Learning: For All. For Life. A report from the Independent Review of Community Learning and Development (CLD)

Introduction

"Learning is a basic characteristic of life and man can learn as a result of every experience he undergoes. Education is a more organised or structured form of learning, by no means always associated with an institution.”

The Challenge for Change (‘The Alexander Report’), 1975.^[1]

Education is a fundamental right, not a privilege: everyone must have the opportunity to succeed. Community learning and development can be a first step along that path, through supporting some of our most vulnerable people ... There is no wrong or less-esteemed path, whether that path is via college, school, work, university or a community initiative. They are all essential parts of a modern education and skills system.”

Graeme Dey MSP, Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Veterans, 5 December 2023.^[2]

"It is never too late to learn, every day is a school day!”

Adult Learner. February 2024

My Role

When I was invited by the Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Veterans, Graeme Dey MSP, to undertake this review

I quickly said yes. Although daunted by the scale of challenge in carrying out a review of such a wide and varied area in such a short timeframe, any misgivings were overcome by my clear understanding of how important Community Learning & Development (CLD) can be for so many of our most vulnerable and disadvantaged individuals and communities in Scotland.

Similarly, knowledge that the extremely difficult financial context for the Scottish Government and Local Authorities means that there is little chance of additional budget resource being made available, while disappointing, didn't dampen my enthusiasm.

There was still a considerable amount to be gained by examining the extent to which CLD is delivering positive outcomes, and toconsider where things could be improved to maximise those positive outcomes even within existing financial constraints. In doing so, I was determined that hearing from and reflecting the views and experiences of the learners themselves had to sit at the very centre of the review.

I want to thank the Minister for asking me to take on this role. I was struck by something the Minister said when we discussed my appointment. He was clear in his view that government has a 'moral obligation' to the people who currently use CLD, or might do in the future, to ensure they are getting the support they need. I agreed then and I agree even more now.

I'm also grateful to the Minister for his commitment to consider my recommendations alongside the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (CoSLA). What I've learned about the challenges facing the CLD sector and the learners it serves, strongly suggests that it will take a collaborative and sustained effort – involving government at national and local levels, together with key stakeholders and delivery partners – to tackle.

Given my position as Scotland Chair of the National Lottery Communities Fund, it won't come as a surprise when I say that people and communities matter to me. That's not a recent development. I started my career in the 1980s as a secondary school teacher at a time when many of Scotland's towns and cities were experiencing the significant challenges of deindustrialisation. I left teaching to work within the skills system supporting young people to access apprenticeships. The impact of deindustrialisation on individual lives and across our communities is well-known and, in too many cases, has endured. It spurred me on to work in community regeneration. These experiences directed the rest of my career to supporting people and communities develop their potential and become more empowered to drive the change that they want to see. This review of CLD fits within that desire to hear directly from people about their experiences and what needs to change.

So, I understand and care about the sector, but I am not part of it. From reading how CLD has developed since 1975, I can see there has been a passionate debate about whether it should be seen as a 'service' or as an 'approach'. I don't bring any preconceived ideas on that issue. What I have seen and heard during this review leads me to conclude that it is essentially both, and I've used the terms interchangeably throughout this report. It can be a 'service' delivered by CLD teams in Local Authorities, a key premise of the Alexander

Report, or an 'approach' (as highlighted in the 1988 Osler Report^[3]) being employed by a wide range of delivery agents and partners, including Colleges, Universities and the Third Sector. It can be done by employed staff or by volunteers. Surely, the most important thing to consider is the extent to which the learner can be reassured that those who are delivering CLD are doing so in a 'professional' way, underpinned by a set of values, ethics and principles, and are meeting standards designed to provide greater consistency and quality irrespective of who is delivering. Ultimately, the learner shouldn't need to think about any of this. Let's agree that CLD is underpinned by a philosophy that is community-driven and people-centred and can be a 'service' or an 'approach'. Both of which need to be taken forward in line with accepted standards and by suitably trained, experienced or qualified staff and/or volunteers.

"I have more confidence being around people again and the social aspect of it is good. It is teaching me skills and I learn from people when I am teaching them. It is giving me a purpose." Adult Learner and volunteer.

Five decades after the Alexander Report

It is now almost half a century since the work of the committee, led by Sir Kenneth Alexander, resulted in the publication of The Challenge for Change. As some recognised at the time, and many more have subsequently realised, the accepted recommendation from that report, which led to the incorporation of adult education, 'youth and community service' into a single Community Education Service, put Scotland in a position as pace-setter and thought leader for many other countries. Even today, the joined-up nature of CLD in Scotland attracts considerable international interest.

Whilst each component part of CLD: Youth Work, Adult Education/ESOL and Community Development come from different historical origins and have specialist knowledge and skills, there is a unifying CLD ethos of core values, ethics, underlying principles and "approach". Reading the Alexander Report today, it is striking how familiar many of the drivers for change, together with the aims set for the Community Education Service, remain relevant even now. The technological basis for our society; the 'dehumanising' nature of many areas of work; the impact of the mass media, all tending to 'erode individuality', and 'increase a sense of isolation and alienation'. Alexander was clear in what he described as 'the growing need for opportunities which enable individuals to develop their capacities for a full and rich personal and social life and for educational provision to be directed at reducing to the minimum impediments to this development". 'Reaffirming individuality' should be as much of an aim for our 2024 Lifelong Learning system as it was for Alexander's suggested Community Education Service nearly five decades ago (although we would be more likely to use the term 'person-centred' today). Similarly, flagging as 'more essential than ever' the need to ensure 'that people have the necessary skill and knowledge to use to the full the resources of society', to deal with the consequences of modern technology and complex bureaucracies, still resonates today. As does the aim of fostering 'the pluralist society', which essentially supports the aim of people contributing to their communities and wider society – individual resilience and community resilience are mutually reinforcing! Alexander's final identified aim of 'education for change itself' comes in response to a challenge that remains acute as we approach the second quarter of the 21st century:

"The institutions of society are undergoing continuous transformation and, while on some occasions these changes are willed by the individuals and groups most affected, on other occasions these individuals and groups are the reluctant victims. In both cases new ways of acting and new ways of learning must be developed."

The Alexander Report publication coincided with the comprehensive reorganisation of Local Government in Scotland, which saw the introduction of Regional Councils, who embraced CLD by tackling poverty and inequalities through learning and development. Whilst regional authorities were subsequently removed in the return to unitary authorities in the 1990s, CLD continues to be delivered to some extent in line with the aim of addressing poverty and inequalities.

One of the things that I have found most striking in my engagement with a wide range of stakeholders throughout this review, is the extent to which new, and often overlapping, structures are being put in place with the aim to improve coordination in a certain policy space beyond the scope of a unitary Local Authority but below the national level e.g. Regional Improvement Collaboratives, skills planning, employability, etc. Clearly, there is little prospect of a return to Regional Councils, but I do want to highlight the need for Scottish Government Ministers, together with CoSLA, to consider a more strategic approach to the structures – ad hoc or otherwise – being put in place

The impetus for change highlighted in the Alexander report related to two broad aims; ensure local communities were given greater encouragement and support to shape social change; and deliver equality of opportunity by tackling educational disadvantage. It seems to me that both aims are still relevant today.

My intention is not to overplay the comparisons with Scotland of the mid-1970s. So much has fundamentally changed since then, not least of which is the fact that this current review has been commissioned by a Minister in a Scottish Government, which is accountable to a Scottish Parliament. Nevertheless, the continuity underpinning the need for CLD is plain, and has been set out in subsequent government publications. to meet what appears to be a growing need for more effective join-up and coordination at the regional level and at the local community level. As I hope becomes clear in what follows in this report, the regional level is crucially important when it comes to ensuring better coherence and consistency of CLD provision across Scotland as a whole. Evidence from the review highlights that planning, delivery and evaluating the impact of CLD provision requires an integrated system of decision-making encompassing national, regional and locality- based stakeholders.

Structure of the report

The report that follows will begin by setting out what I was asked by the Minister to do, before I go on to explain why the review is important and why CLD is even more so, given the range of policy challenges it can and does help to address. The report then sets out what I've seen, heard and discussed throughout the short but intensive evidence-gathering stage of the review. I have been really struck by the high levels of enthusiastic engagement from learners, potential learners, practitioners and stakeholders.

Drawing on the evidence gathered, I have considered what I believe needs to be done to tackle some of the acute challenges facing CLD in Scotland. The financial backdrop is not a positive one, and that has been a consideration throughout this review. The vast majority of those who I've heard from in recent months have expressed deep concerns about the current situation and the future of CLD provision, but remained hugely positive about what CLD is and does.

"I thought retirement was going for a dog walk or out in my campervan – I spend more time at the Shed – it has given me a new lease of life. Life moves on and I am using the bit between my ears more.”

Adult Learner

What I've sought to do with this report is to focus on those things that can still be done to allow CLD to continue to transform and, in many cases, save lives.

Acknowledgements

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those who have given their time and energy to help undertake this review, and to deliver this report on time.

Specifically, I am grateful to Education Scotland and CLD staff working in Local Authorities and the Third Sector for their assistance in putting together our face-to-face sessions in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee; our virtual sessions with the Highlands & Islands, and Third Sector Interfaces; and arranging for me to meet and hear from CLD learners and potential learners from many communities across Scotland both in-person and virtually via online meetings.

Grateful thanks are due also to the Scottish Government Lifelong Learning & Skills Directorate for providing me with a dedicated Secretariat team, and to Janet Sneddon, Steve Scott and Craig Robertson who were part of that great team and for being so supportive. I am also very grateful to the Scottish Government's Advanced Learning & Skills Analysts team for all their help and support, particularly on the focus groups with learners and the Literature Review. Similarly, I would like to thank Craigforth for producing a comprehensive Evidence Report.

The extent of engagement with this review has been simply incredible, and I want to place on record my appreciation to all those who agreed to meet with me or invited me to meet with them.

Lastly, and most importantly, a massive 'Thank You!' to all the CLD learners who have engaged with this review. Hearing your inspiring and powerful stories reinforced my determination to produce a report and recommendations that can help you progress on your journeys and provide the encouragement for others to follow in your footsteps.