Discourse of support

Somewhat surprisingly, there was no clear answer from participants in response to the question, ‘what is your role and identity within your workplace?’ One theme that emerged revolved around the language of support, both for learners and vocational teachers.

4.2.1.1 Supporting learners

Analysis showed that the word ‘support’ was used more often than the word ‘teach’. Most participants, when commenting on their professional roles, clearly identified the importance of providing support to learners. The significance of learners to LLN teacher identity will become apparent in later chapters. This section commences with an overview of the attributes of learners who undertake LLN programs within VET, as identified by participants in this study.

The broad commonalities among learner cohorts identified by participants included limited education, long-term unemployment and ‘baggage’, or entering class with issues that created multiple barriers to learning, of which low literacy–numeracy skills was only one factor. According to Karen, as a cohort, LLN learners were not:

Just disadvantaged by their literacy, they have multiple barriers. They [the teachers] are dealing with a disengaged cohort often with a lack of purpose and they are dealing with a rejected marginalised group often.

Fran believed that such attributes affected learners’ attitudes to ‘learning and being in the classroom’. Most participants characterised their students as having ‘complex’ lives and numerous personal commitments.

Participants recognised that their students came from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds and that they encompassed a wide range of ages, skills and needs. To effectively carry out their roles as LLN teachers, participants understood the importance of getting to know the needs of individuals within their classes. Illustrating this, Cassie claimed that:

Each student has a different need and you’re not just teaching them reading and writing and numeracy; you are giving them study skills. First you have to create an atmosphere for them to learn, to be comfortable in the classroom ... Unless you understand these students and where they are coming from and where their needs are and what they bring into the class, you cannot teach them. You cannot do justice to what you do.

As well as teaching LLN skills, many participants placed equal, if not more, importance on their role of supporting the development of other learner attributes. While they referred to ‘teaching reading and writing and numeracy’ and ‘giving the students basic skills so they can fill in forms and get a job’, most participants emphasised their role in nurturing learners, encouraging them to be independent, achieve personal goals and develop confidence in their own abilities. This was explained by Colleen who asserted, ‘basically it’s about supporting adults who need nurturing really. They [the students] need to be comfortable and make mistakes and learn by their mistakes.’

Participants recognised that learners were often unsure about their own skill levels and needs, and that it was part of the teacher’s role to ‘illuminate for the students the bits they didn’t know’. Kym, an LLN coordinator in a metropolitan TAFE, felt that the complexities that existed within the VET system could be overwhelming to students. Therefore, one of the roles of the LLN teacher, she explained, was:

To make the system as user friendly as possible which means working around the constraintsthat come from funding and standards and various regulations etc. Really the education system if you like is a bit like a ghost train in a fun park but also an Aladdin’s cave. It’s really about getting them through the ghost train so they don’t get scared off so they can get into the Aladdin’s cave and absolutely have a ball.

Due to the diversity of their learners’ needs, many participants believed that their roles often extended beyond the realms of traditional teaching. For Belinda, being an LLN teacher meant taking on multiple roles: ‘It could be social worker, adviser, parenting to the younger students. It’s all encompassing’. Don believed that his LLN teacher role included ‘a mentoring role as well, good teaching is about good mentoring’. Fran expressed similar sentiments, stating, ‘I work in a community house; it’s mother, adviser’. This section has highlighted the emphasis that LLN teachers placed on supporting learners to reach individual goals. Although LLN learners shared some common attributes, the diversity in their backgrounds, levels of education, ages, LLN skill levels and needs meant that each student had to be treated differently. The participants in this study recognised that their role was not just to teach LLN skills, but to support learners to develop positive attitudes to learning.

4.2.1.2 Supporting vocational teachers

Interestingly, some LLN teachers felt that a critical part of their role involved providing support to vocational teachers. This was particularly evident in the responses of participants who worked in LLN support roles within vocational classrooms. Illustrating this, Anne explained:

I have become more of a support teacher to the VET teacher in the total sense of having more communication and more meetings and more discussions with VET teachers about their student’s needs; about the way I will support students. It’s very much more [about] consulting with the VET teacher, whereas when I first started as an adult literacy teacher it was more my own views and expectations … So, in that sense, probably my place, my role in the workplace has become … more of an attachment to a VET teacher than a stand-alone teacher.

Another teacher delivering embedded LLN support to vocational students, David, concurred: ‘I see myself in that class as a support role to the teacher’. Similarly, Don commented that ‘we are there on more of a support role; it’s very hard for us too. We can’t interrupt the VET teacher’s progress.’

It might be assumed that LLN teachers would interpret their support roles negatively— as a downgrading of their roles for which changes in policy could be blamed—but this was not the case. In fact, they held the opposite view. As will be examined in greater detail in Chapter 6, the narratives highlighted a range of positive outcomes stemming from LLN teachers’ work with vocational teachers. Some participants believed that the profile of LLN teachers had increased within VET institutions as a result of reform; they pointed out that they were now playing more active roles and feeling like they were more a part of the overall VET sector. Participants believed that increased levels of contact between VET and LLN teachers had resulted in greater understanding of and respect for LLN teachers’ expertise and support. As Don stated, ‘I think we are held in reasonably high regard ... because they know we have got good capacity in maths’. Similarly, Carmel commented, ‘people [within the institute] ... understand that we have a broad kind of understanding and quite broad capabilities’. In discussing her increased team-teaching role, Eve added that ‘the VET teachers gain a huge amount because they start to look at their delivery and the materials they use differently and start to get ideas’.