Adult and Community Education
As a lifelong learner, you can use Adult and Community
Education (ACE) to help you:
- expand your skills and knowledge
- prepare for possible career change
- gain a sense of personal achievement.
You may be wondering:
Why would you take an ACE
course?
ACE courses offer an informal and welcoming learning
environment. Formal qualifications are very important and
employers particularly value them, but there may be times
when you prefer to do an ACE course, particularly if you
don't like tests or overly structured courses.
The advantages of ACE courses are that they are:
- available in a wide range of subjects
- flexible
- short
- part-time
- fee-for-service
- not as expensive as formal courses.
Many courses deal with employment and business related
subjects. Many are introductory level. ACE courses can be
used as bridges to further education and training, and some
are accredited - that is, they can count towards formal
qualifications.
All courses present organised activities with a learning
goal; these may include classes, small group activities,
one-to-one learning and interaction with technology.
Mostly, there are no specific entry requirements for ACE
courses, although some vocational or advanced courses
assume that you have certain knowledge and skills. Age
requirements vary from state to state, particularly if a
course is offered in conjunction with a provider that
offers programs for younger ages.
Concessions and discounts are available to eligible people
for many of the courses.
How can ACE help your career?
Adult and Community Education can help you to:
Returning to study
If you don't feel confident of your ability to return to
study, you can make the transition into education and
training gently through short ACE courses in a
learner-centred, part-time, non-competitive environment. Use
ACE to explore new learning areas, too, or to supplement your
current or planned study.
English and literacy
If you need to improve your English and literacy skills, ACE
has courses for all levels of English users, from beginners
right through to advanced. These can help you open up further
study and work options.
Professional
development
If you're interested in professional development for
promotion purposes at work, you can gain advanced skills
quickly through ACE short courses in, for example,
management, supervising people or computing. Some of these
courses can count towards more substantial accredited
programs at other education and training institutions.
Life skills
All ACE courses help you develop useful skills for personal
growth, work and life in the community - communication
skills, interpersonal skills, time management and problem
solving are just some of them. Life skills are highly valued
by employers.
Business skills
To start and grow an enterprise, business people need to be
skilled, capable and experienced in many areas. When their
business expands, they must respond quickly to market
movements.
Business owners can't always bring in staff with the
necessary skills and knowledge. Short ACE evening courses, a
few hours a week, offer a useful way to become multi-skilled.
ACE providers train a lot of people, mainly self-employed
people, to run small businesses.
Career change
As a career changer, what careers are open to you? With ACE
courses, you can explore skills and knowledge in career
fields similar to your present one, or experiment with
courses relating to very different careers.
For example, an administrator considering a career in
accountancy can start exploring the field by taking a MYOB
course. Or a homemaker can check out the finance industry by
going to a seminar about the stock market and investments.
Re-entering the
workforce
An ACE course can be your stepping stone back into the
workforce. If you've been away from the workforce for a
while, you might want to practise your communication and team
skills in the relaxed environment offered by ACE providers.
Some courses can help you build your vocational skills and
demonstrate to potential employers your self-motivation and
ability to commit to activities.
Life balance
A career is more than a job; it includes the skills,
knowledge and experience you gain in the various life roles
you undertake. Taking ACE leisure courses, programs about
community issues, or workshops about non-work-related topics
that interest you allows you to cultivate aspects of yourself
that may not find expression in your regular work.
Career portfolio
List any ACE courses you've attended in your Career
Portfolio. Using this form of education shows that you can
- learn
- be committed to completing tasks
- acquire skills and knowledge
- follow your interest in a field of study
- direct your own ongoing learning
- willingly grow as a person.
edna online provides a comprehensive
listing of ACE providers, courses and related themes.