Disengaged and Low-Skill Adult Learners in Victoria

• In Event: Roundtable Session 52
  In Roundtable Session: Engagement and Literacy in Adult Learning

Abstract

This paper explores strategies adopted by education and training providers in Victoria, Australia, in addressing implications of ambitious national participation targets for increasing rates of attainment for low skill mature learners.

Three separate modes of data collection and analysis are drawn on in discussion – a statistical scoping of the target population, a comprehensive literature review surveying Australian and overseas literature on disengaged learners and targeted interviews with fourteen key stakeholders.

The paper provides a brief analysis of disengaged adult learners, including individual and background characteristics that reduce the likelihood of their successful engagement. It then factors supporting successful engagement, covering:

a. Outreach strategies
b. student well-being
c. educational practices and
d. transition support to further education and training.

Authors

• Merryn Davies, University of Melbourne

• Stephen Lamb, University of Melbourne