Identify the target group of learners

The target group of learners for this venture was drawn from eighty adult literacy students at Morrison House. Funding for adult literacy programs is provided by three bodies: Adult Community and Further Education Regional Council, Office of Training and Further Education and the Department of Education Training and Youth Affairs. The first two require that students be enrolled in the Certificate of General Education (Adult). Agencies such as Employment National, Employment plus and Groundwork also buy places for students and these students are then assessed according to the CGEA. Students funded by dest are assessed against the National Reporting System and need to have a level of no more than level 2 on the NRS in their initial assessment.

Students from all classes are given the opportunity to become part of the end of year enterprise. In 1999 it was the establishment of our very small-scale mushroom farm. Students self selected to become part of the project and the reading, writing and numeracy tasks were therefore designed around a multi-level approach. Tutors provide material that is accessible to NRS level 1and 2 students in particular. There is also material available for higher literacy levels although they have skills that enable them to research independently. 

Purposes and Social Context of Program

The purpose of the Mushroom farm project is to encourage learners to develop language, literacy and numeracy skills in a combined classroom and workplace situation where there is interaction with the local community. It provides the opportunity for all learners to take part in the initial planning of the project, the researching of mushroom growing, the setting up and maintenance of the mushroom farm, marketing and sales and finally the self evaluation of their performance and the evaluation of the project. Term 4 is chosen as the ‘enterprise term’ to give the end of year a climax rather than a sense of winding down.

These small enterprise projects have been based on the work of Malcolm Knowles[1] who utilises five assumptions and six design elements to provide powerful foundations for learning. The five assumptions about adult learners are:

1. self-concept: increasing self-directedness

2. experience: learners are a rich source

3. readiness to learn: development of tasks related to social roles

4. immediacy of application

5. orientation to learning: problem centred, create the milieu for curriculum design.

His six design elements for adult literacy programs

1. climate: mutually respectful, collaborative and informal

2. planning: mechanism for mutual planning

3. mutual formulation of objectives

4. sequenced in terms of readiness- problem units or learning projects

5. activities: experiential techniques-enquiry

6. evaluation: mutual diagnosis of needs and mutual measurement of the program enables the development of a student-centred approach that develops transferable skills.

Projects that utilise these elements encourage adult literacy students to embrace the view that literacy/ numeracy learning occurs both in and out of classrooms, that learning can happen over a cup of tea and that people have amazing skills despite having problems with literacy.

The National Reporting System provides the language, literacy and numeracy framework within these social activities occur. Learner participation in the development of this mushroom business also relates to NRS (Level 3) of the Workplace and Social Contexts:

• Adapts the skills of one cultural context to another

• Understands texts which includes meanings which are predominantly explicit

• Performs without reliance on interaction with sympathetic participants/ interlocutors

• Uses a narrow range of skill and knowledge for preparatory courses.

Students were able to discuss their mushroom farm experience in comparison to other jobs they had had. There were discussions about working conditions, employer expectations, skills, teamwork and coping with all types of people in workplaces and in classrooms and in social situations. At this point in time we have only begun the processes outlined in the Workplace and Social Contexts. There will be many further opportunities to explore transferablility and adaptability of skills.

Learning Outcomes

The production and sale of mushrooms is the focus of activities on this occasion, but in a sense the learning outcomes are generic and could be used to guide many ventures eg, food production, building or horticulture projects and production of simple manufactured products. The outcomes can be set either at a particular level for a selected group, or at a number of levels for mixed ability groups.

Below is a list of nine outcomes that we aimed to achieve in the 10 weeks of term four. These are located within the NRS Aspects of Communication and show the range of NRS Indicators of Competence being aimed for.