Report and resources from a Skills for Life Strategy Unit funded project looking at why and how adults are motivated to learn
What are the barriers and triggers to learning? That’s the question NIACE is asking as part of a major project funded through the Skills for Life Strategy Unit which aims to investigate why and how adults are motivated to learn.
NIACE was given six months to make contact with a wide range of providers and front-line practitioners, and to seek out the expertise and knowledge of existing learners who know from their own experience about the difficulties and triumphs involved.
The final research report contains information gathered from the 256 learners we talked to in the 27 focus groups, it includes:
- Context and background to the Skills for Life strategy
- What is already known about barriers to participation and learning
- Action-research methods used and the things that learners told us about their experiences.
The other publications associated with the report – OK here goes, Hang on in there, and Go for it! – contain learners’ testimonies, sometimes recorded in conversation with researchers and tutors or written in their own words in response to lively classroom discussions. A learner-focused DVD to accompany the campaign is also available, it aims to give potential adult learners a taste of what it’s really like to take part in learning.
You can use the publications and the DVD to:
- Attract new learners at open day events
- Encourage existing learners to become ‘learning champions"
- Use the icebreakers and classroom discussion ideas with your learners
- Encourage your students to write about their learning experiences to share with others
- Spread the word about the benefits of adult learning.
To order free sets of the publications and DVD, visit the NIACE website.
