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AONTAS - The National Adult Learning Organisation

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Adult Education for Democracy with Lisa Kilbride and Dr Fergal Finnegan- AONTAS Webinar Series

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Dr Camilla Fitzsimons & Dr Mae Shaw in conversation, with Dr Bríd Smith as keynote listener. This podcast comes from the in-conversation piece held during the Community Education Webinar Series: Reasserting the Politics of Community Education.

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Dr Camilla Fitzsimons & Dr Mae Shaw in conversation, with Dr Bríd Smith as keynote listener. This podcast comes from the in-conversation piece held during the Community Education Webinar Series: Reasserting the Politics of Community Education.

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This podcast comes from the in-conversation piece held during the Community Education Webinar Series: Reasserting the Politics of Community Education. Tune in to hear the 2 Dr's insights!

Happy Listening!

Stream episode 1. Reassserting The Politics Of Community Education by EPALE Ireland podcast | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

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Reassserting The Politics Of Community Education Podcast - EPALE - European Commission

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This podcast comes from the in-conversation piece held during the Community Education Webinar Series: Reasserting the Politics of Community Education. Tune in to hear the 2 Dr's insights! Happy Listening! Stream episode 1. Reassserting The Politics Of Community Education by EPALE Ireland podcast | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

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This podcast centres around the in-conversation piece held between Dr Stephen Brookfield and Lilian Nwanze during part 2 of the Community Education Webinar Series: Becoming an Anti-racist Adult Education Practitioner

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This podcast centres around the in-conversation piece held between Dr Stephen Brookfield and Lilian Nwanze during part 2 of the Community Education Webinar Series: Becoming an Anti-racist Adult Education Practitioner

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If we're going to solve whatever problem this is-if it's even possible to solve the problem in the first place-we need to speak about it, for what problem has ever been solved that hasn't been spoken about? We have to start normalising this discomfort. - Lilian Nwanze

This podcast centres around the in-conversation piece held between Dr Stephen Brookfield and Lilian Nwanze during part 2 of the Community Education Webinar Series: Becoming an Anti-racist Adult Education Practitioner

You can listen to the brand new podcast on EPALE Ireland's Soundcloud which we have linked below.

Happy Listening!
Stream 2. Becoming An Anti - Racist Adult Education Practitioner by EPALE Ireland | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

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Becoming An Anti - Racist Adult Education Practitioner Podcast - EPALE - European Commission

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If we're going to solve whatever problem this is-if it's even possible to solve the problem in the first place-we need to speak about it, for what problem has ever been solved that hasn't been spoken about? We have to start normalising this discomfort.

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AONTAS is a partner on the Citizens' Xelerator project which funded today's event

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AONTAS is a partner on the Citizens' Xelerator project which funded today's event

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This section shares some of the scholarly contributions that form the basis of today's webinar

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This section shares some of the scholarly contributions that form the basis of today's webinar

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Here at AONTAS we gather learner stories that can inspire adults to go back to education and also demonstrate the power of adult and community education. 

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Here at AONTAS we gather learner stories that can inspire adults to go back to education and also demonstrate the power of adult and community education. 

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We also gathered learner stories a fascinating podcast series, another great way of hearing how education can transform lives.

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Our website uses cookies × An informal and authentic conversation sharing the personal stories of amazing people who returned to education as an adult learner. Every Day I'm Learning is real people opening up about their extraordinary lives, being both honest and vulnerable.

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Winnie's Story- back to learning in adulthood

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Winnie's Story- back to learning in adulthood

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Winnie bravely shared her story of a transformative learning experience at Dublin Adult Learning Centre.

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"I learned to read and write. I loved it. It was a place of healing. It is beautiful to be able to pick up a book and understand it. It empowered me as a woman."

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Winnie shares her experience of returning to education as an adult. Winnie's story is shared as part of the #CelebrateLearners2020 campaign and the Learners as Leaders Programme, which is funded by the European Agenda for Adult Learning. We were dehumanised. Imagine being told as a little girl that you would never amount to anything.

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Fergal's perspective on democratic adult education from AONTAS's Adult Learner Journal

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Fergal's perspective on democratic adult education from AONTAS's Adult Learner Journal

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Finnegan, F. (2016). The Future is Unwritten: Democratic adult education against and beyond neoliberalism. The Adult Learner, 46-58.

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Damian's story shows the value of lifelong learning in mature adulthood.

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Damien's story is being shared as part of the Adult Learners' Festival 2022, to celebrate and promote the value of returning to education as an adult.
Nothing in my wide range of experiences, both as a volunteer and professionally, prepared me for the effects of a near fatal accident that occurred in 2014. The catastrophic physical injuries were clear for everyone to see, and people marvelled how I recovered physically.

But what many, including myself, failed to recognise was the effect the accident had on my mental health. I was not willing or capable of recognising or understanding the toll that the accident had on my mind. I buried myself in my work as if to prove that I was stronger than the hidden anguish that I was living.

Eventually the time came that the stress of this buried anguish was having a detrimental effect on my physical health. I finally took the decision to give up work and take early retirement. It was after this when I no longer had work as a distraction, that the reality came into sharp focus. Against this mental anguish, the train of my life came to a shuddering abrupt halt. Terrified of my thoughts and emotions, I was floundering in a morass of fears and doubts. I arrived at a point where I thought the only way out for me, and my family, was to end my life. Eventually my family persuaded me to seek help. Thus commenced a slow but gradual recovery that continues to this day. There followed extensive engagement with the HSE mental health community team and subsequently my engagement with the HEADSUP Kildare programme that enabled me to realise that it was ok not to be ok and to recognise the value of my lived experience.
Learning with HEADSUP Kildare
The very first learning outcome for me on the programme was through interactions with other members of the group, which helped me to realise that I was not alone and that issues with mental health can affect people in many ways.

Over the course of HEADSUP, I also completed my own personal WRAP programme (Wellness, Recovery, Action, Planning) which added to my knowledge and awareness around my own mental health. The WRAP process supports you to identify the tools that keep you well and create action plans to put them into practice in your everyday life. All along the way, WRAP helps you incorporate key recovery concepts and wellness tools into your plans and your life. The key concepts of WRAP are: Hope, Personal responsibility, Education, and Self-advocacy.
Learning about Mental Health and Personal Goals
I learnt how mental health can be maintained and nurtured using the techniques and strategies of wellness, such as mindfulness, recognition of triggers and the power of sharing. Using these methods, I was able to build my own resilience. The programme also introduced me to strategies for setting personal goals, the importance of having clearly defined objectives and accepting the responsibility of achieving those goals. It equally taught me to expect to fail at times, and the importance of having a plan to get around those setbacks. The programme reinforced the importance of self-advocacy and accepting that, at times, you will need to fight for what is good for you as a person.
Sharing Stories
The sharing of stories of illness and recovery within the group setting was powerful and the connections created a shared bond of the lived experience of trauma. For me, it underlined the need not to isolate but to reach out to others, and that self-driven recovery will succeed far better in a supportive community. Hearing the testimony of my peers, those who had travelled a similar journey, helped me to understand my own journey and to recognise the skills and goodness that makes me who I am and the gifts that I can share with others.

The encouragement and caring of the HEADSUP team, together with the testimony of participants from previous programmes who had moved forward, set alight the beacon of hope in my life once more. This made it possible for me to come through the fog of muddled thoughts, empowering me to set objectives and goals, and to map the pathway to further recovery.

On completion of the 12-week programme provided by HEADSUP Kildare, I felt empowered by the skills that I had learnt to be confident in myself and to set goals for my future journey. One such goal was to equip myself with the knowledge and skills which would assist me in continuing my recovery and to be able to offer support to men who, like me, find it difficult to engage with their emotions and look after their mental health.

Continuing the Learning Journey

Since completing HEADSUP two years ago, I have successfully completed a course and have been awarded a certificate in Community Development and Leadership from NUI Maynooth.

Now, with the support and encouragement of the HEADSUP team, I am currently a student in DCU where I am working to gain a qualification that will enable me to be involved in the community as a peer support worker.

I now find myself as a member of the HEADSUP team, as a student on placement, supporting men like myself to get a better handle on their mental health.

I am also a keen amateur photographer and poet, which are two things I do to help support my mental health and which help me with my recovery. In both photography and poetry, I have made several contributions to the HEADSUP Facebook Page. It's good to be both seen and heard.

There is no doubt in my mind that my engagement with HEADSUP Kildare was pivotal to my recovery and return to believing in myself and my abilities, and to valuing my life and the possibilities of hope.
For more information on the AONTAS Adult Learners' Festival 2022, take a look at our website. Learn more about Heads Up Kildare here.

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I am heading into my sixty fifth year of life and still learning how to live

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Damien's story is being shared as part of the Adult Learners' Festival 2022, to celebrate and promote the value of returning to education as an adult. Nothing in my wide range of experiences, both as a volunteer and professionally, prepared me for the effects of a near fatal accident that occurred in 2014.

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Doing Critical and Creative Research in Adult Education

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“Doing Critical and Creative Research in Adult Education” published on 11 May 2020 by Brill.

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Connolly, B. & Hussey, P. (2013) The war against the people: Adult education practice for critical democracy, The Adult Learner: The Journal of Adult and Community Education in Ireland, pp. 75-89.

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Connolly, B. & Hussey, P. (2013) The war against the people: Adult education practice for critical democracy, The Adult Learner: The Journal of Adult and Community Education in Ireland, pp. 75-89.

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Community education and neoliberalism: Philosophies, practices and policies in Ireland.Fitzsimons C. (2017) Community education and neoliberalism: Philosophies, practices and policies in Ireland. Switzerland: Palgrave/MacMillan.

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Community education and neoliberalism: Philosophies, practices and policies in Ireland.Fitzsimons C. (2017) Community education and neoliberalism: Philosophies, practices and policies in Ireland. Switzerland: Palgrave/MacMillan.

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Fleming, T. (2012). Fromm and Habermas: Allies for adult education and democracy. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 31(2), 123-136.

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Fleming, T. (2012). Fromm and Habermas: Allies for adult education and democracy. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 31(2), 123-136.

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Interested in learning more and collaborating with colleagues? To join our Democracy & Adult Ed Community of Practice, email Conor at cthompson@aontas.com

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Interested in learning more and collaborating with colleagues? To join our Democracy & Adult Ed Community of Practice, email Conor at cthompson@aontas.com

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The Exact Moment I Became a Poet, by Paula Meehan

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The Exact Moment I Became a Poet, by Paula Meehan

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Lisa Kilbride (Dublin Adult Learning Centre) & Dr Fergal Finnegan (Maynooth University) discuss the democratic traditions in adult education. 

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Lisa Kilbride (Dublin Adult Learning Centre) & Dr Fergal Finnegan (Maynooth University) discuss the democratic traditions in adult education. 

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This section has the slides and resources from Fionnaigh's workshop from the Dublin Adult Learning Centre

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This section has the slides and resources from Fionnaigh's workshop from the Dublin Adult Learning Centre

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NALA resources book on misinformation, which people may not know about - https://www.nala.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Facts-Matter-a-guide-for-tutors.pdf

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Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them. Project number: 101087526