Embedding literacy and numeracy across an entire organisation
Literacy and numeracy competencies enable people to participate in society, to find employment and to let their voice be heard. Embedding literacy and numeracy (ELN) in foundation and vocational education programmes has been an important focus area for many tertiary education organisations in Aotearoa/New Zealand in recent years, not in the least because the government identified it as a priority for economic development and allocated funding for organisations to do this work.
From 2009-2011 I was project manager to lead ELN in a polytechnic. This work involved developing the project plan, managing the implementation, managing the team and the budget, and reporting and evaluation.
Due to the complexity of the project, which involved engaging an entire organisation into changing its practices, a very structured project management approach was taken. This provided clarity to the project team what needed to be done, and allowed close monitoring of the actions taken.
The project involved staff development at all levels of the organisation, curriculum development, resource development and development of a transition towards ‘business-as-usual’. While the latter stage was achieved at the end of the project, the cultural change required for ELN is likely to take several years to mature, and therefore needs ongoing explicit attention. After the project management role finished I continued to oversee the ongoing development of embedded literacy and numeracy across the organisation.