Meta-skills: exciting opportunity or neo-liberal retread?

The term Meta-skills has become prominent in education in the last decade and, in Scotland, has increasingly been seen at the forefront of policy agendas. Based on the idea of Metacognition, and so claiming to derive from evidence of Psychology and Cognitive Science, the Meta-skills concept seems to offer an exciting and quintessentially 21st century opportunity.  Or does it? Is the idea coherent and evidence-based? Indeed, is it new or merely a rebranding of those key/core/transferable/soft skills that have been contested since the 1980s?  Does it represent a further neo-liberal strategy to vocationalise education, prioritising making learners ‘ready for the market’? This paper asks what are Meta-skills and what do they have to offer (or threaten) to those working in adult education

Hamish Henderson and Cultural Activism

This article is based on The Hamish Henderson Memorial Lecture given in the Scottish Storytelling Centre on 9th November 2024.  I start with some general thoughts on what is culture, and cultural activism. Then I examine the cultural activism of Hamish Henderson (1919-2002) poet, songwriter, soldier and scholar. He was a world-renowned folklorist, a pioneering lecturer in the School of Scottish Studies, founded in Edinburgh University In 1951, and a leader in the folk song revival of the 1950s and 1960s. His activism was influenced by the ideas of Antonio Gramsci, Italian Marxist philosopher and writer (1891-1937) imprisoned and tortured by the fascist Italian state. Gramsci was also a very important influence on the Liberation movement in Latin American in the 1960s and 70s. I will discuss how the influence of Paolo Freire came to be embedded in the practice of the Adult Learning Project (ALP) in Edinburgh and share some examples of liberating cultural action which demonstrate the values and beliefs ALP shared with Henderson, Gramsci and Freire

Community Education, Populism and Deliberative Democracy

Politics have been transformed by populism in this past decade resulting in political culture becoming increasingly polarised and angry. This article aims to better understand populism by drawing on a range of perspectives in fields such as political sociology, psychology and psychoanalysis. The article accounts for populism’s rise by exploring factors such as financial crises, changing demographics, especially in relation to education, and the transformative impact of social media on political culture. The article also considers the role of emotive reasoning in shaping populism and political persuasion more broadly. Drawing on ideas associated with Jurgen Habermas, the article argues that deliberative democracy, when applied to learning environments in community education, provides a way of making politics less polarised and angry and more deliberative and dialogical.&nbsp

Community Health and Multi-directional integration in Cables Wynd House, Leith: Community Development Approaches

In this article, I reflect on my experience of working alongside community activists trying to support community health and multi-directional integration in Cables Wynd House (‘the Banana Flats’), Leith, and how its reputation in the city may have presented difficulties. I bring together insights from Community Development, Migration Studies and other disciplines, as well as reflections on my own practice, and suggest a model for working towards community health and multi-directional integration in neighbourhoods on the receiving end of area-based stigma

Matrescence: On the Metamorphosis of Pregnancy, Childbirth and Motherhood (2023)

I came across Matrescence by Lucy Jones when I was 9 months deep into my own period of postpartum fog. I hadn’t slept for more than 60 minutes at a time, my hair was falling out in handfuls, I was dehydrated, over-caffeinated, simultaneously over and under stimulated, I had not read a book since my baby was born or brushed my teeth more than once a day. I felt both at my most lonely and my most connected, pulled through by my partner, family and close female friends who had done it before me. I had, up to this point, reliably got through life with a mixture of conscientiousness, enthusiasm and perfectionism. I yearned deeply to become a mum but the reality was not what I expected. My love for my son was like nothing I had ever known, and yet, so was the anxiety. I was consumed with obsessively tracking everything he did in the hope I might finally ‘get it right’. I was supposed to be good at this. This was what I was ‘meant’ to do. However, despite all my preparation and research, my baby wouldn’t sleep, needed held constantly, had a bad latch and cried inconsolably in cafes across the city. In my state of extreme sleep deprivation and mental depletion not only was I seemingly getting everything wrong but I felt wrong too

Exploring community engagement methods and approaches, a one-day workshop for anyone in the Fife area to build their skills in this environment, Glenrothes, November 2024.

Community Engagement: we hear it a lot, particularly from politicians when talking about controversial topics and projects: “We engaged with the community, and this is what they wanted”. In tourism, it can be used to find the balance between the social impacts of development – ensuring that what we, as development practitioners, do is in the community’s best interests. Responsible tourism looks at the social, economic and environmental factors; one of these is objective – money – you can count it. Another of these is theoretically measurable on both macro and micro levels, though tough to define - environmental. The final is very subjective and nearly impossible to measure with any proper level of accuracy – social. That’s where community engagement comes in

University Sponsored Adult Community Education: Exploring Motivations to Expand Diversity

Community education offered by colleges and universities is an underexplored element of higher education. Community education includes non-credit and non-credentialing experiences that are offered by an institution for the benefit of the community. These courses, workshops, seminars, etc. can range from highly formal, such as adult basic education, to the highly informal, such as game nights in a college student center (Fletcher, 1989). The purpose of community education is the development of individuals in a community, whether to an expressed end or for the purpose of building human capital through socialization (Fletcher, 1989; Sole & Wilkins, 1976; Western et al, 2005)

Community Development through Leisure Adult Learning:: The Role of Mature Adult Groups

Community education groups can play an important role in reducing social isolationism among mature adults. The current study describes one such organization that has played an important part in the lives of about 30 mature women who have an average age of 76. Through semi-structured interviews, a thematic analysis showed that the organization has played a critical role in their social interactions, creating deep bonds among the women. What began as a group dedicated to education evolved into a strong social support network that has provided important social capital development for participants

A Playful Approach to the Five Ways to Wellbeing

In 2008, the New Economics Foundation (NEF) was commissioned to develop a set of evidence-based actions that would improve personal wellbeing and consequently, demonstrate \u27real economic wellbeing\u27 (Aked et al, 2008). Acknowledging the importance of personal, social, cultural, environmental, and economic determinants of health, the NEF replicated the ideals of the 5-a-Day campaign using advice from the World Health Organization to promote the need to eat at least five portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables every day, due to the significant health benefits this brings (NHS, 2022).Consequently, the NEF developed a new and creative approach to health promotion and developed the Five Ways to Wellbeing (Aked et al, 2008), which encourage us to Connect…   Be active… Take notice… Keep learning… Give. These five simple steps can be followed every day to enhance mental health and wellbeing (Mind, 2023).&nbsp

The Golden Thread: Strengthening Community Education professionals\u27 practice in Higher Education through Shared Principles and Values

Abstract: The community education team at the University of the West of Scotland engaged in a critical planning day that sparked rich dialogue and critical debate. This article reflects on the insights and evaluations from this session, aiming to unify the community of practice in higher education around core principles and values. The goal is to establish a consensus on these shared values and principles, supporting future co-production, scholarship, and the development of the programme at UWS. Central to our identity are the shared values of social justice and human rights, aligning with both community education policy and the civic engagement principles of the University. This paper highlights our commitment to these \u27ideals\u27 and their influence on our teaching, learning, and assessment practices. Our work is grounded in theoretical foundations from John Dewey, Antonio Gramsci, and Paulo Freire, emphasising community, democracy, cultural hegemony, and critical consciousness. These principles guide our critical civic praxis and our collective approach to teaching and community engagement. Higher education plays a crucial role in promoting diversity, social inclusion, and community. By fostering grassroots activism, we aim to empower and engage in democratic processes and challenge regressive ideologies. Our objective is to inspire students to embrace these values and sustain movements for social change