Catherine enjoys writing course with the WEA
Catherine once told one of my observers that I was her “hero”. She has been in my class for approximately three years now and rarely misses a class, apart from holidays. She enjoys learning and joins in with all activities we do. Her interests vary, but whenever we go on a field trip, her question is always “Can we take photos?” It’s never usually a problem and being a keen photographer myself, I take an interest in whatever she takes photos of and advise her on the best angles, how to frame them etc.. I spoke to Catherine before I started the case study and asked her how she felt about the courses she had attended over the three years. I asked her if she could write a few sentences about what she had learned and what she had enjoyed. She was only too eager to help, even though her writing pertains to that of a primary school child and I wondered if I would be able to read her words. I remember an exercise we were doing on a writing and reading course. I brought in some easy reading books and offered to lend them to any learner who would like them, with the provision that they would write a few sentences about the book and give them to me. Catherine was only too happy to borrow a book which was one of the Narnia stories (The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe). She duly brought the book back a week later along with her writing. It seemed she hadn’t understood the book at all, but the writing was legible at least, even if it didn’t make sense. This time, I was surprised to see how much progress her writing had made in the past year even. She wrote: “In the WEA courses I do feel more confident with my talking and I am speaking much better”. This probably comes about as she was given the part of the announcer in the last course when we did ‘Speaking with Confidence’ and used a mock radio programme as the basis to get everyone speaking in front of everyone else. “It has helped me to meet people. I did enjoy meeting Terry Crowe (our Lord Mayor from 2013-2014) and the people from the Council and Fire Station.” She is referring to the course we did titled ‘Knowing Your Local Area’, when we visited the Civic Centre to see the Lord Mayor and had tea with him in the Lord Mayor’s parlour. Everyone had the opportunity to have their photos taken sitting on the Lord Mayor’s chair with the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress; two local councillors came to talk to the group and we visited the local fire station. “I have gained more skills than I had before and it was a way to let me take more photos at the Lord Mayor’s parlour”. Again she refers to the visit to the Civic Centre and the fact that I arranged for everyone to have their photos taken and Catherine was able to take photos there, an opportunity she may never have had.
WEA Research Unit A better world – equal, democratic and just; through adult education the WEA challenges and inspires individuals, communities and society.
Catherine enjoys writing course with the WEA
The reason for choosing Catherine for a case study was that I felt she had made significant progress throughout the courses I have delivered at this particular venue. The whole group have various learning difficulties; some have mobility issues, memory problems, both short and long term. Catherine in particular has a speech problem and it is difficult to understand her at times. However, she is very patient and will repeat her words slowly as often as I need to be able to understand her. Fortunately, this has become less frequent as she learns to talk slower. We can also use some sign language, which also helps if we get into difficulties. The last words, I feel, belong to Catherine, as she sums up her time on WEA courses: “I enjoyed meeting all the lovely people who are part of the WEA and I enjoy working with my teacher.”
Margaret Lowe WEA Tutor Meakin House
WEA Research Unit A better world – equal, democratic and just; through adult education the WEA challenges and inspires individuals, communities and society.