Learn @ Work

A series of six short radio programs on learning in the workplace
Produced at PBA FM in Salisbury, and presented by Tony Ryan

Introduction

Adult Learners’ Week is an annual celebration of learning; in Australia, Adult Learners Week is celebrated in the first week of September. And in 2005 we mark the tenth year of Adult Learners Week activities in Australia.

An important national event during Adult Learners Week in 2005 will be Learn @ Work Day, on Friday 2 September. A goal of Learn @ Work Day is to raise awareness of the importance of learning in the workplace, and to highlight the contribution that workplaces which support and value learning make in our society.
Pictured at the launch of Learn @ Work CD, Tony Ryan (Learn @ Work producer), Patrick Wright (Chair, Adult Learners Week (SA) Steering Committee) and Sue Ross(Manager ACE and Community Partnerships Unit, DFEEST)

In this context, I was pleased to hear that PBA FM at Salisbury is working with the Department of Further Education Employment, Science and Technology in the production of these six radio programs.

Through the medium of radio, the Learn @ Work series will highlight some of the many ways in which learning takes place in the workplace, whether on a farm, in a supermarket or in an adult community education setting. It also recognises the crucial role of apprenticeship training, the value of volunteer training, and the role of learning in the context of workplace change and redundancy.

As this series will be broadcast on PBA FM and on many other community radio stations around SA, listeners in both city and regional areas of this State will benefit from this initiative.

In addition, the Learn @ Work CD will ensure the life of the project beyond the time of broadcast, along with the availability of related materials on the internet.

PBA FM is to be commended for this contribution to community education in this important area of our lives.

Patrick Wright
Training and Skills Commission
Chair, ACE Reference Group
Chair, ALW Steering Committee in SA, 2005

Program 1: You learn a lot on the farm
There is an enormous range of skills needed to successfully manage a farm. In this program, a farming family in Geranium in South Australia’s Murray Mallee talks about their work, and a scheme to identify and formally recognise their many skills.
Contributors: Leanne Isaacson, John Isaacson, Roger Nourse

Program 2: It’s more than stacking the shelves
Working in a supermarket is more than checkout duties or stacking shelves. Today, we visit an Adelaide supermarket and hear about an internationally successful workplace training program.
Contributors: Joseph Romeo, Wing-Yin Chan Lee, Debbie Sleader, Matthew Goldman

Program 3: Redundancy - learning helps!
It may be very difficult at the time, but good workplace training programs, combined with strong management support, can assist workers going through significant career change.
Contributors: Toni Flynn, Mark Cahill

Program 4: Volunteers learn too!
The role that volunteers play in the community and in many workplaces is often overlooked. Recorded in Coonalpyn in South Australia’s Murray Mallee, this program looks at the training that volunteers in an adult community education centre gain to plan and produce a regular community newspaper.
Contributors: Denise Richardson, Terry Natt, and volunteers at The Learning Hub

Program 5: Learning for Aboriginal apprentices
Over one hundred Aboriginal students in South Australia are currently upgrading their skills through the Aboriginal Apprenticeship Program. A young student from Quorn who has completed her training as a hairdresser and her training mentor are both interviewed in this program. And we hear about an award-winning aged care training program at Coober Pedy.
Contributors: Rob Lucas, Kellie Fulwood

Program 6: Making for better managers
What skills are needed to manage a community neighbourhood house or adult community education centre? Today we visit a community house in suburban Adelaide, and hear how two managers have identified and built on their current competencies.
Contributors: Marie Smith, Mark Oliphant, Maggie L’Estrange