Annual Report final · NRDC ANNUAL REPORT 2004/05 3 The National Research and Development Centre...

NRDCGenerating knowledge and transforming it into practice

Three years on: what the research is saying

Information about the research anddevelopment programmes from whichthe evidence in this document is drawn,can be found at the NRDC website:

www.nrdc.org.uk

ISBN 1–905188–07–2

@Crown Copyright 2005

NRDC ANNUAL REPORT 2004/05 3

The National Research andDevelopment Centre for Adult Literacyand Numeracy (NRDC) was founded in2002 as a cornerstone of thegovernment’s Skills for Life strategyin England. Our remit is to provideunderpinning evidence and practicalguidance for teacher educators,teachers and other professionals. Weare working to help improve thequality of teaching and learning sothat young people and adults canprogress, achieve and develop theskills and knowledge they need tosucceed in life and work.

The NRDC is a consortium of 12partners, led by the Institute ofEducation, University of London. Itbrings together the best UnitedKingdom (UK) researchers in thefield, together with expert andexperienced developmentprofessionals and a wide range oftalented practitioners.The DC consortium partners:■ Institute of Education, University

of London■ Literacy Research Centre,

Lancaster University■ School of Continuing Education,

The University of Nottingham■ School of Education,

The University of Sheffield■ East London Pathfinder

Consortium■ Liverpool Lifelong Learning

Partnership■ Basic Skills Agency (BSA)■ Learning and Skills Development

Agency (LSDA)■ LLU+, London South Bank

University■ National Institute of Adult

Continuing Education (NIACE)■ King’s College, University of

London■ University of Leeds

ContentsNRDC’s vision 5

Foreword 6

NRDC 2002-2005. What the research is saying: summary 8

Economic development and social inclusion 8

Participation, motivation, engagement and persistence 8

Effective teaching and learning 9

Professional development and the Skills for Life workforce 9

The delivery and learning infrastructure of Skills for Life 10

1 Economic development and social inclusion 12

Programme 1. Main findings 14

Questions and implications for policy 16

2 Participation: motivation, engagement, persistence 18Programme 2. Main findings 20


3 Effective teaching and learning 22



4 Professional development and the Skills for Life workforce 30



5 The delivery and learning infrastructure of Skills for Life 36



Maths4Life 43

The future: NRDC 2005-2007 44

To achieve this, NRDC’s strategy is:

■ to create a coherent and reliable research resource whichhelps develops policy for 14-19 year olds and adults, improvespractice and identifies further research needs.

■ to establish reliable and useful research evidence drawn fromquantitative, qualitative and experimental methods and developa strong international dimension to our work.

■ to engage with, refresh and help take forward the Skills forLife strategy in supporting wider policy initiatives which promoteeffective learning and skills development in all contexts.

■ to create new theory, scholarship and innovative thinking inthe field, engaging interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinaryapproaches.

■ to contribute to establishing a strong professional identity forteachers and other practitioners, through new training anddevelopment frameworks.

■ to devise new ways of transforming research anddevelopment, so that they are effectively and routinely used todevelop policy and practice, and support researchers incommunicating with practitioners about research findings.

■ to build research capacity, reflective practice and careerdevelopment, through the systematic engagement of teachersand education practitioners in the Centre.

■ to engage systematically the users of research – particularly:employers and unions, teachers, leaders, managers,inspectorates, policy makers and other agents of change.

■ to draw on research and good practice from across the world,sharing ideas and comparing methods and findings.

The values, principles and aims of NRDC’s activity are set out infull in "Strategy 2003-2007: generating knowledge andtransforming it into practice".

NRDC ANNUAL REPORT 2004/05 5

NRDC’s vision is:to become, within five years, an internationally recognisedcentre of excellence for research and the development ofeffective practice in literacy, numeracy, English forSpeakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and related fields ofeducation and training for young people and adults.

NRDC THREE YEARS ON6

ForewordEach year NRDC publishes a report ofour progress. At the end of March 2005we completed the first three years ofour contract with the Department forEducation and Skills (DfES). Severalmajor projects have been completedand other studies, still underway, arereporting interim findings. So this year,we are taking a different approach toour ‘annual report’, offering asynthesis of messages and findingsaccumulating from across all fiveNRDC programmes. We will also tellyou about progress in engagingpractitioners and stakeholders andhow we are communicating our work.Communication is vital to make sureour research and developmentactivities inform policy and make astrong contribution to efforts toimproving literacy, language andnumeracy (LLN) practice across thecountry.

NRDC is a unique centre, engagingwith a unique national strategy, Skillsfor Life. We set out to link researchand development together to helpmake a greater impact. It is throughdevelopment activity that researchissues, gaps and critical questionsoften arise. In turn, research can beactively used to inform teachereducation and professionaldevelopment to help change practiceirreversibly for the better. Bringingtogether research evidence andpractitioner knowledge gives us thebest platform to transform teachingand learning cultures.

We are well on the road to deliveringour strategy and achieving our aims.

As a first step NRDC undertookreviews of research to establish whatwas known already about our field.Our research and development hasbeen building on those foundationssince. The second phase of NRDC’swork, 2005-2007, addresses priorityissues, ranging from 14-19 year olds’skill levels to apprenticeships, toformative assessment. We areevaluating initiatives for learners withlearning difficulties and disabilitiesand the effectiveness of provision forunemployed people.

Most importantly, three years on wecan confidently say significant thingsabout our field, based on evidencefrom rigorous research and innovativeapproaches to conceptualising and re-thinking major issues anddeveloping new approaches.

Skills for Life has changed thelandscape of adult learning and madea huge difference. But research isshowing how much there is still to doto make learning responsive todemand, using Information andCommunications Technology (ICT),mentoring and support to offergreater responsiveness and flexibilityto young people and adults. We canalso endorse the need for a continued,focused drive on quality improvement.Teaching and learning quality arepatchy. Teaching strategies need to befurther developed for all the subjectareas and learning programmes needto be more creative and connected topeople’s daily lives at home, work andin the community. There is good newsfor embedded LLN. Properly

supported, it works well to motivatelearners and help them persist andsucceed.

Quality also means better teachereducation. Our research informs initialtraining and feeds into the Skills forLife Quality Initiative and otherprofessional development. NRDC ishelping to build capacity and developteachers’ subject knowledge and theirability to use it to create focusedteaching and learning strategies.Engaging practitioners in researchand development, which is at the heartof our work, is having a positiveimpact on professional life.Professional networks allow people toshare and reflect on their ownpractice. Changes to classroompractice and provision are alreadyoccurring, with teachers andpractioner-researchers co-operatingto apply research findings to teachingand learning.

Learners are at the centre of ourefforts. We report here on researchwhich has investigated adult learners’lives, bringing out what people valuein learning, including strongrelationships with patient, rigorousand caring teachers and with otherlearners; we also report on howlearners are responding to Skills forLife and how many, young disaffectedpeople and offenders, enjoy informallearning and prefer to learn LLN aspart of practical, vocational learning.You will also find out about two majorstudies about the impact of Skills forLife - on many hundreds of teachersand learners. These large-scale

NRDC, 2002-2005 Generating knowledge and transforming it into practice

longitudinal studies look at how policyis being embedded in practice overtime. They will provide a mine ofinformation for the futuredevelopment of policy and practice.

Three years ago, numeracy andmaths were poor relations in theshadow of literacy, with little provisionand practically no research. In 2003 amajor DfES survey showed that thereare even higher levels of need thanfor literacy; an estimated 15 millionpeople with skills below level 1. NRDC has been addressing thisserious issue. We have produced anauthoritative review of numeracyresearch. We are running a three-yearnational development programme,Maths4Life, running pathfinderprojects and producing materials andguidance for teacher development. We are about to publish reports onteaching and learning, and about theimpact of numeracy on people’s lives:women are particularly affected bylow numeracy and maths skills.

We have learned from research with10,000 adults and their children, thatvery low skills affect far more thanpeople’s employability. Skills at Entrylevel 2 and below can seriously affectpeople’s social and emotional well-being and also have an impact on theirchildren’s learning. Addressingintergenerational factors is vital to thelong-term eradication of basic skillsproblems. We need to make peoplewith the lowest skill levels a highpriority and use successful strategies,including family and community based

programmes, to help them achieveprogress to higher learning and skills,and support their children’s learning.

The UK is not alone in addressingthese issues. NRDC, with the DfES isactively engaged in international work.Our research shows the value ofmutual learning between developingcountries and the UK. NRDC set out tobecome an internationally recognisedcentre of excellence in research withinfive years. We have sought out,engaged with and learned fromscholars and practitioners across fivecontinents. We have also worked withthe other UK countries and theRepublic of Ireland to co-operate onnational strategies; we are workingwith the Organisation for EconomicCo-operation and Development(OECD), United Nations Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organization(UNESCO) and recently contributed tothe European Union (EU) initiative tocreate and help promote the ‘keycompetences’ citizens will need in afast changing world.

In 2005-2007, NRDC’s agenda hasmoved on. We are working on newpolicy priorities, continuing to tacklethe critical issue of basic skills, butlooking at them in broader contexts,engaging with the 14-19 agenda, andworking to support the Skills strategy,with projects on successfullyembedding basic skills in vocationaland work-based programmes andapprenticeships. Our project on familylearning, supported by The Centre forBritish Teachers (CfBT), will focus on

how to ensure learning programmesare relevant and effective. Parents’,grandparents’ and carers’ learningcan make a real difference. We willaim to support the goals of EveryChild Matters and other key policieswhich aim to help children learnsuccessfully, especially those who aremost disadvantaged.

Quality will remain at the heart of ourefforts, with guidance for practitionerson effective teaching and learningarising from three-year observational‘what works’1 studies. Teachereducation and continuing professionaldevelopment (CPD) will be central toour focus. Drawing on clear researchmessages, we are also informing theDfES’ teacher education reforms forthe learning and skills sector.

There is much still to do at NRDC tosupport learning, especially for thosewith the greatest learning needs. Wehope this document will beinformative and interesting. We wouldlike to hear what you think. More thanthat, we would like you to participatein our work. Please be in touch.

Maggie Semple Chair, NRDC Advisory Group

Ursula HowardDirector, NRDC

NRDC THREE YEARS ON 7

1 ‘What works’ study for adult ESL literacy students, American Institutes for Research (Concelli, L., et al).,2003)


NRDC 2002-2005.

What the research is saying: summary

Men and women with poor numeracy, even more thanthose with poor literacy, tend to be in manual occupations,receive low pay, have low promotion prospects and to havepoor conditions of work. They are also more likely to live innon-working households. Numeracy has a strongerrelationship than literacy with a range of social andpersonal attributes: not voting, lack of political interestand not being a member of a voluntary or communityorganisation. Women with poor numeracy are exceptionallydisadvantaged.

Results of the literacy and numeracy assessment of adultsage 34 and their children (the cohort study of people bornin 1970) show a marked gap in disadvantage betweenadults at or below Entry level 2 and Entry level 3; thelikelihood of social exclusion is particularly high for thefirst group. However, adults who acknowledge problemswith literacy and numeracy are more likely to improve

skills than those who don’t. A major challenge for policy isto increase self awareness of literacy and numeracy levels.Improving parents’ literacy and numeracy is likely toimprove children’s acquisition of skills, not only in the pre-school period, where very low parental skill levels areparticularly damaging, but throughout their schoolcareers.

Workplace literacy and numeracy programmes attractmen, and adults who would otherwise not participate;those who do join such courses tend to persist. Workplacecourses rarely focus on numeracy, but the need for adultnumeracy/mathematical skills is growing as a result of thedemands of business and the introduction of ICT. UnionLearning Representatives have a key role in raisingparticipation and retention rates. Poor literacy andnumeracy have adverse affects on earnings andemployment.

Learner persistence: students in United States (US) adultliteracy programs participate an average of 70 hours in a12-month period, but 100 to 150 hours of participation arerequired to improve literacy by one General EducationDevelopment level2 ; in the English context that impliesthat approximately 200 hours are required to improve byone level. US and NRDC research confirms the need forinnovative and flexible provision to support adults topersist in learning, including arrangements for self study,distance and ICT- supported learning.

In a study of numeracy teaching, few students gave aperceived deficit in their numeracy skills as a reason forlearning. Mathematics does not have to be ‘functional’ tocapture students’ interest; many learners want somethingmore abstract. Research underlines the importance ofinformal learning and innovative ways of hooking learnersin. Evidence suggests that integrating LLN in vocationalprogrammes is likely to attract and motivate learners.NRDC studies give evidence of the variety of reasonsadults have for learning:

2. Participation, motivation, engagement and persistence

How can we improve life chances and skill levels, and engage employers in Skills for Life?

How can we attract more learners and enable them to achieve and progress?

1. Economic development and social inclusion

Pathway to learning Referral bysupport agency

Jobcentre Random – poster;friend; leaflet

Needs Complex – life skills; develop routine;self-confidence

Finding confidencein abilities; raisingaspirations; gettingout of house

Coping with routine literacy demands, e.g. Bills;support children

Experiences Positive about second chance;positive about tutors

Positive; meeting others;boosting confidence;new skills/achievements

Enjoyment; challenges;interest in content; company

Aims/expectations Get life in order; createopportunities; closer toemployment goals

Increase chances of furtherlearning or job opportunities

Very mixed; personal morethan economic

16-18 year olds Unemployed Other adults

Research in schools shows that formative assessmentworks as support for learning literacy and numeracy. AnNRDC/OECD study is underway to see how post-16learners can benefit. A review of research and practice inteaching writing revealed that the use of learningmaterials closely related to everyday life was the onlyvariable significantly related to changes in learners’literacy skills and practices. Adult literacy learners’ makeinsufficient progress in reading; too little time is devoted toreading activities and considered teaching strategies.Research showed that learners had difficulties with: wordidentification, comprehension, phonological awareness,decoding and spelling; most exhibit the scattered patternof strengths and weaknesses known as ‘spiky profiles’. Iftutors have clear objectives for both the ICT and theliteracy, language and numeracy elements of theirteaching they are more likely to achieve both sets oflearning objectives. Encouraging tutors to reflect on

assessment methods for both sets of skills enables themto integrate literacy, language and numeracy in ICTclasses.

Detailed qualitative accounts of learners’ lives – theiridentity, background and circumstances – provides richevidence for explanations of learning progress,preferences and trajectories. Well resourced and welltaught vocational courses, integrating the teaching ofLLN, offer learners both the acquisition of practicalskills and a new ‘professional identity’. Context matters,as do positive relationships in learning environments.Qualities in teachers such as empathy and patience areno less important than technical competence. Researchon ESOL teaching and learning reveals the importanceof a high degree of learner involvement andcollaboration in groups or pairs in an environmentwhere ‘talk is work’.


3. Effective teaching and learning

A 2001-2003 study found that more than 80 per cent ofliteracy, numeracy and ESOL teachers were female; morethan half of literacy and numeracy teachers were agedover 46; 75 per cent of ESOL teachers, and over 90 percent of literacy and numeracy teachers were white. 79 percent of teachers had a qualification at level 4 or above, 90per cent at level 3 or above. 56 per cent had recognisedteaching qualifications; 7 per cent had only anintroductory teaching certificate and 5 per cent had noteaching qualifications at all.

Teachers and other practitioners need a strongerprofessional identity than in the past. Attracting themotivated and providing coherent routes to fully qualifiedstatus remains a priority. NRDC fully engagespractitioners in research and development programmes;research will not otherwise benefit teaching and learning.There is strong support amongst teachers for improvingteachers’ subject knowledge; challenges remain forattempts to integrate the teaching of subject andpedagogic knowledge into teacher training and careerprofessional development. NRDC fully engages

practitioners in research and development programmes;research will not otherwise benefit teaching and learning.

NRDC collaboration with Lifelong Learning UK (LLUK) isbuilding emerging research findings into the developmentof standards and qualifications for teachers. Collaborationincluded the development of a pilot scheme for theprofessional recognition of existing teachers in the sector.NRDC’s role in advising the Learning and Skills Council(LSC) Skills for Life Quality Initiative (SfLQI) is contributinga research-informed perspective to the professionaldevelopment of the Skills for Life workforce. Universitypartners within NRDC have developed an onlinecommunity for the sharing of specialist post-graduateprogrammes. The LENS community (Literacy, ESOL andNumeracy Scholarship) was launched in March 2005.

4. Professional development and the Skills for Life workforce

How can the quality of teaching and learning be improved?

How can initial teacher training, qualifications and professional development enhance provision?

2 Broadly comparable to five GCSEs

Employers. Workplace programmes motivate and engagenew groups of learners, in particular men, who would nototherwise participate in learning. We need to promote thebenefits of workplace learning with employers, especiallynumeracy which is neglected in the workplace, althoughmaths skills are increasingly demanded of employees.

Making time to learn. US longitudinal research confirmshow much time is needed for learners to move up a level.We need much more flexible provision to help learnerspersist in busy lives, including intensive courses,supported self-study, ICT and mentoring.

Embedded approaches. Embedded approaches to LLN,integrated into the teaching of vocational skills cantransform learners’ motivation and persistence, especiallywhen LLN and vocational teachers are given time to worktogether to plan and develop their course.

Parents’ and children’s skills; breaking cycles ofunderachievement. The children of parents with skills atEntry level 2 and below are more likely to have problemswith literacy and numeracy: effective, flexible andaccessible adult and family LLN interventions can developadults’ skills and help children’s education in their early

and school years.

Addressing the lowest level skills. Basic skills problemsimpact on people’s working lives, social inclusion andhealth. Quantitative research with 10,000 people showsthat those with skills at Entry level 2 and below areespecially disadvantaged and low maths and numeracyhas a particularly strong impact, especially on women.

Teacher education and professional development.Integrating teachers’ knowledge of their subject and how they teach it needs to be a priority, together withencouraging more confident adaptation of core curriculato learners’ needs; initial teacher education and CPDneeds to support teachers better in pursuing thesegoals.

Learners’ perspectives. Learners are overwhelminglypositive about their learning, and have a very wide rangeof motivations. They rate their teachers highly andrespond well to external assessment as long as it istreated sensitively as part of the learning process. Moreattention needs to be paid to broadening assessment inwriting and maths and to formative methods.


Provision is still too often geared to the needs ofsuppliers; adult learners have a diverse range of learningneeds that mainstream provision is not always able toaccommodate; more flexible, ICT-supported provision isneeded, integrating personal and ICT support for self-study to help learners persist when they can’t attend.

NRDC’s study of the impact of Skills for Life on learnersshows that there is general satisfaction with theinfrastructure from regional co-ordinators to localproviders; learners respond positively to tests as a badge,provided they are handled appropriately by teachers as amark of progress and to inform further learning. A keychallenge for the Skills for Life Strategy Unit, local LSCsand others is balancing the supply of provision withdemand for learning: the shortage of qualified tutors actsas a brake on provision, and too little is still known aboutthe motives and behaviour patterns of learners. There iswidespread agreement that teacher training programmesand the higher profile of literacy, language and numeracyeducation has been enhancing the professional status ofthe workforce. However, this was not thought to bematched by improvement in conditions of service.

ESOL needs are growing in rural areas. However, Skills forLife is based largely on urban models of delivery andpatterns of funding which are often inappropriate in ruralareas. Two main barriers hinder effective rural provision,the scattered nature of rural communities and difficultieswith transport. The UK has much to learn from developingcountries, particularly family and community literacyprogrammes, conflict resolution, and embedded literacywhich support economic activity and social well-being.

Practitioner engagementPractitioner engagement is central to the NRDC’s missionand the Centre is already making an important contributionto building a culture that encourages change based onresearch, development and innovation. Changes toclassroom practice and provision are already occurring withco-operating teachers and practitioner-researchers applyingfindings to their own educational settings. In 2004/05, sixconsortia of practitioners, advised by professionalresearchers explored the theme ‘new ways of engaging newlearners’ and the practitioner magazine, Reflect, waslaunched to a very positive response from readers to thefirst three issues.

5. The delivery and learning infrastructure of Skills for Life

Key messages for policy

How do systems, structures and strategies promote or hinder learning outcomes?

1. Economic developmentand social inclusion


The penalties of low levels of literacy andnumeracy are well known; among otherthings, poor literacy and numeracy haveadverse affects on earnings andemployment. Our analysis ofintergenerational effects suggests thatimproving parents’ literacy and numeracyimproves children’s acquisition of skills.We also have evidence of the increasingsignificance of numeracy: women withpoor numeracy appear to beexceptionally disadvantaged.

We need to know more about the effectsof workplace literacy and numeracyprogrammes. Research suggests thatfew workplace courses focus onnumeracy; it also confirms theimportance of recommendations fromfellow-workers and other known andtrusted intermediaries in encouragingenrolment. Union LearningRepresentatives in particular play amajor role in raising participation.

How do we reach the so-called ‘hard toreach’ learners? Learners have multiplereasons for learning, reasons that alsoshape trajectories that are frequently farfrom straightforward, but which are yetwell fitted to needs and aspirations. Ourresearch brings out the detail in adultlearners’ lives, affording insight into waysin which provision could be moreresponsive to the needs of learners, andcorrespondingly less likely to have anexclusionary effect.

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Low levels of literacy and numeracy:intergenerational effects

Intergenerational research on the1970 Birth Cohort Study (BCS70) usesreading and mathematics attainmentdata collected from half the cohortmembers’ children. We foundmoderate correlations betweenparents’ literacy and numeracy skillsand those of their children. Foryounger children there was a strikinggap in children’s performance if theirparents had Entry level 2 or 3 literacycompared with those above this level.The correlation was also stronger forthe children’s grasp of ‘literacy’ ratherthan ‘numeracy’, especially for theolder children’s performance in thespelling assessment.

This finding points to a high degree offluidity in children’s basic skillsacquisition, in the early years,together with a strengtheningcomponent that can be attributed toparents’ skills. Improving parents’literacy and numeracy is thereforelikely to improve children’s acquisitionof skills, not only in the preschoolperiod, where very low parental levelsare likely to be particularly damaging,but throughout their school careers.

Does numeracy matter more?

Earlier research using data collectedin the National Child DevelopmentStudy (NCDS) - based on a cohort ofpeople born in Britain in 1958 -identified the importance of poornumeracy as an obstacle in modernlife, with particular penaltiesassociated with poor numeracy forwomen. The present analysis takesthis work further using literacy andnumeracy assessment data collectedat the earlier age of 21, in the BCS70born 12 years later.

Labour market experience over the 17years since leaving school revealed agreater diversity of statuses between

the 1958 and 1970 cohorts, with farmore women in the more recent 1970cohort engaged in part-time or full-time employment and far fewerengaged in full-time home care. Therewas also a strong relationshipbetween employment status and bothliteracy and numeracy, with poornumeracy and/or poor literacyshowing strong connections withhome care.

Men and women with poor numeracytended more than those with poorliteracy to be in manual occupations,to receive low pay, have low promotionprospects and to have relatively poorconditions at work. They were alsomore likely to live in non-workinghouseholds. Numeracy also had astronger relationship than literacywith a range of social and personalattributes including not voting, lack ofpolitical interest and not being amember of a voluntary or communityorganisation. Male cohort memberswith poor numeracy were also morelikely to have been in trouble withauthority at school and with the police.Both sexes were also more likely toreport poor physical health, to showsymptoms of depression and to feelthat they lacked control over theirlives.

A notable finding was that women withpoor numeracy appeared to beexceptionally disadvantaged. Suchwomen tended: ■ to be out of the labour market in

full-time home caring roles; ■ to live in a non-working household;■ to not vote and not have any

political interest;■ to have poor physical heath; to be

depressed; and■ to feel they lack control over their

lives.

Programme 1Main findings >

“I’d like to get an NVQ.Getting an NVQ wouldmake a big difference. It might mean I could get ajob as well with an NVQ.But of course my spellingneeds to improve andmaths as well is useful.”

All the quotes used in this document are

from interviews with teachers and learners

carried out as part of the NRDC research

programme.


Benefits of raising workforce literacyand numeracy skills

Poor literacy and numeracy skills haveadverse effects on the earnings andemployment prospects of individuals.Large-scale UK surveys show thatpeople with good literacy andnumeracy tend to have higher wagesand better chances of being in workthan people who lack basic skills.

Labour market studies indicate thatvery few jobs can be performedproperly without basic skills, and thatthe skills required (especiallynumeracy skills) will further increasein coming years. There is limitedinformation concerning the costs to UKemployers of poor LLN among theworkforce.

There are few studies of the effects ofLLN training in the workplace; detailsof ongoing NRDC research are givenbelow.

Learning in the workplace

Workplace programmes provideinvaluable learning opportunities foradults, whose inconvenient workinghours and family commitments oftenprohibit enrolment on local collegecourses.

'The workplace is the curriculum':increasingly the workplace curriculumis literacy and numeracy. The need foradult numeracy/mathematical skills isextending throughout the workforce asa result of the demands of businessand the introduction of ICT. Employeesincreasingly need to have broadergeneral problem-solving skills, inter-relating ICT with mathematics.

At the same time, evidence to datesuggests that there is little workplaceprovision focused exclusively onnumeracy; the majority of trainingprogrammes or courses provided byemployers for their employees focus

instead on literacy or ESOL.

Requirements for workplacemathematical skills are examined inMathematical Skills in the Workplace(June 2002, Institute of Education,University of London and STMC).Whilst information technology changesthe nature of the mathematical skillsrequired, it does not reduce the needfor mathematics. ‘Mathematicalliteracy’ refers to workplacemathematical skills and competencies,alongside IT goals, and reflects theskills needed in relation to businessgoals, and the need to communicatemathematically expressed decisions toothers. The report concludes thatthere is an increasing need forworkers at all levels to possess anappropriate level of mathematicalliteracy.

Literacy, numeracy and ESOL coursesare more likely to be successful iftrade unions are actively involved incompanies and organisations wherethese are present. Union LearningRepresentatives play an important rolein the process of learner recruitmentand retention once a course hasstarted. Reps are trusted by companyemployees, and well placed to resolveemerging difficulties with theorganisation of training courses.

Adult Learners’ Lives: engaging withlearners in community settings

The NRDC Adult Learners’ Livesproject focused on learners incommunity settings, including a centrefor young homeless, an Entry toEmployment programme, a drug andalcohol support centre, a tenants’association and a domestic violenceself-help group.

There are multiple reasons for peopleto be involved in provision, from survivalto transformation. However, the searchfor wellbeing is crucial to everyone.Equally, people generally know the

“...everyone in the army...if you haven’t got ‘O’ levelEnglish and maths thenyou have to do theEnglish and mathscourse before you getselected for promotion.”


trigger and the ‘right time’ to engage inchange and moving on, and this needsto be supported by providers.

The majority of people bring negativeexperiences of school education and ofauthority; histories of pain, violence andtrauma are often invisible. They have aconcept of ‘normality’, referring forexample to college students who aresupported by home and family, and thismay have an exclusionary effect. Peoplehave ‘ordinary’ goals and aspirations: tobe safe and healthy, with a settled familylife, good relationships and enjoyablework.

■ Providers need to take time to get toknow individuals and understandtheir reasons for being there.

■ The relative priority of different goalsfor people, and the place of Skills forLife learning within these, needs tobe considered. High-priority andimmediate goals should bedistinguished from those that arelonger term.

■ ‘Progress’ should be documented interms of ‘distance travelled’, andrelated to people’s own goals. Thismight or might not involvequalifications.

■ People often ‘dip in and out’ ofprovision. This is not necessarilyfailure - it can be an important andbrave step.

■ Training needs to develop ways ofworking with learners as wholepeople. This can be as important assubject knowledge.

■ People’s responses can changeradically from one day to the next, inresponse to other things going on intheir lives.

■ It is crucial that provision does notrecall previous negative experiencesof education and authority.Ownership and sharedaccountability are important.

■ Practical financial support (e.g.transport costs) may be necessary.

NRDCin numbers

■ Reaching outNRDC is working hard to reach key

stakeholders with news, think

pieces, research messages and

findings. A rapidly expanding mailing

list of nearly 6,000 people receives

hard copies of research summaries,

interim reports and the NRDC

magazine ‘Reflect’.

■ ReportsFindings from NRDC’s extensive

research and development

programme are already reaching the

practice, policy and research

communities. NRDC has published

27 reports from continuing and

completed projects. Through NRDC’s

distribution and information points

at national and regional Skills for

Life events, more than 85,000 NRDC

of these reports have been

distributed.

Questions and implications for policy

■ Skill levels in literacy andnumeracy amongst children arefluid, and improving parental skillswill improve those of their childrenlong term: how can we developeffective, accessible adult andfamily literacy interventions inchildren’s early years?

■ Women are particularlydisadvantaged by poor numeracy:how can we target numeracyprovision for women? Are theprimary barriers practical(childcare, transport, timetabling),pedagogic (content, delivery,materials) or motivational(confidence, aspiration)? What canwe do to overcome these barriers?

■ Workplace programmes engagelearners, especially men, whowould not normally enrol oncollege based provision. How canwe raise the profile of workplacelearning with employers,particularly numeracy provision?Which strategies best engage menin workplace learning?

■ Learners who are marginalised, infull time work or who carrynegative experiences of formaleducation will take up provision if itis responsive to their needs: whatare the characteristics of flexibleprovision that suits the needs oflearners currently thought of as‘hard to reach’?

2. Participation: motivation, engagement, persistence

Raising and widening participation arecentral goals of policy, especially inrespect of learners labelled as ‘hard toreach’. Their being hard to reach may bea product of constrained thinking:research on informal learning underlinesthe importance of hooking learners inand understanding their needs andinterests. Numeracy research shows thatadults engage in and persevere withlearning for a plethora of reasons -proving one’s own ability, intellectualstimulation, career development andhelping children with homework.

There are high hopes of ‘embedded’ LLN,and early findings point the way towardsthose elements of provision most likely toattract, motivate and retain learners. Persistence matters as much asengagement: US research underlines theamount of time required for learners tomake significant progress. This hasimplications for funding and provisionthat will allow learners to succeed.

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Engagement: lessons from numeracyand informal learning

‘Making Numeracy TeachingMeaningful’ - an in-depth qualatitivestudy, including interviews with 80learners - found that few studentsgave a perceived deficit in theirnumeracy skills as a reason forlearning. Mathematics does not haveto be 'functional' to capture students'interest, involvement or imagination.One of the main reasons adultsattend their numeracy classes is inorder to prove to themselves thatthey have the ability to study andsucceed in a high-status subjectwhich they perceive to be a signifierof intelligence. People want muchmore from their numeracy classesthan knowledge of how to read theirgas bills.

But actually it hasn't been the dailyapplication that has caught me, hasgot me so - it's beyond the dailyapplication, it's so exciting and Idon't think you do have to make itdaily, practical, mundane. It doesn'thave to be just practical.

Informality in learning helps toattract and motivate learners, whoseexperience of formal statutoryeducation often includes failure andrejection. There is often no cleardistinction between formal andinformal learning: what matters mostis sustaining a suitable balance offormal and informality in the learningenvironment. Four key elements ofworking with young adults are:

■ hooking learners in;■ engaging learners;■ sustaining involvement; and■ facilitating learning.

The project ‘Success factors ininformal learning’ found that:

■ Addressing adult’s needs and lifeexperience is far more influential in

guiding learning programmes thanenvironment, funding oraccreditation-related targets.

■ Engaging young adults is ofparamount importance topractitioners, and often morepressing than the literacy, languageand numeracy elements ofprovision.

■ There is ongoing debate amongpractitioners about the benefits ofmaking literacy, language andnumeracy explicit in learningprogrammes rather than ‘teachingby stealth’.

■ Across all sectors, ‘embedding’ waswidely believed to be the mosteffective approach in working withyoung adults.

Embedding literacy, language andnumeracy

Achievement at level 2The national skills strategy aims toincrease substantially the number ofindividuals who have a level 2vocational qualification. One of theobstacles to this is that a largenumber of people who might want tostudy such qualifications have poorLLN skills, which will stand in the wayof their success. The Skills for Lifestrategy recognises that lots of peoplewith LLN needs do not want to attendLLN classes. But it is also widelyaccepted that people’s willingness towork on their LLN skills is enhancedwhen they can improve them as partof a vocational or leisure programme,which represents their primarymotivation.

Case study findingsThe case studies describe how LLNlearning often takes place when thespeaking, listening, reading, writingor calculating are directly linked to apractical task. This is seen clearly inthe case studies where there is

“I did not go to school veryoften. Coming here anddoing a work placementwill help me bring routinein my life. These are smallsteps but I need to put mylife in order before I makebigger plans.”



observation of numeracy learning.There are many practical tasks in theconstruction and engineering coursesobserved which cannot be undertakenwithout calculation, measurement andestimation as integral parts of theprocess. Extra help with theseprocesses feels a lot more useful to amathematical learner when he or sheis on task than when in a separateclassroom and at a different time.

The case studies describe how"embedding" is not just aboutinterlinking different curricula; it isdeeper and more complex. Mappingliteracy, language and numeracy skillsonto the vocational curriculum canonly give a general idea of what has tobe learned and provide a startingpoint. The LLN tutor has to learn, byparticipating in the vocationalclassroom, how literacy, language andnumeracy are used both for theparticular job and in this type ofvocational classroom and cannot dothis simply by studying the curriculumon paper. The case studies describehow learners need and learn the"situated" learning of LLN skills oftheir chosen job (Lave and Wenger1991).

Vocational teachers have a naturallegitimacy on their programmes in the

eyes of the learners. They representthe role to which the learner aspires.The LLN teachers lack this immediatelegitimacy because their role is one ofsupport and enabling. Learners haveto come to recognise the value of theLLN teachers to their aspirations, andhere the attitudes of vocationalteachers towards LLN are of centralimportance.

Although all the learners accepted thefact that LLN were elements of thecourse, the great majority of themwould not be prepared to attendstand-alone literacy, language ornumeracy classes. However, there area range of vocational programmes foryoung people which include key skillsand additional learning support. So forthese young people one test of theembedded approach is whether theyare more likely to succeed with anembedded approach to LLN ratherthan with discrete key skills andlearning support arrangements.

The position is different for the fouradult part-time programmesdescribed in the case studies. Thesecourses were specially designed toprovide literacy and languageintegrally combined with preparationin the chosen vocational area. Suchprogrammes, if successful, can be a

powerful strategy to widenparticipation and start learners on aroute which can lead to a Level 2vocational qualification or toaccredited LLN programmes.

Persistence

Research shows that, in the US,learners need on average 100 hoursfor a lift in level within the GeneralEquivalency Diploma. 100 hours is along time if you are a part-timelearner. How does a learner find thistime? In the UK system, colleges tendto be open on weekdays only. For afull-time worker or parent, free timeall too often coincides with timeswhen learning centres are closed.Other research from the NationalCenter for Adult Learning and Literacy(NCSALL) in the US suggests thatadults do engage in self-study.However, that there is little to supportthem, such as flexible offers, ICTpackages, and other means by whichadults can stop and start attendanceat college without ceasing to learn.(fn: J. Comings, presentation to NRDC2005) Persistence study, NationalCentre for the Study of adult learningand literacy; S. Reder (LiteracyDevelopment over the Lifecourse:Participation, Practices andProficiency).

■ Authentic materials work for somebut not all learners; how do we getthe balance right betweenfunctional maths and abstractproblem-solving materials toengage more learners?

■ Adults learn for a plethora ofreasons: how can we use thisknowledge to inform provision thatis well adapted to the multipleneeds of diverse lifelong learners?

■ Embedding literacy, language andnumeracy in vocationalprogrammes: what are thecharacteristics of successfulembedded provision, including itscontent, delivery and learningenvironment?

■ Successful team-work is central tosuccessful embedded provision:what are the most effective modelsof collaboration between LLN andvocational tutors?

■ US research confirms how muchtime is required for learners tomake significant progress: how canwe offer provision that enableslearners to progress, but which isalso accessible to busy adults andsupports self study?


3. Effective teaching and learning

For successful teaching and learningcontext matters. Positive relationships inlearning environments promote progressand achievement. The identity of adultlearners is integral to understandingtheir needs and trajectories and personalqualities in teachers – such as empathyand patience – matter no less thantechnical competence.

On some questions the evidence does notall point in one direction. Many learnerswant authentic, practical materials whileothers are attracted by the challenge oftaking something abstract and notremotely practical. There are occasionswhen teachers value one thing – selfexpression in writing – and learnersanother – technical competence. And weassume that reflection about our ownlearning is a good thing – but not alwaysand not for all learners, as evidence fromour ESOL research suggests.

We are beginning to uncover more abouthow ICT can better complement literacyand numeracy learning. Knowledge oflevels of LLN is only as good as theinstruments we use to measure themand this section concludes with asummary of our recent review ofassessment instruments.

>



Adult literacy learners’ difficulties inreading

NRDC carried out an exploratorystudy into adult learners’ difficultiesin reading, designed to investigateareas of reading difficulty throughfocused observation of practice andclose study of learners. Key findingsare presented below:

■ Wide range of strategies used toaddress adult learners’ readingdifficulties, but less than perfectmatch between learners’difficulties and pedagogy.

■ Learners had difficulties with: wordidentification, comprehension(explicit and implicit), phonologicalawareness, decoding and spelling.Most exhibited the scatteredpattern of strengths andweaknesses known as ‘spikyprofiles’.

■ Correlations between difficulties indifferent areas were low; forexample large numbers of oralreading errors were not necessarilyassociated with poorcomprehension. This confirms thevariability in individual learners’patterns of difficulty.

■ Whilst teaching targeted some ofthe identified reading difficulties,intensive, focused readinginstruction was not a significantcomponent.

■ Despite extensive recent researchin Britain and elsewhere on thephonological aspects of literacy atschool level, no research was foundwhich addressed this area withadult learners.

■ Assessment data showed that mostlearners had poor phonologicalawareness. In the observation data,much of the phonics teaching wasdone on the spur of the moment

and there were instances of tutors’inadequate grasp of phoneticsleading to inaccurate phonicsteaching.

■ Learners may be makinginsufficient progress in readingbecause not enough of the classsession is spent on readingactivities.

■ A greater amount of time wasdevoted to teaching reading duringsessions where the teacher workedwith a group of similar ability,compared to sessions where thelearners worked on readingactivities independently andreceived occasional feedback fromtheir tutors.

■ Learners need to engage inmeaningful discussions with eachother and with a teacher, and beoffered a wide range of activities tocover text, sentence and wordlevels, in order to develop theircomprehension skills.

Teaching and learning writing

Our review of research and practicein teaching and learning writingsuggests that writing should beviewed as a process in which thewriter interacts with what he/she haswritten. Planning and revising a textare as much part of this process asphysically writing it.

There is very little sound researchevidence on the factors in adultliteracy programmes that enablelearners to develop effective writingskills. There is a particular need forresearch that will help to identify thevariables that impact on adultlearners’ development as writers.

Use of authentic literacy practices inthe classroom was the only variablefound to be significantly andpositively related to changes in


“I’d like to study advancedwriting or something likethat because I’m quiteinterested in it. It’s what I’dlike to do ideally for acareer, but you have toknow a lot really.”

NRDC THREE YEARS ON

learners’ literacy skills and practices.

Responsiveness to the needs ofindividual learners and the use of avariety of tasks and approaches wereheld to be important by the teachers.

Learners placed value on themastery of spelling and punctuationand identified these as aspects ofwriting that caused them the mostdifficulty. The teachers valued theexpression of ideas above, or inaddition to, correctness in thesurface aspects of writing.

Variables that may prove significantin the teaching and learning ofwriting, to be explored in ongoingresearch, include:

■ authenticity of materials andcommunication;

■ collaborative approaches towriting;

■ making the process of writingexplicit to learners; and

■ contextualisation of writing tasksand relevance of teaching andmaterials to learners’ lives.

Embedding LLN

Young offendersMany young people participating inour young offenders’ project did notrespond very well to discrete literacyand numeracy classes ("classroomsituation is a problem, big thickbooks is a problem"). Although theexamples used in the classroom maybe relevant to their lives, the actualclassroom situation provedproblematic. Embedding literacy andnumeracy into their vocationalworkshop worked better for them.Initially this is related to theenvironment being more flexible andlike being in the workplace. Theyoung people reiterated again andagain that work must be relevant anduseful to their lives "make morepractical … relate it to things

interested in … would be useful".

ICTWe have seen numerous examples ofsuccessful embedding of LLN in ICTclasses. ICT can be a powerfulmotivator for students joiningcourses and can take many guises(e.g. it can be based on musicalcreation, producing videos, or writinga newspaper but still call on many ofthe same ICT skills) and so coursescan be readily adapted to appeal to arange of audiences. If tutors haveclear objectives for both the ICT andthe literacy, language and numeracyelements of their teaching then theyare more likely to achieve both setsof learning objectives. We have foundthat encouraging tutors to reflect ontheir assessment methods for bothsets of skills can help tutors embedliteracy, language and numeracy inICT classes.

Identity and social practices

Learning is infused with thecomplexity of learners’ lives. A varietyof different factors are interrelatedand integrated in the learning-teaching process. A fullunderstanding of learning in adultlanguage, literacy and numeracymust take account of social aspectsof learning, including the political andinstitutional context in which it takesplace, the broader socio-culturalcontext in which learning is situatedand the social life in classrooms.

Social interaction is the keymechanism through which learningtakes place. Its characteristics needto be studied in detail as a means tounderstanding the dynamics wherebyteaching can facilitate learning.Teaching is best characterised as thecreation of ‘learning opportunities’through the management ofinteraction. The concept of ‘learningopportunities’ accounts for the way inwhich different learners learn

NRDCin numbers

■ NRDC summariesNRDC produces simple, concise

summaries of all of our research

and development publications, these

are sent to all those on our mailing

list and are available on our stand at

events; so far we have distributed

more than 220,000 of these.

■ ReflectThe first three issues of the NRDC

practitioner magazine, Reflect,

which engages practitioners in the

work of the Centre and embodies its

‘research- and development-meets-

practice’ ethos, have been very well

received by practitioners and other

groups.

25


different things from the samelearning-teaching event and providesa rationale for approaches toteaching which do not attempt tospecify precisely what is to belearned.

From the learners’ point of viewResearch from ‘Making numeracyteaching meaningful’ shows thatadults can begin to view andunderstand themselves, and theirworld, in a different way. As teachingconsists of a series of relationshipsbetween various identities, and aslearners’ identities affect how theyrelate to the teacher, and also howthey learn, it is important to knowwho the learners are and explore theways learning changes them.

The embedded case studies describehow well resourced and well taughtvocational courses offer learnersboth the acquisition of practical skillsand a new "professional" identity, or,as some of the case studies describe,offer learners membership of a new"community of practice" (Chaiklinand Lave 1996). This means learningto be like a professional; learningwhat is worth knowing, how far theycan draw on their existing expertiseand what are the risks andchallenges in taking on this newidentity. This new professionalidentity is what motivates suchlearners and for young people thisidentity is often in contrast to theirformer experience as "school pupils".Tutors are both teachers andmentors. Learners are both "doingthings" and understanding theculture of their chosen jobs – thebehaviour, values and ways ofcommunicating – for example, asjoiners, as child care workers, or asIndian head massage practitioners.This is an apprenticeship model(Lave and Wenger 1991) in whichlearners are socialised into bothvocational skills and the LLNrequired to be a competent member

of the group. This new identity, inturn, changes learners' attitudestowards working on "theory" and onLLN because learners can come tosee them as an integral part of thelearning for the job they are aspiringto. Once learners "value" LLN in thisway, they will accept a focus onimproving their LLN skills.

Personal qualities and relationships

Effective practice may well be aboutteacher qualities such as patience,caring or rigour as much as teacherstrategies in themselves. Teachersand learners often talk about theirclassroom experiences in this way,i.e. they focus on the overallexperience of how it feels to belearning in a group rather thanspecific procedures or activities,although it may well be the case thatteacher qualities are linked in someway with teacher strategies.

Success factors in informal learningincluded the personal qualities andattributes associated with effectiveyouth work, such as patience andempathy, were considered essential;whereas LLN training was seen asdesirable, but hard to access andsometimes inappropriate to thecohort.

ESOL classes showing progress inpost-assessment scores tend to havea high degree of learner involvement.Lessons in these classes consistentlyscore highly on those generalteaching strategies which encourageextended learner output, whichrespond to learners’ concerns asthey arise and which provideopportunities for learners to worktogether. The importance of a highdegree of learner involvement andthe chance to work collaboratively ingroups or pairs in an environmentwhere "talk is work" is reflected incomments made by learners; manyESOL adults have few opportunities

“It’s actually because of theteaching style that we’velearnt more than I thinkwe might have learnt inschool.”

NRDCin numbers

■ ConferencesNRDC is highly visible at all Skills

for Life and other post-16 events; we

have organised 26 separate events

including the national Skills for Life

conferences (1,200 delegates

annually) on behalf of the DfES and

our own International research

conference in Spring each year

which has quickly established itself

as an influential meeting of the

research, practice and policy

communities attracting academic

and policy researchers from across

the world.

■ Lecture series

NRDC’s annual lecture series was

launched at the Institute of

Education, University of London in

2004 with three lectures from

international consultant in adult

education, Tom Sticht; Professor

Steve Reder of Portland State

University; and David Sherlock, Chief

Inspector of the Adult Learning

Inspectorate. The lectures each

drew an audience of over 100

practitioners, policy makers and

researchers. In 2005 we will have

lectures by Professors Ron Carter

and Mary Hamilton as well as the

Director of the Institute for Public

Policy Research, Nick Pearce.


to practise English outside theirclassrooms and place a high valueon lessons which encourage talk.Learners report an increase inconfidence gained after a period offormal classroom tuition which theyhad failed to achieve prior toattending class.

ESOL case studies: control is a keymotivation for learning: for peoplewith a negative experience ofeducation this may include anegalitarian relationship with theteacher or determining the pace oftheir learning; for ESOL learners itmay be associated with gainingemployment or understanding legalprocesses. Teachers should seek tounderstand learners’ goals withintheir particular personal situations,and build respectful, trustingrelationships in order that feelings of control and confidence candevelop.

In the embedded case studies,qualities possessed by tutors andrelationships between them weremore important than generalcurricular models of embeddedprovision. On all the coursesdescribed, the teachers planned andworked closely together. Theyshared, in their respective roles, thesame vocational objective for theirlearners: they were strongly learner-centred. The case studies also bringout clearly that relationshipsbetween learners and teachers haveto be based on empathy and respectto be successful, particularly for LLNlearning. There was observed to beless of an effective role for the LLNtutor if the majority of the vocationalteachers' time was spent in wholeclass "up front" teaching.

Questions arising

Context and authenticityContext matters: learners oftenengage most successfully with real

and situated literacy, numeracy andlanguage practices, directly relevantto their wider goals andcircumstances. A major US studyshowed that ‘bringing the outside in’was a central factor in determiningthe extent of a learner’s progress:‘students in classes where teachersused activities that connected whatwas taught to real-life showed moredevelopment in their basis readingskills’.

However, messages aboutauthenticity do not all point in thesame direction. On the one hand, ourwriting study found that the use ofauthentic literacy practices in theclassroom was the only variablefound to be significantly andpositively related to changes inlearners’ literacy skills and practices.On the other hand, the use ofeveryday, culturally-specificsituations to contextualise mathsproblems may act as a barrier toattainment by ESOL learners innumeracy classes. And in ournumeracy research we have foundthat for some learners what iswanted is something difficult andabstract, like algebra, rather thanmaterials thought to have a directapplication to their practical lives.There is work to be done tounderstand the conditions in whichpractical and authentic learningmaterials are or are not what is mostlikely to engage learners and sustaintheir interest.

ICTICT has the potential to engagelearners and make learning moreinteresting and challenging. However,many tutors when incorporating ICTin their teaching for the first timeadopt teaching styles which areinfluenced by the style of workingcommon in ICT skills classes -individual working, detailedbreakdown of tasks, and inflexiblelearning paths. Further involvement


with ICT can encourage tutors toreflect upon the way that they areteaching, and to use ICT to transformtheir teaching in innovative ways. Intime tutors can come to adopt stylesof teaching that rely on greatercollaboration and greater learnerautonomy. Literacy and numeracy arethemselves being transformed by ICTand learners can engage moredirectly with new forms of digitalliteracies.

Competence or self expression?Writing learners placed value on themastery of spelling and punctuationand identified these as aspects ofwriting that caused them the mostdifficulty. Their teachers valued theexpression of ideas above, or inaddition to, correctness in thesurface aspects of writing. (However,classroom observation revealed aheavy use of exercises focusing onthe sub-skills of writing, which mayreflect teachers’ concern to respondto the needs of learners.)

Reflection on own learningLearners are encouraged to reflecton and review their own learning, butthere is a time and place for thesedifficult activities, which maysometimes be introduced at timesthat are not helpful for learners. Itmay be that the involvement of ESOLlearners in the planning andreviewing of their learning throughindividual learning plans is notbeneficial, as language learnersappear unable to reflect on andpredict their language development,even when they have an advancedlevel of English.

DiversityInterviews with ESOL learners revealthe extent of their diversity in termsof their backgrounds, aspirations,level of education and the obstaclesto learning many of them face. This isa challenge for teachers wishing torespond to individual needs at the

same time as fostering the optimumconditions for learner involvementthrough group and pair collaboration,and a major issue when describingeffective practice. In a class whichmay include learners with a highlevel of education in their firstlanguage alongside others whoseeducation has been severelydisrupted, or learners who recentlyarrived in the UK alongside thosewho have been resident for manyyears but who have failed to acquireEnglish, the question of what is"effective practice" must also be"effective for whom?"

Assessing levels of literacy andliteracy and numeracy

The profession needs valid, reliableand manageable instruments forassessing adult literacy andnumeracy, and NRDC in particularneeds such instruments for its ownresearch programme.

A total of 15 quantitative, summativeinstruments used to assess adultliteracy and/or numeracy in Britain inthe period 1991–2002 were identified,obtained and analysed. The analysiswas carried out against a checklistand framework derived from theory,previous analyses, and the researchteam’s experience.

The major criteria for usefulinstruments were that they should besecure (unpublished, or not readilyavailable), be aligned to the new QCANational Standards, and (for use inresearch projects), have parallelforms.

No wholly suitable instrumentsmeeting these criteria were found.For the 2004 sweep of the BritishCohort Study 1970 it wasrecommended that the instrumentsused in the early 1990s be used withsome modification.

“I have the confidence nowto write things … When wereceive a letter I now evenwrite letters back. Before Iwould ring or wait until Iran into the person in thestreet.”

For NRDC’s research projects it wasrecommended that new literacy andnumeracy instruments becommissioned.

During 2003 a new literacyassessment instrument meeting allNRDC’s requirements was developedfor NRDC by the National Foundationfor Educational Research (NFER), and

a review of this is also included.However, for NRDC’s numeracyprojects a less than fully satisfactoryadaptation of items from the 2002/03Skills for Life survey of needs wasdeveloped in 2003. A review of this isincluded, with a recommendation thata better instrument be developed.

■ Intensive work-related provision issuccessful when learners knowwhat they’ve got to do and why, andthat they have to get on with it,with an opportunity to step out ofrole and put aside expectations:what are the lessons for designingwork-related provision – itsintensity, organisation, deliveryand content?

■ Relationships matter: betweenteacher and learner and amongstlearners. Interaction also matters:‘talk is work’ in the ESOL (andliteracy and numeracy) classroom;and what are the characteristics oflearning environments andteaching practice that promotepositive relationships and socialinteraction?

■ Personal qualities in teachers -such as empathy and patience -matters no less than technicalcompetence: what are thecharacteristics of initial teachertraining, learning environmentsand teaching practices that givedue weight to developing bothexpertise and positive humanqualities?

■ Speaking and listening innumeracy programmes promotedlearners’ engagement andprogress: is it time for oracy toassume a higher priority incurricula?

■ We need to understand more aboutthe elements of effective pedagogyin reading and writing: what arethe features of provision – deliveryand content - that make forsuccessful teaching and learning inreading and writing?

■ Using ICT can motivate learnersand improve their learning inliteracy and numeracy: what arethe lessons from successfulinnovative practice, and how areteachers to be supported in notoverly resorting to individual work?


NRDCin numbers

■ nrdc.org.ukThe NRDC website

http://www.nrdc.org.uk is proving an

effective medium of communication

and dissemination and plays a key

role in engaging practitioners with

nearly 2,000 registered users and a

total of more than 300,000 visitors

and 920,000 page views since its

launch in May 2003. All NRDC

publications are available as free

downloads from the site which also

includes details of NRDC research

and development projects and

information about events relevant to

NRDC stakeholders.

■ Web forumsOur website hosts discussion forums

on issues of interest to all those

involved in literacy, language and

numeracy provision as well as

providing access to all NRDC

publications and news about events

run by NRDC and our partners.

■ E-newsletterNRDC’s new monthly e-newsletter is

received directly by more than 4,700

people, many of whom forward it on

to colleagues in their organisations.


4: Professional developmentand the Skills for Lifeworkforce

Teachers have a pivotal role in raisingquality in LLN. We should be ambitiousfor our workforce and enable them tobecome fully qualified, with strongsubject and pedagogic knowledge. Theyshould be able to facilitate strongclassroom relationships and to brokerthe right pastoral support for learners.Our research presents a revealing profileof the Skills for Life workforce. Itsuggests strong support amongstteachers and trainers for improvingsubject knowledge, and identifies thechallenges facing attempts to integratethe teaching of subject and pedagogicknowledge.

Teacher educators, responsible for theprofessional development of new andexisting teachers, continue to adapt tofresh challenges as the reform of teachereducation for the whole of the learningand skills sector follows the introductionof the new qualifications for literacy,numeracy and ESOL teachers in 2002/03.

Teachers and other basic skillspractitioners need a strongerprofessional identity than they have hadin the past. We should assist teachersand others in developing old conceptsand practices afresh to have access tothe thinking and inquiry that creates‘reflective practice’. NRDC’s contributionis fully to engage practitioners inresearch and development programmes,and four models of engagement aredescribed in this section.

>



Developing high quality teachereducation and professionaldevelopment

Teacher education for the learningand skills sector is in the process ofmajor reform to take effect from2007. The developments in Skills forLife teacher education have much tocontribute to this wider development.NRDC collaboration with LLUK, andpreviously with Further EducationNational Training Organisation(FENTO), is building emergingresearch findings into thedevelopment of standards andqualifications for teachers. NRDCcollaboration with LLUK has included the development of a pilotscheme for the professionalrecognition of existing teachers inthe sector.

New Skills for Life teachers needsound knowledge of their subject inaddition to firm foundations inpedagogy and how to approachteaching and learning with adultliteracy, numeracy and ESOLlearners.

NRDC’s role in advising the LSCSkills for Life Quality Initiative iscontributing a research-informedperspective to the professionaldevelopment of the Skills for Lifeworkforce. NRDC has also worked tocreate a Foundation DegreeFramework for Skills for Lifepractitioners.

University partners within NRDChave developed an online communityfor the sharing of specialist post-graduate programmes. The LENScommunity (Literacy, ESOL andNumeracy Scholarship) waslaunched in March 2005.

The NRDC Professional DevelopmentNetwork supports teacher educatorsin the nine English regions in thedevelopment of effective practice

with the new teacher educationqualifications.

Skills for Life core curriculumtraining programmes 2001-2003:characteristics of teacherparticipants

This study reported on thecharacteristics of teachers whoattended the Skills for Life corecurriculum training programmes forliteracy, numeracy and ESOLteachers from 2001-2003. The data isbased on the substantial numbers ofteachers who participated in thetraining. The numbers aresufficiently large to make thefindings significant, and ongoingNRDC research, looking at theimpact of the Skills for Life strategyon teachers and trainers, will providea more detailed and comprehensiveprofile of the Skills for Lifeworkforce.

■ More than 80 per cent of literacy,numeracy and ESOL teachers werefemale.

■ More than half of literacy andnumeracy teachers were aged over46.

■ 75 per cent of ESOL teachers, andover 90 per cent of literacy andnumeracy teachers were white.

■ 79 per cent of teachers had aqualification at level 4 or above, 90per cent at level three and above.

■ 56 per cent had recognisedteaching qualifications, such asCert Ed/PGCE but many have otherspecialist professional teachingqualifications.

■ 7 per cent had only an introductoryteaching certificate in the form ofthe C&G 9281, and no otherteaching qualifications.


“I’ve learned a lot. I can’tbelieve I was teachingbefore I did this course.”


■ 5 per cent had no teachingqualifications at all.

New initial teacher education (ITE)programmes for teachers of literacy,numeracy and ESOL

This study investigated the new ITEprogrammes for teachers of adultliteracy, numeracy and ESOL in nineuniversities and, to a lesser extent,two colleges during the first year ofimplementation, 2002/03.

There was support among teachertrainers and trainees for the policy ofraising subject knowledge to improvepractice in the three specialisms ofliteracy, numeracy and ESOL.However, there were concerns aboutthe content, level, depth and breadthof the subject specifications and howthey related to the three stages ofITE qualifications.

For university-based teacher trainersfrom the generic tradition in adultteacher education, the inclusion ofsubject knowledge alongsidepedagogic knowledge was new. Forothers from the subject specialisttradition, the extension to the fullbreadth of the generic standards wasnew.

Many courses adopted an integratedapproach to teaching subjectknowledge and pedagogicknowledge, some adopted a partiallyintegrated approach and otherstaught the subject specificationsseparately.

There was little consistency acrossthe universities in terms of numbersof course hours, the structure ofmodular programmes and universitycredit systems. All providersreported that the new programmesinvolved considerable extraexpenditure.

Teacher trainers expressed concern

about having insufficient time toteach the subject specifications andcover the pedagogic standards. Someteacher trainers and trainees saidthe focus on subject knowledge wasin danger of marginalisingknowledge of teaching.

Some trainees, particularly thosewho had little teaching experience,told us that there was too muchtheory, not enough practice, andlittle connection made between thetwo.

The research shows a wide diversityof experience and qualificationsamong trainees. However, there waslittle evidence of programmesmaking use of this prior experienceor accrediting prior learning.Experienced and inexperiencedtrainees often followed similarprogrammes with little variation inthe structure, pace and organisationof learning to meet their particularneeds.

All course tutors expressed concernabout the difficulty of attractingqualified and experienced teachersto teach on the university-basedcourses and were looking for newforms of partnerships with colleges.The shortage of suitably qualifiedteacher educators was reported asparticularly acute in the area ofnumeracy.

Engaging teachers in research

All NRDC projects which include fieldresearch or develop new models forlearning, or trial and evaluate newproducts, pay colleges and adultlearning centres to release teachersto be ‘practitioner-researchers’.Some projects are led bypractitioners and supported byresearchers, rather than the otherway round. We will shortly publishreports on how effective our effortshave been. It is our firm belief that

“I do have a betterunderstanding of thewhole Skills for Lifestrategy, how the differentaspects inform oneanother and have becomea lot more confident aboutdoing things in a way Ijudge that is beneficial tomy students. I havebecome more critical a lotmore careful with what Iteach and how I choose toteach it.”


only by engaging practitioners inresearch - from identifying theresearch need, to designing theproject, through to fieldwork anddata analysis – that we will ensurethat research makes a difference toteaching and learning.

We have four models for engagingteachers in research. Through theapprenticeship model, teachers aretrained in research methods andbecome members of a team ofresearchers, usually led by one ofthe NRDC universities. The secondmodel enables practitioners toconduct research or developmentprojects as part of their professionaldevelopment – including higherdegrees and diploma courses. Thethird model is the creation of aprogramme of ‘practitioner-led’research projects, with stand-alonefunding. Groups of practitionersjoin together to bid competitively forproject funding for a theme chosenby a consultative national group ofpractitioners. Projects are supportedby an experienced researcher toensure quality and validity offindings. Finally, the fourth model isa whole organisation model in whicha college or other provider ofliteracy or numeracy learning

engages a research fellow ordevelopment professional toconduct work on a theme identifiedas essential to the success of theorganisation.

We have trained and worked withhundreds of practitioners on ourprojects. We have developednetworks of teachers and teacher-researchers, created practitionerforums, a website and on-lineprofessional development materialsand a research-based magazinefocused on practice: Reflect.

In ICT we have demonstrated that byworking with tutors - enabling themto reflect on their practice and tothink about the assessment oflearning - the ways in which ICT isused can be transformed. Shortcourses are not likely to be of muchuse in raising standards in this area,and much more effective change islikely to be brought about by workingwith tutors over a longer period oftime, and by developing spaces forcommunication between tutors. Wefound that even amongst theInstitute for Learning and Teachingchampions in FE colleges, few hadever seen other people teach usingICT.

“I am much moreknowledgeable, better atsetting targets andplanning sessions, doinggroup work and teachingto individual goals. I ammore confident.”


■ How best can we create a growingworkforce of highly motivated, fullyqualified and expert literacy,numeracy and ESOL teachers?

■ The profile of learners is often notreflected in the profile of theirtutors, especially in ESOL. How dowe ensure a workforce as diverseas the profile of post-16 learners?

■ How do we broaden pedagogicknowledge to suit the more diverseSkills for Life settings andlearners?

■ It is a priority to integrate theteaching of subject and pedagogicknowledge. How can we bestensure that this integration is afeature of all teacher education?

■ Teachers need to be confident toadapt curricula to meet learners’needs. How can initial teachereducation and contiuingprofessional development (CPD)better support teachers indeveloping this confidence?

■ How can teacher educatorsthemselves best be supported in aperiod of rapid change?

■ How can the research messagesfrom Skills for Life teachereducation be effectively integratedinto the Department teachereducation reform agenda for thelearning and skills sector?

5. The delivery and learning infrastructure of Skills for Life

NRDC is running two longitudinal studiesthat will allow us to comprehensivelydescribe and analyse the impact of theSkills for Life strategy on teachers andtrainers, and on learners. Below wereport on the initial stages of theLearners study, with findings drawn frominterviews with stakeholders, providersand learners.

We are collecting national andinternational evidence bearing on thequality of the Skills for Lifeinfrastructure. One dimension of socialinclusion is enabling people in ruralareas to take advantage of Skills for Lifeprovision: how ‘rural proof’ is the Skillsfor Life agenda? We suggest that peoplewho live in rural areas are not currentlythe beneficiaries of socially inclusiveprovision.

In the final section we report on an NRDCresearch symposium, linking literacyprogrammes in developing countries andthe UK. It is evident how much the UKhas to learn from these sources, andexamples are provided in such areas asfamily and community literacy, conflictresolution and embedded forms ofliteracy.

>



Evaluation of the Skills for Lifestrategy: learners’ study, qualitativestrand

The study aims to examine the waysin which the Skills for Life learninginfrastructure is having an impact onthe experience and achievement oflearners. It is being undertaken tocomplement the longitudinal study ofthose teachers and trainers who aredelivering the Skills for Life nationalstrategy.

Interviews with stakeholders andproviders: emerging themesThe Skills for Life programme wasthought to have developed throughthree distinct phases, moving fromthe opportunistic to the increasinglysophisticated and strategic. Theemphasis now was less upon raisingawareness and more on matchingprovision to the economic needs ofdifferent localities, and also ensuringthat provision was embedded withinmainstream education.

One of the factors aiding theimplementation and development ofSkills for Life was a generalsatisfaction with its infrastructure.This was a view expressed by bothregional co-ordinators through tolocal providers. There were concernsraised about some aspects of thissuch as targets, and there had been anumber of other ‘teething troubles’.But on the whole the infrastructurewas viewed as a solid foundation onwhich to base the strategy.

The main challenge faced by regionalco-ordinators in the SfLSU, staff inlocal learning and LSC offices andothers was balancing supply ofprovision with demand for learning.Two particular issues stood out in thisrespect. There was a perceivedshortage of qualified tutors that wasacting as a brake on provision, andthere was some degree of uncertaintyabout the motives and behaviour

patterns of learners. Consequently,providers were never certain whetherparticular provision would be over orindeed under-subscribed.

Targets were proving to be the mostcontroversial topic associated withSkills for Life. Yet most peoplethought that the strategy needed afocus and were content to work withina targeted framework. However, therewere some, especially at the level ofproviders, who thought that thesetting of targets was not being wellmanaged, and they thought thatbetter channels of communicationbetween target setters and targetusers were needed to establish moreappropriate targets.

There was widespread agreementthat the tutor training programmingand the increased profile of basicskills education was enhancing theprofessional status of those workingwithin it. However, this had not beenmatched by improvements inconditions of service. Some felt thatuntil this was addressed it would bedifficult to recruit sufficient tutors.

The general opinion was that theSkills for Life infrastructure wasmaking a positive impact uponlearners. The main evidence used tosupport this was that it was on courseto meet its target. However, it wasalso recognised that targets alonewere not the only indicator of positiveimpact. Consequently, stakeholderswere very supportive of the learnerevaluation and were very willing tohelp with access the learners.

Interviews with learners: emergingthemesWe have interviewed in the region of200 learners in a wide range ofsettings. To an extent a largeproportion of those interviewed arethe easier-to-reach because we madecontact with them throughstakeholders who were enthusiastic


“It’s benefited me yes, yesdefinitely and its got to,obviously. I’ve got twoyoung children and it’llbenefit them as well.”

about co-operating with this study.The harder to reach will feature moreprominently in later interviews.Emerging themes follow.

Broad range of reasons given forreturning to learning (domestic,friends, work) and the broad range ofareas in which learning is needed(spelling, punctuation, spoken word,numbers and measurements).

Very strong feedback from learnerspraising the quality of their teaching,tutors and surroundings.

Most learners are in favour of tests -even those not looking for work suchas older learners onnumeracy/literacy courses andwomen taking ESOL classes whosemost immediate concern issupporting their children at schooland communicating with teachers.

Maths especially – dividing forexample. I was never really surebefore … And when I pass I will beeven happier. When I pass English aswell. And I am doing health andsafety. That will help me if I want toget a job with computers or be anelectrician. I would never have gotthat if I never came here, so I am justgetting more grades all the time.

Favourable comparisons madebetween current learning andprevious experience of schoollearning. Mainly due to small groupsand individual attention, learning atown pace, support and atmosphere,absence of distractions such asbullying.

A broad range of gains wasmentioned by learners. Supportingchildren was mentioned many times,as is general increased confidence incommunicating with people. Improvedjob chances are important but are notidentified as the main gain apart fromthose studying in a setting where

there is a direct link between learningand promotion prospects such as thearmy. Social gains such as meetingother people, making new friends arealso important.

A great variety of further learninginterests such as general interest,domestic skills – food, health, hygiene,D.I.Y.,etc. Positive experiences fromreturning to learning providesconfidence and a boost to seek outlearning opportunities in a wide rangeof areas not necessarily obviouslylinked to earlier classes. The view thatlearning about computers is importantnot just for improving job prospectsbut for generally functioning in themodern world.

I started coming to the learningcentre more than a year ago lastEaster. I decided to come becausemy son had problems in school andthey threatened to take him out andput him in a special needs class. I didnot want this. They put me in aspecial class and it was horrible. Ithought I have to be able to help myson. So I talked to someone in theCitizen’s Advice Bureau and theyrang and arranged for me to comehere … I have the confidence now towrite things, to write wholechapters. When we receive a letter Inow even write letters back. Before Iwould ring or wait until I ran into theperson in the street.

The more negative experiencesmainly gathered from those who feltpressurised into returning to learningand especially from those who couldnot see how this would help them e.g."at my age".

Emerging messagesThe Skills for Life Infrastructure doesappear to be making a positive impacton learners who have madefavourable comments about thecontent of their courses, the facilities,the quality of the teaching and the


NRDCin numbers

■ Downloads

Over 250,000 publications have been

downloaded from the NRDC website

http://www.nrdc.org.uk since May

2003. The most popular reports on

the website have been ESOL case

studies (35,000), Assessing adult

literacy and numeracy (22,000) and

Adult numeracy: review of research

and related literature (12,000).

■ Engaging practitioners - building

capacity

NRDC situates practitioners at the

heart of the research process: over

200 teacher-researchers have

worked on our research and

development projects; we have run

18 practitioner-led projects looking

at motivation, persistance and

creative approaches to teaching and

learning; we run active networks of

teachers and teacher trainers and

through our practitioner forums we

regularly interact with teachers,

managers and other key stakeholder

groups to engage them in debate,

respond to their comments and

opinions and feed these back into

the research agenda.


opportunities to obtain qualifications.On the other hand, the reasons whypeople have returned to learning, andthe use to which they wish to puttheir learning, appear as varied andas complex as the views expressed byother learners in studies over thepast 15 years or so. In one respectalthough a lot has changed since thelaunch of Skills for Life, the keyissues remain more or less the same.The wider benefits of learning appearto be just as important if not more so,than the narrow vocational ones.

Rural provision

The notion of ‘rural proofing’government policies was firstsuggested in the White Paper OurCountryside: The Future – A Fair Dealfor Rural England (DETR 2000). Since2001, all government policyproposals, including those for health,housing and education, are supposedto consider the impact they will haveon rural communities and whetherthe policy have any significantdifferential impact in rural areas.

How rural proof is the Skills for Lifeagenda? At present, Skills for Life isbased largely on urban models ofdelivery and patterns of fundingwhich are often inappropriate in ruralareas. There are two main barriersfaced in delivering rural provision:the scattered nature of ruralcommunities; and difficulties withtransport.

Low levels of population densitymake it difficult to get enoughlearners together in any one place atany one time to run cost-effectiveprovision. Funding criteria normallyrequire classes to have a minimumnumber of learners, usually betweeneight and ten. In rural areas this isvery difficult, if not impossible, toachieve.

Transport infrastructure is a well

documented problem in rural areas.Many rural learners do not haveaccess to a car. They cannot afford acar, or the family has only one whichis used by the main wage-earner toget to work or, especially in the caseof ESOL learners, they cannot drive.This means that many have to rely onpublic transport which is often verylimited. Where it does exist, it is slow,costly and infrequent. As a result,rural learners find it difficult, if notimpossible, to attend provision that isnot based in the locality.

Travel is also a major problem fortutors delivering provision. In manyrural areas it is essential that thetutor has access to their own meansof transport. However, in our research(Atkin, C et al. 2005), we found thattutors, who were often hourly paid,were generally not reimbursed fortheir travel time or for the costsincurred, such as petrol.

The international dimension: linkingliteracy programmes in developingcountries and the UK: selectedconclusions and recommendationsemerging from a research symposiumheld at the Literacy Research Centreat Lancaster University in December2003.

Practitioners and policy-makers inthe UK can benefit from knowingmore about practices and experiencesin developing countries. Informationabout literacy programmes indeveloping countries should be mademore accessible to practitioners andpolicy-makers in the UK. This reportis a first step; NRDC might play alarger role - supporting seminars,training materials and networks.

Family and community literacy andnumeracy learning could be morewidely promoted; this has been acornerstone of literacy in manycountries, and in the UK we arefinding many examples of successful

“I couldn’t read and writewhen I left school. In myday why educate afarmer’s son, they wouldonly be pulling up theswedes.”


family learning practices. Indeveloping countries the concept of‘family’ is often used to embrace alarge, extensive family group,something that might also apply tomany UK communities, and to theteaching and learning of ESOL.

The techniques of linking literacy andnumeracy to conflict-resolution andrelated reconciliation initiatives couldbe explored in connection withoffenders, socially excluded anddisaffected groups, and people withbehavioural difficulties or mentalhealth issues.

Informal, embedded and ‘organic’forms of literacy, numeracy and ESOLcould be developed within thevoluntary, cooperative and mutualsectors in the UK. Interestinginitiatives have already been carriedout under the Adult and CommunityLearning Fund in England (forexample, working with credit unionsto support financial literacy). Learningliteracy in this context can also fostera sense of social and communitybelonging, and greater purpose andsustainability can be achieved byorganisations which are supporting

the learning of their members andusers.

Teacher training and on-goingsupport for teachers are ofparamount importance. The arrival ofREFLECT in Britain provides anopportunity to review the content andoverall philosophy of currentprovision, particularly in relation toESOL. The societal and politicalanalysis that the REFLECT approachpromotes is relevant to all policiesthat aim not only to provide peoplewith qualifications, but also topromote informed citizenship, socialinclusion and widening participation.

UK policy on supporting adult basiceducation in developing countries hasdeveloped quite separately frompolicy within the UK. There is littledialogue between DfID and the DfES,the two government departmentsresponsible for these policies. NRDCcould have a role in supporting theexchange of information between thedepartments on their respectiveapproaches and policies.

■ How can providers betterunderstand the motives andbehaviour patterns of learners soas to ensure high-quality provisionwhen and where it is needed?

■ The wider benefits of learningmatter as much as ‘narrower’benefits: how should this informthe planning and design of Skillsfor Life infrastructure?

■ There are barriers to deliveringrural provision: scatteredcommunities and difficulties withtransport. What more can we do to‘rural proof’ Skills for Lifeprovision in rural areas?

■ The UK has much to learn fromdeveloping countries, in such areasas family and community literacy,conflict resolution and embeddedand organic forms of literacy; whatis the role of NRDC, the DfES andother government departments inlearning from and disseminatinginternational good practice?


NRDCin numbers

■ CollaborationAt NRDC we have carried out

research projects for a wide range of

funders including National Health

Service, local and regional LSCs,

Centre for British Teachers (CfBT)

and the Skills for Life Quality

Initiative (SfLQI). We are currently

increasing our capacity to produce

evaluation reports on projects and

initiatives within the field of adult

literacy, numeracy and language.

We have active links with the

following projects which form part of

the ESRC Teaching and Learning

Research Programme:

Transforming learning cultures

in Further Education (FE).

Literacies for learning in FE.

Enhancing Skills for Life: adult

basic skills and workplace

learning.

■ World classNRDC is fulfilling its mission to

become a world-class research

centre the presentations, workshops

and posters at a range of

conferences and forums. Invitations

to present at international

conferences are frequent and

increasing; recent offers have been

received from Canada, South

America, Singapore, South Africa,

Australia, New Zealand, the US and

European countries.


Maths4LifeThe Maths4Life project is working tostimulate a positive approach toteaching and learning numeracy andmaths. Work began in August 2004during a period of unprecedentedchange within the Skills for Life sector.The project was heralded by the SmithReport "Making Mathematics Count:The report of Professor Adrian Smith’sInquiry into post-14 MathematicsEducation", (London, TSO, 2004) andthe government’s response to it.

In relation to adult numeracy it is oftensaid ‘demand is low but need is high’.During its first year Maths4Life hasbegun to look into motivations oflearners engaged in various types ofadult numeracy provision, as well aswhat motivates practitioners to train asadult numeracy specialists. The reporton this work, which formed Stage Oneof the Pathfinder suite, is due out inAutumn 2005.

We have actively engaged withstakeholders: motivation was thetheme of the first very well attendedMaths4Life conference held in February2005; the Maths4Life website was setup early on and we are encouraged bythe amount of traffic it receives, theinteractive forums and moderateddiscussions are encouraging livelydebate on key issues around teachingand learning of adult numeracy. Wehave also produced a video of goodpractice and a multimedia prototype ofICT-based CPD which will be developedin the coming year.

The Stage Two Pathfinder projects areworking on a range of adult numeracyissues (from developing practitioners’diagnostic techniques to mapping thenumeracy curriculum onto the ESOLcurriculum) and in a wide variety ofcontexts: including a re-integrationservice for ex drug users, the

workplace, a primary school, and anumber of FE settings.

The futureThe project will follow, adapt to andsupport the emerging policyenvironment following the launch of thetwo White Papers, "14-19 Educationand Skills" and "Skills: Getting on inbusiness, getting on at work". Thedevelopment of functional mathematicsand the emergence of the Frameworkfor Achievement will be given particularattention.

In response to the new policy agenda,and in line with the vision, aims andobjectives originally set out, the projectwill focus on the following areas duringits final two years:

■ Effective practice – working with theDfES Standards Unit to continuetheir work on improving learning inmathematics

■ Pathfinders – small trials of teachingapproaches, and professionaldevelopment models within theeffective practice project

■ Research – what does the mathsworkforce look like? Where doeslearner identity fit in?

■ Teacher education – developinginitial and continuing professionaldevelopment

■ Communications – making sure ourmessages reach the right people

■ Sustainability – making sure thework of Maths4Life remains availableto the maths community beyond theend of the project

The work of Maths4Life in years 2 and 3centres on the Stage 3 Pathfinder

project, together with developmentwork on effective practice. The work oneffective practice will develop anapproach to ‘active learning’ alreadysuccessfully used by the StandardsUnit. The Pathfinder will trial anddevelop the approach and associatedmaterials, as well as examiningrelevant professional developmentissues. Maths4Life will also bringtogether the findings of its Stage 1 and2 Pathfinders in order to informpractitioners and others of approachesto effective practice.

Maths4Life and the new policydirection - critical areas ofengagement:

■ There is a stress in all recent policydocuments on "functionalmathematics". Though not yetdefined, there is a danger thatfunctional maths may becomeidentified with lower-status pathways.

■ Increased targets for learnerssuggest that the shortage of suitablyqualified numeracy teachers is likelyto become more acute

■ Smith, together with NRDC evidence,suggests that the most urgent needfor CPD is on subject-knowledge andsubject-specific pedagogies

■ There is a need for a National Centrefor Excellence in TeachingMathematics to provide central anddistributed infrastructures to supportthe entire mathematics sector.

■ Tomlinson and the 14-19 WhitePaper raise questions about theextent to which, in the medium andlong term, it will be helpful toconceptualise post-16 numeracy, asdistinct from post-14 numeracy.

In 2005-2007, the Centre is pursuingan ambitious plan of work, translatingknowledge gained from research intoimprovements in the quality ofteaching, learning, and the trainingand development of teachers.Building on work undertaken since itsfoundation in 2002, this programmerepresents an integrated body of workthat will increase the evidence base onwhich Skills for Life practitioners andpolicy makers can draw, and provideclear guidance on how to use thatevidence to inform policy and practiceeffectively. It will provide clear andcoherent policy advice for governmentand practical guidance for teachersand all those in the Skills for Lifeworkforce.

The new plan responds to some of thecentral questions in Skills for Lifeengaging employers, enhancingworkplace skills, raising standards ofprovision and boosting learnermotivation. NRDC aims to producehigh-quality evidence on these issuesto help secure positive change in adultlearning and skills.

Literacy and numeracy problemsaffect people’s lives. NRDC’s analysisof national birth cohorts is revealingthe impact on life outcomes for adultsand their children. In the period 2005-2007 we will investigate how we canimprove people’s life chances byraising skill levels and employability;improve job prospects and engageemployers in Skills for Life. Numeracyskills particularly are in high demandin the modern labour market, to

support IT and problem-solving tasks.NRDC is leading the Department’sthree-year Maths4Life project andwill be linking it to continuing workon effective numeracy teaching andlearning.

We are also be investigating theinfrastructure of Skills for Life;asking how systems, structures andstrategies for planning, funding,delivering and evaluating provisionhelp or hinder learning outcomes andhow individual learners best interactwith systems and structures tomaximise progress and achievement.Large-scale studies are investigatingthe impact of Skills for Life onteachers and learners. The three-year teacher study is tracking around1,000 practitioners, asking teachershow the strategy is affectingclassroom practice and careerpathways. Around 1,500 learners peryear are being interviewed over twoyears to see how learners’achievement and experiences oflearning are changing under thestrategy.

A key goal in many of the projectsthat form the NRDC workplan 2005-2007 work is improvement in thequality of teaching and learning. Thedevelopment and delivery of learningmaterials for adult learners isanother key area of work. NRDC islooking at how to embed literacy,language and numeracy effectively inlearning programmes, whether forvocational, recreational or personaldevelopment purposes. We want to

establish how best to attract newlearners and help them achievequalifications.

Our commitment to practitionerengagement continues to runthroughout our programme,exemplified not only by practitioneractivity in research and developmentprojects, but also in the seminars,conferences and NRDC publications inwhich practitioners have a key role.NRDC involves practitioners in everystage of its work to ensure it isfocused, useful and relevant. Threeissues of a new practitionermagazine, Reflect, have beenpublished and we have hadenthusiastic feedback from the field.The magazine aims to provide a forumfor everyone involved in LLN,including practitioners across allsubject areas where LLN isembedded, to think about and learnfrom their own and others’experience. Practitioners alsoparticipate through the regionalNRDC Practitioner Forums, whereresearch findings and the implicationsfor practice are openly discussed.

NRDC is committed tocommunication and impact activitiesthat bring policy, practice andresearch communities together, andtake the field of adult basic skillsforward. NRDC is all about engagingthe ‘agents of change’ – practitioners,policy-makers, researchers – and wewelcome your input. You can find outmore about NRDC’s work and how toget involved at www.nrdc.org.uk.


The futureNRDC, 2005-2007 Putting new knowledge into practice in adult learning and skills provision

NRDC has a core remit related toSkills for Life. Our research anddevelopment is strongly focused onsupporting the Strategy’s efforts toboost participation, improvepractice and build the capacity ofthe workforce in the basic skillssector. We will continue to helptake forward Skills for Life as itstrives to meet its 2007 and 2010targets.

Over the three years since ourfoundation in 2002, we haveincreasingly tackled areas that, whilerelevant to Skills for Life, engagewith broader themes, such as thefuture of FE, skills, the 14-19agenda, offender learning and theintergenerational transfer of skills.Our work will respond to the 2005agenda set out by the two WhitePapers: Skills: Getting on inbusiness, getting on in work and 14-19 Education and Skills. Success forAll and Every Child Matters are otherimportant policy priorities. This workhas led to the development ofpositive collaborations with a widerange of partners, both nationallyand internationally, and hasincreased our capacity and expertise.Much of our work has application towider fields in post-14 learning,including connections to post-16learning world-wide. Our practice ofengaging practitioners in all ourprogrammes applies to teachers’development whatever their coresubject. Wider work includes:

■ FE. The Foster Review of FE isaddressing the challenges that facethe FE sector over the next fiveyears. NRDC is providingprofessional expertise andmanagement of ‘Think Pieces’ andhas produced a working paper forthe DfES on the history of FE.

■ Embedding basic skills.Embedding basic skills in vocationalprogrammes to boost motivation,achievement and progression tohigher skills is relevant to manypolicy areas in education andemployment. NRDC is running athree-year project on this themeand is involved in research anddevelopment linked with the newSkills for Life learning materials.NRDC’s work should ensure Skillsfor Life can provide effective supportfor policy areas such as the Skillsstrategy, the 14-19 curriculum andYouth Matters. We are working onimproving models of apprenticeship.

■ ICT. NRDC has worked on thedevelopment of the ICT curriculumwith the Department and partners.

■ Teacher education. Improvingteacher education is central to theeffort to boost the quality ofteaching and learning. NRDC workon standards, frameworks, and thecontent and delivery of teachereducation and CPD extends beyondthe Skills for Life subjectspecialisms. We have workedclosely with a wide range ofproviders, universities and colleges,with QCA, LLUK, SVUK, OFSTEDand ALI. We will meet concernsraised by the inspectorates,ensuring our work engagespractitioners and supports thedrive to improve the quality ofteaching and learning of genericand vocational skills.

■ Sharing knowledge and workingtogether. NRDC has developed closeworking relationships with otherDfES-funded research centres, inparticular the Wider Benefits ofLearning Research Centre, theCentre for the Economics of

Education, LSDA and the Centre forExcellence in Leadership. NRDC isalso active in international networksof practitioners, policymakers andresearchers across the anglophoneworld and in developing countries. In the EU, NRDC is contributing tothe work to define the basic skillsneeded to achieve the 2010 Lisbongoals.

■ ESRC. We have close workingrelationships with the ESRC’sTeaching and Learning Researchprogramme and specific post-16projects which address issuesspanning the learning and skillssector.

■ Offender learning. Preparingoffenders for release and/oremployment and reducingreoffending are key tasks that bringtogether policy interests acrossmany government departments.NRDC is involved in workcommissioned by the OffendersLearning and Skills Unit reviewingoffender education

■ Evaluation. Evaluation studies areanother key aspect of NRDC’s widercapability, in particular theevaluation of the SfLQI and thedevelopment of Impact Measures,which will have a wider application.

■ Maths4Life. Numeracy andmathematics have come toprominence in the policy arena withthe demands for number andproblem-solving skills in themodern workplace. Maths4Life is adevelopment programme which ispart of Skills for Life, but in whichwe work closely with the StandardsUnit, and now with the teams at theDfES developing the functionalmaths qualification.


NRDC: the broader policy agenda

ALI Adult Learning InspectorateBSA Basic Skills AgencyCfBT The Centre for British TeachersCPD Continuing Professional DevelopmentDfES Department for Education and SkillsDfID Department for International DevelopmentDWP Department for Work and PensionsESOL English for Speakers of Other LanguagesESRC Economic and Social Research CouncilEU European UnionFE Further EducationFENTO Further Education National Training OrganisationGED General Educational DevelopmentICT Information and Communications TechnologyIT Information TechnologyITE Initial teacher educationLENS Literacy, ESOL and Numeracy ScholarshipLLN Literacy, language and numercayLLUK Lifelong Learning UKLSC Learning and Skills CouncilLSDA Learning and Skills Development AgencyNCDS National Child Development StudyNCSALL National Centre for the study of Adult Learning and LiteracyNFER National Foundation for Education ResearchNIACE National Institute of Adult Continuing Education NRDC National Research and Development Centre for Adult Literacy and NumeracyOECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and DevelopmentOFSTED Office for Standards in EducationQCA Qualifications and Curriculum AuthoritySfLQI Skills for Life Quality InitiativeSfLSU Skills for Life Strategy UnitSVUK Vietnamese Studenst in the UKTLRP Teaching and Learning Research ProgrammeUK United Kingdom UNESCO United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural OrganisationUS United States

Glossary

This document is also available in pdf and text onlyformat from the NRDC's website, www.nrdc.org.uk

For information on alterative formats, please contact:

Emily BrewerMarketing and Publications Officer

Institute of EducationUniversity of London

Tel: 020 7947 9501Email: [email protected]

This report is funded by the Department for Education andSkills as part of Skills for Life: the national strategy forimproving adult literacy and numeracy skills. The viewsexpressed are those of the author(s) and do notnecessarily reflect those of the Department.

www.nrdc.org.ukNRDCInstitute of EducationUniversity of London20 Bedford WayLondon WC1H 0ALTelephone: +44 (0)20 7612 6476Fax: +44 (0)20 7612 6671email: [email protected]: www.nrdc.org.uk

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