Forum news
Latest News - Page 61
Monday 8th December, 2008
Edge Learner Forum vs Inspired Youth: Xmas Mash-up
By CJ
The final event of the year saw a collaboration between North Yorkshire Learner Forum and the Doncaster Learner Forum. We were also delighted to welcome members of the Birmingham Learner Forum to the party!
The idea was to cross over what we do with Inspired Youth and put on a special event as a thankyou for working so hard for Edge this year. We reached out to the Inspired Youth Community and presented some of the best practical talent the region has known...
The World Famous Gravity Control Crew hit first with a incredible throw-down...
B-Boys Akoz, Pause, Cassix and Rik-Rok then ran individual Top Rock, Down Rock and Poppin workshops. The sessions ended in an all-crew jam with the new Edge Learner Forum superstars throwing down like the pros!
The workshops were backed by the One and only Dan Axon from Axon Audio! He was on hand to provide some scratching and MC sessions for those who wanted to buss a few rhymes...
Next up was a workshop rotation with the mighty Jim Cereal from the One Trick Pony collective. Jim was working with an original design from Forum Members Mark & Marty to create a spray stencil T-Shirt factory!
Finally for those who needed a break from the Hardcore and Spray can action, Karen Spenceley was at hand to run an Indian Head Massage workshop with demonstrations and the chance for members to kick back and relax!
The session proved that pratical talemt and positive self-expression can be just as valuable as other forms of learning. These artists haven taken their talents and built careers out of them; they are performers, teachers, creators, photographers, artists and all out inspirational people!
This was an event to remember! Thanks to all those who made it possible and thanks to the learner forum members for all your hard work and support this year!
Photos from Akoz will be uploaded soon along with vid shots from the day...
Peace
CJ
Thursday 20th November, 2008
Our experience: Helen & Katie
By CJ
Learner Forum Members Helen and Katie have had very varied experiences of learning. All their experiences are valuable for understanding how we can help to make things better.
Describe your experience of learning:
Katie ~ I kept moving around schools, I went to 7 places including e2e and college. My idea of a good place to learn is one where you don't get bullied. I moved around a lot because of bullying. I liked it when I got treated like an adult and were encouraged to make my own choices about learning.
Helen ~ Nothing was practical at school and it doesn't help your learning when your getting bullied. I learnt to stand up the bullys but ended up getting in trouble. e2e treated me like an adult which was much better. My advice to other young people woud be; try not to drop out of education, try not to be distracted by bullys and take the opportunity to go to college where you will get treated like an adult.
To mark the end of Anti-Bullying Week we welcome Kirsty Knivett, ChildLine CHIPS Coordinator, to the forum this saturday to give us an experience of an effective topical workshop designed for young people.
http://www.childline.org.uk
http://www.antibullyingweek.co.uk/
Monday 10th November, 2008
Latest London News
By Admin
As we settle into a particularly surly November, anyone lamenting the lack of fireworks can take comfort from the fact that London forum activity has been truly… (wait for it)… EXPLOSIVE. Thankyou kindly.
(The E.L.F. would like to take this opportunity to inform readers that it had no involvement in that last joke. The scribe responsible has been removed from the building).
Moving swiftly on…
Barry Sheerman Meeting 29thOct
For those who have been keeping pace with recent rapid developments in the E.L.F. news centre, you may remember our last meeting with Mr. Barry Sheerman, MP. (Hint: If you don’t, SCROLL DOWN…).
Following on from this initial chinwag, forum representatives (Huda, Michael, Adam, Nick, Ru, Simon, Alev, Rose) were invited to the impressively leafy interior of Westminster’s Portcullis House for another meeting with the man himself. The ensuing discussion was as informative and entertaining as ever, filling in many of the blanks surrounding the possibility of building a Youth Commission with Barry and his team. A working session to kick things off is in the pipeline for January, and the E.L.F. would like to thank Barry for his continued interest and support.
Blazing Squad's comeback tour was widely misunderstood
The Nerve Catch-up-
30th October Following hot on the heels of our rendezvous in Westminster, a small group of forum members came together to review the progress of The Nerve magazine and to offer suggestions on improvement. There’s still a lot of work to be done, but we’re on our way to a presentable blueprint, which (fingers crossed) might win us sponsorship in the near future….
We’re hoping to upload some content to the website soon, so keep your eyes peeled!
The beverage deathmatch was not going as planned
NIACE Conference-
6th November Interest in the forum's unique approach to youth issues is becoming more widespread, with many like-minded groups interested in liasing with us and sharing ideas. At the request of NIACE, who specialise in the promotion of adult learning, we travelled up to Sheffield to lead a workshop (entitled 'Work Is Boring') exploring issues affecting youth employability, posing a series of tough, provocative questions to the attendants. We discussed some of the key obstacles preventing a positive transition between school and work, engaging with a number of diverse viewpoints while drawing on forum practice to provide our own insights.
Learner Forum TV-
7th November Are you ready for EdgeMania? You’d better be.
Despite the dreary weather, last Friday saw the first steps towards a dazzling, colourful milestone in forum/TV history: Learner Forum TV! (LTV for short).
Pioneering presenters Daniel Diehard and Huda led the first forum invasion of the airwaves, providing a scintillating roundup of recent forum news. We're hoping that this could become a regular fixture, so watch this space for the first broadcast, as well as the chance to host the next episode. Many thanks to Dan, Huda and Max for making this venture into uncharted waters possible!
By the time Daniel Diehard realised Huda's evil makeover plan was in full swing, it was already too late...
Monday 27th October, 2008
NEWSFLASH!
By Admin
Hey people, hope everyone's doing ok.
It is our sad duty to announce that the general forum meeting scheduled for 1st November has been CANCELLED!!! 
Things have been a little bit hectic as of late, and we feel it would be better to reschedule so that our next gathering can be better organised and have a greater impact. Our bad, and we're very, VERY sorry if this causes inconvenience.
So, the next forum meeting will now take place on SATURDAY 13th DECEMBER. They'll be a letter winging its way to you nearer to that date with details, hope to see you there!
Friday 24th October, 2008
Latest News from London
By Admin
There's been an avalanche of activity in the forum since we last caught up with you, and by the look of things we'll still be up to our necks by Christmas! Here's a quick update on what's been keeping us busy.
Re:NESTA
On November 13th a small group (Huda, Alev, Simon, Mike, Nick) represented the forum at the NESTA seminar for youth-led innovation. Through the course of the day we heard some genuinely inspiring stories, with subjects ranging from community support schemes to eco-friendly fridges! After the initial ice-breaker session we reconvened in groups to NESTA's futuristic conference rooms (think sci-fi style pods- a fittingly innovative location!), to unravel the necessary mixture required for youth-led innovation to flourish.
With the vibe of the seminar encompassing both business and social enterprise, the E.L.F.'s ethos was right at home, and had a strong influence on the trajectory of the group thinking. The Nerve and Edge Instead were particularly resonant as concrete examples of projects not only led by, but cooked up and engineered by young people. Following lunch we heard the findings from a study on the motivating factors behind inspired youth, conducted by the University of Sussex, and by the end of the seminar we had outlined a sensitive model for youth-led innovation. The sharing of experience and knowledge was ultimately fruitful for everyone involved, and we gained some genuine insight from the innovators we worked with.
Re:Ofsted
The day after our engagement with NESTA, the good people at Ofsted invited us to explore how learner engagement in school inspections could be improved. Alongside several other youth-oriented bodies we gamely interrogated every aspect of the inspection process, and with the co-operation of Ofsted proposed a number of ways the system could evolve to embrace a new attitude towards learners. The Edge Instead program was received with much enthusiasm, and the forum can look forward to a long-lasting relationship with Ofsted from now on!
Columbus Event
The prestigious Columbus organisation brought together business owners and leaders at its Autumn event on October 16th, to consider the relation between individual experiences of education and achieving success in later life.
Members of the London forum (Ruvimbo, Nathan, Tom, Huda, Laverne) were in attendance, giving short presentations detailing their own experiences, motivations and aspirations for the future. A series of questions centering on youth motivation were devised as the basis for the lively round table discussions that formed the crux of the event. The evening was an ideal opportunity to demonstrate the good practice of the learner forum, and it was an enjoyable night for the members
.
Columbus were kind enough to make several work experience offers, and have pledged to work alongside the forum in the future. They are in the process of producing a report summarising the conclusions of the evening.
Futurelab
We were excited to receive an invitation to a conference on Learner Voice, being hosted at Warwick university by the movers and shakers from Futurelab. Their organisation is heavily focused on achieving innovative educational practice (often through cutting edge technologies), so a handful of forum representatives jumped on the train to Coventry post-haste to tackle the burning question of how approaches to Learner Voice need to change.
A series of speeches and discussions took place throughout the day, and forum members were allocated to each to ensure we got the best overview of the conference possible! Topics of note included democratic schools, informal education, the presence of youth voice in creative partnerships, and the personalisation of Learner Voice; a lot of stuff to get our heads round but all of it very rewarding! Towards the end of the day Simon led the other members present (Huda, Michael, Ruvimbo, Nick) in a presentation of the E.L.F. and its trailblazing commitment to Learner Voice. Flagship projects Edge Instead and The Nerve were showcased to an eager audience, as were some insightful accounts of our own experiences of the forum.
Futurelab: Innovation in Education. (Illustration- Nikki Dyson).
The day was wrapped up with a fascinating lecture arguing that standard definitions of childhood and adulthood have shifted, and before we knew it we were on our way back to London with enough food for thought to last for weeks to come. Many thanks to Futurelab for providing the E.L.F. with such a fantastic platform, all in all the conference proved to be a very worthwhile exchange of ideas!
Coming Soon...
What would your reaction be if we told you the forum will be rubbing elbows with the likes of Richard Branson in the none-too-distant future? ‘Don’t drink while writing the news section’, maybe, but in fact we’re ecstatic to announce that we’ve been invited to the Chain Reaction conference on 17th November! 
A select group will be flying the forum flag at this landmark event, which aims to explore ‘how social change happens’, and pinpoint the role to be played by the E.L.F. and similar collectives in shaping the learning landscape ‘locally, nationally and globally’. We can’t wait!
All that remains to be mentioned is that the next FULL FORUM MEETING is on NOVEMBER 1st, we hope to see you there .
So, that just about wraps up all the current happenings on the London scene. If you want to know more about any of the aforementioned events, or get involved in future forum activity, please don’t hesitate to drop us a line, or if you're attending the next forum meeting just tell us then. Thanks for your attention and see you very soon!
Wednesday 8th October, 2008
The practicalities of home schooling
By CJ
North Yorkshire member Marty had been doing some research for the Learner Forum on the New Diploma options in the York area. I met up with him to talk about the results. We got talking about his experiences of learning and the decisions he had made in the past.
“My most negative experiences of learning were at school when they just throw text books at you and ask you to copy out sections. You’re always expected to find the answer in the book, thats not very creative!”
“In Design, Technology and Art the tutor let me theme my work on something I am interested in and wanted to do in the future. I’d do all my work on designs for cars. They gave me a choice and it made me want to do more work. I looked forward to the homework!”
“I stopped going to school when I was 14 and had home-schooling. I’d pick up a folder of work on a Monday and hand it in on Friday. I could work at my own pace, like I was self taught. I seemed to learn a lot more this way.”
Have your experiences of learning in this way effected the decisions you have made about your future?
“The biggest decision I had to make was whether I should go to college to do the subject I’d always wanted to do, motor mechanics, or to carry on working in a warehouse. I chose to work. It was something I could do, I was working at my own pace, teaching myself as I went along and learning from mistakes.”
If there was a chance of going to college now, would you be interested?
“Yes! When I looked into it I was surprised at the amount of different Diplomas you can do now, it looks really interesting?
If you could make one change to the education system what would it be?
“I think there should be more done on communication. Tutors should make time to speak to people on a level. People should have more respect for teachers and teachers should try to communicate better with people. They’d learn more as they would be working together to sort out problems.”