Usdaw’s Lifelong Learning Work

Date: 30 April 2007

Usdaw’s Lifelong Learning Work

This is the Executive Council’s second statement on Lifelong Learning. It summarises our progress since 1999, and details the wonderful work of our Union Learning Reps. But it also sets out our strategy and defines the next steps in our work to embed access to affordable learning in Usdaw organised workplaces.

It shows how together we can strive to remove the blight of inequality of access to adult learning and, through this, contribute to a fairer and more just society.

Usdaw's Lifelong Learning work was formally launched and given direction by the Executive Council Statement on Lifelong Learning at our 1999 Annual Delegate Meeting. From this beginning the work has grown very quickly.

Since then:

• Over 20,000 Usdaw members have re-engaged in some form of learning.
• Union Learning Reps have won legal rights and a growing network of more than 500 trained Usdaw Union Learning Reps has been established.
• Over 50 workplaces have set up, or are in the process of setting up, Workplace Learning Centres.
• Agreements and policies have been negotiated with employers, committing employers to working to make Lifelong Learning affordable and accessible.

We have grown from piloting different approaches in a small number of workplaces to beginning to embed and mainstream access to Lifelong Learning across all the sectors we organise - in workplaces large and small.

This makes it timely to sum up our experience, enrich our policy by incorporating what we have learnt and identify some key steps to move forward our initiative to make learning affordable and accessible for our members.

This Executive Council Statement will:

• Begin by looking at what is meant by Lifelong Learning and what it means for Usdaw members and the broader context in which we work.
• Outline some of the key principles that guide our Lifelong Learning Strategy.
• Our experience has allowed us to define different approaches to suit the different situations in which Usdaw members work. The third section will look at these in some detail.
• Outline the key steps we need to take to move the work forward.

Usdaw's Lifelong Learning Work was correct at date of publication April 2007.

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Last Modified: Friday, 03-Oct-2008 01:51:31 EST