A Philosophy of Adult Learning and Development

ELM courses are practical and participatory, but they are underpinned by an emphasis on people–development.


TRAINING
Training focuses on developing skills that are needed for a job in an organisation. It is primarily about meeting the needs determined by the community, around set skills’ standards.
e.g. Uniting Church Polity and Ethos Training — exists to educate people working within the Uniting Church context about how the Uniting Church is organised and what its values are.

VET (Vocational Education and Training)
This includes training but is more focused on the needs of the individuals to acquire the skills that will be needed in a community or organisation. VET is often associated with gaining nationally recognized qualifications that can become transferable from one organisation to another.
e.g. Child Protection training is common to the church and other organisations, so the Core components of Child Protection training will be similar and cross-creditable across different groups. Note, however, that the Uniting Church will require its workers to be able to understand and apply Uniting Church Policies and Procedures in relation to Child Protection. Hence, the need to do some specific training.

LEARNING and DEVELOPMENT
Learning and Development refers to the acquisition of knowledge, skills and behaviours that improve one’s ability to meet changes as they occur. Thus, there is a focus on integrating learning and with life application.
e.g. An Elder might be trained to undertake certain current duties, but ongoing learning and development will help the Elder to undertake the Ministry of Eldership within a changing context, both now and in the future.

ELM is involved in specific training and vocational education and training as they serve the primary goal of encouraging adult learning and development.

Personal and Community Development
ELM courses are designed for individuals, groups, Congregations, Presbyteries and organisations. Adult learning assumes personal responsibility and a degree of self-direction and motivation. People get the most out of ELM courses when they invest themselves in full participation.

A range of courses are run at the Centre for Ministry at North Parramatta and in regional centres and anyone can participate. Other courses are organised in partnership with groups and are hosted by them with focused learning goals.

ELM aims to foster the development of learning communities. We use a lot of group work and encourage people to learn from one another. Interpersonal development is important for all ministry development and for each and every disciple in order to take their place in living within the realm of God. Many learning tasks and activities are built around personal interactions with others.



Educational design can assist organisations to build corporate culture. How we learn together can be as important as what we learn. As we look at the needs of individuals and groups, it is important to discover not only what skills and knowledge people should have, but how people will apply them and what default behaviours they are developin