Running ACE as a viable business
I (Terry Neal) had a discussion with Colin Wharton about what he would find valuable as a topic to discuss with others from across the ACE sector. Colin suggested this topic, because business viability is the issue he is facing right now, so we have created this new thread. We see this is a place to share any relevant resources that help you run ACE as a viable business or pose questions you have to others who may be facing the same issues as you. Hopefully, they solved them yesterday and so can share helpful ideas.
As you all know, the sector is undergoing major changes and it is increasingly important that we can ask for help from others, including those who live somewhere else. If you have another topic that you want to discuss, fell free to start up a new thread, like I have here.
Terry
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Reshaping the Adult and Community Education (ACE) Market
I just came across this blog posting by Dave Guerin at Education Directions - Reshaping the Adult and Community Education (ACE) Market (http://www.ed.co.nz/2010/02/22/reshaping-the-adult-and-community-educati...).
What do you think? (or you could comment on the original blog)
A virtual approach
I have enjoyed reading your contributions Jennifer and Colin to this forum. I would like to share my virtual world with the ACEnet community.
The fact is that funding has gone for schools, and our schools do not have funding to support adult learning. Change is always a challenge but I believe this change can work within our current school structure for the benefit of adult learners. Traditionally in rural schools for as far back as I can remember learning for adults happens when the children leave at the end of each school day? Adults have always been welcome to attend day school but are they doing this in today's school environment? On the Coromandel I am not aware of any adult learners currently attending face to face lessons on site but I am aware of a number of adults who have attended or are currently attending virtual classes during the school day using video conferencing in local Coromandel schools to connect with a teacher delivering from somewhere outside of the school. Tertiary providers such as Wintec and Telford Rural offering tourism and forestry/agriculture/horticulture courses are catering for adults learners.
Rural schools (and a growing number of city schools) have the infrastructure already in place to offer adult learners a rich learning environment. 'The Virtual Learning Network (VLN) supports the concept of classrooms without walls, where students and educators have the flexibility to connect with their classes 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.' The VLN offers a range of courses, programmes and activities from early childhood, primary, secondary through to tertiary (Polytechnics and Universities). Asynchronous and synchronous technologies delivered by trained teachers are used to support the curriculum and learners. Adults no longer have to sit in the traditional classroom of 20-30 teenagers. The virtual classroom offers individual or a small group learning environment. A virtual classroom has a maximum of 12 students from five schools connecting and one teacher.
Coromandel secondary and area schools will be actively encouraging adults to enroll in virtual classes for 2010. What is being offered in 2010 can be found at the MOE website www.virtuallearning.school.nz by selecting 'Programmes of Learning' - 'Courses'. Courses for 2010 are now being uploaded to the website. The enrolment structure for VLN courses is already in place within our schools. Costs for courses relate to course resources and NZQA standards offered. Adults need to enroll as an adult learner at a local school (this is currently free) to join a VLN class.
Is this a solution worth investigating? I am happy to continue this conversation for anyone wanting to know more.
Real life!
Well - just to update on this topic, I have been made redundant from my position as ACE Co-ordinator at Orewa College! So this is truly 'at the coal-face' for me. I am looking into ways where, not only can I run ACE as a viable business, but how can I run it as a stand-alone business in the private sector!
I intend to take the next few weeks looking into every angle and investigating the possibilities. I would look at it from the community development/mental health angle, rather than as education per se. I will start a blog on this in the next few days - as an ACE practitioner, rather than as ACEnet researcher - I think there's some exciting possibilities.
:) Jennifer
Running ACE as a viable busine...
What a challenge we face in schools from 2010!
What strategies can we share with one another which may help in a time of uncertainty and great challenge?
Schools have been described as 'risk averse' and will be unlikely to remain supporting evening and weekend ACE courses if they do not bring in dollars to cover costs.
A 'Business Advisory' may be a good group to 'form up' as we replace the 'Advisory Sub committees' with which each has been workin.
Marketing strategies will be very important.
Limiting costs by examining each part of any budget would seem essential.
Then there is balance of fees charged with courses offered and a communities ability to pay.
As we walk the 'knife edge' between course delivery and financial viability, communication and keeping close to others embarking on the same journey would seem to be critical.
My very best to each on embarking on a new and untried journey next year.
Colin Wharton, Wellington High School, Community Education Centre.
Jennifer's thoughts
Most stimulating. Thank you Jennifer! The real sad part about the change which has been 'forced' upon us is the lack of real consideration for those who are not able to afford to learn. Our COMMUNITIES surely are the reason so many of us in the past have been engaged in ACE .... and yet we are being led away from meeting the real needs which our communities have.
You comment that "grassroots community-based learning we had been used to and which was developing organically all over New Zealand in response to identified needs" has been harmed and we need to get back to that.
I certainly agree, however I do wonder if EVER we will have the luxury of being able to do that. The pity of 'self funding' and the loss of government grants seems to me to mean we will be forced AWAY from providing learning opportunity for those who have real need. While there is some funding available for literacy and numeracy, the supporting infrastructure (in schools at least) has been so shattered that I wonder if we will have the capacity to meet the needs which are around us!
Colin
ACE as a viable business
I believe this is a key discussion - not just for the obvious reasons. There needs to be a 'thinktank' of ideas, including people from the following areas:
* Community development
* local government
* Health
* Welfare
* Industry
The first thing to look at is what ACE needs to be - do we need something national or will we each do our own thing in our own areas? I know my preference is for a national statement, with a network of local groups working under that umbrella.
Early in the TEC's existence the North Shore schools pooled some of our QA funding and commissioned a study by Fay Freeman about what the communities of Rodney and North Shore wanted from ACE. The main message then - and that message is still coming through loud and clear now - was for centralisation of information, simplification of systems to allow for initiating, running & booking courses through one "lead provider" . This was a concept mooted early on after Koia! Koia! but dropped since. I think it is time to revisit that idea, especially as those ACE Networks that are strong are looking to strengthen their participants and serve their local communities well.
Another issue that needs discussion is the definition of community-based, school-based ACE. To me, the insistence in recent years on learning outcomes, certificates, qualifications, pathways to higher learning, etc etc has diluted and actually harmed the grassroots community-based learning we had been used to and which was developing organically all over New Zealand in response to identified needs. Let's get back to that!
I have a LOT of ideas about how things could develop in the future... How about others?
This of course is a bit different from Colin's discussion about ACE as a viable business - I think these are 2 separate, but most definitely linked ideas. Definitions of "viable" and "business" need to be agreed, along with a lot of other issues surrounding identification of needs, response to local needs, etc.
:)