Learning Centre Networks Workshop by the Learning City Network. A learning centre for every neighbourhood '‘First rung’ provision ...should be delivered where people live through neighbourhood learning centres, in the management and operation of which local people should wherever possible have a significant stake.’ Skills for Neighbourhood Renewal:Local Solutions. What is a learning centre? The Skills PAT’s recommendation quoted above was a recognition of an approach to learning provision which had been successful because it worked with the grain of local communities. Learning centres come in all shapes and sizes, but in general they should be local and accessible - if possible within pram-pushing distance of the target group enable ‘lifestyle learning’ - to fit in with people’s needs and preferences be welcoming and inclusive - in premises where people feel at home usually have ICT facilities - to enable online learning actively seek to widen and deepen engagement and participation - to help people to use learning to improve their lives offer learner advice and support - an essential, not an add-on. Examples of locations for learning centres The key to learning centres is what they are intended to do, not what they look like. Wherever people naturally congregate is the right place for a learning centre, so they can be almost anywhere, for example, in supermarkets libraries working men’s clubs community centres internet cafes museums schools, colleges, Connexions and Sure Start centres. Helping centres to develop While helping communities and individuals to develop, centres themselves need to develop. To make the most of resources and to build local capacity, they can link into “peer networks” of similar centres, now much easier through electronic communication. Good networks can provide wider opportunities for learner progression, giving access to many more local learning and employment opportunities, through linked learning pathways and through shared promotional initiatives and joint local branding. Networking learning centres To build a network in an area, it is important to take account of: individual centre autonomy the need to plug gaps in provision existing initiatives including learndirect, People’s Network, UK online, CALL, Broadband, Excellence in Cities, National Grid for Learning. Key questions: Who are the key players? Which is the co-ordinating body? How will learner-centricity be assured? How will an even pattern of provision be achieved? Feedback from workshop participants;direct quotes are in quotation marks and italics. Participants discussed the nature of learning centres and how they should be grown. Two ideas were that a learning centre: needed a key person if it was to be successful should be community based, bolted on to existing community facilities and resource centres. Participants were clear about how they saw the nature of learning centres and the way they worked. ‘Centres and their networks must be learner centred’ and they must, as well as being appropriately proactive, ‘be responsive to local need, which is identified through knowledge of the local community.’ To be embedded in a local community was seen essential, but it was recognised that this was not necessarily easy. One participant comments on the ‘Need to build up trust as a starting point.’ Learners However, the strongest views were those that focused on the learner. A learning centre should be in a community so that individual learners in that community could access the learning they needed, presented to them in ways they could cope with. ‘We must develop learning opportunities to suit the needs of the individual.’ ‘The centre must recognise and enable diversity of learning styles.’ ‘A centre should promote the acquisition of new skills through informal learning.’ ‘Centres must allow for diversity and not stereotype potential learners.’ ‘We need to interpret learner need beyond initial presenting need, through individual learning plans.’ And, very importantly, ‘learners should be involved in planning.’ Support Participants recognised the value of peer support, for example, in learning centres in residential homes, and also the value of learning champions, who are particularly successful in promoting IT in communities. It was considered that Learning Partnerships could co-ordinate the development of community-based learning champions, attached to learning centres. There were concerns that quality systems might be set up which would not give a true picture of a centre ’s achievements. ‘Don’t set up community groups to fail by using inappropriate measures of success. Negotiate appropriate outputs and recognise the problems of small organisations, without huge administrative resources. Quality standards should be devised by the community, rather than be imposed from outside.’ One important question was ‘who has the responsibility for quality?’

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