PLRI - Practitioner-Led Research Initiative

NRDC, supported by ESF "Skills for Work and Life" funding, has been able to establish a nationally coordinated series of small-scale practitioner-led research projects over the next three years.

The aims of the programme are to:

• build research capacity in the field
• embed the activities of the NRDC in practice
• undertake important small-scale research projects which contribute to NRDC's overall programmes
• strengthen research networks linking practitioners, researchers and policy agencies.

The programme is aimed at groups of between three and six people who are directly involved in the delivery and development of adult literacy, Numeracy and ESOL in any institutional setting anywhere across England.

Collaborations between institutions are welcome, including links with HE Institutions.

Six small-scale projects are funded in each of three bidding rounds, with up to £10,000 available for each nine-month project. Each year will address a different priority topic. The first bidding round was completed in February 2004; the projects address social exclusion and how we can stimulate demand for learning, under the heading "New ways of reaching new groups of learners".

Round two projects are currently being selected on the subject of "Understanding Purpose and Perseverance - Learners' Aspirations and Commitment to Learning".

For details, see http://www.nrdc.org.uk/content.asp?CategoryID=512