Learning for Living

1
Learning for Living

• Bruce Lynch Project Manager Foundation
  Learning
• DDI (00 64 4) 463 7524
• email bruce.lynch_at_minedu.govt.nz

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Formative assessment

• Not a current explicit focus but rising in
  importance
• Many components of our Learning for Living work
  feature formative assessment
• Research increasingly points to the importance of
  formative assessment as a teaching and learning
  tool

3
Learning for Living

• Is about making a range of shifts in
  understanding, practice and outcomes at all
  levels of tertiary education to ensure that
  learning delivers the competent individuals New
  Zealand needs
• Aims to build adults competency in using the
  tools of literacy, numeracy and language

4
Our Work Programme

• Phase One
• Build an evidence base about what works
• Develop tools and resources
• Cultivate expertise in the sector
• Build the knowledge needed to develop an
  effective funding mechanism focused on learner
  outcomes
• Phase Two
• Introduce a new funding mechanism to ensure
  learners can access quality learning
  opportunities in appropriate contexts

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Programme

• Research
• Exploratory projects
• Tertiary framework

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National Professional Development Initiative

• Research evidence has informed the focus of
  professional development on reading and numeracy
• 30 providers arranged into 6 area clusters
• One or two developers working with each cluster
• Two specialist groups in reading and numeracy
• Research team to evaluate the impact

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Economic transformation

• Governments 5 year plan aims to
• Significantly increase the literacy, numeracy and
  language skills of the workforce at the
  low-skilled end
• Improve settlement outcomes for new migrants and
  refugees
• Raise foundation skills of parents with poor
  education attainment who want to support their
  childrens learning

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Upskilling the Workforce

• Helping employers to raise employees skills to
  lift productivity and profitability
• Encourage greater participation by employees in
  training by developing high quality relevant
  programmes
• Effective, relevant and accessible literacy,
  numeracy and language provision that meets the
  needs of the workplace and the learner

9
Formative assessment in New Zealand

• Research into effective practice informs policy
  development
• Quality assurance arrangements with an emphasis
  on self-assessment and individual learning plans
• New adult educator qualifications include
  formative assessment
• A national assessment tool which can be used for
  formative assessment