Adult Learning in Wales – motivated and aspiring for better futures but still there are barriers to further and higher education.

It’s been a journey that I could never have imagined. From deciding to try again after failing to learn Welsh when I’d tried years before, to hearing that my application to become a Welsh tutor had been successful – all in less than three years!

Chawan Ali was forced to flee Iraq in 2015, at just 15 years of age. After years of fighting and the threat of ISIS, her family were scared for their future.

I had no idea that I was to become a qualified teacher, that I would win the Inspire! Tutor Award in 2015 or that I would spend time travelling around Europe as an Ambassador for Adult learning!

A fantastic learning trip! I came home with a better understanding of how our friends in Slovenia deliver and celebrate adult learning. I also came home with some new ideas to implement, Study Circles and ways to engage older men being the top two themes for me.

As a result of this trip we have yet more great ideas to try at home to improve the learning experience of our learners and hopefully we will go on to develop the relationships made between organisations.

The highlight for me was the opportunity to take part in one of the Aontas Awards nominated project’s – a secret street tour given by a former homeless man. Secret Street Tours are a Community Interest Company set up to provide education, training and work opportunities to homeless people.

Winning an Inspire! tutor award encouraged me to reflect on just how much I enjoy helping my students to enjoy learning and achieve their ‘dream degree’ or move into higher education.

I believe the way to a sound mind is through the environments we create, both digitally and physically. If you’re not conscious of this, it can gnaw away at your mental health.