Success over decades comes with the ability to reinvent yourself and meet everchanging and intergenerational needs, which is what Southland Education | Te Wāhi Ākoranga o Murihiku has consistently done throughout its long history.

“To be sustainable and achieve longevity you must reinvent yourself and increase your diversity,” says Lesley du Mez, Manager, Southland Education. “This means delivering what the community wants in a way that they want it.”

Southland Education was set up in 1915, part of the original group of WEAs (Workers’ Educational Associations), and has been in its current premises since 1969.

“People don’t know that Invercargill is the home of coffee,” Lesley says. “It’s where instant coffee started and where it was patented, and we are housed in Strangs’ Coffee House, which was the original premises the business operated from. So, not only does our organisation have a long history in Invercargill, but our building is also a reflection of the history of our community.

Lesley has been with Southland Education for more than 20 years and over that time she has ensured the organisation continues to evolve and remain relevant by driving change and delivering on learner requirements.

“Southland Institute of Technology (SIT) no longer has as much of a focus on visual arts, as they have moved into the digital space. We identified that this shift left a gap that our learners were keen to see filled so, more recently, Southland Education has shifted into providing more hands-on learning in the visual arts, including acrylic and water colour painting, drawing and stained glass. This has become our core offering over recent years alongside some of the longstanding courses such as yoga and cake decorating,” Lesley says.

“Our painting classes are usually fully subscribed with around 14 learners in each class, depending on venue room size. We are finding that it is hard to keep up with the demand in this space.”

Southland Education coordinates and hosts the Southerly Art School, held annually over King’s Birthday weekend. The event provides learners with the chance to explore a range of visual arts, which vary each year. Workshops for 2025 will include painting with acrylics, etching, stone sculpting, mosaics and frottage. Three years ago, the centre was lucky to have Palmerston North-based mural artist and tattooist Swift Mantis use their building as his canvas, resulting in a fabulous mural of Horace the cat. Lesley says this highly visual and unmissable artwork continues to generate a great deal of interest in the Southerly Art School programme with about 90 people attending sessions over this year’s King’s Birthday.

“The Art School brings in new learners, many of whom choose to enrol in a course at Southland Education once they’ve had a taste of what’s on offer. We also manage to source new course tutors at the event, which is a real bonus for us.”

Lesley says that to maintain an everchanging programme for the Southerly Art School, Southland Education will often have to recruit tutors from outside the district to meet demand.

Each term between 130 and 150 learners attend classes at the centre with demand growing each year. Southland Education receives excellent support financially from the community, which enables them to continue with their annual programme. In addition, learners pay a small fee to attend classes which helps to cover tuition costs as well as centre expenses. Lesley says that charging learners a small fee encourages learner commitment and means people tend to place more value on the experience on offer.

One of the key changes Lesley has witnessed during her years with Southland Education is the increasing expectations of learners in terms of tutor expertise and the availability of resource.

“Our learners have enhanced expectations and for us to be successful we must meet those expectations through our offering. We know that learners have a great deal of choice now, with our main competition coming from online learning. What that doesn’t offer is the social aspect that is available through Southland Education and the benefit of face-to-face connection with tutors who are able to offer instant feedback.”

In further pursuit of their commitment to developing and hosting opportunities to explore visual arts, Southland Education is a regular participant in the Southland Arts Trail run by Arts Murihiku. This year the centre hosted an open day with eight tutors on hand to enable visitors to explore and try new experiences.

“Participation in open days and arts events means we stay top of mind with the arts community, and it helps when we are seeking both tutors and learners,” Lesley says.

Over the past few years Southland Education has been able to offer tutors professional development, and they have hosted the Successfully Teaching Adults course with Jennifer Leahy as tutor, which Lesley says was extremely beneficial as many of their tutors come with no teaching experience.

“Tutoring can be an isolated experience, so it is important that we are able to offer support on their personal learning journey. The course was excellent. It gave our tutors the opportunity to stop and reflect on their practices and for many it provided the first chance they have had to get together and touch base.”

She says the course clearly illustrated the structures behind adult learning and the concepts that bind it all together. “I can now clearly identify when some tutors are struggling, and I have the tools to offer practical support. Our tutors have said that the course has helped them to realise the importance of building relationships and making sure they give students what they want. They are now far more able to pinpoint issues and determine solutions.”

Southland Education has followed up the course with a session facilitated by Mary Geary, former manager with the Ministry of Education and current President of the Dunedin WEA. This session allowed for tutors to build on the Successfully Teaching Adults programme and further develop their teaching practice, Lesley says.

“We were lucky to receive a small professional development funding grant from ACE Aotearoa to enable us to undertake both these PD opportunities. It is great for our organisation to feel included in a bigger structure of learning that offers supported growth.”