Tag: teaching

Categories
Blog

In Review: An LGBTQI+ Inclusive Classroom – In conversation with Jamie Kenny, TUTOR Ambassador

Author: Sinead Matson

The power of conversation should never be underestimated. It can change attitudes, thinking, policies, research, and practice. We wanted to create conversational spaces for change through the TUTOR Ambassador webinar series, the first of which was hosted by Maynooth University. The webinar,  An LGBTQI+ Inclusive Classroom: In conversation with Jamie Kenny TUTOR Ambassador, was held in early December. TUTOR is an Erasmus + project about inclusive education in second level and Further Education and Training of which Maynooth University is a partner. Jamie Kenny is the executive director for Dublin Pride and the first Irish TUTOR ambassador. He hosted a fireside chat with Angela Rickard, Course Leader for the year one Professional Master of Education (PME) in Maynooth University Education Department; Carrie Archer, Professional Learning and Development Coordinator for City of Dublin ETB and adjunct assistant professor in the National College of Ireland; Andrew Maloney, deputy principal in Firhouse Educate Together Secondary School; and Eoin Houlihan, second level teacher and guidance counsellor also at Firhouse Educate Together Secondary School, and lecturer on the PME programme in Maynooth University.

Carrie led the discussion on how a classroom can be LGBTQI+ inclusive without directly changing or adding content that is not already an existing part of the curriculum or learning outcomes – an argument she has frequently experienced in her work. She pointed out that even in business, childcare, beauty therapy, and hair dressing courses in FET, spaces for LGBTQI+ conversations already exist – you just have to look for them. Eoin agreed and added that in second level those spaces do already exist within the curriculum; for example mentioning the scientists and inventors from the LGBTQI+ community in science lessons when introducing students to a concept, theory, or experiment contextualises and makes visible LGBTQI+ for students. The same approach applies for English, Music, Geography, History, Art…really any other subject on the curriculum. When it is threaded through the curriculum and the day-to-day experience for students in the classroom it has the potential to become a more authentic way of inclusion and representation.

The conversation turned to the lived experiences of LGBTQI+ staff leading the advancement of greater representation and inclusion in schools and education settings which places those staff in demanding and potentially vulnerable and fatiguing positions. They described a fear experienced by many potential allies in education; a fear of getting it wrong, of causing offence, or of hurting someone. This fear can sometimes stifle or even silence the conversation. However, the burden of leading the conversations must not always be held by LGBTQI+ staff themselves.  Andrew really highlighted the need for teachers to know that it  backed up by law and equally importantly made explicit by leadership:

“I think it’s important to back teachers up, particularly teachers who are in teacher education, to understand that actually you have a legal basis to discuss this in your classroom… And particularly from school leaders, they need to hear that openly because if they don’t hear it openly, it’s not good enough just to be implicit about it because it happens to be enshrined in law.”

This struck a chord with me. In all the years I have worked with children I have never had a ‘child protection day’, or a ‘child protection week’ – it is enshrined in law therefore it is weaved into everything we do. If it is a legal requirement, is it part of the daily landscape of education?

Angela spoke of the appetite for inclusive conversations and spaces amongst the students in the initial teacher education programme in Maynooth University, and her experiences of visiting many second level schools across the country that are flying progress flags and taking part in BeLonG To’s safe and supportive schools training. This, she surmises, is hopeful and is having a very positive effect, making spaces for those conversations to continue amongst leadership, allies, and the LGBTQI+ community within schools  and local communities. It is also providing opportunities for allies and leadership to lead the conversation rather than relying on LGBTQI+ identifying staff.

This conversation facilitated by Jamie in his position of TUTOR ambassador for Ireland has already  caused real change. It has helped to inform the discussion we, as the TUTOR project researchers, have and the decisions we make when we will put together training and resources in the TUTOR programme.  Attendees, who included teachers, tutors, leadership, and students engaged in initial teacher education have already spoken to us about the learnings they have taken and will put into practice. If you missed the conversation, but would like the opportunity to listen, please click this link and take an hour out of your time to listen to the real, practical knowledge and lived experiences that were shared with us. 

Author Bio:

Sinéad Matson is a post-doctoral researcher with the Department of Adult and Community Education at Maynooth University. She has worked in all levels of education for over 20 years. Sinead’s research areas include social justice and equality in education, critical education, and decolonizing research methodologies. Sinead currently works on the TUTOR project which is an Erasmus+ funded transnational project aimed at improving inclusive education.

Categories
Blog

Adult and Community Education with Turn to Teaching: how we do things….

Written by:  Declan Markey, Co-Coordinator of Turn To Teaching

Adult and community education is about the development of skills, human relationships and the engagement of people in understanding the wider social forces that impact both locally and globally (Lynn Tett in Radical Learning for Liberation 2007:73  )

I used to love a good (random) house party in my hedonistic days. There was something about getting together with a group of people you didn’t know and learning about their lives, if only for a short while. I loved the sense that we all had a common cause to have a good time and keep the night going  – let’s face it the rest of the week could be fairly mundane.  But most of all it was the thrill of not knowing what might happen. They were my three ingredients for a good house party – good people, a common cause and an element of the unknown. It makes me laugh that they are the three  main reasons why I get a thrill from Adult Education. They  motivate me every time I’m with a group.

The Turn to Teaching (TtT) programme is one of those groups – a one-year college access/preparation course for students from diverse backgrounds or communities who are under-represented in higher education. It’s aimed at young adults and mature students who want to be primary school teachers but didn’t get the necessary points or have the required criteria to apply.  What’s really pro-active about TtT is that once the students acquire a set grade, they are guaranteed a place in one of Maynooth’s primary teaching education programmes. The steps are clear – “you do this, and you will go there”. That’s a BIG, BRIGHT carrot on the end of a short stick for anyone who needs a different way to achieve their dream of becoming a primary school teacher. You could say TtT is it’s very own “yellow brick road” where dreams come true. Only this road is made of orange carrots with each step being another motivating force and supportive step to help people on their way.

One of the most challenging parts is the recruitment process. We only have 16 places. All applicants complete a personal statement explaining why they want to be a teacher and every year we receive between 80 and 100 applications who meet the criteria for entry. One hundred minus 16 means a lot of disappointed applicants and every year, it is abundantly clear to the TtT team that our schools are missing out on some of the most amazing people who want to be primary school teachers but can’t because of the entrance criteria. But unfortunately, due to the lack of places many of the applicants will embark on different journeys that will take them away from their dreams of being a teacher.

Turn to Teaching is, what we call, a “widening participation initiative” – that means the people who are selected are coming from groups or communities who, on average, don’t usually become primary school teachers; Travellers, people with disabilities, people from working class backgrounds, minority ethnic groups and more. We are widening/increasing the participation of people from these groups in primary teacher education. Being a widening participation programme we realise that for those that don’t get accepted– once again the education system has let them down. This plays heavy on our minds and is the main reason why we make sure to reach out to all applicants, especially those who are not offered a place, and stay linked in with them as they try to navigate different ways of continuing their education. Sometimes, we are the first people to talk about PLC courses or to provide clear information about grants or to explain how a full time course doesn’t always mean 9am to 5pm every day. Many of us in the third level sector know all of this as if it was common sense but this information about going to college is a language and form of cultural capital all of its own. For many of the people for whom widening participation initiatives are aimed at, a conversation with someone who cares about their future – at the time when they are thinking about their future – and how college/university can play a part in that future – is the ultimate form of student support. And this is the point at which the relationship starts for TtT and the many people we engage with.

VIPs

Because so many TtT students are from groups or communities who we don’t see enough of on university campuses, it may be fair to say that the “imposter syndrome” can hover around like an unwanted guest at a house party; somebody who nobody invited, nobody can get to leave, and….there is a sense that they might cause havoc at any minute. It’s a very real feeling for many students that find their way to university through widening participation projects. But this is the very reason why “how we do things” in adult education – building relationships, learning about each other (students and staff), understanding our strengths and our challenges, all play a vital part in how we pave the yellow brick road of chasing dreams. We’re not throwing out the ‘imposter syndrome’ guest, we actually want them to stay. But in staying we want to understand how they were invited to the party in the first place, and what is making them stay.

Turn to Teaching, like all of the programmes in the Department of Adult and Community Education, is about building relationships first and foremost, of the group of learners and the course they are on. For many students their previous educational experience maybe has not been as positive as they would have wanted it to be or, for some, it may have been an entirely negative experience. Through our adult education processes (how we do things) this previous experience (whether positive or negative) now becomes a strength, now becomes something to learn from and use to help shape the TtT student into the educator/teacher they want to become. Afterall….

In a sense Turn to Teaching turns something our students may have perceived to be their weakness into their strength. And we do this through learning about ourselves, our fellow students, the wider university and the education system by critically reflecting on our lived experiences as they are connected to all of those things.

Our hope is that the relationships we build with any of the Turn to Teaching applicants or students will continue for as long as it’s required, even if that requires going to some house party with an unwelcome “imposter syndrome” who eventually passes-out in the corner and we all forget they are even there.

The Turn to Teaching Team would like to dedicate this blog to our friend and TtT student Catherine Gavin, who tragically passed away this year after a short illness. Catherine was on her journey towards achieving her dream of becoming a primary school teacher and will forever be in our hearts.

Photo by Aleksandr Popov on Unsplash

Categories
Blog

TUTOR PROJECT

Teachers Upskilling aiming at a holistic inclusivity in learning. 

TUTOR is a 3 year European Union funded Teacher Academy project. The Department of Adult and Community Education, Maynooth University is a lead partner in TUTOR. 

Ensuring inclusion in education has been a strong motivator for the Department of Adult and Community since its inception and over several decades. The Department is focused upon holistic, dialogical and pedagogical accompaniment of marginalised communities. It does this by co creating spaces for traditionally excluded voices to be heard,  and on ensuring a standard of excellence is achieved in qualitative, engaged and participatory research. The department’s philosophy of education, initial teacher education and continuous professional development is leading and influencing pedagogy and practice within adult, community and further education and training settings. That philosophy is strategically aligned with, and supportive of, the aims and objectives of the TUTOR project, and with the TUTOR consortium partnership.  The TUTOR project, alongside all of the international research projects the department partners with, encourages wider impact of inclusive education across the teaching profession at a European level.

Key messages of the TUTOR Project:  

Summary of the TUTOR Project  

TUTOR aims to create partnerships between teacher education and training providers to set up Teacher Academies developing a European and international outlook on inclusion in teacher education.  These Academies will embrace inclusivity in education and contribute to achieving the objectives of the European Education Area. In particular, the project will address the need for educators to develop their capacities to understand, analyse and develop strategic responses to the diversity in their classroom and to promote a more inclusive learning environment. TUTOR project intends to foster a more inclusive environment in education, that is open to students from migrant, LGBTQI+, and socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, with a particular focus on safeguarding the elements of tolerance, acceptance, and inclusion.

The TUTOR objectives 

To contribute to the improvement of teacher education policies and practices in Europe by creating networks and communities that bring together providers of secondary teacher education and providers of continuing professional development, and other relevant actors (such as ministries) and stakeholders to develop a Train the Trainers approach, focused on inclusivity in learning, 

  • To define a forward-looking strategy upskilling strategy for secondary school teachers, 
  • To enhance the European dimension and internationalization of teacher education through innovative and practical collaboration and by sharing experiences for the further development of teacher education in Europe, 
  • To foster holistic inclusivity in the learning environment, covering all its aspects such as tolerance, non-discrimination, flexibility, etc, 
  • To assess current and future skill mismatches in the targeted (teaching) profession, 
  • To disseminate widely all project products & maintain them in future communications. 

Who is the TUTOR project for?  

It is for teachers, students and policy makers who have an interest in inclusive education 

  • Educators/Teachers/ Trainers from the four participating countries of Greece, Ireland, Austria and Turkey 

Reasons for engagement:  

  1. To update inclusivity skills of secondary education teachers in inclusive education.  
  1. To raise awareness with regards to the inclusivity needs of students being discriminated because they are part of the LGBTQI+ community, have migrant background and they face socioeconomic difficulties.  

The TUTOR Consortium will 

1) conduct desk and field research on the inclusivity skills needs of teachers, exploring both the desired status of inclusive education and the actual status within the partner countries, and at European level. 

2) design a training program to match country-specific needs  

3) promote and provide access to TUTOR e-learning platform – access to training materials and a network of professionals within their sector.  

4) support teachers to develop skills to enable a more inclusive teaching experience for students from LGBTQI+ community, migrant backgrounds, and socioeconomically disadvantage to ensure that they are being equally treated.   

5) work with policy-makers including ministries, local & regional authorities, EU bodies, (and other officials with the ability to influence policies) to make changes at a European and national level regarding transitions to a more inclusive teaching environment. 

What has the TUTOR project achieved so far? 

We commenced in June 2022 with a meeting of all partners in Athens, Greece, where the consortium partners developed an overall strategy including an assessment methodology, a Project Management Handbook and Financial Plan, a Dissemination Plan and a project website. Desk research was undertaken across the four countries and at EU level. Partners produced country specific literature reviews on inclusive education, and an overarching Transnational Literature Review.  

The Department of Adult and Community Education, Maynooth University is the lead partner for Work Package 2 (WP2) Definition of a forward looking upskilling strategy for teachers. Partners have conducted focus group meetings with teachers and stakeholders in Ireland, Austria, Turkey and Greece. 

What is currently happening in TUTOR? 

TUTOR’s Transnational  Partner Meeting (TPM) is being hosted by the Department of Adult and Community Education, Maynooth University on 1st and 2nd February 2023, where we welcome partners from Greece, Turkey, Austria and Belgium. All partners are advocates for and are specialists in inclusive education. We will discuss the implications of the key findings of desk and field research to date and plan our strategy for defining a future looking upskilling strategy for teachers across Europe. For further information,  

The TUTOR website is http://tutor-project.eu/ 

The TUTOR Facebook: TUTOR Facebook 

What’s next? 

Large scale research activity and needs analysis on upskilling of teachers on inclusive education for students from LGBTQI+, migrants, ethnic minorities, and socio economically disadvantaged contexts. 

TUTOR partners are exploring National-level and EU-level research on the current skills levels of secondary education and VET (Vocational Education and Training) teachers on inclusivity. As part of that process we will be conducting surveys and interviews with 800 teachers, engaging with 500 stakeholders and policy makers. We are developing a professional network of teachers, and developing opportunities for training and mobilities for teachers across the consortium partnership. 

Contact bernie.grummell@mu.ie and margaret.nugent@mu.ie for further information and if you would like to find out more and become involved in the project. 

TUTOR partner consortium 

P1. AKMI ANONIMI EKPAIDEFTIKI ETAIRIA (AKMI), Greece  

P2. School of Pedagogical & Technological Education (ASPAITE), Greece  

P3. Symplexis, Greece 

P4. EVTA, Belgium  

P5. EVBB, Belgium 

P6. Maynooth University, Ireland 

P7. BPI OJAB, Austria 

P8. Die Berater, Austria 

P9. National Education Directorate of Serik District, Turkey

P10. SERGED Teaching Academy, Turkey 

P11. IGLYO, Belgium 

 

Dr. Margaret Nugent is an academic and researcher with the Department of Adult and Community Education. Her professional experience and research interests extends to international peace building, conflict intervention, reconciliation in post conflict contexts and inclusive education. She specialises in qualitative, engaged and participatory research methodologies, and is an experienced practitioner and innovator in developing peacebuilding pedagogies. Margaret has delivered a very extensive portfolio of consultancy work with the adult, rural and community development sector, within further and higher education.

Bernie Grummell is Associate Professor in the Department  of Adult and Community Education. She is co director of the Centre for Research in Adult Learning and Education and is the lead researcher for the TUTOR project in Maynooth University.

Categories
Blog

CREATE2Evaluate: Enhancing evaluation practice of Adult Education policies and programmes at regional and local levels 

Between 2017 and 2019 an ERASMUS+ ‘Competitive Regions and Employability of Adults through Education’ (CREATE) project aimed to enhance performance and efficiency in adult education by addressing the gap between EU/national strategies and local/regional implementation at adult education policy level. CREATE identified a lack of policy tools and resources to evaluate the impact of adult education (AE) interventions, policies, and initiatives across Europe. This gap was particularly acute within regions tasked with AE policy formulation and implementation to progress towards the EU pan-European target of 15% AE participation. A second project, the CREATE2Evaluate project, was supported by ERASMUS+ from 2020 to 2022 to progress these findings. 

The Create2Evaluate project and Partners 

The Create 2 evaluate project is a transnational and multi-agency collaboration seeking to enhance the efficacy and valorisation of adult education at policy and governance levels. The primary aim of the project was identifying reliable tools for adult education evaluation at various layers of governance. The project has eight organisational partners from seven countries (Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Romania, and Spain) committed to identifying and operationalising these tools.  

Click here for more information on the Eight collaborative partners 

The first meeting of the partners, hosted by the German partner lead AEWB, took place online via teams on the 12th and 13th of November 2020. The project ‘Kick-Off Meeting’ discussed the overall project implementation of the defining timelines, respective duties and activities that will take place in the following months. 

A snapshot of the first Create2Evaluate partners meeting 

IO2-Report: Mapping the Impact, Validation and Evaluation of AE Policies 

The eight partners researched and mapped their current adult education policy landscape regarding evaluation, assessment, and monitoring. Primary and secondary research was undertaken. Twenty-seven stakeholders in the field of adult education were interviewed and a key stakeholder survey was disseminated to provide thirty-six additional responses.  The project partners mapped and identified tools, methods, and resources employed to evaluate adult education programmes and initiatives throughout their regions. A mapping press release went live on the 03-03-2021. 

Stakeholder collaborative conversations in action at Maynooth University. 

Mapping Outcomes 

Mapping and research enabled the CREATE2Evaluate partners to identify the lack of a centralised systemic evaluation framework, common definitions and standards. Feedback indicated that current evaluation policy is primary focused on quantitative outputs and student specific learning outcomes, and inconsistencies were apparent among targeted groups and in non-formal evaluation provision. Additionally, it was evidenced that although copious and significant qualitative evaluation is conducted across adult education centres, this data remains relatively difficult to access due to a lack of centralised systematic overarching analysis and learner protection requirements. Thus, it is very challenging for policy makers to assess the effectiveness of their adult education policies. To view result of the consolidation of findings stemming from the mapping at country and EU level performed by partners click here (full IO2 report) 

 The CREATE2 Evaluate Toolbox:  

In response to the IO2 findings the partners collaboratively collected and developed helpful tools for the evaluation of adult education at various layers of governance. The CREATE 2 Evaluate ToolBox was conceived to ensure that local and regional policy makers from across Europe will be able to use the policy tools to better plan, design, implement and monitor AE policies with a clear vision of sustainability of public funding in AE. The selection of tools takes into account different purposes of evaluation (e.g., process, persuasive, symbolic, instrumental) as well as their place in the policy cycle. The tools are free, easily accessible and multilingual. The toolbox invites users to adopt the tools to their work realities with ease.  

The Toolbox is structured in six different areas, each with specific resources and references that sustain local policy makers in better strategizing the alignment, consistence and coherence of local lifelong learning plans to EU horizons. There are a total of 42 tools; 4 best practice recommendations; 5 networks/ Forums; 4 networks/platforms, and a collection of policy documents and strategies are available. The toolbox was officially released on the 26-09-2022. 

Overview of the Toolbox sections and tools 

                                                          
 
Click each area to view the distinctive tools and resources 

1.  Consistency of the objectives and outcomes  

2.  Programme creation at the policy/public administration level 

3.Inclusivity of AE policies and availability of AE programmes 

4. AE trainings and programmes delivery 

5. Value added stemming from the participation in AE 

6. Continuity of programme evaluation and use of its results to improve AE policies 

To view the full toolbox and additional resources click ToolBox. 

CREATE2Evaluate implementation Package and Green Paper 

The CREATE2Evaluate implementation Package and Green Paper are the final two components of the CREATE2Evaluate project. These two deliverables were consolidated, and the press release went live on the 19-10-22.  

The CREATE2Evaluate implementation Package consists of a training suite for the policy making target groups. It is provided as a guide, with step-by-step procedures on the use and implementation of the tools to evaluate policy interventions in the domain of AE. The Training Suite includes user-friendly and flexible training resources for policy makers. Included are guidelines on the policy evaluation tools, scenario setting and profiling tools and a users’ manual and Introduction CREATE2Evaluate ToolBox 

The CREATE2Evaluate Green Paper advances the debate and stimulates the discussion on policy formulation, implementation, and evaluation of adult education. It provides incite into the challenges and drivers that contributed to the project and the final output of the CREATE2Evaluate Toolbox.. Additionally, it considers the marginalisation of adult education and considers the context in which policy is developed and implemented in adult education, thus enhancing the awareness of the issues evident across the EU adult education landscape. Importantly it offers a critical analysis of the current landscape of adult education from the perspective of the stakeholders and considers the position of the learners. The CREATE2Evaluate resources and CREATE2Evaluate Green Paper should stimulate policy dialogue and exchange on how to advance adult education for socio-economic development and integration.  

All CREATE2Evaluate results are available in multilingual versions, free and without restrictions through the dedicated open educational resource (OER) platform. To know more about the project, the organisations involved and all resources available, please feel free to consult the Open Education Resource Platform of Create2Evaluate: www.create2evaluate.eu 

Michael Kenny is a lecturer in the Department of Adult and Community Education. He is co-director of the Higher Diploma in Further Education (HDFE), and the director of the post graduate Certificate in Programme Design and Validation (PCPDV). He is currently the Principal Investigator (PI) on 6 Erasmus+ Projects, including the CREATE2Evaluate project.  

Margaret Nugent is an associate academic, researcher and lecturer with Department of Adult and Community Education. Margaret is research associate on the Diversity and several European projects. She is a specialist in engaged methodologies, conflict intervention and peace pedagogies. 

Categories
Blog

The Story Exchange Project

To get to the chapel in Mountjoy prison you first go through a corridor. This leads into a semi-circular cage-like structure with two upper floors. Through the metal grilles you can see the corridors or wings leading off to the left and right. The corridors are painted yellow, the bars white, and the metal cell doors lining either side are grey. Depending on the time of day, the doors may be open, and prisoners could be congregated in the corridors and landings. The prison at these times is a noisy hub of activity. At other times, the cell doors may all be shut, and the only sound is that of officers marching back and forth, keys rattling.

You cross the circle to a narrow stair well, climb the stairs to the first floor, and then turn back on yourself to go around the barred landing in a semicircle, back in the direction from which you came. It is disorientating. The far-side steps up to the chapel have double doors made of wood, a change from all the metal, and when you enter the room with its high ceilings, split levels and huge stained-glass windows, the effect is breath taking.

There are a group of ‘lads’ in their late teens or early twenties seated to the right as we enter, and Niall and Marc, the two young facilitators from Gaisce aren’t instantly discernible. We however, as two female, middle-aged, and middle-class university staff members are. We join the circle and awkward introductions are made. There is some shuffling and nervous sniggering before Niall and Marc take hold of the situation and set us to work. I’m paired with the only young man not wearing sports-clothes. ‘I’ve just come from the kitchen’ he explains, as I pull up my chair. Our topic for conversation is ‘the first time I did something’, and I experience a moment of panic as I wonder what on earth I am going to share with this complete stranger.

‘I’m Darren’ my partner offers politely, ‘what’s your name again?’ Darren (pseudonym) thankfully agrees to go first and tells me about the first time he played for his school in Croke Park, and it doesn’t take long before I am with him. I am with him as he describes the feeling of coming onto the pitch through the tunnel, and of scoring for his team. I am with him as he speaks of his pride at being celebrated by the whole school and the school principal at the after-party, and I understand why to this day he keeps a small piece of turf from the field as a souvenir of a special day. And throughout his story, I am wondering how this boy with the long eyelashes, whose eyes are full of light at his childhood memory, has ended up in Dublin’s largest prison.

When it comes to sharing our stories back to the main group, I go first. I introduce myself as Darren, 20 years old, and recount the first time I played in Croke Park for my primary school. I strive to retell the experience with all the details that matter to Darren because I am responsible for his story. It is like I have been entrusted with this very precious memory and I want to do it justice. When it is Darren’s turn to speak, he introduces himself as Sarah, 45 years old. He tells the story of the first time I went skiing and nearly killed myself, making my way down a mountain Mr Bean style, using trees and barriers to slow my descent, while children, mini-pro ski champions, screeched with laughter as they sailed overhead on ski lifts. I notice how Darren’s rendition of my story is a kinder version. While the story gets some laughs, he omits some of my details and retells it from a perspective that garners empathy towards my plight as opposed to ridicule.

A group enter the chapel sheepishly, and the conversations in the circle come to a halt. A huddle of terrified looking girls and guys are marshalled over to our space by the Progression Unit Governor, and I remember that they will have just walked through the cage. They are introduced as the Maynooth University students who will be joining the Mountjoy Progression Unit prisoners every Friday for 13 weeks to take part in the Story Exchange Project. There is a self-conscious round of names and timid hand waves before the group is shepherded back out the doors for the rest of their prison tour. They will be starting next week.

Meaney, S. (2020). Evaluating the Story Exchange Project – A participatory arts-based research project with inmates and university students. Maynooth University: Ireland. Available at: https://educationmatters.ie/launch-of-publication-examining/

The Story Exchange Project will feature on the IUA documentary series ‘Changemakers’ airing on RTE1 in January 2022. 

Sarah Meaney Sartori completed her PhD with the Department of Adult and Community Education at Maynooth University. Funded by the Irish Research Council, her research was a creative exploration of the experience of educational exclusion from the perspective of prisoners and youth. Currently, Sarah is the research manager for College Connect, a programme aimed at widening educational diversity, and focussed on the educational inclusion for refugees, people with convictions and Travellers. She has worked as an adult educator for over 15 years, developing and delivering modules and programmes to a wide variety of groups. Sarah is trained and experienced in using arts-based methodologies, which involves taking research outside the academy and into the public sphere for engagement and to inspire social change. Sarah is on the MU Sanctuary Committee, the steering group of the Mountjoy Prison and Maynooth University Partnership, the National Traveller Mental Health Network Allies Forum and has acted as a consultant for a variety of organisations including the Traveller Counselling Service and LGTBI Ireland.

Categories
Blog

Under the Red Clock

Early mornings, late nights….no end in sight! A picture of me sitting at the laptop yet again under the red clock, assignment after assignment, willing each one to be complete. But the truth is we are never complete, we continue to learn we continue to grow.  

Under the Red Clock

The tutors were learning from their students and as a teacher, I hope to learn from mine.  In the Higher Diploma in Further Education in Maynooth University, everyone had a voice, some more vocal and some less vocal than others, it thought me be to be more aware of my voice, to think before I spoke to sit back and allow others to speak.

  

Everyone has a story to tell… the tutors, the students … what had brought us here to the Higher Diploma in Further Education. Many different winding paths leading us all together to share the experiences of our journey.   

My motivation for enrolling in the Higher Diploma for Further education was to be in a position that I could support others to change their situation through the means of education. 

I looked up to tutors during my further educational journey, I wished I was in their seat, supporting students just like me, people like me that didn’t do well in school but now long to learn. But that could never be me sitting in that seat…what do I know …what can I share. I had so much doubt! 

Some people have questioned my interest in going to college at this stage in my life and others have encouraged me to do it. I lacked confidence in my ability and the words of encouragement have stayed with me, these words have influenced my return to college. 

I have had to work extremely hard in college as it does not come easily to me. I do believe if you want something you have to work hard for it. I hope to be the catalyst for others to believe in themselves and progress in education if they wish to.   

I had negative experiences of schooldays past, education delivered generically by the teacher for the absorption of students. No education resulted in no interest.

In my family, there were no discussions regarding the importance of education or questions regarding what we wanted to do when we grew up. The consensus in our home was to finish school and get a job and start earning money. This was how it was for my father who left school early to get a job and bring in an income.  

My mother stayed in school longer than my father but women were not encouraged in education. The role of women then was to marry and become a stay at home parent. 

Education wasn’t for me, I was a grafter, I’ll earn a living by working hard as my family had done before me. But I soon learned in this capitalist society that hard work without further education doesn’t always pay the bills, it doesn’t pay for childcare, and it doesn’t pay for a mortgage.   

For me as an adult struggling to cope financially, education was the key; I felt this is the way to move up society’s stratified layers.  But I was wrong not education alone, education and hard work, we need to be constantly working to be the best we can be.   

I have finished college now and I am teaching. I still sit under the red clock in my kitchen working tirelessly to be the best teacher I can be, I am still learning I am still growing.  

Kathryn at home working under the red clock
Categories
Welcome

Welcome to our blog!

An introductory post from Mary Ryan, Head of Department, Adult and Community Education, Maynooth University.

When Michael and Bernie asked me to write a blog, the phrase that immediately came into my mind was ‘Hello and Goodbye’. Interesting – why that phrase and why now? When I google it, I find the words to a song – ‘Hello and Goodbye ‘sung by Jill Ireland. I have no memory of ever hearing the song, I look up the lyrics.

“Some have a lifetime, some just a day
Love isn’t something you measure that way
Nothing’s ever forever, forever’s a lie
All we have is between ‘Hello’ and ‘Goodbye”

March 12th 2020 – suddenly and shockingly we say goodbye to face to face contact with our students, colleagues, and many of our families and friends. Overnight we transition to remote teaching delivery and struggle to find new ways of saying hello and maintaining relationships. It reminds me of being in the Gaeltacht – total immersion in an unfamiliar language, perpetually anxious.

Suddenly broadband emerges as the significant criterion for inclusion and exclusion. The reflexive dialogue at the heart of adult learning was compromised by remote delivery as the focus was on connectivity and staying connected. I found it very difficult to adjust to working with learning groups online, how to get a feel of the group dynamic and emotional temperature. My pedagogical model of group facilitation, crafted over 30 years, seemed no longer appropriate to remote learning. I am forced to be more structured and directive, there is less opportunity for members to engage spontaneously with each other. At times it feels we are forced to revert to the banking model of education despite our deep commitment to a more collaborative and participatory Freirean approach.   

We search for ways to stay connected and support each other – daily remote coffee breaks where we anxiously explore possibilities for more participatory approaches to remote delivery. We stay in remote touch with students, offering opportunities to make sense and meaning of their ongoing experiences of COVID. We offer a weekly mindful session remotely. We encourage students to include their experiences and reflections of living with COVID in their research and assignments.

All that is familiar is disrupted but together we do our collective best to support students to complete their studies. It was a privilege to read assignments and research which explored themes in adult development such as loss, the meaning of life, life choices and collective responsibility for a just and equal world.

We have no collective opportunity to say goodbye. We miss the rituals that celebrate the ending of a course, that acknowledge the unique contribution of each member in creating a learning community. Endings provide an opportunity to celebrate achievements, acknowledge the learning and insights, take leave of valued colleagues and friends, and internalise the rich learning experiences and relationships. Endings can also encourage us to name what has not been achieved, acknowledge loss and sadness and in the process begin again, engage in new learning and relationships.

Amid completing courses, despite COVID restrictions  we focus on gathering new students remotely, “Though we live in a world that dreams of ending, that always seems about to give in, something that will not acknowledge conclusion, insists that we forever begin’’ Brendan Kennelly – ‘Begin Again’.

September 2020, first semester – no tea and coffee – social distancing, yellow X’s marked on the floor and face masks the norm – a new unfamiliar beginning. And yet some of it is familiar, we move chairs, find flasks, set up tables and ensure despite all the restrictions that we create a welcoming learning environment. We encourage learners to share their experiences, talk with each other, make sense of the last few months, and explore possibilities.

One of the narratives in COVID is that we are all in this together. However, COVID has been experienced very differently by individuals, groups, and communities. Some of us have been lucky to maintain our incomes and health, others have lost loved ones and their livelihoods.   Many on the margins and who are disadvantaged have been most negatively impacted, especially so in regions and countries impacted by global climate crisis, war, inequality, human rights, and political instability. 

Living with COVID is disruptive and anxiety provoking, it can impact on our thinking, relating, and feeling.  It can be a relief to believe that those in power can provide the answers. Yet in adult education, we believe we are responsible for our individual and collective actions. We need to be able to reflect on our experiences with others, ensure that all stories are heard and learn from this knowledge to create a more just and equal world.

And what about love – relationship and care are at the heart of adult education.  Freire reminds of the need for ‘courage to love (which, far from being accommodation to an unjust world, is rather the transformation of that world on behalf of the increasing liberation of people) (Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 1972, p. 144) and “because love is an act of courage, not of fear, love is a commitment to others. No matter where the oppressed are found, the act of love is commitment to their cause–the cause of liberation.”

During all this uncertainty and anxiety, I know the value of being connected and in relationship. I know the power in people meeting together, reflecting on our experiences and creating knowledge.  Freire reminds us that to be human is to engage in ‘relationships with others and with the world … knowledge is built up in the relationships between human beings and the world’ (Education the Practice of Freedom, 1974, p. 3).

In this year of Covid, I am struck by the kindness of many people – there is a deeper appreciation of the fragility of life, and that we live creatively with uncertainty.  

Mullaghmeen Wood in November 2020.

Naomi Shihab Nye reminds us that

‘Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside, you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.

You must wake up with sorrow,

You must speak to it till your voice

Catches the thread of all sorrows

And you see the size of the cloth’.

As Christmas approaches, I am reminded of the importance of hope, of light and new birth. This time will pass, it is important to consider any learning that we can take into the future. Issues of care, health, housing, life work balance, human flourishing and climate change are now to the forefront.  

More than ever I am reminded of the significance of hello, goodbye, love, and the preciousness of time. COVID may provide us with opportunities for new learning and insight if we take the time to reflect on our experiences with others and apply the knowledge in creating a more equal and just world.