One of the most pleasing aspects of Medr’s draft strategic plan was its focus on ‘the needs of the learner -their experience, achievement and well-being – ensuring they are involved in decision-making and encouraging participation in learning at all stages in life’.

As someone who’s been writing about listening to learners for over twenty years, this was welcome news.  These days, the key aspect for me is how ‘listening’ translates into ‘action’ and in particular the adult learning curriculum.  The term ‘curriculum’ is used twice in the Medr document and linked to the subject of qualifications.  This link reflects the commonly held view that a curriculum is something designed for learners rather than with learners. 

For much of the education and skills system, this is not an issue.  If a curriculum is required to enable mechanics to service electric vehicles or wind farms, this is probably best designed by specialists.  (How qualifications keep pace with fast-changing technologies is another matter.)  But for the most disadvantaged adult learners, co-design of the curriculum is essential.

Barriers to learning

The barriers to learning that such individuals face tend to face are multiple and complex.  Just as economic inactivity isn’t solely a case of lack of childcare, poor transport, mental health challenges, or the lack of Fair Work, non-participation in learning depends on a combination of factors.

The most disadvantaged groups face multiple challenges, whether they be access, transport, child or elder care, language skills, or even the fallout from poor educational experiences at school such as lack of confidence.  For many, the Covid pandemic and lockdowns exacerbated the situation.  The issues are deep-seated and long-lived.

However, all is not lost.  L&W Cymru’s recent work on the Citizens’ Curriculum has shown there is a solution.  The good news is all adults also have a range of existing ‘capabilities’ that can be built upon if the curriculum is co-designed with learners.  During 2023 and 2024 we worked with partners in six pilot areas working with local authorities, adult learning providers, a school-college partnership, a mental health organisation, a housing association, a places of sanctuary, an environmental charity, and two higher education institutions.  This variety of settings and expertise allowed us to test the Citizens’ Curriculum in a range of situations.

Starting from where the learner is

Where the approach works best is when providers start from where the learner is—by listening.  For some providers this meant not offering a range of options—or ‘marketing products’, as one called it—but starting with a blank sheet of paper.

What do you want?

For some adults this can mean:

• I want to help my kids with their homework.
• My child is being bullied, I want to stop it.
• I want to manage my money better.
• I want to get out of the house.

Learning journeys

We were privileged to follow learner journeys from such starting points to other provision— ‘my son was so proud of me, getting a certificate’—such a DIY courses.  The common thread was educators listening to the skills and capabilities learners already had and building on them.

Put simply, for learners experiencing multiple issues you cannot plan a learning programme in advance.  That doesn’t mean adult educators don’t have to be prepared.  Approaches to participatory pedagogy were a key element of teaching training within the pilots.  Teachers were amazed at how much more effective their work was using these approaches.

For example if the learner needs support around resilience, is this best served by a predesigned course called ‘Building Resilience’ or an activity like ‘Build a Community Garden’.  Both could lead to greater resilience but the second is so much more.  The message is that the learner has got something to contribute—it is not a deficit model—and the community ends up with a new green space.

Building a garden involves all the capabilities in the Citizens’ Curriculum or Life Skills for Europe: language, numeracy, financial, health, digital, civic, interpersonal, and environmental.  The critical issue is that learners receive recognition for skills gained or enhanced capabilities.  This allows them to take stock of their progress and achievement and talk to educators about their next steps.

Assessing capabilities

Over the coming year we shall be working with partners to develop a Capability Assessment Tool to support this process.  We shall be trialling the approach in two settings: family learning and social housing.  In doing so we shall work with local ACL Partnerships as collaboration between agencies is key to the success of the Citizens’ Curriculum.  Addressing multiple disadvantage requires a multi-agency approach.  Work on the Citizens’ Curriculum in Rochdale showed that adult learning had fiscal benefits in the fields of health, public safety and social cohesion.

Life Skills for Wales

One stumbling block for learners, however, is the term Citizens’ Curriculum, which suggests it is primarily concerned with citizenship education.  We are also exploring with partners renaming the approach ‘Life Skills for Wales’ to mirror the approach in other European countries.  One of the key findings of the pilots was the close alignment of the Citizens’ Curriculum approach with the pre-16 Curriculum for Wales.  One central aspect was the concept of ‘readiness’.  How do we enable adult learners to be ‘ready’ to play their part as citizens?

Whatever we call it, perhaps it’s time for an adult curriculum for Wales—and one that truly listens to learners in all their diversity.  After all, the curriculum belongs to them!