Case studies
It’s all in a good case study! They help you to:
- demonstrate the significant impact that the ULF has on changing people’s lives through learning and helping to create a learning society
- promote the work of unions to members and encourage union membership
- showcase your project by sharing your experiences and giving others the chance to learn lessons from your project
- tell the individual success story of a learner, providing the ‘human interest’ angle which is a powerful way to sell the benefits of your project and approach
Keep your news reporter’s hat on at every stage of your project and be on the look-out for potential case studies. Ask ULRs to collate information for you on the impact your work is having on learners. When conducting project visits, talk to learners and other people involved with your project.
Developing case studies
- Keep your sentences short and to the point
- Cut out as much terminology as you can
- Avoid jargon and acronyms wherever possible
- Pose questions such as, “How might you offer a range of learning opportunities in the workplace without a training budget?”
Finally, there’s one more advantage of compiling case studies as you go along: it means you can gain national – and even international – recognition for your work by entering for an award. There are employer and employee awards offered by the Campaign for Learning and NIACE, the National Training Awards, Learning and Skills Awards, the learndirect achievement awards, and the Trade Union Lifelong Learning Award, to name but a few.
Remember it is an essential requirement to collect and share case studies with ULF to provide examples of the impact of union learning. Follow the guidelines for use of the ULF logo if you’re sending documents externally.
