My impressions about City Lit-in English

In this page I would like to favor my English - speaking colleagues, mainly at City Lit, but to others as well.
When I have taken a presentation to Quality Meeting members, my first sentence was the next:
One of my best choices of my professional life was: coming to the City Lit.
At first I thought the three and half months long period will be a bit much to study one institution. But now, near to the end I think it is not to much. During this term I have got lot of new information, experiences, and last but not least I have got new friends as well.

From the first day I arrived and Nick introduced me the institution I never ever felt that I was a nuisance to him or any other colleagues. I felt, they regarded me as a member of staff. Thanks a lot!

Nick Moore Deputy Principal and my mentor at City Lit

My position permitted me to look at the institution from different aspects. Therefore I believe I have got an panoramic-picture about City Lit.

Teacher Training Department has taken me in from the first week. And I have visited the other department from there.

With Mary La-Touche, who helped me a lot to correct my English text and to do many other things.

With Khorshed Bhote, Head of Programme-City & Guilds and Online Teacher Training. Thanks for your positive energy, support and chats.

                         

Some of my impressions.

1. City Lit is an outstanding place to learn. Even not only to learn, but to work as well. The management look after the staff and is engaged with permanent development. I have participated in many meetings and I have read lot of materials, strategic documents and the everyday correspondence as well. In my sense most of the meetings have concrete aims, and are well targeted.  The documents before and after meetings are well edited and useful. The tune of communication is calm and friendly. The staff is proud of successes and see the parts of the work, which could be improve more. I think one of the most important agent of success is the permanent improvement, which is going on professional at City Lit.

2. Co-operation. I could feel synergy within the different department. The learner-centered approach was sensible  everywhere. Good example is learners support process.

3. Strategic documents are well organized and published within colleagues on high professional level having  conciliation. There is an easy access from E-share.

4. Feedback. There are several ways for students to take they feedback. Many possibilities show the real interest in the students opinion. The feedback is not only as a compulsory part of Quality Policy, but the basis  of further development.

5. Support. The students not only can get many type of support, but even they are very well informed in this case. At City Lit there are several information sheets regarding to the support depending on different students needs. Very impressive support of people with disadvantage or any learning difficult.

6. City Lit providing abundance of non-accredited programs therefore help people spent their spare time on interesting and useful way. The importance of informal, non-formal learning, short-term courses is one of the highlighted topics in EU policies as well. At City Lit the adult learners can find friendly and supportive, inspiring  learning environment, when they needs and characteristic are accepted and considered.

7. Methods. Lerner -centered approach is the most outstanding when we visit classes. I mean the tutors organize the learning process regarding to adult learners characteristic. They usually base on prior learning and experience of  learners and involve them into the learning process on active and interactive way. Moreover they use peer learning, role - play, group work, individual work as methods of teaching-learning. Well edited hand-outs help understanding and the practice.

8. Staff development. The key for the success is the good adult educator, the well educated staff. Short-term  courses could serve this goal appropriate. City Lit has built up set  of in-service training and has been developing more and more form of sharing best practices. The sharing, job shadowing could be the best way, because we adult education professionals, as any other adult learners can learn from each other a most.

I am going to publish my experiences more detailed in Hungarian and in English too. The experiences are useful not only for me, but also for my student hopefully. In my sense the results and the examples look worth  sharing at the wider community , among stakeholders, experts, students.

I Hope it is not the last time, when I have visited City Lit.