Led by Karin Eyben, Corrymeela and Lyn Moffett, BCRC

WORKSHOP PAPERS

SOCIAL COHESION AND LEARNING

led by Karin Eyben, Corrymeela and Lyn Moffett, BCRC

What do we understand by ‘Social Cohesion’?

In Tomorrow Together: A Strategy for building a Cohesive Community in Coleraine[1], Peter Osborne, now Chair of the Community Relations Council in Northern Ireland, described the following characteristics of an integrated and cohesive community:

• There is a clearly defined and widely shared sense of the contribution of different individuals and different communities to a future vision for a neighbourhood, city, region or country;
• There is a strong sense of an individual’s rights and responsibilities when living in a particular place – people know what everyone expects of them, and what they can expect in turn;
• Those from different backgrounds have similar life opportunities, access to services and treatment;
• There is a strong sense of trust in institutions locally to act fairly in arbitrating between different interests and for their role and activities to be subject to public scrutiny;
• There is a strong recognition of the contribution of both those who have newly arrived and those who already have deep attachments to a particular place, with a focus on what they have in common;
• There are strong and positive relationships between people from different backgrounds in the workplace, in schools and other institutions within neighbourhoods.

All of these elements have, in various ways and using many approaches been part of workshops, courses – accredited or certificated – delivered across community houses, halls, and community centres throughout Northern Ireland for several decades.

Adult Learning and Social Cohesion

The arguments for Integrated Schooling[2] and Shared Education for children and young people as methods for increasing cohesion and integration have been forcibly made elsewhere and are well documented, but what about adult learning and opportunities for education in community settings and the impact that can have on community cohesion? What role can community based learning have in building social capital?

An article by Paul Stanistreet in the Adults Learning Journal on ‘Adult Education and Peace Building in Northern Ireland’[3] used the headline ‘It’s about getting people to talk to each other’ and charted the movement from minimal cross-community engagement to major peace-building initiatives focussed on bringing people together from across the sectarian divide to learn together and to explore the issues underpinning community tensions and driving sectarian conflict. Stanistreet quoted Colin Neilands, then director of WEA:

‘It was very novel for people to be in a mixed environment and, more than that, to be talking about taboo subjects. Seamus Heaney, in one of his poems, quoted a maxim that people live to around here: “Whatever you say, say nothing”. And we were the contrary of that really, we were saying, “Talk about it, talk about your experiences”. The Irish have a storytelling ethos. It’s part of the culture. And if you give people a bit of encouragement they will start breaking down those taboos. A lot of time was spent just working out the ground rules: what can be said, how do we say it. All of that had to be painstakingly negotiated. But the basis of all the work is very simple. It’s about getting people to talk to one another. It sounds simplistic, but in the context of conflict and decades of segregation, we haven’t been used to that.’

WEA was at the forefront of developing accredited courses designed to promote understanding of difference and build the capacity of individuals and communities to engage in building relationships founded on trust. They introduced subjects such as local history, negotiation skills, mediation, leadership, conflict management and addressing anti-social behavior as well as their early programmes, Us and Them and Us and Them Too – designed to raise awareness and understanding of the experiences of the ‘other’ and acknowledge the commonalities as well as the differences.

These courses, and others developed over the years by a growing body of community educators, built a level of skill in the community to articulate their needs with confidence, engage in dialogue across sectarian interfaces, lobby political representatives and people of influence to take risks for peace, and above all to engage in shared activities to develop strong, stable and cohesive communities.

For those of us who work in Community Development one of our key aims is to empower people to make a difference in their community and to improve the quality of life in the local area. However, individuals also benefit from participating in courses and workshops held in safe, welcoming spaces. Sometimes these benefits are as basic as regaining lost confidence, developing new communication skills, finding a new enjoyment in learning not experienced in formal education. For others, completing a number of accredited courses is the stepping stone they need to embark on a course of further or higher education.

In Stanistreet’s article, mature student Mary McCusker, who left school at 14 and took a degree in her 40s after being introduced to adult education, believed that the process of change begins with confidence building, which can be critical in anti-sectarian education. She argued that no matter how much work is done with children and young people through shared or integrated education, parents still are the primary influencers, and that it is vital that they and other community members “feel secure and safe enough to talk about their culture and those of others…

She concluded “if they are sectarian and put their views into their children, integrated education is finished.”

The workshop today will give participants a sense of what exclusion can feel like, then go on to encourage debate on what the future of adult education for community cohesion might hold, and develop a sense of what is needed to turn that vision into reality.

Health/Wellbeing & Learning Workshop

led by Paul Donaghy

1. Welcome & Introductions – an interactive format.

2. Social Determinants of Health – Pairs, then group activity.

3. The challenges facing Health & Social Care - Flipchart Group feedback.

4. Where does learning fit?

Group 1 – Need & Culture,

Group 2 - Design & Finance,

Group 3 - Leadership, Workforce & Technology

Feedback.

5. Enabling and Empowering our whole community and whole workforce.

6. The Way Ahead - A really big whole community Conversation.

Rurality and Isolation Workshop

led by Libby Keys and Maura Johnston

Issues relating to social isolation run through every aspect of rural life. The over 50’s are affected, perhaps more acutely than others, as health can deteriorate with age, mobility may be reduced and opportunities to meet others to socialize, with concomitant benefits to well being, and to access centres of learning are limited by lack of public transport

The recent cutbacks and closures have had a far-reaching impact on the rural community in Northern Ireland, and will continue to do so for some time to come. Organisations that have supported adult education and learning, such as the Workers' Educational Association, the Ulster People’s College, and the Rural College have had to close their doors, and the gap that has been left is vast. For groups and individuals, this kind of learning isn’t a pastime, it is a lifeline.

Kate Clifford, Director of the Rural Community Network, formerly ran the Diploma in Community Development Practice for NUI Galway, and the MSc in Rural Development in QUB Kate says ‘In all of these courses I witnessed individuals who, on completion of the courses, became very switched on to stakeholder engagement, community participation, user involvement, person centred planning and who looked at policy and legislative changes with an eye to looking more at how it would impact on the more marginalised and excluded in society. For many, this training supported their development of greater inclusion with those who were most marginalised in this society.’

Access to Services

Places where people meet casually seem to become rarer all the time – a community building may have had a coffee shop, an after schools club, a place for classes and training events, and somewhere to ‘get together’ and feel welcome. When such a building closes, there is often no record of all that has been lost.

The Mid Ulster Women’s Network served a wide area. They ran courses and training and information events, they attracted women from farming backgrounds, from the local towns, from small isolated villages – and of all ages. The topics covered everything from IT skills, to craft work, to theatre studies, to peace building projects with a cross border Women’s Network. The Network struggled constantly to survive, eventually existing on project funding until they had to close down last year. A place where women could meet to learn together– that transcended many barriers - was lost.

The Northern Ireland Rural Women's Network launched their policy manifesto recently. Their research survey of rural women highlighted some of the outstanding issues:

‘Historic underfunding of rural women’s activities and underinvestment in rural areas; centralisation of service support; lack of infrastructure; and the burden of caring responsibilities are all leaving rural women experiencing more poverty and social isolation than even before.’

So the Manifesto is calling on decision makers to:

Rural proofeducation and training investmentand address thebarriers towomen's lifelongengagementintraining and education and resource the removal of these barriers.

How can we ensure that adult learning projects, particularly those aimed at older people and women in rural areas, are supported by a carefully planned with a well thought out strategy with built in sustainability?

Digital Solutions

Connectivity remains an issue with rural areas lagging behind towns and cities in terms of available network speed and the closures of libraries and schools mean that internet access that was once publicly available is greatly reduced.

But the world has been transformed by inexpensive access to the internet by smartphone – by 2014 a quarter of the world’s population owned one. The issue is how to make best use of it as a learning tool. On-line learning needs to be simple, intuitive, valuable, and able to meet needs.

Smart ideas have been come up with elsewhere.

In India the 'Hole in the Wall' experiment was conducted. The idea was simple, to adapt the concept of an ATM cash machine for education and place it in areas where there are no teachers, or where teachers do not want to go. So a computer was fixed to a wall in slum areas and positioned at the appropriate height for children to access. The result showed that children in urban slums and remote areas of India, many of whom have never seen a computer in their lives, are capable of teaching themselves about subjects from character mapping to DNA replication, all on their own.

In Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides, one visionary individual saw a need and a gap. Donnie Morrison contacted large companies that had jobs that could be done remotely, matched them with an underemployed but skilled rural population and created 700 jobs on a Scottish island.

Is digital learning (and employment) a solution to isolation?Or could it emphasise isolation by doing away with the need for face-to-face learning?

Family Learning Workshop

led by Barnardo's

What do croissants, throwing dice, ice-cream, slime balls, WALT and WILF have to do with adult education?

Come along to this workshop to find out more, as Barnardos’ Family Connections service explore the journey of a parent’s return to education. Learn more about how family learning can be an accessible route to adult education.

Barnardo’s Family Connections

Barnardo’s Family Connections works alongside families, schools and the communities of Rathcoole and East Belfast to make a positive difference in aspiration and attainment of children and young people and in family life. We believe that improving connections between children, parents schools and communities improves outcomes.

• Family Connections helps parents to support their children’s learning and development
• Families are better able to access improved integrated services.
• Schools are now more positive learning environments.
• Early intervention produces long term positive outcomes for families.
• Children engage in a range of learning opportunities.
• Families and schools are more involved in community life.

Employability of older people in Northern Ireland

1.Recent employment trends

A silent revolution has taken place in the 21st Century in the employment of older people. The number of workers aged 16-49 in NorthernIreland rose from half a million in 1995 to a peak of 625,000 in 2008 (up 25%), then dropped to 584,000 when the recession hit (down 6.6%) and has remained at that level ever since (Figure 1). By contrast the number of workers aged 50+ increased from 127,000 in 1995 to 177,000 in 2008 (+39.4%). It then declined by only 2,000 (-1.1%) and has since expanded to 240,000, a rise of 37.1% since the recession.

2.Gender differences

Over the 20 years 1995-2015 the increase in employment among women aged 50+ was particularly notable, rising by 59,000 (118%) compared with a rise of 54,000 for men (71.1%). In the period of limited growth since the 2008 recession, women have continued to expand their numbers in work, as shown in Figure 2, which is indexed to show relative changes by age and sex. The number of younger men and women remained unchanged over the last seven years and the recovery so far has been fuelled by the labour of older workers. The number of men aged 50+ in work rose by 27.5% but the increase in women workers was more dramatic, increasing by 49.3%. The size of the increase probably reflects both a continuation of the trend of growing female participation in work between 1995 and 2008 and the effect of the rise in the State Pension Age for women from 60 to 65 over the decade 2010-2020.

3.Greater growth achievable

The growing number of older people in work has been impressive, indicating both that they are willing to remain in or return to the labour market and are better able to do so, especially during a period of growth, albeit modest. However, further gains are possible. At present economic activity rates among men fall from 91.1% among those aged 25-49 to 71.4% for those aged 50-64 and 13.8% for the over 65s. Female participation in the labour market is lower still, declining from 77% for those aged 25-49 to 61% aged 50-64 and 8.2% for those aged 65+. In addition, it is likely that older workers work fewer hours than their younger counterparts and, while this may be a matter of choice, some may wish to work longer.

4.Discussion: employability and learning

People leave work before the age of 65 for many reasons, some by choice, especially if they have secure pensions. It should be noted that adequate pension income is a positive factor which offers the luxury of choice; many people in this secure state remain in work, often because their jobs are pleasant, challenging and well-paid. Others are less fortunate e.g. those who are made redundant, some of whom wish to find another job. Many others leave work due to illness, disability or caring responsibilities, the latter category being mainly female. These are the negative factors affecting people who either wish to continue working because they enjoy it (e.g. the sense of purpose and social networks they benefit from) or because they need the additional income to maintain an adequate lifestyle.

In the case of learning there may well be a difference between the needs of younger and older people. Younger people are more likely to have formal qualifications but to lack the soft skills of communication, team working and so on that many employers value. It has been well documented that older people in general had less formal education when they were younger and relatively few have built on that learning later in their lives. Employers too are less likely to provide training for older workers on the incorrect assumption that they will get a smaller return for their money than if they invest in younger people. The result is that older people who lose their jobs or who wish to down-shift may face difficulty, especially if seeking jobs in which applicants are screened on the basis of qualifications, often of little relevance to the work involved.

Paul Mc Gill

The Institute of Public Health in Ireland

30 September 2015

[1] This was the first Cohesion Strategy developed by a local government body in Northern Ireland, and formed part of the council’s response to a sectarian killing in the Borough in May 2009.

[2] See

[3] Adults Learning, NIACE, Spring 2013 pp14-19