We are currently working on a plan for accreditation of Freire practitioners and would welcome ideas for how this might best be implemented.  Accreditation would help those who are interested in taking Freirean pedagogical practice further to identify specific skills.

The secretary of state for innovation, universities and skills faced a hostile reception when he addressed a meeting at the lobby of parliament organized by CALL (the Campaigning Alliance for Lifelong Learning), reports The Guardian.

The government's policy of seeking to target employment-related skills has meant severe cuts to many courses and a large decline in the number of adults participating in education classes.  The Guardian reports that the minister, John Denham, received an "explosion of boos and jeers" when he referred to "holiday Spanish".  The suggestion that certain courses are frivolous was not well received!

The Freire Institute will be hosting a Fair Trade Evening on 26 February to kick off Fairtrade Fortnight.  The evening will include a video presentation, discussion of issues around fair trade and the chance to sample and purchase some fair trade products.

Fairtrade Fortnight is an initiative of the Fairtrade Foundation.  Details of this year's activities and those of past years can be found here .

We are looking for people interested in creating community-based radio stations for broadcast on the internet or on FM with a local FM licence.

You may have creative ideas for programmes, a willingness to present shows or an interest in production.  We are putting together some training packages for those who are interested.

Please contact us if you wish to get involved.

When we organized a creative music workshop with a drumming group for late April, we already knew that drumming provides a great way to bring people together with plenty of fun as well as learning.  But can drumming help tackle a variety of health problems too?  A report by the BBC tells of Kent musician Simon Lee who is called on "to teach drumming to patients with problems ranging from addiction to autism, and learning difficulties to mental health issues.  He has even offered help to terminally ill patients needing palliative care."

It seems that rhythmic drumming can improve health by "inducing a deep sense of relaxation, reducing stress, and lowering blood pressure," says the article.

Figures showing a steep decline in the number of adults on adult education courses have provoked a political debate.  The government claims that it is concentrating resources on skills that will improve people's job prospects but opposition parties have called for more investment in adult education and NIACE (the National Institute for Adult Continuing Education) says that the policy needs to be more balanced.

"There's no doubt that community adult learning has a key role to play at a time of recession. It can help in regenerating communities, fostering resilience and social contact for people displaced by the labour market and in supporting a rich vein of cultural activity," says Alan Tuckett, director of NIACE.