The free meal offered by the local op shop on a Tuesday in an ordinary Melbourne suburb is well attended. Volunteers prepare and serve an enormous hot lunch around their café tables and more than 30 people come along every week.

The day we attended, the men ate their lunch and swiftly disappeared, but the women were delighted to have some company and lingered over the chocolatey dessert.

“So tell me about your experience at school,’ we asked. “Who had a good time?”

The eye roll response confirmed what the statistics had already told me − story after story of bullying, poor teaching, bad times and lack of encouragement from home.

What the statistics tell us

The data about literacy and numeracy standards in the Australian community tells a story that is a bit hard to believe. We are a developed country with free education, aren’t we?

The OECD’s Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIACC) survey considers five levels across literacy, numeracy and computer ability (‘problem solving in technology rich environments’).

Their latest data, taken in 2011-12, found that 19 per cent of Australians are at level one and 27 per cent are at level two. Level three is needed to read a bus timetable. Other surveys collected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Australian Industry Group, NAPLAN, Dropping Off The Edge and the Australian Early Development Census all confirm these findings – school students in Australia are not all meeting foundation education levels.

What might be some of the reasons?

The barriers to learning to read and write in the Australian context are wide and varied.

Dyslexia and other learning difficulties can be tricky to identify and are expensive to respond to, although new and improved techniques are appearing.

Home environments aren’t always ideal for learning due to socio-economic disadvantage stress, lack of encouragement to learn, and even low inter-generational family literacy.

New migrants arriving as adults from non-English speaking backgrounds may not be able to attend English classes.

Emotionally, lack of confidence, stigma, embarrassment and low self-esteem can slow learning progress and cause learners to give up. Anxiety and depression can distract people from their learning.

Also, the connection between school and the future isn’t always clear or positive for young people and they can struggle to understand the connection between what they’re doing at school to what skills and knowledge they might need in the future.

Model for change

The good news is that most of these barriers can be overcome. In adults, various stages of behaviour change have been studied and documented by Prochaska and DiClemente and applied to this context by Port Melbourne Community House.

Their model of change is:

  1. Pre-contemplation: No intention of change and no awareness that a change could make any difference. This could be a long conversation of more than six months. Usually, a ‘safe’ person in the person’s circle of influence keeps the conversation going.
  2. Contemplation: Thoughts begin to turn to understanding the issue and weighing up the advantages and disadvantages of doing anything about it. This can take six months.
  3. Preparation: This is the tipping point where a person comes to the decision to act. There is a huge opportunity for support people to be available at this stage − to encourage, follow up, assist, offer ideas for action, before the idea goes ‘off the boil’. This is usually fairly quick.
  4. Action: Help is sought from a library, the Reading and Writing Hotline, a friend, relative or colleague or local learning centre.
  5. Maintenance: Individuals have remained on the new path for at least six months and it is the new normal.

Relapse/withdrawal is also a side stage that can occur in the cycle.

Here and now

Back at the community lunch, a new course has started up on the same day as the lunch that a group of people have enrolled in. There are confidence building activities and problem solving in technology rich environments.

Several learners have approached the trainer to ask about ways they could improve their reading and writing. Nine months later, they are still attending the group. There are two men and nine women − the ages range from 53-79 and the highest qualification is year 12. Some travel 26 km to attend each week.

The circumstances around learning in Australia don’t always meet everyone’s needs, but it’s never too late to try again. Community centres and neighbourhood houses around Australia are able to assist with learning needs that are tailored and supportive.

Are you the ‘safe’ person in someone’s life who is the key to unlocking a new and promising future?

The process of taking someone from pre-contemplation to contemplation stage is the key starting point. You can find more information in Mountain District Learning Centre's video.

If you’d like to talk further, please contact Mountain District Learning Centre on 03 9758 7859.

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Many thanks to our guest contributors from the Mountain District Learning Centre. Established in 1974 as a co-operative for women, the Mountain District Learning Centre provides opportunities for all people to access programs for education, skill development, friendship and enjoyment.

Visit the website.