Last night we gathered with other Adult Community Education providers around the city and celebrated our learners at the Festival of Adult Learning showcase. It was wonderful to see the community come together to listen and chat about the importance of lifelong education. The night began with an introduction to the development of the festival which can be traced back to the 1980s and is now celebrated in over 40 countries! This was followed by a video showcase and prizegiving acknowledging all the fantastic video contributions from current learners.
The festival is an opportunity to raise the profile of adult education and build community spirit through learning. Each year, the festival is guided by a theme to promote these goals, and this year’s theme was “My Learning Why” – “Tōku Akoranga, he aha āi?”. Every learner has a unique “why” behind their learning journeys. Whether it’s a personal passion, a career aspiration, or a desire for personal growth. Understanding each learner’s “why” is key to unlocking their full potential.
With this prompt in mind, we invited learners to send in a short video sharing their unique learning “why”. For Helen– one of our hand-building pottery students– learning is about slowing down and taking time to connect with her passions and with others. For Mak, who has been a keen learner of languages at Risingholme, keeping curious and expanding his mind is the motivation. Have a listen to their videos in full below!
Thank you to Helen and Mak for sharing their learning journey, and to Ako Aotearoa Southern Manager, Jennifer Leahy who led the organising team for this year’s festival alongside Lottie Vinson from WEA- Canterbury Worker’s Educational Association and Frank Manzano from SkillWise.