Never stop learning

New skills, resilience and friendship are just some of the many benefits of adult education. Chris Butcher, of the Workers’ Education Association, tells us more

Members of Making Music will be very familiar with the incredible power of singing and playing together. You will know that music heals, it creates communities and it connects us to a wider world. But there’s another activity with similarly powerful properties that can help you make new friends, discover new creative experiences and possibly even improve your health and wellbeing.

Every year, the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) – the national adult education charity – carries out a survey of around 5,000 adult learners to discover the impact that taking a course has had on their lives. The responses are amazing and inspiring – taking part in learning as an adult brings remarkable effects.

In the WEA’s 2020 adult education impact report, 40% of our students said their course helped them feel more resilient, 70% said that their course had introduced them to new friends, and 85% said that it had helped them do at least one new cultural activity.

Our students are of all ages (from 19 years upwards), all backgrounds and all academic levels, including many who are returning to learning later in life having left school with few qualifications. Our short courses cover a range from basic literacy and numeracy through to Greek philosophy and art history, but they all have an accessible and friendly approach. And with 39% of WEA students taking courses in the arts, crafts and humanities, you won’t be surprised to learn that we have a good range of courses in music – both participation and appreciation.

By the time you read this, we all hope that the Government’s ‘roadmap’ will tell us how much longer we must live with social distancing and the other restrictions the pandemic has placed on us. It has brought many changes, of course, and the WEA’s tutors have worked incredibly hard to ensure that online delivery retains as much as possible of the ‘feel’ of in-person teaching. Online courses are still interactive, responsive and maintain a high quality. But while we have learned a lot about the possibilities of online delivery in the last year, our students and tutors are keen to return to our venues as soon as it is safe to do so.

I have seen some of the incredible online performances which Making Music has hosted during the lockdowns, and as time has gone on musicians and other performers have become increasingly innovative in making use of the technology available. WEA’s music courses have adapted in similar ways, and during the last year we have been able to offer courses which included folk singing circles, percussion workshops (we encourage our students to think of their neighbours if doing these from home!) and even light exercise to music.

Music appreciation and theory courses adapt more readily to the online format, and subjects of recent WEA courses have included an introduction to opera and the history of the protest song.

So, even if we are still predominantly living virtually when you read this, I would encourage you to explore the range of courses available through the WEA. And of course, the joy of learning is that you may want to stretch yourself into a new subject – there is no reason why a trombonist cannot pick up trigonometry or a soprano discover Socrates. It’s all there for you to explore, and before long, who knows, we may be welcoming you through the doors of a WEA venue and singing and playing – and learning – together once more.

Find out more and search for courses: wea.org.uk Discover more about the 2020 adult education impact report at news.wea.org.uk/impact/

“...during the last year we have been able to offer courses which included folk singing circles, percussion workshops ... and even light exercise to music.”