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The study underscores community education’s contribution to reducing social and educational exclusion and calls for practitioners to be recognised as key partners in policy development.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & 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The Experience of Change from the Perspective of Community Education Practitioners  \nsuzanne kyle  \nAbstract  \nThis paper examines the changing adult education landscape in Ireland from the perspective of community education practitioners. It draws on qualitative research which highlights the challenges faced by practitioners in terms of their practice, their relationship with adult learners, and their sense of professional identity. The findings of the study indicate a tension between current adult education policy and the principles and practice of community education. The paper highlights the role community education plays in addressing social and educational exclusion and recommends that practitioners are recognised as key partners in adult and further education policy development.  \nKeywords: Community Education, Discourse, Status, SOLAS, ETB's, QQI, SICAP, social inclusion  \nIntroduction  \nCommunity education provision is ‘amongst the most dynamic, creative and relevant components of Adult Education in Ireland’ according to the White Paper on Adult Education, Learning for Life (Department of Education and Science, 2000, p. 112) . Such an acknowledgement, along with the fact that a full chapter was devoted to this area of adult education provision, inspired much hope for community education providers across Ireland at the time of its publication. However, since the collapse of the Irish economy in 2008 and the imposition of harsh austerity measures, community education has been experiencing considerable temperature fluctuations. This phenomenon has been exacerbated by the many significant changes brought about by the recent establishment of the following bodies: SOLAS (the new further education and training body); sixteen Education and Training Boards (ETBs), replacing  \nthirty-three Vocational Educational Committees (VECs); and Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI), a merger between four qualifications bodies includingthe Further Education and Training Awards Council (FETAC) .  \nAssessing the current temperature of community education involves an examination of contemporary policy, principles and practice, as well as the extent to which these are impacting on community education practitioners and their engagement with adult learners and local communities. This paper is based on a study which sought to do just that.  \nSocial Inclusion  \nThe ‘Matthew’ effect of accumulated advantage exists in adult education in Ireland, where those engaging in lifelong learning are largely drawn from higher socio-economic groups (AONTAS, 2016) . Those who arguably would benefit most are least likely to participate. This highlights the need for an inclusive approach which tackles entrenched inequality in Irish society. Inclusion, as a feature of community education, does not mean increasing engagement in existing societal structures, or what Freire called integrating perceived ‘marginals’ in to the ‘healthy society’ that they have forsaken (Freire, 1970). Fejes cautions against this ‘them and us’ approach to adult education in which those who do not participate for whatever reason ‘become constructed as“others” who are in need of normalisation through social policy’(Fejes, 2008, p. 89) . A more radical approach focuses on an emancipatory practice which acknowledges inequities inherent in existing structures and tackles structural inequality and political decisions which favour one group of people over another (Hurley, 2014) .  \nSocial Justice Ireland highlights the role of community education in this regard recommending that:  \nThe further adult and community education sector achieves parity of esteem with other sectors within the formal system. This is particularly important given that is it expected to respond to the needs of large sections of the population who have either been failed by the formal system or for whom it is unsuitable as a way of learning. (Social Justice Ireland, 2015, p. 1","cbCaia6VCHcXKP22","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaia6VCHcXKP22","pdf",103061,18,"English","# Introduction\n# Social Inclusion","[{\"question\":\"What is the focus of the study on adult education in Ireland?\",\"answer\":\"The study focuses on the changing adult education landscape in Ireland from the perspective of community education practitioners, examining how policy and practice affect their work and engagement with adult learners.\"},{\"question\":\"What major tension does the paper identify?\",\"answer\":\"The paper reports tension between current adult education policy and the principles and practice of community education.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the paper explain the role of community education in social inclusion?\",\"answer\":\"It argues that community education addresses social and educational exclusion, critiques inequality-promoting approaches, and supports an emancipatory practice that tackles structural inequality and political decisions.\"}]","Assessing the Health of Community Education - The Experience of Change from the Perspective of Community Education Practitioners | PDF",1792065887,45]