‘I think that we had all lost ourselves’ Meet the Scots trailblazer educating her students to overcome violent trauma
In a follow-up to our recent colleges special, Herald education writer James McEnaney highlights a groundbreaking new project driven forward by academic Lucie Armstrong at New College Lanarkshire which provides vital support to victims of domestic abuse and violence
BY definition, those being supported and protected in Women’s Aid refuges are both vulnerable and isolated. For many, their safety may depend upon anonymity and a significant physical distance being established between their previous circumstances and their new arrangements. But Leanne Temporal, a family support worker at Women’s Aid, believes that tackling these sorts of issues is part of her job, which led her to reach out to New College Lanarkshire in the hope that they could work together.
“When I first contacted the college, I didn’t really know what I was looking for,” she says. “I knew the women I was supporting wanted to improve their skills and would talk about wanting to go to college, but they didn’t know what they were good at and a big factor was not having the confidence to go or feel they could complete a course.”
These may seem like relatively small hurdles to some, but the reality for thousands and thousands of people is that their past experiences have led them to believe that going back to education is not something of which they are capable.
Helping people overcome that anxiety is an absolutely core part of what colleges across Scotland set out to do, and a wide range of short and introductory courses – ranging from personal to practical to academic in nature – are offered for that very purpose.
But college staff decided to go further. Instead of pulling an existing approach off the shelf, they set out to create a half-year, January-start course that would meet the immediate needs of those referred by Women’s Aid while also helping to build the confidence they needed to take bigger steps in the future.
The 18-week programme that resulted at the college has been designed to be as open, encouraging and supportive as possible, and was put together based on specific requests and feedback from the women themselves.
Many of the classes have involved craftbased activities like macrame or have focused on wellbeing through things like aromatherapy, guided meditation, and journalling.
The college also secured a Cricut machine to allow the women to experiment with making items like mugs and T-shirts.
There are no recognised qualifications at the end of it, and the classes aren’t driven by a desire to enhance workplace skills or reap any sort of direct economic benefits, either for the participants or the country.
Improving lives
THIS isn’t about ticking boxes or allocating teaching credits to keep spreadsheet-bothering bureaucrats happy – it’s just about helping people to improve their lives, and that’s more than enough.
The driving force behind it has been Lucie Armstrong, one of the academic leads at New College Lanarkshire.
She says that working with disadvantaged groups is a focus of her department, but that she “was particularly driven to provide opportunities for women who have experienced trauma as I know first-hand the value that education can have in providing a greater sense of self-worth and really grow your confidence to take on new opportunities”.
She said: “The Women’s Aid project helps women in our community feel stronger and more confident by breaking down barriers and helping them get education.
“It brings women of different ages and backgrounds together to share their talents and skills, make friends, and create educational opportunities.”
It is, she adds, something that college staff are “very proud to have been part of”.
The women on the course had never met one another before their first day but, according to one participant, even the opportunity to spend time with people in a similar position to herself has been hugely valuable.
“Just talking to other women on the course has been really relaxing and distracting,” she said. “We are all from different backgrounds but we all have a lot in common, even if some of that’s bad.
“I don’t want to speak for everyone here but I think that we’d all lost ourselves, who we were, and this has helped us find ourselves again.”
‘Got me out of a rut’
ANOTHER explained that attending the course had been “amazing” for her mental health: “It got me out of a rut where I was staying in my bed all day. I’m now planning to do a further course here, something in mental health, to try to help others.”
These positive outcomes are reiterated by Leanne Temporal, who believes the dedication and flexibility of college staff has been key to the success of the project.
“The women who are on the course have said that they have lots of laughs with the women who attend and the lecturers,” she said.
“They have said that everyone is so supportive and teaches each other new skills. A few have spoken openly about how they feel so much better after attending and have made good friendships with a good bunch of women, and are grateful for this opportunity and chance to build their confidence.”
After the success of the initial – and experimental – course at the Cumbernauld campus of New College Lanarkshire, the plan is now to expand it to the Coatbridge and, eventually, Motherwell campuses. And it doesn’t stop there.
It’s the business
THE college has also worked with the women in the initial cohort to design a year-long course that is due to begin in August.
This will build on the learning and experiences that have been provided so far, and incorporate more of a focus on business and entrepreneurialism.
At the women’s request, it will also put a bit more pressure on them over the year and include recognised qualifications.
But not all of the women from the first course will be joining the expanded programme, because some have developed the confidence to proceed directly to more formal learning in established courses.
And from there, who knows what they might achieve?
We are all from different backgrounds but we all have a lot in common, even if some of that’s bad