News

Introducing the Show of Hands Network

The Show of Hands Network was born out of a moment at the UALL 2025 conference at the University of Liverpool. At the close of the final plenary session, delegates were asked who would welcome more opportunities to stay connected with colleagues across adult education and lifelong learning. The hands that went up gave the network both its name and its purpose.

The Show of Hands Network is a monthly informal online meet-up, open to everyone working in adult education and lifelong learning. Sessions are relaxed and conversational – closer in spirit to the conference coffee break than to a formal seminar. They provide a space for sharing ideas and good practice, learning about one another’s work, and offering the kind of solidarity and insight that sustains people in this field. We introduce a loose theme each month to give discussions a focus, while keeping the format open and inclusive.

Colleagues join us from institutions across the world, and all are welcome.

We rotate the day and time of our sessions to make participation as accessible as possible. Meetings run in blocks of three, after which we shift the schedule (e.g. Mondays 14:00–15:30, then Wednesdays 15:00–16:30, UK time) to enable as many people as possible to take part. Upcoming meet-ups are as follows. We warmly welcome participation from across our communities and would be delighted to hear from you.

Upcoming sessions:

• Friday 17 April, 10.00 – 11.30 am (BST)
• Friday 15 May, 10.00 – 11.30 am (BST)
• Friday 12 June, 10.00 – 11.30 am (BST)
  
  

For more details visit the Show of Hands page, or to register your interest, please contact Jenny Hoy, Head of the Centre for Open Learning at the University of Edinburgh and UALL Trustee.