Conversations in Adult and Further Education

In this episode, I’m joined by Anne Foster, Vice Chair of the Adult Education Teachers’ Organisation (AETO) and an adult education teacher with the City of Dublin Education and Training Board (CDETB). Anne shares insights from her many years working in adult education and talks about her involvement with AETO’s campaign to secure better rights for teachers. She highlights several challenges within the sector, especially those affecting teachers with many years of service, such as pension rights and the impact of the new adult educator contract on these teachers.
If you would like further information or would like to join the AETO, you can email inquiries.aeto@gmail.com.

In this episode, I’m joined by Mark Daly to talk about numeracy, dyscalculia, and dyspraxia. Mark is a student at Dublin College in Loughlinstown, part of the Dublin and Dun Laoghaire Education and Training Board (DDLETB).
Mark was diagnosed with dyscalculia as a child and later with dyspraxia, and he shares his personal experiences of school, the challenges he faced, and his return to education as an adult.
Mark’s story offers valuable insight into how we can bettersupport students who struggle with numbers, along with practical advice for tutors. 
Here is some of the work that Mark has done to highlight numeracy, dyscalculia and dyspraxia
 
This is a booklet that Mark created to tell his story:
https://www.canva.com/design/DAG7N97BwTo/af-mzF1dzgpWJVHyozSmpA/view?utm_content=DAG7N97BwTo&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=uniquelinks&utlId=he9cf7f8002#2
 
Some podcast clips where Mark explains his experience with dyscalculia and dyspraxia:
https://soundcloud.com/user-764766124/mark-dalys-experience-with-dyscalculia
https://soundcloud.com/user-764766124/mark-dalys-experience-with-dyspraxia
 
A video highlighting Mark’s work as a Numeracy Ambassador for NALA:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwUpSFsIfLQ&t=103s

In this episode, I’m joined by Lana McCarthy, from the Literacy Development Centre at SETU, and Helen Walsh, the Family Literacy Lead at SOLAS. We are talking about family literacy. Lana and Helen highlight what’s happening both nationally and locally to support and promote family literacy.
They also discuss the value of the Family Literacy Community of Practice—why it matters, how it works, and how you can get involved. This community brings together passionate people from a wide range of organisations and sectors, all committed to promoting family literacy. New members are always welcome, so if you have a project or initiative you’d like to share, or you want to find out more about the work they are doing, they would love to hear from you.

Contact Helen at Helen.walsh@solas.ie

Use the following link to join the Family Literacy Communityof Practice:
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=jsB9ntvZ20qQm7C0ym-jglByPNQqcMNIkjMRCUcGpAdUNjZZSlVGQzk3N0NKVVpDQ1VITFlNUEtLTSQlQCN0PWcu&origin=QRCode

In this episode, I’m joined by Talent Nyamakope, Health Literacy Lead with the Adult Literacy for Life (ALL) Strategy Office in SOLAS, and Edel Finan, Regional Literacy Coordinator with Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board (WWETB). We discuss what health literacy means, what’s happening on the ground locally and nationally, and some of the projects they’ve been involved in. Talent and Edel also offer practical advice to help people make informed health decisions and share insights on how healthcare services can become more literacy friendly.
 
Links and contact information:
 Literacy Support in Waterford and Wexford from WWETB:literacyhelp@wwetb.ie, or call 085 8567164.

Digital literacy eLearning courses developed in WWETB can be accessed here: Digital Literacy eLearning videos - YouTube

WWETB Plain English Booklet

The ALL Strategy can be found at adult-literacy-for-life-strategy.pdf

Online courses available at www.adultliteracyforlife.ie/aware
 
Useful health resources:
www.hse.ie
www.mychild.ie
www.healthpromotion.ie
HSE Health and Wellbeing Podcast on YouTube

In this episode, I am speaking with Mary Mitchell from Dublin College FET Blanchardstown, which is part of the Dublin and Dun Laoghaire Education and Training Board. Mary is a tutor and the co-ordinator for the financial literacy project. She is also passionate about inclusion. Today, Mary is chatting with me about their financial literacy project and a new book on financial literacy they are launching at the beginning of December.
This financial literacy project is a great example of how adult literacy programs can collaborate with local organisations to best meet the needs of the community. Mary walks us through how to start a project like this from the ground up.
 
To find out more about DDLETB’s financial literacy project, you can contact Mary at:
Dublin College FET, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15, D15 T3KT, (01)8212600
Email:  akses@ddletbaes.ie
 
 
 
MSLETB Get Lit! Podcast:
I would like to mention another podcast that has recently been launched by Roisin Egan from MSLETB (Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim ETB) called Get Lit. This podcast is all about adult literacy, and I highly recommend it. Their most recent episode is also about financial literacy.
https://open.spotify.com/show/1xEm5MomFLfWXWt0nWbdX7?si=e878af19236f47b2