Kate McAllister
Kate McAllister had been in the same job in Omagh for 18 years until in 1995 she took a year out and went to America to work in a living museum.
On her return she moved and took up the post of information librarian in Antrim. Kate visited a library-based Learning Centre in Ballymena, where she had an eye-opening meeting with a woman with reading and writing problems. The woman had improved her English and ICT in the year since the centre had opened.
She decided she wanted to teach adults and see them grow and improve like the lady she had met.
She enrolled on two courses to help her achieve her ambition – Initial Certificate in Teaching Basic Skills and Further and Adult Education Teachers Certificate. She also gained a series of ICT qualifications; completed a master’s degree by taking a year-long career break at the age of 47, and learned more about essential skills, gaining qualifications in adult literacy and numeracy.
This changed her career. She still works for the Library Service but now does pioneering work in essential skills in libraries, family learning, project management and staff training, as the service’s first training and lifelong learning officer. Kate has committed thousands of pounds of her money and hundreds of hours of her time to learning. Almost 1,000 people have benefited from her teaching.
For further details on Kate McAllister, please contact DEL Press Office on 028 9025 7872.
