TY - JOUR
T1 - Numeracy-Meets
T2 - an innovative professional development model for adult numeracy practitioners in Ireland
AU - Prendergast, Mark
AU - Forster, Annette
AU - O’Meara, Niamh
AU - O’Sullivan, Kathy
AU - Faulkner, Fiona
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Despite the clear and obvious need for adults to be proficient in numeracy, international studies suggest that many continue to struggle in this area. In Ireland, one of the main challenges continues to be the availability of effective adult numeracy education. This is a diverse sector, and little is known about the varied provision of adult numeracy courses and of those who teach on them. Recent research has highlighted an unmet demand for the professional development of adult numeracy practitioners with many looking for opportunities to network and further develop their practice. This study aimed to design, implement and evaluate a professional development model that supported adult numeracy practitioners in developing the necessary skills to support their students. After an initial needs analysis, a series of six ‘Numeracy-Meets’ were designed and implemented between February and May 2022. There was an average of twenty adult numeracy practitioners in attendance at each Numeracy-Meet. After all the Numeracy-Meets had taken place, five practitioners took part in individual semi-structured interviews to evaluate their experiences. This paper details the design, implementation and evaluation of these Numeracy-Meets and discusses whether they are a sustainable model of professional development for adult numeracy practitioners.
AB - Despite the clear and obvious need for adults to be proficient in numeracy, international studies suggest that many continue to struggle in this area. In Ireland, one of the main challenges continues to be the availability of effective adult numeracy education. This is a diverse sector, and little is known about the varied provision of adult numeracy courses and of those who teach on them. Recent research has highlighted an unmet demand for the professional development of adult numeracy practitioners with many looking for opportunities to network and further develop their practice. This study aimed to design, implement and evaluate a professional development model that supported adult numeracy practitioners in developing the necessary skills to support their students. After an initial needs analysis, a series of six ‘Numeracy-Meets’ were designed and implemented between February and May 2022. There was an average of twenty adult numeracy practitioners in attendance at each Numeracy-Meet. After all the Numeracy-Meets had taken place, five practitioners took part in individual semi-structured interviews to evaluate their experiences. This paper details the design, implementation and evaluation of these Numeracy-Meets and discusses whether they are a sustainable model of professional development for adult numeracy practitioners.
KW - Adult numeracy
KW - Numeracy-Meets
KW - practitioners
KW - professional development
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85159839616&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/03323315.2023.2209854
DO - 10.1080/03323315.2023.2209854
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85159839616
SN - 0332-3315
JO - Irish Educational Studies
JF - Irish Educational Studies
ER -