Learning doesn’t just happen in the classroom

Discussion, collaboration and praxis aren't optional extras for educators and education professionals. We ALL need thinking and sharing space.

Last week I spent a few days away in Wales and England, working with two organisations close to my heart - North West Migrants Forum (NWMF) and Research and Practice in Adult Literacies (RaPAL). Since leaving the Technical Advisor role a year ago, I've spent less time travelling than I used to and (Masters aside) less face-to-face time with fellow education professionals.

The first half of the trip involved an enlightening series of meetings with the Welsh Government, DARPL, Cardiff & Vale College and others about approaches to Black History in Wales and especially the Anti-Racism Action Plan that aspires to make Wales an anti-racism nation by 2030. What's particularly encouraging about the approach in Wales is the extent to which it involved people with lived experiences from the outset: 'co-production' wasn't just a buzzword but a serious commitment. And there was also refreshing honesty about not having got everything right in the past when it comes to racial equality and anti-racism.

I missed the final couple of hours of the Exchange Visit, as I was heading to Birmingham for RaPAL's first in-person AGM, Journal Editorial and planning day since before the pandemic. It was great to finally meet fellow Management Group members I'd previously only encountered on Zoom, and to spend some quality time considering how RaPAL can step-up its virtual and in-person events over the coming months. Expressive (rather than receptive) communication is one area we especially want to focus on, and for the first time we're exploring possible sources of external funding to enable us to be more ambitious about the spaces we create and facilitate for literacy practitioners and researchers to come together.

RaPAL will have a presence at the joint Learning & Work Institute, NATECLA, UCL-IoE and RaPAL English, Maths and ESOL Conference in London on Thursday 9 November, where we'll hopefully be able to say more about our plans.

What I especially enjoyed about both parts of the trip was having space to listen, think and reflect. It's something I vowed I would do more of when I stepped down from my previous role - and it's the main reason I opted to complete a Masters last year. Busy people are usually good at what they do, but don't always have (or seek out) the bandwidth to look at what others are doing and consider what they might be able to learn or do differently.