Strategy 2003-2007Generating knowledge and transforming it into practice

Why the National Research and Development Centre for Adult Literacy and Numeracy (NRDC) was created

Literacy, numeracy and English for Speakers of OtherLanguages (ESOL) needs in the adult populationhave been recogniised for decades. A major nationalcampaign was mounted in the 1970s to address theissues.

In 1996, the Organisation of Economic Cooperationand Development reported on an international survey,a major study ‘The International Adult LiteracySurvey’. As a result, a national committee wasestablished to investigate the issues. The Committeechaired by Lord Moser, reported in 1999.

The Moser report A Fresh Start highlighted the needfor urgent action in the light of the scale of thechallenge. They estimated that:

• up to 7 million adults in England had significantproblems with literacy

• 40% of the population had very low numeracyskills.

The report also estimated that only 250,000 of those 7 million adults were at that time undertaking anyrelevant course of study.

In 2001 the Department for Education and Skills(DfES) responded to this challenge by launching theSkills for Life Strategy. Skills for Life set an initial aimof helping to improve the literacy and numeracyachievement of 750,000 adults by 2004, rising to 1.5million by 2007.

The Moser Committee report also noted that:

• there were major gaps in our knowledge aboutliteracy, numeracy and ESOL

• further research was needed, including:

• the benefits of developing basic skills for individuals and the economy

• continued use of longitudinal studies which focus on the impact of basic skills, and the intergenerational impact of basic skills needs in adult learning

• studies of the effectiveness of different approaches to teaching, learning and assessment in literacy, numeracy and language learning with an international dimension

• an international comparative evaluation of the impact of policies and initiatives on literacy, numeracy and language.

• research in the past had focused on problems withreading and to a lesser extent with ‘numberwork’.Future research should focus on:

• language and numeracy for speakers of other languages

• writing• oral communication skills• ICT and other key skills• learners with disabilities and those with

learning difficulties, including dyslexia• assessment procedures• literacy and numeracy needs at work, across a

range of occupations.

The Skills for Life strategy responded to the Moserreport’s recommendations by establishing a NationalResearch and Development Centre for Adult Literacyand Numeracy.

ContentsForeword 6Introduction 8Strategic aims 12Getting the process right 16Developing NRDC’s programmes 22Programme One 24Programme Two 27Programme Three 30Programme Four 34Programme Five 36

Communication and impact 38Engaging practitioners inresearch and development 44Advisory Group 46

CONTENTS

Skills for Life is an all embracing literacy, language andnumeracy strategy, covering all 16+ learners on pre-entry upto Level 2, discrete and embedded provision, classroom,community and voluntary and work based learning withassessment through Key Skills, GCSE Maths and English andAdult Literacy and Numeracy Skills certification. It alsoengages with the emerging 14–19 strategy, the initiative forencouraging young people to commit to continued learning,whether in school, college or the workplace.

Forewordby Susan Pember, Director, Adult Basic Skills Strategy Unit (ABSSU)

I am delighted to introduce theStrategy for the National Researchand Development Centre for AdultLiteracy and Numeracy.

The Centre is a cornerstone of the Skills for Lifestrategy created by government to improve thelevels of literacy, language and numeracy skillsof millions of adults. Sound research, and thedevelopment of the professional workforce, arecrucial to the continued success of Skills for Lifein meeting the demands for skills at work and athome, and helping adults to participate in thesuccess of the UK economy.

NRDC was established by the DfES with aunique remit. Firstly, we placed emphasis on‘development’ as well as research. The Centrebrings together the best UK researchers in thefield, together with talented and experienceddevelopment professionals.

The intention is both to change practice and tohelp take forward policy on the basis of newknowledge. The achievement of learners is atthe heart of the Centre’s concerns, and researchis the means to that end. We know that researchneeds development as a key to transformingresearch findings into practice. Here, the twoare brought together in an innovative way.

The second aspect of the Centre’s unique remitis its commitment to effective and sustainedcommunication and ‘impact’ activitiesthroughout the course of its life, not just at theend of individual research projects. We havehigh hopes that this innovative approach to aneducational research centre – I believe it is a‘first’ – will make a real difference, helping us toattract many more learners and helping them toachieve their goals and achieve perhaps theirfirst-ever qualification.

The Skills for Life strategy sets challengingtargets. But we have already achieved a greatdeal, and we believe we will meet thechallenge. Many more adults with literacy,numeracy and language needs are now engagedwith learning – an estimated 1.5 million. Morethan 300,000 people have achieved a recognisednational qualification, mainly the National Test.Over 200,000 people have telephoned forinformation and advice as a result of the ‘GetOn’ campaign to attract new learners, and wehave achieved over 90% public recognition ofthe ‘Gremlins’ campaign. Bolstered by newpolicies such as Success for All and the new SkillsStrategy, we are confident of making thequantum leap we need.

We look to the Centre to demonstrate whateffective teaching and learning are about,bringing together quality and innovation. Wewant to use evidence to ensure a continuing risein standards and in learners’ achievements. Wealso want the Centre to ensure that teachers andother professionals learn from, implement anddevelop their practice from guidance based onreliable research.

Through the Centre, we have a rare opportunityto tackle a deep-seated problem in a thoroughway. This is why we look to NRDC to give usthe knowledge and the tools to ensure Skills forLife succeeds and innovatory practices aredeveloped and sustained.

FOREWORD | 7

IntroductionNRDC’s visionTo become an internationally recognised centre of excellence forresearch, development and effective practice in adult literacy,numeracy and ESOL

NRDC’s strategy is the result of consultation,debate and reviews of existing knowledge andresearch activity in literacy, language andnumeracy. It is an ambitious strategy and we areexcited by the challenge of delivering itsuccessfully. We are committed to working closelywith all our partners in the research and policycommunities, and with practitioners and learnersengaged in Skills for Life. We want to blend rigourwith risk; careful analysis and hard facts withinnovation and risk; and anticipate learning needsfor a fast-changing future.

The opportunity to learn and to practice literacyand numeracy and use the English language

successfully is a critically important right for everyperson, as well as for the economic and socialwell-being of the country. We hope to contribute tomaking more and better opportunities and a richand growing culture of literacy and numeracypractices for everyone in our society.

Please work with us. We would like feedback onour strategy, which we will review regularly. Wewelcome new ideas, creative thinking andimportant information at any time to help usdevelop and promote a vibrant research culture inthe field.

Ursula Howard, Director, NRDC

About NRDC

NRDC is the national centre dedicated to research anddevelopment on adult literacy, numeracy and ESOL. It wasestablished by the DfES Adult Basic Skills Strategy Unit(ABSSU) in 2002 as part of Skills for Life, the nationalstrategy for improving adult literacy and numeracy skills. It isfunded by the DfES for five years. It is an expert andexperienced consortium, led by the Institute of Education,University of London. It aims to provide an independentvoice through rigorous and relevant research.

The purpose of the Centre is to improve practice andinform policy through the generation of new and usefulknowledge, by creating a strong interdisciplinary researchculture in the field, and by developing professionalpractice. We seek synergy across all our programmes andwork to ensure that outcomes are communicated effectively.Whenever appropriate we will bring together evidence fromseparate but related studies to enhance their usefulness inaddressing key issues relating to Skills for Life.

NRDC’s unique remit is to design and conduct research anddevelopment. Linking the two to create a strong evidencebase, we will promote the use of, and engagement in, researchby practitioners and policy makers. We are devisingprogrammes of work using a staged, cyclical approach, so thatthe programmes have a strong and positive impact, embeddingfindings and messages in practice and informing the futuredevelopment of policy. We work closely with stakeholders andpartners at local, national and international levels. We prioritisethe engagement of practitioners in research and development.We are focused on the needs and success of learners.

The NRDC consortium partners are:• Institute of Education, University of London• Literacy Research Centre, Lancaster University• School of Continuing Education, The University of

Nottingham• School of Education, The University of Sheffield• East London Pathfinder Consortium• Liverpool Lifelong Learning Partnership• Basic Skills Agency (BSA)• Learning and Skills Development Agency (LSDA)• London Language and Literacy Unit, South Bank

University• NationalInstituteof Adult Continuing Education

(NIACE).• King’s College, University of London

A wider group of associates contribute to the Centre’swork, including:• The University of Leeds• Read on, Write Away, Derbyshire• Cambridge Training and Development • Centre for British Teachers (CfBT)• Portland College.

Working with stakeholders

Many organisations will be critical to NRDC’s success.As well as ABSSU, and Analytical Services Division atthe DfES, we will work closely with organisations andagencies, including:

• the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), national and local

• the DfES Standards Unit• other government departments, particularly Work

and Pensions (Jobcentre Plus); Trade and Industry,and Culture, Media and Sport

• cross-government units • the National Education Research Forum (NERF) at

the DfES and the other major DfES researchcentres

• Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)Teaching and Learning Research Programme

• the Offenders’ Learning and Skills Unit and theYouth Justice Board

• the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI) and Ofsted • the Sector Skills Development Agency and Sector

Skills Councils (SSCs)• employers, unions and the TUC• the Regional Development Agencies• the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA)• the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit• national organisations concerned with literacy,

numeracy, language and learners with disabilitiesand those with learning difficulties includingdyslexia and dyscalculia

• goverment departments and key organisations inNorthern Ireland, Wales and Scotland.

INTRODUCTION | NRDC’S VISION | 9

The context

Unprecedented social, economic and technological changes are impacting on education globally, atall levels, and in fundamental ways. Basic questions are being asked about the nature of learning andits social and economic significance. What needs to be learned is changing, and the ways in which itis learned are changing. This has important implications for practice and provides great opportunitiesand challenges. New research is yielding new theories and methodologies that take account of thechanging nature of knowledge and media, and increasing linguistic and cultural diversity.

NRDC’s strategy is contributing to these new understandings within this rapidly changing context.When applied to the field of adult literacy, numeracy and ESOL, there is a set of policy issuesunderpinning the Skills for Life strategy that can be addressed by research and development.

• Adults are voluntary participants. Their learninggoals vary, their lives and commitments arecomplex. They bring to learning a personal history,often including a negative experience of initialeducation. We need to understand the impact ofearlier life and education, to maximise adults’chances of re-engaging successfully.

• Levels of literacy, numeracy and language.Significant proportions of adults have literacy,numeracy and ESOL needs, and there are issuesconcerning the relation of these to familybackground, initial education and their effects onlater life.

• Numeracy. There has been a more recentawareness of and focus on problems withnumeracy, their crucial relationship toemployment, and their past neglect by researchers.In particular, there are institutional demands forgreater and more complex financial skills forindividuals and families as well as for businesses.

• International comparisons. There are questionsabout levels of literacy and numeracy in the UK inrelation to other developed countries. Comparisonswithin the UK economy suggest a polarised skillsprofile, with a low skills base alongside a highgraduate population, leaving a critical gap inintermediate skills.

• New technologies. New technologies impact allareas of life. In education they provide potentialnew tools for learning. At the same time, there is a

danger that lack of access and skills will exacerbatea ‘digital divide’.

• Language and cultural issues arising fromincreased mobility and displacement.

• Changing demands in the home and workplace.Social and technological changes are leading toconstantly changing demands for literacy,numeracy, English language skills and ICT, atwork and in all domains of life.

• The shift to a higher-skills economy, the changingnature of employment, greater mobility,displacement and increasing uncertainty all makegreater skill demands on individuals andcommunities. Such changes highlight the need forlearning throughout life in non-formal as well asformal contexts.

• Social inclusion. There are well documented linksbetween qualifications gained in school educationand patterns of participation in post-16 learning;similarly, low levels of educational achievement arereflected in low levels of active participation incommunity and social activities.

• Demographic changes. There is an ageingpopulation who need to sustain independence,health and well-being, all of which require skills –with proven links between learning and health.

10 | INTRODUCTION | NRDC’S VISION

Policies and initiatives which NRDC’s work will aim to inform, support and develop include:

• the Skills for Life strategy and targets, which aimto reduce dramatically the number of adults withliteracy, numeracy and ESOL difficulties

• Key Skills, a range of essential skills, closelyrelated to basic skills, that underpin success ineducation, employment, lifelong learning andpersonal development

• Jobcentre Plus, the Department for Work andPensions initiative for improving support for jobseekers including basic skills training

• Success for All, the government’s strategy toimprove the quality of teaching and learning,develop teacher education, develop leadership andmanagement and improve governance andaccountability across post-16 learning and skillsprovision

• reforms to 14–19 education, with its strong focuson vocational learning, manageable assessment, asimpler, clearer qualifications framework,particularly for vocational qualifications, and widerchoice for learners

• The post-16 qualifications framework, and therange of new and revised qualifications atadvanced level

• the National Skills Strategy and Delivery Plan

• the DfES e-learning strategy and therecommendation that ICT should become a basicskill and entitlement

• the National Health Service University (NHSU),with an estimated 60,000 NHS staff who may havedifficulty with literacy, numeracy and ESOL; andlearning opportunities for patients and carers toimprove substantially literacy, language andnumeracy and their positive links to health

• University for Industry(Ufi)/learndirect which aimsto fit learning into life, using ICT to meet theneeds of learners and employers, bringing neweducational opportunities to adults, promotingsocial inclusion and offering programmes withliteracy and numeracy skills

• the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit promoting highquality education, housing and better health in the88 most deprived wards in the country

• the Disability Discrimination Act, 1995, Part IV ofwhich specifically promotes the educational needsof adult learners and the necessity to makereasonable adjustments for the learning of literacyand numeracy

• LSC’s Skills for Life Quality Initiative,encompassing professional development forteachers, managers and leaders.

INTRODUCTION | NRDC’S VISION | 11

Strategic aims

Our strategic aims are to:

• become, within five years, an internationally recognised centre of excellence forresearch and the development of effective practice in adult literacy, numeracyand ESOL

• create a coherent and reliable research resource which develops literacy,numeracy and ESOL policy, improves practice and identifies further researchneeds

• establish reliable and useful research evidence drawn from quantitative,qualitative and experimental methods and develop a strong internationaldimension to our work, sharing ideas

• engage with, refresh and help take forward the Skills for Life strategy

• create new theory, scholarship and innovative thinking in the field, engaginginterdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary approaches

• contribute to establishing a strong professional identity for teachers and otherpractitioners, through new training and development frameworks

• devise new ways of transforming research and development, so that they areeffectively and routinely used to develop policy and practice, and supportresearchers in communicating with practitioners about research findings

• build research capacity, reflective practice and career development, through thesystematic engagement of teachers and other practitioners in the Centre

• systematically engage the users of research – particularly: employers andunions, teachers and the wider Skills for Life workforce, and agents of change incommunities and the wider social context

• draw on research and good practice from across the world, developing andsharing ideas and outcomes.

To support these aims, the Centre will attract new sponsorship and sources offunding for research, development, evaluation and impact studies in adult literacy,numeracy and ESOL.

STRATEGIC AIMS | 13

What we stand for

The values and principles underpinning NRDC’sactivity are:

• to ensure that the needs of learners are the centralfocus of our work

• to address equality and diversity in all our activities• to engage practitioners in all stages of our work• to exemplify good partnership, working within and

beyond the consortium• to work in accordance with accepted ethical

frameworks for research• to make NRDC’s operations as transparent as

possible• to work towards a world-class standard in our

research and development.

Ensuring flexibilityBecause significant new issues can emerge quickly,flexibility will be essential. During the five year periodof the NRDC strategy, we will review annually thepriorities and activities across the five programmes, aswell as our strategies for communication, disseminationand impact, and for practitioner engagement. In thisway, we will ensure that the focus remains timely andeach programme is able to incorporate significant newdevelopments, synergy with other research and policyperspectives.

Delivering the strategy

NRDC’s strategy will be delivered through a ‘DeliveryPlan’ as part of Skills for Life; together with annualoperating plans and reports. These will be available onNRDC’s website.

Evaluating NRDC’s success

NRDC will evaluate the quality of its work and itsimpact on its users. NRDC’s evaluative self-assessmentwill ask:

• are we meeting our strategic aims?• is our research and development of high quality,

offering evidence and knowledge from rigorous andinnovative processes?

• are we constantly addressing the interests of learnersand potential learners?

• are we successfully engaging practitioners?• are we having a positive impact on practice?• is our research usefully informing policy?

NRDC will embed self-evaluation into our programmesand projects. This assessment will be formative,summative and evaluative. Our annual Operational Planincludes delivery and impact performance measures.Evaluation will focus on NRDC’s impact onpractitioners, particularly teachers. It will also draw oncomparison with initiatives in other countries.

NRDC’s external Advisory Group will guide ourevaluation and impact strategy. Evaluation reports willbe made available through the website. At the end ofthe strategy period a final summative evaluation reportwill be published.

14 | STRATEGIC AIMS

“For the first time since I am in England, I feel I belong to something.I am part of a group of students, people in some way like me, eagerto learn and improve each day. They are real people, with families,dreams and worries, not the distant human shapes I used to seethrough my window.”Coare, P and A Thomson (eds.)(1996) Through the Joy of Learning: diary of 1,000 Adult Learners. NIACE.

Getting the process right:a strategic approach About 30 years ago there was much talk that geologistsought only to observe and not theorise; and I wellremember someone saying that at this rate a man mightas well go into a gravel pit and count the pebbles anddescribe the colours. How odd it is that anyone shouldnot see that all observation must be for or against someview if it is to be of any service!Charles Darwin, 18 September 1861

NRDC is committed to ensuring that its research isboth methodologically rigorous and grounded in theneeds of learners, practitioners and employers. Wemake every effort to reflect these commitments in allstages of the research process, particularly by involvingpolicy and practice communities in the planning anddelivery of our work.

We see the research and development process asincluding work to identify effective practices andensure that these and other research outcomes aredeveloped and applied as widely as possible in therelevant policy and practice contexts. Impact isintegral to all we do. It is not just a linear process of‘what we do with the results’.

The stages of research engage a wide range ofstakeholders, practitioners, policy makers and othersin a cycle that can be expressed diagrammatically, as inFigure 1. This diagram summarises a complex anditerative process; research and development includesthe whole of this cycle, not just the ‘investigating’part. Planning the work, in collaboration withappropriate policy and practice inputs, is vital to thegeneration of useful research evidence anddevelopment products. Equally, we will work totransform the outcomes to integrate them into theeveryday activities of practice. Research evidence onits own rarely leads directly to large changes.

The stages of this diagram may also be repeated,jumped, or omitted in the circumstances of individualprojects.

GETTING THE PROCESS RIGHT | 17

Reviewing impact • Contributing to policy development • Working to integrate into practice •

Communicating with stakeholders • Distilling messages •

Transforming and interpreting findings for users •

Identifying potential for change • Theorising/generalising from research •

Establishing findings •

• Analysing needs• Agreeing priorities

• Identifying beneficiaries• Surveying existing research and

knowledge bases• Theorising/hypothesising• Developing conceptualframeworks• Designing the research• Identifying resources• Specifying and contracting

• Gathering data• Analysing data

• Consulting - peer/expert/merit• Testing/trialling

• Interpreting/distilling knowledge

Numeracy

INFL

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PLANNING &REVIEW

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INVESTIGATING

THE CYCLEOF RESEARCH

Figure 1: The Cycle of research Adapted from Morris (2002)

The research and development cycle

Range and scope

Programmes of study will engage with the range ofsubject areas, learning environments, groups oflearners and distinct populations.

• Subject areas: literacy, reading and writing,numeracy and ESOLWe will conduct research into literacy, ESOL andnumeracy as discrete elements in basic skills andtheir articulation with Key Skills. Other studieswill look at specific issues that are relevant acrossthe domains. We will also carry out research anddevelopment into how best literacy, numeracy andEnglish language needs can be integrated at everylevel in vocational and academic programmes oflearning, taking into account the increasingimportance of ICT as a crucial medium and set ofskills needed for work.

• The diversity of learnersOur work will include all learners with literacy,numeracy and language needs from entry levelonwards. Our strategy will address the diversity oflearners and their range of learning needs. Werecognise that some learners need to develop in asingle domain, while others require support acrossthe Skills for Life curricula. Our work will include

studies with a focus on the needs of particulargroups in the population, including people withdisabilities or learning difficulties or mental healthproblems, refugees and asylum seekers, homelesspeople, young people at risk, offenders and olderlearners.

• The range of learning environmentsWe will ensure our work addresses learning incontext. A diversity of contexts – urban and ruralsettings; multi-cultural communities; large andsmall businesses, etc. – demand a relevant andfocused offer from the supply-side. We will includelearning that takes place at work; in colleges andlearning centres; in families; neighbourhoods andcommunities; in prisons; and ICT-supportedprovision, whether discrete or blended withclassroom-based provision. The range ofenvironments will change, with the possibility ofmuch more access to learning through interactivedigital TV, more ubiquitous computing, enablingmore informal and possibly smaller chunks oflearning than has been common to date. We willseek to ensure that the knowledge we generate isrelevant to learning wherever and whenever ittakes place, now and in the future.

Figure 2: Learners’ needs can range from a specificaspect of Skills for Life to a wide-ranging andoverlapping set of needs.

Figure 3: The variety and overlapping nature of contextsand sites of learning

18 | GETTING THE PROCESS RIGHT

Literacy Numeracy

ESOL Learners withdisabilities orlearningdifficulties

Home, familyfriends

Communities Workplaces

Learningproviders

Research methodology

The NRDC methodology is wide ranging, embracinglarge-scale longitudinal and cross-sectional studies(which follow a sizeable cohort of people born at aparticular time); ethnographic and biographical studies(based on individuals and groups in a variety ofcontexts); exploratory and intervention studies(including, if possible, randomised controlled trials);and systematic research reviews. The Centre iscommitted to methodological integration, using theappropriate method to address each research questionand triangulating evidence from one method toanother to gain optimum insights and synergy into theprocesses and outcomes of basic skills learning andteaching. Strong practitioner involvement is alsocentral to our programmes.

Our aim is to improve understanding of the operationof Skills for Life and to help shape its developmentthrough developing and testing explanatory models tosupport the policy process. This requires evidencethat is both rooted in practice and meets the higheststandards of methodological rigour. For maximumeffectiveness, therefore, NRDC research programmesand the DfES policy process need to work in tandem.

Figure 4 represents this relationship as one ofcontinuing ‘dialogue between ideas and evidence’.The surrounding area is the policy environment; theouter circle is the policy process; and the spacebetween the two outer circles is the research-policyideas interface. The inner circle represents theresearch process itself, directed at building modelsthrough the scientific procedures of:

• formulating research questions and hypotheses • operationalisation through a research design • observation • generalisation.

Types of research project include:• general population studies • studies of distinct populations • case studies in particular settings.

Methods include:• research reviews• longitudinal and cross-sectional surveys• experiments• ethnography and social biography.

Distinct populations include: • speakers of other languages, including refugees

and asylum seekers• adults with disabilities or learning difficulties • learners with mental health problems• offenders and young people at risk• people living in rural areas• older learners.

Settings include:• workplace• educational institutions • community• family• offenders’ institutions and support services• online provision.

Cross-cutting themes include:• motivation and functionality• employability and productivity • exclusion and integration• access to mainstream and embedding

GETTING THE PROCESS RIGHT | 19

POLICY

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Figure 4: Dialogue between ideas and evidence

A guide to theresearch process1 Problem. What are we trying to find out,

and are we sure it is the right issue? Whatis already known about this problem?

2 Purpose. When we have answered ourquestions, what use are the answers andwhat will we do with them?

3 Consultation. Have we involved the rightpeople outside the research community inscoping the problem?

4 Questions. What research questions willaddress the problem? Have our partnersbeen involved in formulating them? Whatresearch evidence already exists on thesequestions?

5 Methodology. What research methodology(ies) best addresses these questions?

6 Resources. What resources do we need toundertake the project? How will we recruitand train any expertise for which there aregaps in our team?

7 Timetable. How long will it realistically taketo undertake the project, including work toembed research findings into practice?

8 Risk. What are the risks of delays and lossof key personnel?

9 Cost. How much money is needed (forplanning, research and impact)?

10 The unexpected. What will we do if theresearch approach proves to be unrealisticor the results are not what we expect?

11 Impact. How do we plan to transform,communicate and work for the integrationof what we find out into the everydayactivities of our communities?

20 | GETTING THE PROCESS RIGHT

• curriculum and assessment• pedagogy, teaching and learning• quality and effectiveness and type of provision.

NRDC’s use of longitudinal surveys includesaugmenting the 1958 and 1970 British birth cohortstudies with literacy, numeracy and ESOL interviewquestions and cohort member assessments. There willbe an intergenerational extension through parent-and-child assessments. New longitudinal enquiries willinclude the teacher and learner and ESOL panels, andfollow-up of groups such as young offenders and adultswith learning difficulties.

Experimental methodology is treated broadly,signifying comparisons of groups with differingexposure to a policy initiative, curriculum innovation orteaching approach. Experiments can range from ‘quasi’or natural experiments, in which there is no attempt tomanipulate the way in which the ‘treatment’ isexperienced, through matched treatment and controlgroups, to randomised control trials where a clear needexists to investigate causality.

Ethnographic enquiries include participant and non-participant observations, learners’ and teachers’accounts, biographical (life history) interviews andanalysis of documents. Practitioner researchers willhave a major role at all stages of design, data collectionand interpretation.

Systematic reviews and best-evidence syntheses canidentify reliable findings and sometimes producerecommendations for pedagogy.

All new data collected will be archived for secondaryuse by others in the programme and by the widerresearch community in Britain and overseas.

Developing NRDC’sprogrammes

DEVELOPING NRDC’S PROGRAMMES | 23

In its first year of operation, we have completed aseries of reviews of research in the areas of:

• reading difficulty• the teaching and learning of writing• numeracy• ESOL• dyslexia• work-based literacy and numeracy• the needs of rural employers• community-focused provision• ESOL for learners with learning difficulties• learners with sensory or physical disabilities• models of adult learning.

We have also consulted with practitioners, policymakers and a wide range of stakeholders engagedwith Skills for Life. We have looked at literacy,numeracy and ESOL research strategies in othercountries, particularly the USA, Canada and Australia.On this basis, we have reviewed our draft strategyand priorities. As a result, our Strategy 2003–2007 isorganised into five programmes, underpinned byprocedures to ensure that we address all the keynational priorities.

Many research issues and questions will also be relevantto other programmes. NRDC’s approach will be toensure interactivity, information sharing and synergyand coherence across all its programmes and projects.

While each programme has a central focus, synergybetween programmes will be actively pursued totriangulate and secure the validity of findings anddepth of understanding of key issues. Wheneverrelevant, projects will be designed and inducted inlinked ways to ensure that evidence about a problemor an issue, e.g. the needs of young adults, or thequality of teaching and learning, can be synthesisedand applied widely.

Programme One Economic development and social inclusionProgramme One investigates the benefits of literacy,numeracy and ESOL to productivity and economicdevelopment and employability; and to social andindividual well-being. The consequences ofunderachievement and low skills will also be

investigated. The definition of ‘basic skills’ will changein the future. Research needs to focus on preparingpeople to live and work to their full potential in the21st century, with changing skill and technologyrequirements.

Programme Two Participation: agency motivation and engagementProgramme Two explores how to stimulate demand forlearning; how to widen participation in formal andinformal literacy, numeracy and language learning; andhow to encourage motivation and persistence.

Programme Three Effective teaching and learningProgramme Three addresses how we improve teachingand learning practices in education, work andcommunity settings so that learners progress andachieve their goals in effective learning programmes.

Programme Four Professional development and theSkills for Life workforceProgramme Four will work to build capacity; todevelop a fully professional workforce with recognisedcareer structures; to research and develop effectivepractice in the professional development of teachers,managers and others who support learning; and topromote reflective practice through the engagement ofpractitioners in research.

Programme Five The content and infrastructure of Skillsfor LifeProgramme Five will focus on how the infrastructure,financing and costs of learning – as well as the widerenvironment and significant economic, social andeducational trends and developments – can impact onlearners and learning, now and in the future. Theprogramme will focus on how the ‘supply side’ canrespond most effectively.

Underpinning strategiesNRDC’s programmes will be underpinned by specificstrategies for:• communication and impact, including the

relationship between research and developmentin transforming research into practice

• practitioner engagement, capacity building andthe development of teachers as researchers andreflective practitioners.

Whether or not education isfinancially good for their country,the past half-century teaches thatit is certainly good for theeducated. The more education youacquire, the higher your income islikely to be and the less likely youare to experience long- or evenshort-term unemployment.(Alison Wolf, Does education matter? 2001)

There is … a powerful public goodargument to be made on behalf offocused state intervention tosupport community-based andinformal learning. Governmentcan … help create the kind ofsocial capital that is needed toenable the most excluded groupsand communities to breakthrough the profound externalobstacles and internal constraintsthat are inhibiting regenerationand renewal.(John Field in F. Coffield (ed) What progress are we making with lifelong learning? – theevidence from research. 2001)

KEY QUESTIONS

• What are the economic and socialconsequences of literacy, language,numeracy and ESOL problems forindividual adults and for society?

• What are the economic, social andpersonal benefits of literacy,numeracy and English languageskills?

The strong links between socio-economic variables and literacy andnumeracy skills are well established andunderlie the Skills for Life strategy.Existing cohort studies show that overthe last twenty years, adults withliteracy, numeracy and languageproblems have faced increasingdifficulties gaining and maintainingwork. Men often drift towards themargins of the labour market, movingbetween casual unskilled jobs andunemployment. Young women oftenleave paid work early to have children.Both outcomes are identified with ‘socialexclusion’, in which poor employmentprospects can lead to marginalisation inother ways, including poverty, poorphysical and psychological health, drugabuse, crime and intergenerational cyclesof social and educational disadvantage.

As shown by the work of the SocialExclusion Unit and the NeighbourhoodRenewal Unit, these processes may beexacerbated among particular groups andin particular locations. People with anon-English speaking background,(including refugees and asylum seekers),adults with learning difficulties andthose with disabilities, teenage parentsand people living in disadvantaged areasare more prone on average to basic skillsproblems and the predisposingconditions for social exclusion.

The Skills for Life strategy is based onthe premise that improving literacy,numeracy and English language skillswill help to turn social exclusion tosocial inclusion, and will also contributeto social and economic well-being.

Raising skill levels will enhance notonly employability, but productivity.Nonetheless, it has proved complex andchallenging in the past to engageemployers, and raise commitment tolifelong learning for their employees,particularly those with low skills.Finding effective ways to support theskills of self-employed people and smallbusinesses – a vast sector of theeconomy – remains a major challenge.NRDC’s research and development willseek to engage employers and unions,both to inform our work and tocommunicate its findings.

Literacy, numeracy and spoken Englishare the foundation of capabilities thatunderlie the different forms of ‘capital’that individuals need to function well inmodern society:

• They provide the route toeducational achievement andcredentials – the basis of humancapital.

• Learning and using literacy andnumeracy also play an integral partin developing social capital andactive citizenship, by facilitatingparticipation in communities andstrengthening social relationships.

• The development of knowledge andskills also contributes to a wider setof psychological and social attributesand capabilities, termed identitycapital, ranging from self-confidenceto teamwork, and increasingly indemand by employers.

Programme OneEconomic development and social inclusion

24 | PROGRAMME ONE | DEVELOPING NRDC’S PROGRAMMES

“Learning to read and writeat forty was the hardestthing I have ever done.First I had to admit tomyself that I needed help,then I had to ask strangersfor help. It was hard workand up hill all the way forthe first two years, but Ithink it was the best thingI have ever done."Coare, P and A Thomson (eds.)(1996) Throughthe Joy of Learning: diary of 1,000 AdultLearners. NIACE.

Access to these forms of capital equipspeople to construct a productive andfulfilling life in a fast-changing worldthat constantly presents new demandsand challenges.

The effectiveness of the Skills for Lifestrategy will be strongly dependent onhow well we understand and can actupon the links between basic skills andsocio-economic outcomes. Theknowledge and evidence NRDCgenerates will inform the futuredevelopment of literacy, language andnumeracy policy and itsimplementation at national, regionaland local levels.

AIMS

This programme is concerned withresearch to identify, and aidunderstanding of, the impact of literacy,numeracy and English language in thesocio-economic domain. Objectivequantitative information from Britishpopulation studies exists only in thelimited collection of data in the 1958and 1970 birth cohorts. Enhancingthese studies by applying basic skillsassessments to all cohort members willgreatly increase the knowledge base ofthe British population. It will contributeto knowledge about the role of basicskills in human, social and identitycapital, and the mediating value ofenhanced capability in determiningsocio-economic outcomes in later life,including:

• the effects of basic skills onproductivity among particulargroups in particular occupationalareas

• the effects on the social exclusion ofdifferent categories of individuals

without sufficient literacy, numeracyand English language skills tochange their lives for the better.

The studies will take account ofadversity and risk in the developmentof educational and occupational careersmarred by lack of basic skills, and theimpact on later transitions andoutcomes throughout adult life.

In this programme we will:

• model the economic and socialreturns to basic skills, the keyinfluences on skills acquisition, andhow progress can be accelerated

• model the impact of accumulatedrisk and failure to acquire sufficientliteracy, numeracy and Englishlanguage skills

• monitor the demand for literacy,language and numeracy in achanging labour market and the rolethey have in productivity

• assess the role of basic skills in theprocesses underlying socialexclusion and social cohesion

• assess the impact of initial educationand family literacy on post-16learning, and the impact of Skillsfor Life on the next generationthrough intergenerational studies

• identify the impact of literacy,numeracy and ESOL onproductivity, earnings, socialinclusion and personal development‘life changing’ skills, especially howimproved numeracy enhancesemployment chances.

In addition to general populationstudies involving longitudinal and cross-

sectional surveys, studies of particularpopulations in settings such as thecommunity and the workplace will useethnographic and experimentalmethods. These populations includepeople from non-English speakingbackgrounds, offenders and people withdisabilities or learning difficulties; thosewith dyslexia or dyscalculia. Othergroups are likely to gain prominence inthe light of social and economic trendsand changing policy concerns. Theywill be kept under review.

Major themes running through thisprogramme’s research are the roles thatliteracy, numeracy and Englishlanguage play for different groups indifferent life domains, and the criticalissue of how people cope with basicskills difficulties. Programme Two willexplore these issues in depth, includingthorough major qualitative studies.

DEVELOPING NRDC’S PROGRAMMES | PROGRAMME ONE | 25

• The 1958 and 1970 British birth cohort studiesenhanced to include literacy and numeracymeasures in the next follow-ups, scheduled for2003/04. This will multiply ten-fold the scope ofprevious work, which was based on 10% samples ofthe cohorts.

• An intergenerational component to assess theliteracy and numeracy development of children ofmembers of the 1970 British Cohort Study. This willfollow a comparable survey in 1991 that used the 1958cohort at the same age. To extend the survey morefully to a family study, partners of cohort memberswill also be interviewed.

• A resource for detailed ethnographic research onthe roles, uses and meanings of literacy, languageand numeracy in adult learners’ lives, based on datafrom at least 250 learners across multiple sites. Thiswill comprise a series of studies of designatedpopulations in workplace and community settings,linked in an integrated programme. The study willinclude people from non-English speakingbackgrounds, adults with learning difficulties, disabledadults, and older and young offenders. The researchwill enable understanding of learners’ social andeconomic contexts and their experience of learningprogrammes.

• Identifying effective workplace basic skillsstrategies for enhancing employee developmentand productivity. This project began in 2002 andfocuses on workplace-linked basic skills initiativesthat are delivered in the workplace or recruit throughemployers or unions. The objective is to identifywhen and how such programmes are effective inimproving adults’ measured basic skills, as well as theeffects on productivity and other life-course variables.

• The impact on productivity of workforcedevelopment that includes or integrates basicskills. This project will focus on literacy, numeracy,ESOL and related skills tailored to the workplace. Itseeks a clearer correlation or measurement of theimpact on productivity of investment in skills, andaims to secure a reliable research base for the cost toUK industry of poor basic skills. This challenging taskwill require matched studies of companies with and

without strong workforce development that includesbasic skills.

• The returns to ESOL learning for learners’ lives andthe economy. This longitudinal study will include theimpact on employability and earnings, health andwider social inclusion for individuals and theirfamilies.

• Longitudinal study of young people. The new DfES-sponsored project is expected to follow up 15,000children of 14, including a third from minority ethnicbackgrounds, with annual surveys up to age 25. Itstwin themes are transition to employment and socialcohesion. NRDC aims to include basic skillsassessments at appropriate stages in the survey. Thiswill enable a better understanding of the impact ofearlier stages in learning, particularly the 14–19 phase,on adult participation and achievement.

OUTCOMES

The outcomes of research in Programme One willprovide resources for further projects in this and otherNRDC programmes. They will feed back togovernment and other agencies the implications forpolicy development and will offer evidence for theimprovement of practice in:

• recruitment and participation, motivation andretention

• more effective strategies for increasing uptake oflearning opportunities

• the effectiveness of learning programmes• engaging employers in work-related and workplace

learning• the development and delivery of work-based

learning which can be embedded and transformworking practices

• engagement in the labour market and the economicreturns to improved literacy, numeracy skills andrelated knowledge and capacity

• engagement in society, community and family• the role of literacy, numeracy and language learning

in increasing social capital• accelerating the reduction in the number of adults

with low literacy, language and numeracy skills.

Research in Programme Oneincludes:

26 | PROGRAMME ONE | DEVELOPING NRDC’S PROGRAMMES

The word ‘ettle’ captures ourdesire to measure a rich versionof … intentional learningorientation. ‘Ettle’ is a perfectlymarvellous word seldom usedoutside of Scottish literature. As anoun, ettle means ambition oraim. As a verb … it means to takeaim, to inspire, to be ambitious, todirect one’s course. The word‘ettle’ carries with it a refreshingand (hopefully) incorruptibleessence of human agency. (Bunderson, Martinez & McBride, 1999)

KEY QUESTIONS

• How can we attract more learnersand enable them to persist andsucceed in learning?

• What impact does participation inlearning have on learners’ lives andhow can this be assessed?

• How do people cope with, use anddevelop their skills in, andknowledge of, literacy, numeracyand language in daily life?

The need to increase and widenparticipation in learning throughout lifeis widely recognised as vital for ahealthy economy, culture and society.This is central to Skills for Life. Theoverall picture is one of persistentlyuneven and unequal patterns of adultparticipation in education and training.Adults with low levels of literacy,numeracy and English language skillshave often been assumed to lack themotivation to improve their skills or tomaintain them once achieved. Theirlearning outside formal learningenvironments has often beendisregarded.

By focusing on the positive (‘ettle’)rather than the negative aspects ofadults’ intention to learn (such as ‘lackof motivation’), we may come tounderstand better what draws adults toparticipate in learning opportunities.Then we can recognise and appreciatethose autodidacts and mutuallysupportive groups of informal learnerswhose efforts and aspirations to learnoutside the classroom have too oftenbeen the objects of condescension orhave simply gone unnoticed.

Adults are voluntary participants. Theyhave widely varying objectives,

complex lives and commitments, andmay learn in patterns that are differentfrom the largely set menus of the‘supply side’. Not all adults recogniseany need to participate in learning.Literacy, numeracy and Englishlanguage are a means to an end inpeople’s lives. Most adults with a fragilegrasp of them have learned to cope andcompensate. It is often only when aparticular demand is placed upon aperson at work or in family life – theneed to use a computer or to helpchildren learn – that there is motivationto improve. Even then, willingness toengage may not materialise intoparticipation, especially when access tolearning opportunities is difficultbecause providers are not adapted tomeeting particular needs, or becausetransport and other costs areprohibitive.

Understanding the potential for digitaltechnologies will be increasinglyimportant in motivation and access.However, it needs to be closelymonitored and researched, so that adigital divide does not simply replicateor even increase existing divisions inlearning.

We may also be better able to preparenew teachers and provide betterContinuing Professional Development(CPD) for existing teachers of adults, sothat they do not over-protect or havelow expectations of their students. Forexample, research at King’s CollegeLondon with primary school teachershas discovered a desire to protect pupilsfrom mathematics on the grounds thatthe subject is perceived as difficult,unpleasant and produces feelings ofshame (Bibby 1999). If adult tutors ofnumeracy hold such views, how canthey inspire, support and challengetheir students?

Programme Two Participation: agency, motivation and engagement

DEVELOPING NRDC’S PROGRAMMES | PROGRAMME TWO | 27

"We enjoyed learningand getting new ideasabout job search andcourses ... it gave ussomething to thinkabout outside thehome and children.Most of all we havegained confidence anda little assertiveness."Coare, P and A Thomson (eds.)(1996)Through the Joy of Learning: diary of1,000 Adult Learners. NIACE.

A growing body of research, especiallyin psychology and learning theory,stresses the importance of motivationand confidence in promoting effectivelearning. Practical advice emerging fromresearch suggests the importance ofsetting demanding but achievable goals,broken down into small steps. Therehave been advances in establishing theways that motivation and effectivelearning are tied to the physicalstructure of the brain, and the way thatlong-term or ‘deep’ learning takesplace.

While we can start from a firm researchbasis, we do not begin to knoweverything we need to know about howto attract new learners and implementlearning programmes that motivatelearners effectively. There are oftengaps between rhetoric and concreteadvice because no firm evidence exists.For example, how learning styles relateto the value of a variety of approaches isone area that has potential, but it isopen to challenge and in need ofresearch. We also know too little abouthow best to help learners overcome ademotivating history of failure, or beingfailed, in formative stages of life.

If the Skills for Life targets are to bemet, it is critical to discover the extentto which current provision motivatespeople and how providers can respondto the complex needs of potentiallearners.

AIMS

• To inform demand-led strategiesfor attracting new learners. Inorder that 1.5 million adults canhave significantly improved theirliteracy and numeracy by 2007,learning needs to become morecompelling for people who maycurrently feel it is ‘not for them’, orwho encounter external barriers.The education and training system– the ‘supply side’ – needs tounderstand better what motivates orinspires adults of all ages to engagein learning, so that learningopportunities can be shaped toreflect these factors.

• To reconceptualise demand forlearning. NRDC will take forwardand test new approaches toreconceptualising intentionallearning, which expand theconstruct beyond the social andcognitive to include the conativeand affective, and examine theimportance of the relationshipsbetween all of these for increasingagency and active participation inlearning.

• To deepen understanding ofmotivation and persistence inlearning literacy, numeracy andEnglish language, and the keyfactors that determine who staysand who drops out of provision.Programmes will take account of thediversity of learners, their purposes,needs and expectations; theircircumstances, cultures and learninghistories. We will investigate thebalance of external and personalfactors that affect persistence.

• To prioritise research anddevelopment on numeracy andmathematical/financial literacy as acritical national educationalpriority. While literacy, numeracyand ESOL are all important toNRDC’s work, numeracy hasemerged as the area of greatest needin population studies. There isevidence that numeracy andmathematical and financial literacyare increasingly in demand, and atincreasingly sophisticated levels, inthe workplace and in daily life.NRDC will focus on how toovercome barriers to learningnumbers and maths for adults. Wewill address key issues arising fromboth the national survey of needscommissioned by ABSSU (2002),and the 14–19 Maths Inquiry (2003).We will undertake research on theconnection between financialliteracy and the wider adult literacy,language and numeracy agenda.

• To enable informed estimates ofdemand for ICT skills, particularly inthe workplace, to enable providersto offer effective, relevant andtechnologically up-to-date learningprogrammes.

28 | PROGRAMME TWO | DEVELOPING NRDC’S PROGRAMMES

1 | Adult Learners’ Lives.

This programme of concerted studies of adult learnersfollows people in their everyday lives, at home, at workand in the classroom. The research will complementand enhance the longitudinal studies and databasesexamined in Programme One and will contributeevidence to Programmes Three and Four about thenature of effective teaching and learning and the issuesfor professionals implementing Skills for Life. Themethodology will enable a strong focus on motivationand persistence, examining the links between basicskills difficulties and social issues such as:

• homelessness, poverty, community participation, physical and mental health, disability,discrimination, family violence and unemployment

• strategies that adults with poor basic skills use tofunction effectively, and the significance of literacy,language and numeracy in their lives

• learners’ perceptions, notions of identity,experiences of the learning opportunities directed atthem, and motivation to attend and persist withlearning, in the context of their circumstances andway of life

• approaches most likely to increase participation inbasic skills programmes

• guidance from teacher-researchers on how tointegrate research with practice.

OUTCOMES

• guidance on effective strategies for attracting newlearners and stimulating demand

• reports on the social and economic effects ofparticipation

• reports on literacy, numeracy and English languagedemands and uses in specific workplaces,communities and other settings and how they arechanging

• strategies for impact, generalising the local nature offindings

• recommendations for professional development • implications for practice.

2 | Improving the literacy and numeracy of youngoffenders and disaffected young people.

This project focuses on post-16 learning for youngoffenders, both in custody and in the community, andother school drop-outs with poor literacy, numeracy andEnglish language skills. We aim to establish:

• how to deliver a promising pedagogy to this group• whether or not such educational intervention can

significantly improve these young people’s literacy,numeracy and English language levels relative to acomparison group

• whether this, in turn, will significantly reducesubsequent offending, unemployment or uptake ofbenefits.

OUTCOMES

• a literacy and numeracy curriculum and practitionertraining strategy focused on 16 to 19 year-olds whohave offended or are socially excluded

• analysis of the effectiveness of the curriculum, usingfindings to improve future development

• evidence for the role of literacy, numeracy andESOL in the prevention of social exclusion amongyoung people.

3 | Making numeracy meaningful.

This study investigates the relationship between thenumeracy taught in learning environments and learners’practices in numeracy and mathematical literacy in theireveryday lives. Financial literacy will also be a focus. Ittests the hypothesis that adults will be able to functionmore efficiently, and progress at work and in society,because they are able to study on numeracyprogrammes that use their own contexts and purposes.

OUTCOMES

• findings that help dismantle internal and externalbarriers to participation

• findings that inform adult numeracy provision• findings that help learners connect what they are

taught with their everyday lives• evidence to inform teacher development

programmes.

Research in Programme Twoincludes:

DEVELOPING NRDC’S PROGRAMMES | PROGRAMME TWO | 29

There is no reason to assume thatreading must be learned in atraditional classroom or thatlearning moves along a smoothpath with measureable amountsof knowledge absorbed over aspecific time period, or that thereis one way of learning or even abest way … It is important to havea sense of the different ways inwhich people learn to read andalso to acquire ways of finding outhow well someone actually reads.(Herbert Kohl, 1974)

KEY QUESTIONS

• How can teaching, learning andassessing literacy, numeracy andESOL be improved?

• What factors contribute tosuccessful learning?

It is a Skills for Life priority toencourage progress and achievementamong post-16 learners of adult literacy,numeracy and ESOL. Although there isa great deal of research and theoryabout how people learn, it is largelyderived from studying children andschool-based learning. In learningbeyond 16, much less is known ingeneral, and about adult literacy,numeracy and ESOL in particular.Pedagogy is an even less well-developed field for research.

The nature and effectiveness oflearning and teaching are sensitive tocurriculum development andassessment regimes. Research isneeded on the impact of developmentsin assessment and curricula onpedagogy and learners’ progress andattainment, at all levels of need. Aparticular focus is needed on learnersbelow level 1, and those who aredeveloping their skills in othervocational or community-basedprogrammes of learning.

The programme will seek to develop abody of evidence on effective practicein the teaching and learning of adultliteracy, numeracy and ESOL– in avariety of contexts and with acomprehensive range of differentgroups of learners.

• Groups of learners will include:young people emerging from initialeducation; learners on vocational

programmes; people with learningdifficulties; employees; people withsensory or physical disabilities;people with specific learningdisabilities; people with mentalhealth problems; offenders and ex-offenders; families (unemployedpeople); employees; older learnersand those from ethnic minoritygroups including refugees andasylum seekers.

• Sites of formal learning will includeFE colleges, LEA-based provision,voluntary sector initiatives,Jobcentre Plus, work-basedlearning, learndirect centres, prisonsand young offenders’ institutions,and the workplace.

• Informal provision will includelearning at work, at home and in thecommunity, including sport andleisure facilities. There will be aparticular focus on young people,identifying critical success factorsand resources for good practice.

AIMS

The programme aims to answer thequestions: ‘what is effective practice?’,‘what makes a difference?’, ‘whatworks?’, and ‘how can learningprogrammes better meet learners’purposes?’. The research will reachacross the key area of Skills for Life andcreate synergy across studies.

The programme will be designed toprovide outcomes that can bedeveloped into effective guidance forteachers and others who supportteaching and learning. We will addressthe over-arching research questions byfocusing on these central aspects ofpost-16 education and training:

Programme ThreeEffective teaching and learning

30 | PROGRAMME THREE | DEVELOPING NRDC’S PROGRAMMES

" I did maths today. It isopening up a new worldfor me as I alwaysbelieved I was stupid ...today my tutor taughtme how to identify atwenty four hour clock... I am also beginningto use a calculator andlose my fear of it. Eachtime I go I come awayfeeling I want the classto carry on all day.Maybe one day I'll knowenough to sit my GCSEin maths."Coare, P and A Thomson (eds.)(1996)Through the Joy of Learning: diary of 1,000Adult Learners. NIACE.

• Learning. This will includelearners’ cognitive processes,characteristics, perceptions, abilities,knowledge, skills, experience andattitudes, including motivation andpatterns of participation. It will askhow learners learn and progress,particularly from entry to level 1.The programme will focus ontheoretical and practical issues,including learning styles; the role oflearners of other languages; timeneeded to learn; and the impact ofICT. It will ask how the use andpractice of literacy, numeracy andESOL – within and followingprogrammes – can be encouraged sothat people maintain and developtheir skills.

• Teaching. This will include teachingmethods and their theoreticalunderpinning; teaching styles, theuse of technologies and otherteaching resources; teachers’perceptions and orientation (e.g.skills-based or liberal-humanisticapproaches); and the particularlearning needs and patterns ofadults. Research questions include:whether teaching should beintensive or spread out over a longerperiod; how much teaching isrequired to make useful learninggains; how to make effective use ofICT in teaching; and the role oflearners of other languages inteaching.

• The learning environment. This willinclude formal and informal learningopportunities; organisation ofprovision (e.g. according to levels ortypes of learners); timing, frequencyand pattern of scheduling; andtechnologies and learning resources.

• Curriculum. This will include the

Skills for Life learning infrastructureand curriculum content: both thebalance between skills-based andknowledge- or meaning- basedapproaches; and the effectiveness ofdiscrete provision compared withcontextualised and embeddedlearning. The learning materials tosupport the variety of approachesand teaching and learning strategiesalso need investigation.

• Assessment. This will include theinitial assessment of learners’ needsand purposes to ensure they areoffered appropriate learningprogrammes; the role andeffectiveness of formative andsummative assessment methods andinstruments. Central questions are:how are progress and achievementsrecognised and measured?; how dotests, formative and summativeassessment, impact on motivation?;and can these be developed tocapture the whole literacy,numeracy and ESOL curriculum?The research will includeinternational comparisons andconsideration of the impact ofonline assessment methods.

• ICT and learning. Work will includeanalysis of the capacity of thecurrent system to support learnersin developing ICT skills, especiallyat entry level and levels 1 and 2.Providers include FE colleges,Ufi/learndirect centres, UK Onlinecentres, BBC learning centres,foyers, armed forces trainingcentres, prisons and a range ofothers in the adult communitylearning sector. We will seek tocreate an overview of the workforcethat supports adult ICT learners,including issues of capacity, skills,qualifications, and development and

support needs. Drawing on workNRDC has already carried out, wewill develop guidelines covering thedesign and development ofeffective e-learning and e-assessment resources and pedagogyto support Skills for Life learners.

The framework set out aboveencompasses a vast range of potentialresearch. Priorities will be establishedaccording to the following principles:

• domains and population groups withparticular problems or scale of needthat are of particular concern topolicy makers and practitioners

• knowledge gained frompractitioners’ experience and‘professional wisdom’ on ‘stickingpoints’: places in a learning pathwaywhere learners are known to havedifficulty progressing and whereteachers need clear evidence onwhat helps learners through theirdifficulties

• critical questions identified byresearchers or practitioners fromtheory and/or existing empiricalevidence that can be practicallyaddressed

• the need to provide new evidencefrom robust research design andmethods to inform teaching andlearning practice in useful andtimely ways.

DEVELOPING NRDC’S PROGRAMMES | PROGRAMME THREE | 31

1 | What makes a difference?

A series of related observational studies in each of thekey subject areas of Skills for Life will be undertaken:

• Reading• Writing• Numeracy• ESOL, literacy and numeracy for speakers of other

languages.

These linked studies will use observation techniquesand other interventions in a variety of educational work-based and community settings to produce reliable,quantifiable evidence. The studies will aim to improveprogramme design, teaching and learning strategies andapplication of theory and techniques. While the subjectareas are interconnected in teaching, learning andeveryday life, there remains a need to study each oneseparately whilst still ensuring their interconnection. Wewill build a core methodology applied in common, withadjustments to reflect the characteristics of each subjectarea.

Research areas will include: time needed for substantialprogress; the effectiveness of intensive versus longerprogrammes; the balance of group and individuallearning; heterogeneous versus homogenous groups;managing and supporting groups with a wide range ofachievements and purposes; which teaching strategiesare effective in which circumstances; how the culturaldimensions and the context of learners’ lives can best beaccommodated; the role of learners’ of other languages;how to build learners’ self-confidence and self-sufficiency; how to plan, work towards and measure verysmall steps in learning; assessment of progress andachievement.

The ‘what makes a difference?’ studies will addressissues of transferability and the constraints ongeneralisability of findings to other contexts.

2 | ICT in adult literacy, numeracy and ESOL

A related ‘what makes a difference?’ study to developeffective ICT-based teaching and learning strategies.The study will use a series of trials, and identifyeffective design guidelines for ICT-based teaching foradult literacy, numeracy and ESOL. Building onNRDC’s initial work, it will offer a rigorous evaluation ofstrategies and work towards stronger theoreticalunderpinning, as well as empirical and evaluativeevidence.

3 | The relationship between teaching and learning

This project will use an integrated approach, andanalysis of large-scale qualitative data, to offer a depth ofunderstanding to the data from quantitative studies.

This study is part of the Adult Learners’ Lives project. Itinvestigates the ways in which factors related toprovision (institutional factors, and teachers’ beliefs,intentions and ‘input’ to learning opportunities) interfacewith factors related to the learners (uses and learning ofliteracy, numeracy and ESOL in home, community andworkplace settings, purposes for learning, issues ofidentity, informal learning practices, and perceptions anduptake of learning opportunities). The study has aspecial focus on the linguistic characteristics of thespoken and written texts involved in these processes.

The general data collected about learners’ lives(including their literacy and numeracy practices, informallearning, communities of practice, beliefs andperceptions) will be supplemented by investigation ofthe following aspects of pedagogic practice:

• ‘input’: teachers’ pedagogic intentions and practice• ‘uptake’: learners’ responses to these practices, and

their sense of what they are gaining from the learningopportunities

• classroom interaction• teachers’ beliefs about literacy and numeracy,

learning and teaching• assessment measures used, including measures of

progress already collected by the institution• the institutional context of the provision explored in

depth in Programme Five.

Research in Programme Threeincludes:

32 | PROGRAMME THREE | DEVELOPING NRDC’S PROGRAMMES

4 | How can the national ‘crisis’ in numeracy beaddressed in the post-16 population?

All the Skills for Life domains are important. However,numeracy is emerging as a particularly challenging areafor research and development because of:

• the scale of need in the adult population• the need to develop provision and teacher capacity • the growing demand for numeracy skills in the

workplace, and the need for individuals to cope withgrowing financial and technical applications ofnumber

• the unpopularity of numeracy and maths subjectsfrom a young age, which translates into reluctance toengage in or value maths as a skill among adults

• the relationship of numeracy to maths andmathematical literacy.

5 | Contextualising literacy, numeracy and ESOLacross the vocational curriculum.

This research and development will build on workstarted by NIACE in 2002 and underpin thedevelopment of learning materials. NRDC will workwith the DfES Standards Unit, the Learning and SkillsCouncil, Sector Skills Council, the TUC and otherstakeholders. This project will identify and developgood practice in contextualising literacy, numeracy andESOL in vocational programmes. Engaging employers’responsiveness will be a priority. Writing, numeracy andICT as core vocational skills will be important elementsof the research.

6 | Assessment

What is most effective in the assessment of progress andachievement in both accredited and non-accreditedliteracy, numeracy and ESOL provision? What is therole of reading and writing formative assessment in theteaching/learning process?

7 | Literacy and numeracy in families: rethinkingpedagogy.

The Centre’s work aims to build on existing NRDCresearch, to produce a descriptive language for howfamilies engage with literacy practices. This will bedeveloped into a conceptual framework of family practicesand a pedagogical model for literacy, numeracy and ESOLin family and community settings.

8 | Learning styles

We will examine the role, effectiveness and potential oflearning styles, theory and approaches in relation to adultliteracy, language and numeracy to enhance and enrichteaching and learning strategies and improve motivation,progress, and achievement.

OUTCOMES

Programme Three will produce over the five years of thisstrategy, a range of clear evidence and advice topractitioners and policy makers:

• better evidence both of general strategies for effectiveteaching and learning in adult literacy, language andnumeracy and of how these can help to generatebetter outcomes for learners

• subject-specific evidence of the correlation betweendifferent pedagogical practices and learners’ progress.This will focus on numeracy, reading, writing, ESOLand ICT, and will have a strong generalisability to arange of locations, transformed into useful strategiesfor practice and clear advice for policy makers

• a stronger theoretical, methodological andobservational basis for further research in effectivepractice in teaching and learning in adult literacy andnumeracy

• enhanced systemic capacity for undertaking suchresearch and for developing it into practical teachingand learning products, strategies and policies

• clear advice for teacher training and professionaldevelopment to ensure effective practice is spreadacross the Skills for Life workforce.

DEVELOPING NRDC’S PROGRAMMES | PROGRAMME THREE | 33

KEY QUESTIONS

• How can improving initial trainingand the professional developmentof the Skills for Life workforceenhance learning?

• What are the major issues andchallenges in delivering ITE (InitialTeacher Education) and CPDprogrammes?

Skills for Life has set out a challengingnew agenda for creating a newframework and professional identity forteachers and others engaged in thedelivery of literacy, numeracy andESOL in post-16 education and training.

The Skills for Life workforceencompasses a wide range ofprofessionals. Newly definedqualifications appropriate to their rolesrange from level 2 to level 5 on theNational Qualifications Framework(NQF). The framework ofqualifications put in place during2002/03 requires support anddevelopment to ensure successfulimplementation. Some newprogrammes have run in 2002/03 atlevel 4 in literacy and numeracyteaching, with some initialdevelopments at level 3 and a nationalpilot programme at level 2. The newESOL qualifications are to beimplemented from September 2003.

The new level 4 programmes cross theinterface between HE and FE andrequire combinations of subjectexpertise not previously found in post-compulsory education and training.They require new models of deliverythat demand the development andaccreditation of both subjectknowledge and teaching skills. Development activity needs to

encompass the needs of specialistteachers of literacy, numeracy andESOL, key skills teachers, the needs ofthose working with learners withspecific learning disabilities, withlearning difficulties, or withphysical/sensory disabilities, and needsof staff supporting learners withindiscrete and embedded provision,including subject and vocationalteachers.

There is an acute need in the field fordevelopment activity to build capacity,to embed the new qualifications, and toidentify and share good practice.

AIMS

• To build capacity and to develop afully professional workforce with arecognised career structure that issustainable for the longer term. Aparticular focus will be the researchand development of effectivepractice in teacher education.

• To collaborate in strategicdevelopment work with keynational bodies, to contribute to theestablishment, implementation anddevelopment of provision offeringthe new qualifications. Key partnerswill include:

• ABSSU• the Standards Unit at the DfES• LSC• OFSTED and ALI• FENTO and its successor body• QCA• BSA• UCET• the awarding bodies.

Programme Four Professional development and the Skills for Life workforce

34 | PROGRAMME FOUR | DEVELOPING NRDC’S PROGRAMMES

"Thanks to ... anexcellent tutor ... andthe friendly support ofmy fellow-students Isuccessfully completedan English course atmy local communitycollege. I am proud ofmy achievement and Iintend to go on topursue all myambitions."Coare, P and A Thomson (eds.)(1996)Through the Joy of Learning: diary of1,000 Adult Learners. NIACE.

• an NRDC fund to be allocated for regionally-basedresearch or development projects, from groups ledby practitioners. We will invite bids on prioritytopics from all the nine English regions each year,and up to five projects will be funded, selected ongrounds of quality

• evaluation and dissemination of good practice froma range of new ITE programmes at NQF level 4 inliteracy, numeracy and ESOL based in HEIs andthose based in FE and elsewhere, accredited byawarding bodies

• integration of inclusive approaches to learners inITE programmes for teachers of all subjects

• a longitudinal study of the impact of Skills for Lifeon teachers’ qualifications, their classroom andorganisational practice, role definition and conceptof the field of adult literacy, numeracy and ESOL

• investigation of the characteristics of effectiveteacher training in adult literacy, numeracy andESOL, and of the pedagogy of teacher trainingprogrammes

• promotion and support of postgraduate provision,including diplomas, masters degrees and doctorates

• promotion and effective sharing of developments inliteracy, numeracy and ESOL initial teachereducation, offering cohesive support nationally,together with local and regional networks

• strengthening of cross-sector links and partnershipswith key regional change agents to facilitate theembedding of the new qualifications, with aparticular focus on numeracy

• expansion of the team of teacher-researchers,further development of models of support for theirprogress and evaluation of the teacher-researcherstrategy

• development and support of new qualificationprogrammes at NQF levels 2 and 3

• opportunities for enquiry-based study built into

professional development courses at all levels, andstudy opportunities developed usingdistance/open/online learning models to improveaccess for practitioners based in different locationsand with different working routines.

OUTCOMES

Alongside research reports that identify effectivepractice in teacher education, by 2007 NRDC will havemade a significant contribution to well-embeddedcomprehensive provision nationally, offering:

• postgraduate programmes for literacy, numeracy andESOL teachers and curriculum managers – level 5

• professional development in leadership andmanagement – levels 4 and 5

• opportunities for teachers to participate in researchprogrammes as ‘teacher-researchers’ – levels 4 and 5

• opportunities for experienced teachers to develop asteacher-trainers to contribute to both ITE and CPD– levels 4 and 5

• full programmes of ITE for specialist teachers ofliteracy, numeracy and ESOL – level 4

• literacy, numeracy and ESOL awareness andunderstanding fully integrated into all post-16 ITEprogrammes

• modular programmes of CPD for existing staff, forboth discrete and embedded provision – levels 3and 4

• programmes for those training to deliver literacy,numeracy or ESOL support – level 3

• programmes for those involved in supportingindividual learners in a variety of contexts – level 2.

All the above outcomes will demonstrate the extent oftheir impact on learning opportunities for the Skills forLife workforce, and for learners.

Research, development and networks in Programme Four include:

DEVELOPING NRDC’S PROGRAMMES | PROGRAMME FOUR | 35

KEY QUESTIONS

• In the context of Skills for Life, howdo systems, structures and strategiesfor planning, funding, delivering andevaluating provision help or hinderlearning outcomes?

• How do individual learners bestinteract with systems and structures tomaximise achievement and progress?

The context in which literacy, numeracyand ESOL learning takes place, and thesystems, structures and policy initiativesthat support that learning, have thepotential to impact powerfully on itseffectiveness. We know that some typesof organisation or setting can attract ordeter some groups of learners. We knowthat some approaches to funding canencourage or discourage the involvementof providers. But there is a lack ofsystematic evidence on how mechanismsfor planning, funding and organisingsupport for learners impact upondifferent groups in different contexts.This programme will seek to synthesisewhat is known, including aninternational comparative dimension,and commission new work to fillimportant gaps.

NRDC has already completed twostudies that look at learning in particularmilieus – community-focused provisionand a specialist college for adults withphysical impairments. Two more areunder way studying workplaces andyoung offenders’ programmes. Theethnographic study is also collecting alarge amount of data across differentcontexts. While much of the work ofNRDC will help to illuminate theimpact of systems and structures in thisway, there is a need for a set of researchprojects that take the organisationaldimension as their key focus. Theexamination of the impact of systems

and structures will require a consistentapproach to the measurement ofoutcomes, and an understanding ofindividual learners’ differing needsdrawn from NRDC’s other programmes.

A better understanding of the influenceof the learning infrastructure isimportant, because its impact on learnerscan be critical, and because the capacityto change structures and systems is oneof the key initiatives available to policymakers. It is relatively easier, throughpolicy, to change the supply side leverson learning provision than to changethose that operate on the demand side.The Skills for Life strategy represents aconcerted attempt to work on both in aplanned way. We will seek to improvethe effectiveness of policy and practiceby helping to identify which policy,infrastructure and funding initiatives arelikely to prove effective and costeffective – and, equally importantly, toidentify those that are not.

AIMS

The overall aim of this programme is toincrease understanding of how thepolicies, systems and structures throughwhich learning is planned, delivered andevaluated impact upon learning fordifferent groups of learners. Theprogramme will draw on internationalcomparative approaches, learning fromdifferent contexts about:

• the impact on providers of a range ofpolicy initiatives such as Success forAll, Successful Participation for All;Widening Adult Participation and theemerging SSCs, and the interface ofthese policies with Skills for Life

• the impact of planning and fundingapproaches (e.g. outcome or provisionbased) on provider behaviour, policy

and learning opportunities, andoutcomes for learners

• the impact of different types oforganisation on the engagement andparticipation of basic skills learners(by type is meant organisational size,purpose, structure, forms andfunction)

• the impact of organisational setting,including outreach work (work/community-based basic skillslearning), and the impact of theinternal arrangements and systems oneffective delivery

• the costs of provision in differentorganisational types and settings, anddelivered in different ways; the cost-effectiveness of different approaches,including partnership and inter-agency working, in relation todifferent groups of learners

• the influence of different forms offinancial support for learners (e.g. feeremission or help with indirect costssuch as childcare and transport) oninitial engagement, retention andsuccess; the influence of financial andother incentives to learners ineducational, work and voluntarysettings on initial engagement,retention and success

• the influence of incentives to otherstakeholders, particularly employers,on learners’ engagement and success

• the impact of arrangements forperformance management of and byproviders (e.g inspection,performance indicators, targets andprovider review, and providers’ ownstrategies) for improving performancein both discrete and contextualisedprovision.

Programme FiveThe context and infrastructure for Skills for Life

36 | PROGRAMME FIVE | DEVELOPING NRDC’S PROGRAMMES

Research projects in this programme are likely to focus on:

• The costs of effective provision. We will work with arange of stakeholders to identify more clearly thecost implications of effective provision for differentgroups of learners. There is a need, for example, toestablish when programmes with a richer mix ofinputs, such as double staffing, are appropriate; toidentify the circumstances in which outreachprovision is both essential and more expensive; andto identify the full cost of workplace basic skillsprogrammes.

• Working with employers and the skills agenda. Theemployer training pilots promise to provide aneffective way of engaging employers and low-skilledemployees with learning. We will seek to build onthese pilots and other work to increase theunderstanding of effective ways of working withemployees with basic skills needs.

• The optimum pattern of providers. Strategic AreaReviews will be looking at local patterns of provision,assessing their inclusiveness and comprehensiveness.We will seek to advise those supporting anddeveloping the provider infrastructure on how tomaximise the effectiveness of their arrangements.

• Evaluating the learner’s perspective. This study willreview the impact of the Skills for Life learninginfrastructure and its application, offering advice topolicy makers and practitioners and paving the wayto revisions of the learning infrastructure in 2007.

• Support and guidance for learners. There is agrowing understanding of the influence of financialcircumstances on engagement with learning ingeneral, but not enough research focused on basicskills. Equally, while many would agree thatinformation and guidance is crucial to engaginglearners, there is little understanding of what iseffective practice or how best to provide it.

• Reflecting the needs of learners in rural and urbancommunities. It is generally agreed that there is aneed to recognise the very different circumstances ofdifferent parts of the country when planning delivery

of basic skills provision. There is a particular need toexplore further the needs of rural areas, wherepockets of severe deprivation exist in otherwiseaffluent areas. NRDC will investigate provision andlearner engagement in seven key rural areas, with afocus on meeting economic and social needs.

• Identifying critical initiatives. There is muchanecdotal evidence that individuals can bepersuaded to re-engage with learning throughapparently unrelated activities such as adultrecreational programmes, informal learning or familylearning. We will explore whether useful patternsexist, through a reverse tracer study that starts withsuccessful adult basic skills learners and traces backto find critical incidents that help explain their re-engagement. This study will complement work bythe BSA.

• Monitoring and evaluating progress. There is aclear need to identify the extent to which specificpolicy initiatives, or the Skills for Life programme asa whole, achieve desired outcomes. An importantstrand of NRDC work will be to identify how validand reliable measures of progress, which supportrather than distort good practice, can be developed.

OUTCOMES

The programme will be designed to generate researchoutcomes that can be used to:

• inform guidance for providers and planners aboutlearning infrastructures

• provide evidence of how the context andinfrastructure of adult literacy, language andnumeracy provision impact on learners’ progress

• identify clear advice to policy makers and managersof provider institutions on strategies to improvemeasurable achievement and other indicators oflearners’ outcomes through changes in infrastructure

• present evidence of how the variety of currentperformance measures are impacting on provision.

Research in Programme Five

DEVELOPING NRDC’S PROGRAMMES | PROGRAMME FIVE | 37

NRDC’s strategy forcommunication andimpact

All NRDC’s research, development and other activityis aimed at improving adult literacy, language andnumeracy provision for learners in all relevant settings.To achieve this, we must influence the developmentof Skills for Life policy and maximise the impact ofour research and development on practice and,through this, on learning outcomes.

Influence and impact require active communicationwith those who can help us achieve good results.While dissemination of information is an importantpart of this process it is, of itself, not sufficient. Wemust work with a wide range of partners to maximiseour effectiveness, transforming evidence to make itaccessible and routinely used.

Under this strategy, each research and developmentproject initiated by NRDC will identify at theplanning stage how the evidence and advice itgenerates will be disseminated, engage relevantpractice and policy communities and have impact onlearners. Additional funding will be allocated asnecessary to enable this communication and impactactivity to be carried out for projects previouslyapproved without a specific budget, throughreallocation from the overall communication andimpact budget and as part of centre-wide activity.

Aims

• to support the strategy of establishing NRDC as aninternational centre of excellence in adult literacy,numeracy and ESOL within five years

• to develop channels of communication with policymakers, effective adult literacy, numeracy andESOL practitioners, learners and at all appropriatestages, employers and other stakeholders

• to establish the credibility of NRDC as a keyplayer in our field, and ensure our activities reachprofessionals working directly with learners

• to ensure that our research and developmentprogrammes reflect learners’ needs, so as tomaximise its relevance, usefulness and impact

• to work with networks of adult literacy, numeracyand ESOL organisations and practitioners totransform our research and development evidence,communicate it effectively, and work for itsintegration into the everyday activities of ourcommunity

• to contribute to (and, where appropriate, organiseand lead) strategic debate about adult teaching andlearning, to promote NRDC's aim to be a nationaland international centre of expertise and excellence

• to work with other organisations to build up aresource of information on effective practice andpolicy interventions

• to communicate effectively with our stakeholdersthrough an appropriate range of media.

Underlying principles

• For NRDC, ‘impact’ must be broadly conceived,encompassing all our activities to establish andspread effective practice in support of the Skillsfor Life strategy.

• Impact is an iterative process and must beintegrated into all stages of our research anddevelopment programmes. It is not a linear activitycentred on results.

• To compete successfully for attention andmaximise impact, communication must be active,imaginative and persistent; merely makingresearch available in the hope that it will rub off onpractice is unlikely to work.

• Practitioners and policy makers, and their networksof influence, are central to impact. Peers are themost effective change agents.

• Communication and impact are resource intensive.Therefore, we must ensure that such resources areprovided for individual projects and the overallprogramme. These resources must be usedeffectively to maximise our interaction with keystakeholders and other opinion formers.

COMMUNICATION AND IMPACT | 39

• We must balance responding to the swift pace ofthe policy agenda with longer-term accumulation ofevidence on effective practice.

• Impact comes not just from ‘successful’ projects.Other activities, research findings that no change isneeded, and unexpected outcomes may be just asvaluable. These need to be actively communicated.

Stakeholder constituencies

Key stakeholder groups include:

• policy organisations, including government agenciesin England

• planning and funding organisations• practitioners and their organisations• employers and unions• government departments and key organisations in

Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland• the national and international research and

development communities (including those withinthe NRDC consortium)

• campaigning bodies• adult learning providers and infrastructure

organisations• trainers of adult literacy, numeracy and ESOL

teachers• learners and their organisations• specialist media• the general public.

Communication flows

Effective communication, influence and impactinvolves not just the transmission of messages, butlistening to the whole range of stakeholders.Information and analysis must flow:

• inward: so that we learn from all stakeholder groupshow to engage their interest and support; and sothat they help to shape research priorities, choice ofprojects, conduct of research and how researchfindings are transformed and communicated

• outward: so that we engage with the right people in

the right way at the right times; to ensure that wecontribute to policy development; and so thatresearch and development findings have themaximum impact

• internally: so that projects, partners and individualresearchers share in the development of theory,research methods, etc., with a view to buildingcapacity and enhancing the quality of our research.

Working for impact

The current evidence base on ‘what works’ in achievingimpact from research and development in adult literacy,numeracy and ESOL is limited. NRDC is working todevelop this evidence base through sustained andtargeted communication of high-quality research. Weare also undertaking literature reviews, discussingeffective approaches within the Centre and with partnerorganisations, and contributing to public debate.

Influencing policy and practice is a highly complexprocess, involving forces that we and others need tooperate on, or at least to influence:

• promotion, by researchers and change agents suchas NRDC and partner organisations, of researchevidence and research use

• meeting demand from policy makers andpractitioners who want reliable evidence on ‘whatworks’ (and how/why); evidence needs to addresswhether as well as how to change things

• facilitation by a range of change agents, mediatorsand opinion formers

• control of access to resources and support forimplementation, by both individual andorganisational gatekeepers

• overcoming the resistance and inertia oforganisations and individuals that may inhibit theadoption of evidence-informed policy and practice

• addressing time constraints and overcominginitiative overload.

40 | COMMUNICATION AND IMPACT

Constraints on impact

• The world of post-16 learning is complex and fast-changing.

• High-quality research and development, validatedthrough peer and merit reviewing, is essential. It isnot, however, sufficient for impact on either policydevelopment or the evolution of practice.

• Policy makers are under different pressures andwork to shorter timescales than the researchcommunity. They are likely to be more receptiveto research that addresses current policy issues andoffers succinct, clear-cut advice.

• Practitioners and their managers tend to look forneatly packaged solutions to defined problems.Research realities are messier.

• Generalising from the immediate research contextacross varied teaching settings is difficult forresearchers, change agents and policy makers alike.It must be a conscious, active process. Practitionersalso have to consider whether the ideas andfindings in question would work in their context.

• Engaging and sustaining the commitment of thewidest possible range of partners over the longterm is demanding of time, money, energy andintellectual capital.

Key tactical approaches

• Work proactively with research, policy and practicecommunities to develop better understanding ofhow/where research can have impact.

• Work with relevant stakeholders to integrateimpact throughout individual research anddevelopment programmes and projects, fromproblem identification to embedding evidence intoeveryday life.

• Use limited communications resources (bothproject and centre-wide) effectively, focusing onactivities with the greatest potential for impact,

and working with key partners – especiallyABSSU, BSA, LSDA and NIACE – to sharenetworks of communication and influence.

• Be realistic about our ability to engage proactivelywith other organisations, and use newsletters,briefings, website, etc., to keep them informed.

• Expand subject and other programme networks tocover wider groups of stakeholders over time.

• Support training and development for the researchcommunity on how best to present andcommunicate research and research findings, howto engage productively with practitioners,influencing and persuading them about the valueof research messages for improving their practice.

Communication plan

Methods of communication need to be carefullydesigned so that they are appropriate for the targetaudiences, are well timed and foster activeengagement.

PublicationsA suite of nested publication formats, with a commondesign style, will increase in number as the Centredevelops and we have more research and developmentprogrammes and projects. All will be available on thewebsite and in print. All will be free. They willinclude:

• a newsletter – NRDC News – published eight timesa year

• short Research Review and Research Summarybulletins – usually two pages of A4, designed forpolicy and practice audiences

• Research Reports – full reports on individualresearch projects, including complete references

• Work in Progress – briefings on particular projectsand research themes, emailed to interested partiesand downloadable from the website.

COMMUNICATION AND IMPACT | 41

In addition, the Centre and individual researchers willpublish fully peer-reviewed books (monographs,collections of essays and edited conferenceproceedings) for research and specialistpractitioner/policy audiences. These will be pricedpublications, published through a high-qualityacademic publisher in the normal way.

Individual researchers and groups will also publisharticles in peer-reviewed journals as part of the normalprocess of development of research theory andpractice. These will be designed both to support theCentre’s strategy and to meet the requirements of theResearch Assessment Exercise for universityresearchers. They will be publicised through NRDCNews and the website.

Website developmentThe website at www.nrdc.org.uk will act as:

• a focal point for those seeking information aboutNRDC

• a resource for all those interested in adult literacy,numeracy and ESOL, offering access to ourpublications and information archives

• a conduit for communication with us and as theplatform for discussion forums, as well as providinglinks to other organisations active in the field ofadult literacy, numeracy and ESOL.

The site will build over time to provide access toinformation on all our activities, including research anddevelopment programmes, publications, onlinediscussion forums, an archive of relevant research, andlistings of relevant events.

Conferences, expert seminars, networks and email groupsConferences, seminars and ‘virtual’ exchanges of ideasand information are an important strand of ourcommunication and impact strategy. A wide range ofevents and activities both for individual projects andthe Centre as a whole will be needed to reach differentstakeholder groups. Particular focus is placed onworking with existing regional and subject networks toconnect researchers, developers and practitioners.

NRDC also organises the annual Skills for Lifeconferences on behalf of ABSSU. Held in November,these provide a forum for more than 1,000practitioners, researchers and policy makers to sharepolicy developments, research findings and emergingthemes.

Although the focus of activity will change over the fiveyears, communicating research and developmentfindings will be a strong theme throughout.

National archive of researchNRDC intends to build up a national archive ofresearch in the field of adult literacy, numeracy andESOL learning. This will include the best availableevidence of effective practice – what works for whomand in what circumstances.

This will be a priority for the latter part of the strategy.

Teacher training resourceThrough the national networks, this resource willfacilitate the exchange of materials developing fromnew qualification programmes. It will be less aphysical collection than a series of links to theextensive regional collections, several of which arealready available online.

This facility will also store materials from thedevelopment and evaluation programmes whereappropriate.

42 | COMMUNICATION AND IMPACT

NRDC’s strategy for engagingpractitioners in research anddevelopment

Why and for what purpose?

• Engaging practitioners in research will ensure thatthe work is relevant and geared to the needs ofadult learners, and that its value is recognised byteachers. It will increase the sense of ownership ofand commitment to the research itself, and toteacher development and other policy and practiceproposals based on the research.

• Involving tutors and managers in conducting theresearch will contribute to their professionaldevelopment. Wherever possible, practitionerresearch activities will be credited towardrecognised professional qualifications.

• Working closely with practitioners will enableNRDC to engage learners where possible in ourresearch and development.

• Learners, tutors and managers have importantcontributions to make at each decision stage of theresearch process: aims, methodologies, datacollection, interpretation, dissemination. They willbe most affected by the outcomes of the research,and by the processes of data collection.

• Learners, tutors and managers are likely to be wellsituated to collect and interpret many forms of data,since they are colleagues and peers of those whoseviews are being sought.

All projects funded by NRDC will be required to statein their proposals how they will engage practitioners inthe stages of the research process and to includeappropriate support for this in their budgets.Operational plans will monitor the activities andoutcomes of practitioner engagement.

Aims and approach

To maximise practitioner engagement and to embed aresearch culture in the field, NRDC’s practical strategyaims to balance three perspectives:

• the professional development interests and expertiseof practitioners

• the interests of providers and the wider field ofpractice

• the interests and priorities of the academic andpolicy research communities.

The models of support adopted by NRDC will takeaccount of these perspectives. From the pilot experienceof the first year of our programmes, it is evident thatprovider organisations and individual practitioners areover-stretched in many directions. It is hard fororganisations to prioritise research and to release staff forresearch activities, even when cover is paid. Practitionerswith existing research skills, and appropriate trainingopportunities for developing such skills are thin on theground.

The evaluation project undertaken in 2002/03 hasoutlined four types of approach to practitionerengagement in the research process. These have allbeen used in educational contexts in the UK andelsewhere.

• Apprenticeship approach: practitioners attached toexternal research projects, working in their own orother organisations. (Model 1)

• Practitioners carrying out small-scale projects aspart of professional development courses. (Model 2)

• Practitioner research group projects and networkswith stand-alone funding, supported by expertresearch consultants. (Model 3)

• Whole-institution approach, where a research expertis attached to a provider organisation, working in situwith selected members of staff on a project chosenby the organisation and participating staff because itis relevant to their goals and interests. (Model 4).

ENGAGING PRACTITIONERS IN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT | 45

The NRDCAdvisory Group

NRDC is guided by an external group ofadvisers from policy, practice, employment andresearch. The role of the Advisory Group is tosupport and guide the Centre, to enable us toachieve the goals set out in this strategy and tohelp us to maximise the impact of our researchand development activity on the successfuldelivery of Skills for Life. The experience,commitment, expertise and standing of themembers of this group will strengthen NRDCas an organisation and further ensure its workis rigorous and relevant.

Terms of reference

• to guide and support the Centre in achievingthe goals set out in our Strategy 2003–2007

• to guide the work of NRDC by commentingand advising on priorities, methods, andmessages and findings which emergeduring and at the conclusion of research

• to advise on appropriate strategies forcommunication and impact

• to ensure that the Centre’s work engagespolicy makers, practitioners and learners inthe Centre’s work

• to comment on the frameworks forevaluating the Centre’s activities and itsimplementation

• to act as champions for the programmes ofresearch and development, and evidenceand ideas which are produced to support thesuccess and further development of Skillsfor Life.

46 | ENGAGING PRACTITIONERS IN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

In 2002/03, NRDC piloted variations on theapprenticeship approach. Practitioner engagementfollows the rhythms, aims and ethos of fundedresearch rather than professional developmentneeds or organisational priorities. This approachcan be good for ‘first step’ research experience. Itis highly structured and offers a sense ofcontributing to a bigger research effort andawareness of ongoing research. However, it doesnot address the needs of provider organisations.

During the next stage, our strategy will be todevelop the apprenticeship model further,retaining its flexibility and putting in placesupports to maximise institutional involvementand professional development opportunities(including a revised version of the TeacherFellowship programme). We will also trial model 2through the Programme Four project onPostgraduate Diplomas/Masters courses, andmodel 3 by establishing a further capacity-building project linking a limited number ofPractitioner Research Group projects supportedby expert research consultants.

We shall train teacher-researchers to undertakeresearch into adult basic skills in theirinstitution/networks, especially action-researchwith a reflective practice enquiry focus.

Our strategy

To promote the teacher-researcher concept toencourage greater involvement of teachers, allnew NRDC projects will be required to clarifytheir plans for contributing to capacity buildingthrough the development and activity of teacher-researchers.

Glossary

ABSSU Adult Basic Skills Strategy UnitALI Adult Learning InspectorateAoC Association of CollegesBECTA British Educational Communications

and Technology AgencyBSA Basic Skills AgencyCPD Continuing Professional DevelopmentDfES Department for Education and SkillsDTI Department of Trade and IndustryDWP Department for Work and PensionsESOL English for Speakers of Other

LanguagesESRC Economic and Social Research CouncilFE Further EducationFENTO Further Education National Trainign

OrganisationICT Information and Communications

TechnologyITE Initial Teacher EducationLEA Local Education AuthorityLGA Local Government AgencyLLLU London Language and Literacy UnitLSC Learning and Skills CouncilLSDA Learning and Skills Development

AgencyNATECLA National Association for Teaching of

English and other CommunityLanguages to Adults

NERF National Education Research ForumNHSU National Health Service UniversityNIACE National Institute of Adult Continuing

EducationNQF National Qualifications FrameworkNRDC National Research and Development

Centre for Adult Literacy and NumeracyOfsted Office for Standards in EducationPGCE Postgraduate Certificate in EducationTUC Trades Union CouncilSSDA Sector Skills Development AgencySSC Sector Skills CouncilRaPAL Research and Practice in Adult LiteracyRDA Regional Development AgencyQCA Qualifications and Curriculum AuthorityUCET Universities Council for the Education of

TeachersUfI University for IndustryWBL Work Based Learning

NRDC

Institute of Education

University of London

20 Bedford Way

London WC1H 0AL

Telephone: +44 (0)20 7612 6476

Fax: +44 (0)20 7612 6671

email: info@ nrdc.org.uk

Website: www.nrdc.org.uk

List of Consortium partners:

• Institute of Education, University of

London*

• Lancaster University

• The University of Nottingham

• The University of Sheffield

• East London Pathfinder

• Liverpool Lifelong Learning Partnership

• Basic Skills Agency

• Learning and Skills Development Agency

• London Language and Literacy Unit,

South Bank University

• National Institute of Adult Continuing

Education

• King’s College, University of London

*NRDC is one of six centres which comprise

the Bedford Group for Lifecourse and

Statistical Studies at the Institute of

Education. www.ioe.ac.uk/bedfordgroup

Design chapmandesign

Photography Philip Meech

Print Starfish