Stuart Hollis NIACE Centre for the Learning Family Inquiry into Family Learning in England and Wales Family Learning and Families First 9 February 2012

This session aims to…  Inform you about Inquiry into Family Learning in England and Wales  Introduce the concept of the Learning Family

What is an Inquiry?  Focuses on a single curriculum area or issue  Gathers new evidence and generates new solutions on a particular theme  Aims to influence public policy  Independent Chair and Board of Commissioners

Previous NIACE Inquiries 2005 – Adult Learners in FE 2006 – ESOL 2008 – Disabled staff in Lifelong Learning 2009 –Future of Lifelong Learning 2011 – Adult Numeracy, Adult Literacy, Colleges in the Community 2012 – Family Learning

Why an Inquiry into Family Learning?  Family Learning seems to have lost ground in policy, research and development over last few years  Funding situation unclear in England and Wales  Government agendas around ‘troubled families’, parenting, welfare reform  Want to place family learning back at the heart of policy, research and development

What areas will the Inquiry look at?  What is the ‘state of the nations’ regarding family learning funding?  What is the impact of family learning? What is the evidence? Where are the evidence gaps?  What are the links between family learning and other policy areas?  What are the key issues for you?

But first... What do we mean by family learning?

The Learning Family  A family where every member is a lifelong learner in their own right; where the intergenerational combination of encouragement and involvement in each other’s learning activities by all family members raises aspirations and creates a long-term change in the culture and patterns of learning (Lamb, 2009)

A model of the learning family The Learning Family: Developing a culture of learning in the family Early years / school learning Child only Parental engagement and involvement in early years / school learning Child with parental involvement Learning through doing (eg activities at home; visiting museums together) Adult and child together Intergenerational family learning course Adult and child together Adult-only family learning course (eg 'keeping up with the children') Adult only Adult learning related to the family (eg parenting course) Adult only General adult learning (eg adult education class, apprenticeship) Adult only Learning through doing (eg working, volunteering) Adult only

So, what do we mean by family learning?  Is it always intergenerational?  Does it include parenting?  How does it link with learning at home?  Which parts of the spectrum should the Inquiry be looking at?  How do we define it?

Mandy Thomas Lead on Learning and Families NIACE