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Community Education and Shared Learning with our German Colleagues

29 Oct 2024

Writing by Lorraine O’Connor, Community Education Officer 

Earlier this year, our Community Education Officer, Lorraine O’Connor, visited VHS Germany in Stuttgart as part of our Community Education in Europe (KA1) programme. This visit was part of a consortium of adult education organisations who are members of our Community Education Network (CEN). It resulted from our collaboration with Andrea Bernert-Bürkle, European Project Manager, and Dorothee Muller of Volkshochschulverband Baden-Württemberg, who lead a range of cultural programmes for adults.

VHS colleagues sitting around a table at HACE in Dublin
The German group was eager to learn more about Ireland’s adult education system and our role in it.  

So, we invited the group to visit us in Dublin this October, and twenty-three adult educators came from all across Germany. Lorraine worked with colleagues in Henrietta Adult and Community Services (HACE) here in Dublin, who are a long-standing member of the CEN. They graciously provided the venue for the event.  

HACE provide lots of accredited and non-accredited classes, as well as a wide range of supports like counselling, social work, and education and training. They are constantly developing new   programmes based on community needs. 

At the gathering with our German colleagues, Lorraine provided an overview of AONTAS’ work and the Community Education Network. Then Grainne Conroy, Community Education Manager at HACE, and Deputy Manager Yvonne O’Callaghan delivered an excellent session on their work in community education. Grainne highlighted the remarkable work HACE does in Dublin’s north inner city, working with marginalised and new communities, as well as older residents. She spoke about the deep sense of community, solidarity, and the lifelong learning opportunities HACE offers. Many of the participants on their programmes have worked for years and are now pursuing education as a way of upskilling, forming new relationships, and also learning in a way that might have been unavailable to them in the past.  

Adult learners shared their experience on the day, including Gerry, Tracy, and Kay, who spoke passionately about what adult education at HACE has meant to them, their families, and the wider community.  

“HACE is a huge part of the community,” Tracy said. She told the group how it had changed her life, from a shy girl lacking confidence more than 20 years ago.   

“The first day I came to HACE, I ran away, but I came back and I'm glad I did.” 

She did several courses with HACE over the years, before going on to DUBLINI (another longstanding member of AONTAS) and undertaking a course for Tour Guides through Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI).  

Traci now works at the award winning 14 Henerietta Street Museum and promotes the museum by giving presentation to various institutions.  

Gerry and Kay spoke about coming in for the tea and never leaving because they became involved in so many programmes over the years and now volunteer in HACE.  

This highlights the sense of community here, and how community education helps people build skills as a lifelong learner. The learners' stories were warmly received by our German visitors. 

A robust dialogue on the educational systems in both countries followed, with discussion on and exchanges of best practices in both countries. Learner Voice was of particular interest to many of our German guests, in particular the Adult Learners’ Festival and how we at AONTAS ensure that the Learner Voice is heard at all levels of decision-making, where possible.  

Some of the group were interested in the Irish childcare system. HACE has an onsite childcare service and the manager Deirdre and deputy manager Kate gave an excellent overview of the childcare system. They discussed the lack of childcare in the area. They currently have a waiting list of over 30 children. This service caters for some of the most marginalised children, many of whom have been deemed at risk. The staff work closely with state organisations, schools, and other services to support children and parents. Adequate quality childcare is something that we at AONTAS have advocated for many years. Our recent Manifesto calls on the Government to provide this for all children.  

Another part of the afternoon at HACE consisted of a podcasting workshop from Alexandra Hessler, a journalist who showed the group how they can produce small podcasts. Alexsandra works for a project in Germany where they use podcasts as an interactive method for cultural and political education. This project encourages communities to record audios that tell a story or something interesting about the community they live in, and then upload it as a podcast onto a map.  

The final part of the day was a presentation from Ailbe Van Der Heide from the Irish Folklore Archive. This was an interesting presentation on how archives can help us learn from the present and the past. 

The day was an excellent opportunity to bring together members of AONTAS and the CEN, and our European partners, as well as a local organisation, community education providers, and learners – all sharing learning, expertise, and experiences.