The Story of Adult Learning in Highland

50 Years of community-based adult learning from the Alexander report to the present day and beyond!

Explore our story...

The Challenge of Change

In 1975, Professor Kenneth Alexander published his report examining community-based adult learning in Scotland aiming, in doing so, to promote social justice and human flourishing from within communities themselves. The report recommended bringing youth work and adult education together into a new Community Education service.

To mark 50 years since its publication, in November 2025, adult learning communities in the Scottish Highlands presented an exhibition telling The Story of Adult Learning, from the Alexander report and beyond. Throughout 2026, as the exhibition tours the region, we present to you, a special digital version of that story.

The Story of Adult Learning reflects on community-based adult learning's place in Highland communities, evolving alongside the people, industries, and communities it serves. From the upheavals of the Highland Clearances, which saw mass emigration to the industrial south, where the economic benefits of the Industrial Revolution—when new skills became essential for survival and progress—to the present day, learning in adulthood has remained a powerful force for adaptation, resilience, and opportunity.

In earlier generations, learning was often informal, passed between neighbours, families, and workplaces as communities responded to changing economic realities. In the early 1900s, adult education expanded as industrial societies demanded a more skilled and literate workforce. Workers sought opportunities to improve their knowledge outside formal schooling, especially in technical and scientific subjects. Mechanics’ institutes, which had emerged in the 19th century, played a central role in this movement by offering lectures, libraries, and adult education classes aimed at working men. They helped democratise education by making learning accessible, contributing to social mobility and the spread of practical knowledge during a period of rapid industrial and technological change.

Today, in a world that continues to be shaped by rapid change, adult learning plays a vital role in promoting resilience, self-confidence, and social capital. It supports not only core skills development, but also wellbeing, civic participation, and a sense of belonging.

The story of adult learning in the Highlands is, at its heart, a story of people—of self-determination, and the enduring desire to progress. The Story of Adult Learning shares the evolution of adult education throughout time, brought to life by stories of individuals and local places. Our story recognises that lifelong learning remains a cornerstone of thriving, resilient communities now and for generations to come.

The Story of Adult Learning Exhibition Launch, Brora Learning Zone, 28 November 2025

The Story of Adult Learning Tour

See the exhibition in person, in your local community, throughout 2026!

15th April - Celebration of Learning Event at The Seabord Centre, Balintore

26th May-4th June - See the Exhibition at Thurso Library

29th May, 18:00-20:00 - Celebration of Learning Event at Thurso Library

22nd June-28th June - See the Exhibition at Dingwall Community Library

25th June, 12:30-14:30 - Celebration of Learning Event at Dingwall Community Library

22nd-29th July - See the Exhibition at Fort William Library

23rd July, 14:00-16:00 - Celebration of Learning Event at Fort William Library

26th August - Celebration of Learning Event at the James Cameron Centre, Inverness

September - Portree Library (dates to be confirmed)

Come and enjoy the exhibition, adult learning workshops and more!

For more information, contact Adult Learning: adultlearning@highland.gov.uk

A Den of Anarchists

1800 to1919

Throughout the 19th century, the emancipatory power of adult education emerged from voluntary movements which empowered workers to break industrial dependence, challenge social inequalities, and access self-improvement opportunities that provided working-class adults with literacy, technical knowledge, political awareness and access to spaces previously reserved for elites.

Mechanics’ Institutes

The Mechanics’ Institute movement for the education of the working classes began in Scotland in 1821 and spread widely when the many benefits of ‘education for working men’ became clear. On the 16th of October 1821 the first Mechanics’ lecture on Chemistry was organised by Leonard Horner at St. Cecelia’s Hall in Edinburgh. From this one lecture grew the Mechanics' Institute movement that profoundly changed the educational prospects of working men over the next century.

So successful was it, that by the end of the 1820s there were at least twenty-four Institutes around Scotland alone, including in Fortrose, Alness and Inverness.

Article from the Inverness Courier on the inaugral lecture of the Mechanics' Institute at Fraser Street Chapel. (Photo credit: Inveress Courier)

Minutes from Fortrose Mechanics' Institute (resource held at the Highland Archive Centre, Inverness)

The Perrins Centre

The Perrins Centre in Alness is one such Mechanics' Institute! The building was opened in 1904 by Dyson Perrins, the philanthropist best known for Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce. Originally called the Ardross Alness Club, it was created to provide a library and reading room for the "amusement and relaxation of the young men after their day's work was done… and the providing of sound, wholesome instruction which might induce young men to spend their evenings in mental and moral improvement.” The centre is still used for adult and community learning activities today.

Scottish Labour Movement

With increased educational opportunity, came a growth of class consciousness and, along with the trade unions and later the co-operative movement, education increasingly came to represent a way in which those without political power sought to protect themselves in an increasingly industrialised society.

The Scottish Labour College, founded in 1916 to provide education to trade union members who required skills for organising and representing their members, was explicitly Socialist and believed that Marxist economics should be at the centre of its teaching. It wanted to be independent of the educational establishment and to create a working class alternative education by and for the workers. It was influenced by the Central Labour College and the Plebs League and championed by Scotland's most famous Socialist, John MacLean, a schoolteacher (until he lost his job due to his political activities) and an educationalist who believed that working class adult education should be aimed at preparing working class people for taking power.

Millar, J.P.M., The War of Ideas, The National Council of Labour Colleges, London, 1893

Highland Context

By the end of the Potato Famine in 1855, markets became more favourable, and life was more stable with clearances petering out. However, in 1880, there was an agricultural depression and storms. That year, the last mainland eviction took place at Leckmelm near Ullapool in the northwest. The industrialist landlord wanted to make improvements and cleared 100 people from his land. The Crofting Holding Act in 1886 gave Security of Tenure, meaning evictions were now illegal. Nowadays, the Crofting Commission continues to be responsible for regulating and promoting crofting.

The remains of crofters' cottages in the village of Boreraig on the Isle of Skye. Many families here were forced to leave their homes so the land could be used for sheep to graze. (Photo credit: BBC.co.uk)

Gaelic

Any natural growth that might have taken place within the Gaelic-speaking population continued to be stymied by emigration from Gaelic communities and an education system that discouraged the language’s use.

The Society in Scotland for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge was established in 1709 to evangelise the Highlands and played an important role in the education of Gaels throughout the 18th and 19th Centuries. Initially, attitudes to the language were outwardly hostile and the speaking of Gaelic was banned in most aspects of civic life.

Thousands of Scottish Gaels were forced to learn to read English specifically to access the Bible, because anti-Gaelic authorities deliberately withheld the scriptures in their native tongue. Gaels often depended on printed scriptures imported from Ireland due to the close linguistic similarity between the dialects. Later, as hostility towards the language eased, the Society recognised the need for a Bible that reflected localised spoken Scottish Gaelic rather than Irish.

So, Gaelic language education in Scotland was limited, especially for adults, but the Education (Scotland) Act 1918 mandated adequate Gaelic teaching provision in Gaelic-speaking areas, laying groundwork for later development.

Industrialisation

Following the Highland Clearances, the displaced labour force crowded into the south, powering Scotland’s growth during the Industrial Revolution, the fastest of any European country of similar size. Glasgow was known as the “second city of the empire” for trade, a world leader in locomotive and ship manufacturing.

James Beaumont Neilson of Glasgow Gas Works, encouraged workers to set up a library “where they may meet every evening throughout the whole year, to read and converse, in place of going to the ale house.” Workmen then organised classes for themselves, led by Alexander Anderson, a joiner.

Employers across Britain attempted to woo their workers with sponsorship of libraries and adult education activities, often linked with temperance, and aimed at reducing the social distance between the employer and the employed.

The Launching of the Aircraft Carrier HMS Indefatigable at Glasgow, 8 December 1942. (Photo Credit: Beadell, S J (Lt), Royal Navy official photographer, Imperial War Museums, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

1919

A major publication by the Adult Education Committee in 1919 ushered in legislation enabling local authorities to provide adult education and this, along with the adult learning offered by trade unions, universities and organisations like the Workers’ Educational Association and the Co-operative Movement transformed the lives, communities, aspirations and experiences of working-class people.

The report said: “adult education is a permanent national necessity, an inseparable aspect of citizenship, and therefore should be both universal and lifelong”.

The report captures some of the resistance emerging from how adult education was changing the status quo of class order. One tutor was reputedly told, upon requesting a room for educational meetings by a Local Authority official, “If we let you have a room you will make the place a den of anarchists”.

Adult Education Committee, 1919 (Image credit: CLD Standards Council)

Culture is Ordinary

Post-War to 1975

The Rise of Adult Education in Post-War Britain

Adult learning in the UK from the post-war period to 1975 expanded significantly as part of broader social reconstruction and welfare-state development. The 1944 Education Act helped create a framework that encouraged lifelong learning, while universities, local education authorities, and organisations like the Workers’ Educational Association widened access to evening classes and community-based adult learning.

During the 1950s and 1960s, adult education was often driven by ideals of social mobility, citizenship, and personal development rather than purely vocational goals. By the early 1970s, however, there was a growing shift toward skills-based and employment-focused training, reflecting economic pressures and rising unemployment, which began to reshape priorities in adult learning policy.

Post-World War II Era

The key concern of the Labour Government and the trade union leadership in 1945 was to increase productivity to enable Britain to recover from the war. By the mid-1960s, the ideological differences between state and trade union education had all but disappeared and many National Council of Labour Colleges and WEA Tarde Union Colleges were funded by the government.

During the Second World War, Britain's soldiers insisted that they were fighting for more than a return to the status quo - and the popular educational programmes they established helped to pave the way for Labour's victory in 1945.

Hoggart, R. (1957) The Uses of Literacy (Penguin Classics, London)

Uses of Literacy

Richard Hoggart’s The Uses of Literacy, published in 1957, is one of the founding texts of cultural studies in the mid-20th century. Hoggart argues that traditional working-class culture in Britain—tight-knit communities, strong family ties, local identity, and shared habits—was being eroded by the rise of mass media and commercial popular culture after World War II.

Hoggart believed adult education could help working class people navigate between their lived, local culture and the expanding world of mass media and institutions without forcing them to abandon their identity.

He links adult education to critical literacy. One of his main concerns is that mass culture encourages passive consumption. Adult education, in his view, should do the opposite: it should help people read critically, question media messages, and resist manipulation. So literacy isn’t just about reading words, it’s about understanding power, persuasion, and cultural change.

Hoggart pushes back against the idea that education should “fix” the working class by making them more middle-class. He argues adult education should respect and start from working-class experience, not treat it as something inferior. Good teaching builds on people’s existing knowledge, language and values rather than replacing them.

(Image credit: bbc.co.uk)

The Army Bureau of Current Affairs (ABCA), established in 1941 by the War Office to provide weekly current affairs talks and discussions, led by regimental officers and supported by the fortnightly publication of pamphlets on issues ‘of topical and universal importance’. Secretary W.E. Williams felt strongly that service men and women should not only have access to basic information about the war, but also have the opportunity to take part in the discussions that would shape the country that emerged from the conflict.

Raymond Williams

In 1961 Raymond Williams’s Open Letter to WEA Tutors was addressed to those teaching in the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA), an organisation that provided adult education for working-class people in Britain. The central argument of Williams’s letter is that education, especially adult and workers’ education, must begin with respect for the culture and experience of ordinary people.

Williams’s central point is that education should recognise and build on the culture of ordinary working people, treating them not as empty vessels to be filled but as active bearers and creators of culture.

When Williams says “culture is ordinary,” he means that culture isn’t something rare, elite, or confined to art galleries, universities, or ‘high’ society. Instead, culture is part of everyday life: the shared meanings, values, customs, habits, and creative expressions of ordinary people.

Raymond Williams (Photo credit: Raymond William Foundation)

The Open University

Founded in 1969 and officially opened in 1971, the Open University was designed to offer distance learning and higher education to adults, particularly those excluded from traditional universities, often working-class students, people in full-time work, and women.

Its mission of widening access to education strongly echoed the democratic and egalitarian ideals that early cultural theorists like Raymond Williams and Richard Hoggart had championed.

“[W]e must be determined that out of the welter of war and its sacrifices a real democracy and a new civilisation shall arise. [...] It can only come if we multiply by tens of thousands the number of men and women capable of using the power which education alone can provide.” (WEA leaflet of April 1940)

Adult Basic Education

1975-2005

Opportunity Scotland

Between 1975 and the 1980s, adult education in Scotland was largely community-based, focusing on personal development, citizenship, and access through local authority programs. From the late 1990s, especially after devolution in 1999, policy moved toward a broader lifelong learning approach, combining economic goals with social inclusion, culminating in early 2000s strategies that prioritised literacy, equity, and learner-centered learning.

The Scottish Adult Literacy Agency was succeeded by another government-funded body, the Scottish Adult Literacy Unit and then, by the Scottish Adult Basic Education Unit. The term ABE was widely used in an attempt by local government to develop broader adult learning programmes covering a range of life skills such as life management, confidence building, learning about health issues and learning for democratic participation, acknowledging that basic literacy and numeracy skills were the starting point for wider personal development.

Educating Rita

Still from 1983 film Educating Rita starring Julie Walters and Michael Caine (Image credit: IMDB).

Educating Rita brought adult learning into the mainstream cultural spotlight in 1983. The film follows Rita, a working-class hairdresser who enrolls in an Open University course to escape the limitations of her life. Through her relationship with her tutor, Frank, the film portrays adult education as both liberating and destabilising: it opens up new ways of thinking and self-expression, but also creates tension with Rita’s old identity and relationships.

The story emphasises that adult learning is not just about acquiring knowledge, but about personal transformation. Rita gains confidence, critical awareness, and independence, illustrating how education can reshape one’s sense of self—while also highlighting the emotional and social costs of moving between class and cultural worlds.

Adult Learning Voices

Our former colleague, Libby Cook, talks about the value of lifelong learning and her experience of Adult Basic Education and English for Speakers of Other Languages on Wick Voices:

BBC

The BBC has long been committed to adult education. Lord Reith, the BBC's first director-general, recognised the power of broadcast to inform and educate. In his book Broadcast Over Britain, published in 1924, Reith identified how the BBC could be used to educate audiences of all ages through the broadcast of lectures for adults.

So, the BBC's commitment to adult learning began. By the 1960s, adult education had made the leap on to television through factual series such as The Science of Man, with content often supported by print resources, posted to viewers once they had sent a stamped-addressed envelope. Drama was also developed as a tool for educating audiences. Perhaps one of the best-remembered educational dramas was On the Move, starring Bob Hoskins who portrayed a man's journey back into education. Its impact was huge, with more than 125,000 adults recruited back into adult education over a three-year period, and truly showed the effect that broadcast could have in inspiring adult learners.

The power of broadcast was again seen in 1992, when the BBC launched Second Chance to coincide with the first Adult Learners' Week. Over the course of the week, 35 short sketches were played out across the BBC, supported by documentaries, radio content and a telephone advice line. As with On the Move, the impact on audiences was massive. Fifty-seven thousand people rang the helpline, 350,000 publications were requested and thousands more people attended local events at further education colleges.

1999: The Scottish Parliament Opens

Adult Learning in Devolved Scotland

There was a substantial political commitment to adult literacy and numeracy after devolution. A national development body, Learning Connections, was created specfically for the profession. It had strong links between practitioners, researchers, and policymakers, and a curriculum framework explicitly built around social practice principles.

The scale of investment was notable for the field at the time. The Scottish Executive invested around £51 million between 2001 and 2006, later adding further funding, and participation numbers increased dramatically.

Following the birth of the Scottish parliament, in the early 2000s, adult education in Scotland was shaped by a strong policy push toward lifelong learning, social inclusion, and improving employability. The Scottish Executive (now the Scottish Government) promoted community-based learning, literacy and numeracy programs, and wider access through colleges and local initiatives. There was a particular focus on reducing inequalities, supporting disadvantaged groups, and encouraging partnerships between public, voluntary, and private sectors.

New Scots

English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)

Refugee Resettlement

Intercultural Learning

English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) for adult learners has been driven by the changing demographics across Scotland over the decades. It eventually gained prominance in the early part of the 21st century when increased levels of migration gave ESOL recognition as a core pillar of integration.

On the 1st of May 2004, eight European countries joined the European Union: Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia, opening up the United Kingdom's labour market and inviting migration from the new EU member states in what became known as the "A8 Migration". In Highland, this brought about the first notable mass immigration event, with many eastern Europeans migrating for work. 20 years on, many have made the Scottish Highlands their permanent home.

In 2007, the Scottish Government published its Adult ESOL Strategy for Scotland, the first formalised, nationwide framework to standardise provision, improve quality, and ensure pathways to employment and community participation.

Meeting the Challenges of a Growing Highland Population

At the beginning of the 21st century, the region rose to meet the challenges of the growing Highland population brought about by the EU's changing membership. In 2004, a stakeholder group, led by the Highland Council met to agree a 10-point plan of action. The Population Summit, held in Inverness, brought together more than 100 delegates from key public agencies, businesses and interested groups. The summit discussed how best to meet the challenges of significant growth in inward migration along with the deepening challenges of an ageing population profile in the Highlands.

A report emerging from the meeting said, "To improve language support, The Highland Council will soon be recruiting three community-based language assistants to work in schools and help families settle in. The remit of Community Language Assistants is to assist with the settling-in process of new inward migrants – particularly families – who are at the early stages of learning the English language and may be unaware of how to access local services."

This support for integration remains an integral part of our ESOL learning offer to this day.

“The classes helped me feel more confident and more connected.” — ESOL Learner, Dingwall

Community ESOL Classes

ESOL learners benefit from improving their English in many ways. These include being able to understand important information, the ability to communicate their needs and those of their families, meet people and make friends, increase employability, reduce isolation, integrate into the community and improve their health and wellbeing.

Learning Leader, Tamara, talking about how it feels to have access to learning in her new community.

Community Language & Learning Support Workers

Previously known as Community Language Assistants, ESOL support workers offer advice and practical support to help ESOL learners navigate the process of making the Highlands their new home. This might include help with form filling, telephone calls, making or attending appointments and learning about services in the local area.

Refugee Resettlement

Refugee resettlement in Scotland is coordinated through a partnership between the UK Government, the Scottish Government, local councils, charities, and community groups. The aim is to help people fleeing war, persecution, or humanitarian crises rebuild their lives safely and integrate into Scottish society.

The Scottish Government's New Scots integration strategy focuses on integration from day one, community participation, reducing barriers to employment and education and anti-racism and social inclusion. The New Scots strategy acknowledges that adult ESOL learning is “crucial to all elements of integration.”

Inclusive Swimming

In 2023, some female adult learners living in Highland expressed their need to learn to swim but, for cultural and religious reasons, the women, who were resettled in Inverness from Afghanistan, are unable to use mixed-gender facilities for exercise, especially swimming.

In partnership with High Life Highland Sports and Leisure, Adult Learning organised weekly women-only swimming tuition and swimming sessions at Culloden Leisure Centre. A group of Afghan women, provided with modesty swimwear as part of the initiative, undertook swimming lessons for the first time in their lives.

Transport was also an issue so, working closely with the Highland Third Sector Interface, a group of female volunteer drivers were identified. The volunteers gave up their time each week to drive the learners to their swimming lesson and back again. The volunteers often join the women for swimming, offering an opportunity to practise conversational English and to build friendships with local people.

Afghan Kitchen: A Taste of Home

A group of Afghan women who accessed their Adult Learning service through the Afghan Resettlement Programme came together to form Afghan Kitchen, a social enterprise offering pop-up cafes throughout Highland. The women had been working with Adult Learning to improve their language skills, literacy, numeracy, employability and skills for civic participation when they decided to embark on the project. Eventually, they’d like to run their own food business in Highland.

The women have undertaken Food Hygiene and enterprise skills training in preparation for hosting their pop-up cafes. The group prepare everything from design to delivery: menu planning, budgeting, shopping, food preparation, food service, cash handling and overall running of the cafes. The group also worked with an artist to create recipe cards which were displayed in the community space at Inverness Museum and Art Gallery as a celebration of the learners’ achivements.

Refugee World Cup

A group of Afghan learners attend weekly football coaching with Mark Holmes, a local coach. Eight players formed Highland's Afghan Football Team who went on to participate in the Refugee World Cup tournament in Glasgow organised by the charity Afghan United.

Intercultural Learning

Intercultural Learning develops understanding, respect and effective communication between people from different cultural backgrounds. It encourages individuals and communities to recognise diversity, challenge stereotypes and build shared values through dialogue, collaboration, and mutual learning.

Its link to community cohesion is significant because intercultural learning helps create stronger, more inclusive communities where people feel valued and connected. By promoting empathy, trust, and positive relationships across cultural differences, it reduces prejudice and social isolation while encouraging active participation and a sense of belonging for all members of the community.

Attendees of the Refugee Festival Scotland event 2025 watch a young Ukrainian choir express love for their country and its culture through song and traditional dress.

Around the World in a Day

Around the World in a Day was delivered in 2019 in partnership with primary schools around Inverness. Local ESOL learners volunteered their time by visiting each classroom throughout the day to talk about their home language and culture. By the end of the day, each classroom was visited by four different learners each with a different heritage and background, and had learned about a different country, language and culture each time – taking them around the world in a day!

A Spanish learner teaches Central Primary School children about Flamenco!

Children at Central Primary School learn about traditional Pakistani dress!

Sharing Food, Sharing Languages

“Sharing Food, Sharing Languages” – an event organised by the Highland Council’s Adult Learning team in partnership with migrant and refugee learning communities – took place at Eden Court, Inverness on 22 June 2025 on the concluding day of Refugee Week Scotland.

Refugee Week Scotland is the largest arts and culture festival, celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary.

The event brought together over 200 people from New Scots and host communities to celebrate “milestones”, the theme for this year’s event. The key purpose was to promote diversity and cross-cultural understanding and connect people through shared interests and passions. Learners showcased their diverse skills, expertise, history and culture. Voices were heard and represented through stories, song and poetry.

Lucy McGlennon, Head of Engagement at Eden Court said: “Sharing Food, Sharing Languages” was a fantastic event and we are delighted to have been in a position to support it. Eden Court is for everyone, and it is important to us that people of all cultures feel that they are welcome here. It was a moment of great pride to see so many cultures represented through delicious foods, national dress and activities.”

ESOL for Driving

Driving Theory is a popular learning goal among migrant and refugee communities. The opportunity for adult learners to learn dedicated driving theory and English language skills through our ESOL for Driving courses is particularly meaningful for Afghan women because, in Afghanistan, driving licenses for women are largely prohibited.

Community-based ESOL contextualises learning in its social context. Learners don’t only develop language skills but learn about the cultural customs of their subject to help them navigate life in a new place.

Learners’ long-term goals include the ability to make journeys independently – something that was prohibited for women in Afghanistan – and to access services, employment, medical appointments, leisure and recreation, and family time in local green spaces. Driving provides learners with freedom, flexibility and independence but, for ESOL learners, this all starts in the ESOL classroom.

Adult Literacies

2005 to 2023

Scotland's Internationally Influential Adult Literacy and Numeracy Policy

Scotland’s adult literacy and numeracy strategy in the early 2000s was widely respected and influential within international adult education circles, described as “internationally celebrated for its learner-centred, social practice approach.”

Academic literature from the period also frequently discussed Scotland as an example of applying “new literacies” theory in national policy. What made it distinctive was its strong emphasis on a “social practice” model of literacy and numeracy. Rather than treating literacy simply as a set of technical deficits or functional skills, the Scottish model framed literacy as something embedded in people’s everyday lives, work, family, and communities.

Adult Literacies within its Community Learning & Development Context

The purpose of CLD is to empower people, individually and collectively, to make positive changes in their lives and in their communities, through learning. In the early naughties, a flurry of publications by the Scottish Government drove the professionisation of each of the three strands of CLD: Adult Learning, Youth Work and Community Development. Here are a few of the landmark publications of this time period:

The first meeting of the CLD Standards Council for Scotland took place on the 1st March 2009.

Adult Literacies in Scotland 2020 (ALIS 2020) was published in 2009.

The Christie Commission was published in 2011. It called for public service reform including "effective services […] designed with and for people and communities – not delivered ‘top down’ for administrative convenience".

The Strategic Guidance for Community Planning partnerships: Community Learning and Development was published the year after in 2012. It sets out the Scottish Government’s commitment to CLD “as a consistent, central element of public services”.

The Requirements for Community Learning and Development (Scotland) Regulations was published in 2013.

The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act was published in 2015.

Welcoming our Learners: Scotland’s ESOL Strategy was also published in 2015. Building on the strategy of 2007, the later strategy aligned its aims to national objectives for adult learning in Scotland, with a focus on learner-centred practice.

An Adult Literacies Curriculum Framework was published in 2016.

Book Week Scotland

Book Week Scotland, organised by the Scottish Book Trust, launched in 2012. It is a nationwide annual celebration of books, reading and storytelling held across Scotland every November. One distinctive part of Book Week Scotland is its free annual book, a collection of real-life stories submitted by people across Scotland through the “Scotland’s Stories” project. The event aims to encourage reading for pleasure, celebrate Scottish literature and languages, and bring communities together through storytelling.

Scottish Book Week 2019: Blether

Book Week 2018: Rebel

The Wheel

There have been several different iterations of the Curriculum Wheel over the years. This version was published in 2016 to align with developments in policy and practice. The funamentals have remained the same since 2001, though - placing the learner at the centre of the process, equal weight given to literacy and numeracy skills, and complex capabilities are built on the application of core skills.

In 2011 High Life Highland was formed by The Highland Council. HLH develops and promoted opportunities in culture, learning, sport, leisure, health and wellbeing across ten services throughout the whole of the Highlands. The Council's Adult Learning service formed a part of the charity from the beginning, sitting alongside Youth Work and a wide suite of services dedicated to developing Highland communities through securing individual and collective wellbeing.

Integrated Learning

Adults bring a wealth of prior life experience to the classroom. Using authentic, real-world materials instead of traditional, abstract textbooks contextualises learning and ensures it is meaningfully relevant to the learners' lives. Combining core skills such as literacy, numeracy or language with another subject or focus, can be more accessible, relevant and interesting for adult learners.

A social enterprise learner combines woodworking with enterprise skills, skills for work, communication and numeracy skills.

Learners in Caithness make lampshades while working on their literacy and numeracy skills.

Learners explore the history of Culloden Battlefield through storytelling and creative writing.

Wellbeing

During the early 2000s and 2010s, the life-wide benefits of adult learning were recognised, arising from research evidencing that adult learning is strongly linked to improved wellbeing.

It was acknowledged that learning supports a sense of purpose, confidence, and personal growth. Learning new skills can strengthen cognitive function, increase adaptability, and help adults feel more capable in work and daily life. It also creates opportunities for social connection and community participation, which are important for mental health and reducing loneliness. Research continues to consistently show that adults who continue learning often report higher life satisfaction, better emotional resilience, and greater overall wellbeing.

The term Wellbeing Literacy became widely used in community-based adult learning nationally, meaning the ability to understand, communicate, and act on information related to wellbeing, both for oneself and others, in a way that is contextually sensitive and intentional.

Digital Skills

Since the invention of the smartphone in 2007, the need for digital inclusion - including digital skills - has been critical. During this period digital literacy was increasingly needed in every aspect of our lives including applying for jobs, accessing healthcare, and pursuing financial assistance. Adult learning providers have and continue to play an essential role in supporting adults to upskill in the face of rapid technological advances. Digital skills was increasingly an integral part of the community-based adult learning offer in Scotland, becoming one of the core "Adult Literacies" that shaped the national curriculum framework.

Adult Learner Conference

The Highland Adult Learning Partnership (HALP) was a strong network of practitioners, learners and adult learning champions who came together to strengthen the voice of adult learning across the region. The collective organised annual learner conferences to showcase the breadth of adult learning, celebrate learner achievement and inspire continued lifelong learning.

COVID-19

2020 &2021

The COVID-19 pandemic had a profound impact on the people of the Highlands from early 2020 onward. The government introduced nationwide lockdowns, school closures, travel restrictions, and social distancing measures to slow the spread of the virus. Daily life changed dramatically: many people worked from home, businesses and hospitality venues closed for long periods, and millions experienced isolation, financial uncertainty, or bereavement.

High Life Highland continue to offer Adult Literacies, Family Learning and ESOL learning from home!

Some people in our communities struggled more than others. Some adults lacked the digital skills or connectivity to make the shift to virtual spaces, some didn't have the literacy or language skills to understand the constant flow of health information, and some parents didn't have the confidence to support their child's learning from home.

It quickly became clear that adult learning would be essential in preventing those most adversely affected by the crisis from being left behind. As the pandemic exposed deep inequalities, it also prompted a renewed appreciation for the value of adult learning — not simply for concrete outcomes such as qualifications or employment, but as a vital source of confidence, resilience, connection, and empowerment.

Interest in adult learning surged as people sought the skills and knowledge needed to navigate an uncertain world, and with it came a growing recognition of the critical role adult education plays in strengthening communities.

The Rotary Club presents devices to adult learners in Inverness during the Covid pandemic (Photo source: Inverness Courier)

During the Covid era, the Rotary Club of Loch Ness donated seven Chromebooks to support the work of the High Life Highland Adult Learning team. Bryan Smith, the Rotary Club Chair said, "Contrary to popular belief not everyone has the devices and skills to connect and so having a pool of devices to lend out to learners is really important."

Online Learning

It was necessary for the adult learning sector to adpat quickly to delievring learning remotely. Learning was a lifeline for many, sometimes their only connection with others while isolating at home. Learning became multi-layered; it was often necessary to concurrently learn essential digital skills simply to connect with other kinds of learning like ESOL or Literacy.

Support for Parents

During the pandemic, parents with low literacy skills often found school communications and online learning instructions chellenging. Many found it difficult to support their children with remote education, especially when lessons relied heavily on reading, writing, and digital technology. Limited literacy also increased feelings of stress, isolation, and lack of confidence when communicating with schools or accessing government support services.

Highland's Adult Learning service made home learning packs made up of games, activities and ideas to make learning from home easier and more accessible for parents with low literacies. Designed to encourage families learning together, adult learning practitioners provided remote support and guidance so that families could make the most of their contents.

Learning in the Wild

As lockdown measures eased, meeting outdoors became increasingly possible. For adult literacy, numeracy and ESOL learners, taking learning into the outdoors created new contexts for improving skills.

Meeting for short walks in local outdoor spaces, we used words, numbers and language in the world around us to facilitate learning.

As restrictions eased further, learners and tutors made the transition back to learning indoors with restrictions such as ventilation, social distancing and hand sanitising in place.

Critical Skills for Identifying Mis- and Dis-information

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the explosion of misinformation (false information shared without intent to harm) and disinformation (deliberately misleading information) created major challenges — but it also opened up important adult learning opportunities across many areas of society. For many learners, the pandemic became a real-world case study in evaluating evidence and practitioners were able to use this context for learning critical literacy skills. Since the pandemic, interest in media literacy courses, community workshops, and online tutorials focused on navigating digital information critically has accelerated.

While misinformation and disinformation created serious public health risks during the pandemic, they also exposed gaps in adult education and highlighted the importance of lifelong learning in digital citizenship, critical thinking, and skills for information handling.

It is in the interest of communities and society that policymakers use lessons from the pandemic to promote adult learning as a preventative strategy.

Learning for Life

Adult Learning in Highland Today

Adult Learning in Highland

Learning for the Future

The world is facing profound social change: global displacement of people on a massive scale, increasingly polarised communities and divided politics, rapid technological and digital transformation, the climate crisis, rising levels of mental ill health, and a widening attainment gap.

While there is recognition of these challenges, adult learning is rarely seen as part of the solution.

Yet, throughout history, adult education has both driven and responded to periods of major change. Just as it came to the forefront during the Industrial Revolution, it must once again play a central role in helping society meet the challenges of the modern age, leaving no one behind; access to learning must be lifelong, inclusive, and available to all.