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We want to invent a single word that means adult education or adult community education.  Like bildung in Germany, we want a single word. Got an idea? Send your ideas to mel.lenehan@fircroft.ac.uk #AdultConversations as the email subject (or pop your idea on our Activist Tree!)

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We want to invent a single word that means adult education or adult community education.  Like bildung in Germany, we want a single word. Got an idea? Send your ideas to mel.lenehan@fircroft.ac.uk #AdultConversations as the email subject (or pop your idea on our Activist Tree!)

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We would love you to contribute to the #52weeks52speaks challenge. We are aiming to share and then publish 52 articles, commentaries, reviews, pieces, stories from adult educators (or their students). See where we have got to and send us your contribution. The final 52 will be published in a special education e-magazine at the end of the year. 

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We would love you to contribute to the #52weeks52speaks challenge. We are aiming to share and then publish 52 articles, commentaries, reviews, pieces, stories from adult educators (or their students). See where we have got to and send us your contribution. The final 52 will be published in a special education e-magazine at the end of the year. 

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Will you be 1 voice in our 52 for 2021?

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We are open to all types of contributions which focus on adult community education. This might be blog articles, academic articles, essays, poems, art works, podcasts, news pieces, stories, films - from either adult educators or students. They might be reflective pieces, sharing of experiences, research pieces, a polemic or a think piece. That's really up to you. We just ask that you please adhere to our community guidelines on ethos and values.

Want to attend the Big Conversation ? Book and join us 28th June: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-big-conversation-adultconversations-about-adult-community-education-tickets-156113769487

We welcome any offers of support so just get in touch. Our aims or 'purpose' can be found in the About section of the website.

Other ways you wish to support, contribute, amplify? Fantastic. Tell us. Want us to amplify you? Hop on board!

All contributions to #AdultConversations are reflective only of the views of the contributor. Our aim is to amplify voices from across and beyond Adult Community Education and we ask that you respect the diversity of those voices. All contributions will be reviewed before publication.

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We are open to all types of contributions which focus on adult community education. This might be blog articles, academic articles, essays, poems, art works, podcasts, news pieces, stories, films - from either adult educators or students. They might be reflective pieces, sharing of experiences, research pieces, a polemic or a think piece.

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Our ambitions are high!
Our costs are low!
Our impact will be glorious!
Read more here:

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#AdultConversations is a national campaign that was 'born' in a #JoyFE ideas room in autumn 2020.

It is a campaign for 2021 which will incorporate a set of events with the aim to:

12. Activate - each person attending the Big C onversation to commit to an action!

We will harness sector/communities and their thinking at this national event , the outputs of which will include commitments to action (eg conversations in attendees' spheres of influence) after which , Jo, Mel and Lou will 'paint' the 'ecology or ecosystem'. They and other representatives will take this map to conferences and put the conversation on political platforms and engage with related campaign bodies and commissions.

The mode of the Big Conversation will be Citizens' Assemblies, 3/4 provoc ateu rs speak ing for 5 mins and breakouts with core questions. When the event is advertised for booking (or people are invited) t he call to action and commitments for anyone attending th is event will be made clear. Attendees will be invited to write and send their commitments to action on a label/tag that will hang on a tree at Fircroft College in Birmingham - an adult education residential college.

We will seek out opportunities and invite people to be one of 52+ people to "talk about this stuff" - articles, press releases, tv, commentators. Target for the year is 52 outputs on adult community education to be tagged #adultconversations #52weeks52speaks. We are also putting together a bumper edition of the #JoyFE e-magazine in January 2022 which will feature all 52 featured articles . This is an adult community education spec ia l.

Contributions to #'52weeks52speaks can be a rticles, poems, stories, podcasts, photos, films, talks, blogs - anything which is about adult community education in any form and space. To be curated/gathered and amplified.

At the Big Conversation, we are also launching our word search. In the way Finland has sivistys and Germany has bildung, we are seeking to create a word for adult community education. So all suggestions welcome!

Lou, Jo and Mel along with any allies will write for publications and speak at events over the year to build awareness of the aims of #AdultConversations.

The 'campaign' will end at the end of 2021 but the outputs will p our out into 2022 staring with the publication of the speci a l edition e-magazine!

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AdultConversations is a national campaign that was 'born' in a #JoyFE ideas room in autumn 2020. It is a campaign for 2021 which will incorporate a set of events with the aim to: 12. Activate - each person attending the Big C onversation to commit to an action!

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#52weeks52speaks

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Take a look

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These are the tweets captured from #UKFEchat 15.10.20 on the topic of Adult Community Education. There were 12 questions fired out at speed and you can find them at the top of the Wakelet collection below. The rest is a rather random wander through the reponses (if they were tagged #UKFEchat!).

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Follow the link below to where you can tell us your thinking:

1. Your activist commitment
2. Your new word for 'adult community education'.

(add text to the boxes and send us one of these lovely images to hand form a tree at Fircroft College. or just send your words directly).

Email your 'leaf' to Mel Lenehan at Fircroft College mel.lenehan@fircroft.ac.uk

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Activism Tree 2021 - Circle Sticker by louise.mycroft

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Lou will set up a protocol for the Thinking Spaces called the Thinking Environment. Some attendees will be familiar with this. Here is a useful outline, produced by Lucy Harding.

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Big Conversation 28.6.21 - Presentation (16:9) by louise.mycroft

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Provocation 3 Jo Fletcher-Saxon - Presentation (16:9) by Jo Fletcher-Saxon

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Firstly I really enjoyed the three talks. A few things about bringing about change... we are the problem because I don't think any education sector in the world buys into more administration and standardisation than we do. I can think of countless tutors who are obsessed with flippin command verbs! If we want practically wise educators the sector needs to celebrate and encourage individuality. At the minute lots of adult educators are trained to be robots and programmed rather than developed as critical thinkers. The agenda needs to be around adult educators really trying ideas that are 'out of the box' rather than giving it a hashtag and staying safe in case they are seen as not believing in the standardisation myth. It should also be around educators asking themselves- do I really believe in what I am doing? Freedom to think, Freedom to teach, Freedom to be an individual! Now there is a battle cry!

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Thank you very much for all the brilliant and provocative presentations.
One of the ways forward is to strengthen the links between Adult Education and progression pathways such as HE. We do a lot of public and community engagement work and offer Post Compulsory Education teaching courses at our University Centre which is jointly offered by the University and LearnTelford, the adult learning provider in Telford ie the Council. We also host lots of community learning classes such as ESOL for members of different communities. We link in with the learners and the tutors to discuss progression. We also offer an English Café.

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Thank you to all. My apologies but I’ve got another external meeting with one of our funding bodies that I need to leave for. Very thought provoking talks and keen to be involved and further discussions in any way I can. I lead on adults & HE at Warrington & Vale Royal College so keen to make links with colleagues who value this as much as I. Enjoy everyone! rsalisbury-moss@wvr.ac.uk if anyone wants to link up

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What a great day with inspirational speakers. In the thinking space there was so much shared that supported me in my thinking. Story telling kept coming back to my mind and the need for adult learners to share what it means to them. Also so important for intergenerational spaces and individuals exploring language and stories together. Feel a need to move away from the label 'courses' and stop justifying that social learning experiences are just as important. Lots of discussion of how much was learnt over lockdown (and 'unlearning') where people had to be brave. Maybe some evaluation around that is needed?

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Professor Erinma Bell

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This week has confirmed to us that what we need to build is an Alliance.
A space to challenge to numbness
A place to build agency
A place to build connections and community
A place to know and see each other
A place from which to ACT