-belief at heart of learning Learner quote: The turning point came when I suddenly realised I could achieve something. As I started to learn skills in using the computer I began to believe in myself

LEARNER COMMENT I thought that if I could master all this on the computer then I could certainly master what I thought was the failure in my life which was English. Combining the English skills with using the computer meant that I could practise them there and then. It was great to see how it was making a difference to the documents I was creating and that felt great

LEARNER COMMENT Learning – it is an adventure. Where each chapter is more exciting than the last

IMPLICATIONS FOR TRANSFORMING LEARNING IN THE WIDER COLLEGE Catalyst for change Forces teachers out of their boxes Applications across all areas of the curriculum Learners come to Basic Skills [and other areas] through default In residential environment, learning outside classes can be utilised more powerfully Additional benefits for Learners in a world where it is an increasing prerequisite

Applies to all learners Challenges good teachers Empowers the learner Learners help learners Further learning in the community

IMPLICATIONS FOR INSPECTION Learners at centre of process of learning Demonstration of independent learning Demonstration of achievement of employment Demonstration of wider impact in the community Demonstration of differentiation Demonstration of institutional change

It was really different to how it had been before. The tutor gave you time. Looked at what you wanted to learn and how you wanted to learn it. The computer class opened up all sorts of other learning