Hon. Marian Hobbs - Adult Education Speech
Hon. Marian Hobbs
8 September 2000 Speech Notes
ADULT AND COMMUNITY EDUCATION ASSN ADULT LEARNERS' WEEK AWARDS CEREMONY, GRAND HALL, PARLIAMENT, FRIDAY 8 SEPTEMBER, 11AM
Response to welcome, karakia and opening remarks by Conrad Noema and Loreen Hartley-Waihi.
Delighted to be here to celebrate achievements of you all.
Today September 8 is the United Nations International Literacy Day.
This year it's a global interactive event on "Creating literate societies for the 21st Century".
The global launch will take place in Hannover in the early hours of tomorrow morning our time (4.30pm Central European Time). Co-ordinators of International Adult Learners' Weeks will be linked via the Web.
Launch will focus on the dramatic increase in social demand for on-going learning at all ages and for the enhancement of creativity in all areas of life.
Important that we recognise that throughout the globe, we continue to learn throughout our lives. I'm still learning – that's the thrill and frustration of any new job.
The aim of UN International Literacy Day is to create environments which allow learners to use, maintain and further develop their literacy competencies for their own development and for their communities.
Our Adult Learners' Week/He Tangata Matauranga is a celebration of adults' learning that brings together people from many different educational sectors.
It enables us to celebrate and to highlight the situation of adult learners.
Not just the learners but educators and providers too.
The week is also to foster collaborative and co-operative networks and pathways among those who share interest in adults' learning – because it is formal, non-formal and informal.
And to promote the importance of adult learning to the wider community and encourage more adults to take up learning opportunities.
It's become a cliché but education is a life-long process.
Interesting to note on television on Monday night, (This is Your Life), Peter Snell's great pride in achieving academic success after his competitive Olympic days. He regarded himself a poor student at secondary school.
My happy and stretching years at Hagley
Community College – what adult learners taught me –
interaction in classroom – stretching me – my assertions not
enough – I was challenged to back them up.
Adult learners
are unique:
Tend towards
self-direction
Have a reservoir of experiences
that can be used in learning.
Are
problem-centred and task-orientated.
Like to
apply their knowledge immediately.
Can become
informed political activists.
Research suggests adults
learn for a variety of reasons:
Personal, vocational,
social, cultural and political.
As stated the Hamburg
Declaration on Adult Learning (1997)—
"Youth and adult
learning is one of the principal means for significantly
increasing creativity and productivity, in the widest sense
of those terms and these in turn are indispensable to
meeting the complex and interrelated problems of a world
beset by accelerating change and growing complexity and
risk."
As a community we have to learn – genetic modification, climate change – because in order to make sound choices, we need to understand the choices before us.
Shortly I will have the pleasure of handing out awards
for
Outstanding Adult Learners
Exceptional Adult
Educators
And
Innovative Providers
It's been humbling for me reading the testimonials nominating the award recipients.
You're not just an inspiration for me but for all you come into contact with.
Your determination to learn, to inspire, to teach is infectious. You are important exemplars.
Your maturity brings insight to why there were barriers to your earlier learning; or you can recognise barriers that younger students may be erecting and do something about it.
With learning comes so many benefits – confidence, self-esteem, respect for yourself and others, leadership.
You contribute so much to society.
Thank you and congratulations for what you have achieved. And I know this is not the end of your education. You and I will continue to grow and our society will benefit.
ENDS