A ULR toolkit for developing informal learning at work Learning For Everyone helps union learning reps run enjoyable sessions in the workplace that give people the chance to learn something new.
ACTIVE CITIZENSHI
You can often run informal learning sessions with nothing more than a flipchart, paper and some pens
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DGE
THE KNOWLE
Encourage learners to think of what issues they would like to con tact their MP about and how to do so to ensure that best their voices are heard
SHOPS POETRY WORK
THE KNOWLEDGE
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MARK CHILVERS
CASE STUDY
STEP BY STEP
1 2 3 4 5 6
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All you need to start informal learning in your workplace Learning For Everyone and the detailed tutor notes we’ve made available online make it easy and rewarding to set up workplace learning sessions that members will enjoy, and non-members will want to take part in. Learning For Everyone, and the detailed tutors’ notes you can download from the Learning and Organising Services (LAOS) section of the UNISON website, give you almost everything you need to run enjoyable informal learning sessions in your workplace. Once you’ve picked your activity from the toolkit, you should have all the information you need to run a short enjoyable session on that theme: all you’ll need to do is book a room and spread the word. The phrase ‘informal learning’ covers a massive range of potential activities, from social media to the Six Book Challenge, citizenship to financial planning, painting and poetry to holiday language learning. What they all have in common is that there are no qualifications attached and we take the courses not because we need them for work but simply because they look like they’ll be interesting and fun.
Informal learning helps us all to develop our potential, discover hidden talents, and play a bigger part in our union and our communities. Joanna Cain, Head of Learning and Organising Services
Promoting informal learning in the workplace has a huge range of benefits and advantages for the individuals who take part and the union as a whole. • Encouraging people to try their hand at cookery, crafts or poetry, de-mystifying the world of social media, or training them how to use a ‘human library’ shows how acquiring new knowledge and skills can be an enjoyable break from workplace routines. • Light-hearted and less academic sessions can help people overcome anxieties and fears about learning and give them the confidence to sign up for literacy, numeracy or IT courses next time round.
GETTING TO KNOW
YOUR LOCA L
The aim of this sessio n is to hel of what iss p people find ues they wo out who the uld like to voices are ir MPs are contact the heard. and encour m about and age them how best to think to do so to ensure tha 1 Ask partici t their pants to ind icate if the introduce y know the the websi name of the tes www.t 2 Show lea ir MP on a heyworkfor rners how show of han you.com to use the or http://fin ds. Then to reveal det search box dyourmp.p ails about on www.they arliament their MP/M workforyo to their MP .uk/. SP/MLA. Poi u.com to ent . nt out the er their pos 3 Using loc sec tion where tcode al newspa they can sen per cut tings and about you d a messa shared kno r MP: ge wledge, dra • political w out any views; important information • voting rec ord; • personal interests; • members ’ personal dealings wit 4 Discuss h them(if an issue me any). mbers wis something h to raise you want with their the MP to MP. List the represent do (eg sig main points ative). Enc n a motion . Make sur ourage par , support e you hav ticipants to a Bill, meet e compose a UNISON a short lett UNISON’s er or email guide to cam using the paigning www.unis key points includes on.org.uk/a . a section crobat/19 on lobbyi 308.pdf ng and con tacting MP There’s a s: more detaile d active citi tutor notes zenship ses , available sion plan from www.u included nison.org.u in Learning k/laos for everyo ne:
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For advice on S to be put in se email LAO workshop, plea ch: Swindon bran touch with the unison.co.uk ies@ isingenquir learning&organ 21
GET YOUR DETAILED TUTOR NOTES ONLINE You can download detailed tutor notes, handouts and samples to help you run the full versions of the courses that were too long to include in the print version of the Learning For Everyone toolkit. The tutor notes provide complete step by step breakdowns of the longer courses, detail the questions you’ll ask and the answers you’re looking for, and also include samples of handouts and other materials that you may need to circulate to participants. Tutor notes
YOUR AT A GLANCE GUIDE TO THE NEW TOOLKIT
Photograph: Jess Hurd/reportdigital.co.uk
1. The knowledge: summarises key points to take into account when organising a session on a particular topic 2. Step by step: brief outline of how to run a session, including timings 3. Case study: top tips from branches that have run similar sessions 4. Notebook: similar to ‘Step by step’: outlines key components of sessions
• Offering people the chance to cook something they normally wouldn’t, giving them the financial tools to reduce their debts, or showing them how to contact their MP about something that got them shouting at the TV, demonstrates how UNISON can help members change their lives for the better. Learning For Everyone is laid out to offer practical help and detailed guidance so you can put on a wide range of informal learning sessions at work. In addition, we’ve made detailed tutor notes available online (see sidebar) that include detailed course outlines, handouts and samples you can photocopy to help you run some of the more specialist sessions, such as ‘Supporting members facing redundancy’. You can download Learning for Everyone from the Learning and Organising Resources page on the UNISON website: www.unison.org.uk/laos/publications.asp
The detailed notes include: • Moving on: Supporting UNISON members facing redundancy • Credit crunch cookery • Human libraries • Migration workshop. You can download the materials from the LAOS section of the UNISON website: www.unison.org.uk/laos/news_view.asp?did=7078 In addition, the Resources section of the LAOS website includes download links to a number of additional materials that might help ULRs run informal learning sessions in the workplace. These include: • Change your life with UNISON learning: quick guide to lifelong learning opportunities for UNISON members • Branch Guide to Lifelong Learning • ULR Handbook: short guide to your rights and as a ULR, how to get started and what's available for members • Learning Angle Briefing No. 1: dealing with the Credit Crunch. You can download all these and more from: www.unison.org.uk/laos/publications.asp
Mansfield members taste the difference with credit crunch cookery course ROY PETERS
True to the ‘credit crunch’ course title, everything is done within a budget that ensures meals cost no more than £1.50 per head. The sessions have also helped sharpen people’s Skills for Life. “The course embeds numeracy skills in calculation of ingredient costs; literacy skills because we’re reading from recipes; and communication skills because we’re all working together even if we’re cooking different things,” Jacquie explains.
To find out more and how to join contact: UNISONdirect TELEPHONE 0845 355 0845 textphone users FREEPHONE 0800 0 967 968 Lines open 6am – midnight Monday to Friday; 9am – 4pm Saturday Or visit our website www.unison.org.uk
The branch has recruited new members by running the courses, and changed people’s perceptions of UNISON at the council. “At a time when we’re all suffering financially, the course is a great way to give something back to members and promote what UNISON can offer.” Mansfield branch was able to use money from last year's learning project to help cover the costs of the courses. To find out about resources for UNISON’s new Inclusive Learning Project, email Davinder Sandhu: d.sandhu@unison.co.uk
COVER PHOTO: ROY PETERS
Credit crunch cookery is a great way to give something back to members and promote what UNISON can offer.
STOCK NO: ACT 191
Mansfield branch lifelong learning co-ordinator Jacquie Clark has run UNISON’s ‘credit crunch cookery’ course twice since she discovered it in the Learning For Everyone toolkit. The courses have enabled over 70 staff at the East Midlands local authority not only to improve their kitchen skills and try new foods but also to boost their literacy and numeracy through Skills for Life tasks embedded in the sessions. The branch ran the course in the kitchens at the Civic Centre one lunchtime a week for five weeks in late 2011 and early 2012. Led by the district council’s nutrition officer, Sandra Alvey, the sessions can accommodate eight people at a time, with a wide range of cookery skills and different dietary requirements. Participants can choose what they’d like to cook, so the member who didn’t know what to do with the courgettes she grew in her garden could team up with the person who wanted to do something different with mince in order to rustle up stuffed courgettes.