AE-PRO training 2015
NB! This online course has ended.
“European e-training for Adult Educators”
The course starts on 14th of April 2015 and lasts until mid-December 2015. It is divided in two parts. The first part is mandatory. Note that the latest and more detailed timetable is available at the learning platform!
Part I. Compulsory courses
0. Adult Education at a European Level
Welcome to AE-PRO!
- Lead: Gina Ebner, Secretary-General, EAEA, Belgium
- Online lecture: 14 April 2015
- Duration: 1,5 h
- Description: This is an introductory session that aims to provide a thorough overview on everything you need to know about the course: European e-training for Adult Educators; the different options available to you; the general schedule; the various assignments. You will have the opportunity to meet the course organisers and the other participants online and to ask questions and discuss the sessions within the course. Furthermore, you will hear more about EAEA, European Association for the Education of Adults, coordinator of this project, on its work and mission.
Introduction to adult education at a European level
- Lead: Gina Ebner, Secretary-General, EAEA, Belgium
- Online lecture: 12 May 2015
- Duration: 1,5 h
- Description: This session will present the different European institutions and their work on adult education and lifelong learning, as well as European policies and the strategy for adult education.
Civil society and lifelong learning
- Lead: Gina Ebner, Secretary-General, EAEA with the kind participation of the European Commission, Belgium
- Online lecture: 26 May 2015
- Duration: 1,5 h
- Description: This session will let you discover the work of civil society organisations in the field of lifelong learning. Several European-wide organisations will present their work. The discussion will also address the topics addressed and the challenges faced by the organisations in their advocacy work.
Exploring existing arguments to argue in favour of adult education
- Lead: Gina Ebner, Secretary-General, EAEA, Belgium
- Online lecture: 29 May 2015
- Duration: tbc
- Description: This session will explore the research results of the PIAAC and BeLL projects so that participants are able to use these arguments in an advocacy session.
Erasmus+ and other funding programmes
- Lead: Gina Ebner, Secretary-General, EAEA, Belgium
- Online lecture: 24 November 2015
- Duration: 1,5 h
- General: tbc
Final session and evaluation
- Lead: Gina Ebner, Secretary-General, EAEA, Belgium
- Online lecture: 8 December 2015
- Duration: 45 min
- General: An opportunity for participants to give feedback on the course, ask questions, and evaluate the course. Participants will also have the opportunity to become part of a wider alumni network should they wish to do so.
Part II. Optional courses
The second part consists of 4 modules which learners may choose at least 2 sessions from each.
1. Adult education practice in Europe
Summary: In this category a variety of courses will cover the following themes:
- The real and current situation of adult education centres in Europe and the challenges involved.
- The concept and tradition of adult education in different countries.
- Different types of adult education centres.
- Ways in which adult education centres celebrate national adult learning activities.
- How adult education centres coordinate adult education outside of the EU.
Adult Learners’ Week: a festival of learning!
- Lead: NIACE, United Kingdom
- Online lecture: 7 July 2015
- Duration: 2 h
- Description: Each year throughout May and June, a Festival of Learning provides thousands of opportunities for adults and families to have a go at learning. As part of the Festival, hundreds of organisations hold free learning events and activities across the country that inspire adults to take the first steps into learning.
Adult education centres in Europe: schools that empower – 3 Faces of Folk High Schools in Sweden
- Lead: August Nilsson, Pedagog, Glokala Folk High School. Session is organised in cooperation with RIO/FOLAC, Sweden
- Online lecture: 14 July 2015
- Duration: 2,5 h
- Description: A look at three faces of Folk high schools in Sweden and how their work relate to challenges in society: 1) Kvinnofolkhögskolan – a folk high school with a strong connection to womens and feminist movements; 2) Agnesbergs folkhögskola – a school of the Roma community; 3) Spinneriet – a school of urban art & hip hop.
Methodology of Recognition and Validation of Competences in Portugal
- Lead: Maria João Alves, ANQEP, National Agency for Qualifications and VET. The session is organised in cooperation with KERIGMA, Portugal
- Online lecture: 21 July 2015
- Duration: 1 h
- Description: To present methodological assumptions that allow the recognition, validation and certification of competencies acquired by adult in formal, informal and non-formal contexts.
Adult education centres in Saarland, Germany: education for all
- Lead: Karsten Schneider, Managing Director, Verband der Volkshochschulen des Saarlandes e.V, Germany
- Online lecture: 29 September 2015
- Duration: 1,5 h
- Description: Overview of the adult education center’s work in Saarland. Focus: the importance of the social significance of adult education centers and their current challenges for the future.
2. Adult Education policies
In this category a variety of courses will cover the following themes:
- Adult education on a global level.
- Adult education on a national level.
- Adult education and EU programmes.
Democracy and adult education in Portugal
- Lead: Licínio Lima, Full Professor, Department of Social Sciences of Education, University of Minho. The session is organised in cooperation with KERIGMA, Portugal
- Online lecture: 28 July 2015
- Duration: 1 h
- Description: Familiarizing and informing participants about the evolution of the Lifelong Learning and Education policies in Portugal. In order to achieved this, it is necessary to understand the Learning and Education Policies in Portugal, which were influenced by educational policies of welfare and neo-liberal states. Thus, we will expose and analyze three main policy models of Learning and Education of adults: 1) The democratic-emancipatory model; 2) The modernization and state control model; and 3) The human resources management mode.
Impacts of adult education and validation in Portugal
- Lead: Paula Guimarães, Assistant Professor, Institute of Education, University of Lisbon. The session is organised in cooperation with KERIGMA, Portugal
- Online lecture: 4 August 2015
- Duration: 1 hour
- Description: Analyze, from the different researches conducted in local contexts, the impact of validation and certification of competences in Portugal in the promotion of active citizenship and increasing motivation to participate in other educational settings as well as employability.
Folkbildning: a publicly financed civil society structure in adult educaction
- Lead: Mats Ehn, Secretary, FOLAC – the international unit for the 150 Swedish Folk High Schools, Sweden
- Online lecture: 18 August 2015
- Duration: 3 h
- Description: A presentation on the structure and working methods of folkbildning as part of adult education in Sweden. This session also gives room for comparative reflections on adult education and democracy in other countries.
Capacity building on a global level – its importance, the challenges, and key experiences with special attention to IALLA
- Lead: Celita Eccher, ex-Secretary-General, ICAE, Uruguay
- Online lecture: 11 August 2015
- Duration: 2 h
- Description: The session will focus on experiences on capacity building on the global level – importance, challenges, experiences. The experience of IALLA (ICAE Academy of Lifelong Learning Advocacy) will be shared to provide an example of training for advocacy. This international training programme aims at helping young leaders acquire advocacy skills through a participatory methodology and promoting global networking among civil society prganisation actors.
What it is to be a National Coordinator for the European Agenda for Adult Learning
- Lead: NIACE, United Kingdom
- Online lecture: 25 August 2015
- Duration: 1 h
- Description: NIACE is the current UK national coordinator for the European Agenda for Adult Learning. This session will provide an update on some of the innovation projects and peer-learning activities for 2013 and 2014.
Mid-life career review
- Lead: NIACE, United Kingdom
- Online lecture: 2 September 2015
- Duration: 1 h
- Description: This session will explore how mid-life career reviews could contribute to the (UK) Government’s extending working lives agenda. Are there similar agendas across Europe? The Mid-life Career Review Pilot Programme included reviews for over 3,000 people mostly aged between 45 and 64. They covered employment, training and health issues and were designed for those out of work, facing redundancy, wanting to adapt to a new way of working (part-time or self-employed) or for those wanting to stay in the job they have. Four-fifths of surveyed advisers said their clients had improved confidence or motivation to explore career options and make changes, following the review.
Adult education and partnership working
- Lead: Kevin Campbell-Wright, Project Officer, NIACE, United Kingdom
- Online lecture: 8 September 2015
- Duration: 1 h
- Description: This session will explore how adult education organisations can effectively bring together key stakeholders to create strong partnerships in order to ensure that adult education is on local agendas across different sectors.
Global tendencies in adult education
- Lead: María Graciela Cuervo and Irene Lobo, ICAE, Uruguay
- Online lecture: 15 September 2015
- Duration: 2 h
- Description: Session on global tendencies in adult education and the work of ICAE to ensure the right to education and lifelong learning in the global agendas.
3. Pedagogical approaches/ Non-formal education methods
In this category a variety of courses will cover the following themes:
- Learning through art.
- English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL).
- The role of volunteers in community learning settings.
- Online solutions to sharing good practice.
The Competence Game – a way to become aware of prior learning?
- Lead: Stine Hohwü-Christensen, Development Officer, Danish Adult Education Association (DAEA), Denmark
- Online lecture: 22 September 2015
- Duration: 50 min
- Description: Back in 2006 The Danish Ministry of Education launched an online tool for clarification and documentation of prior learning acquired through non-formal adult education, association work or volunteer work. In 2014 the tool was revised and as part of the revision an analog game was developed. The aim of the game is to raise awareness on prior learning, to create a dialogue about prior learning, and to do it in a more fun way than sitting alone in front of a computer.
Integration: German as a second language and second language acquisition
- Lead: Dirk Wolk-Pöhlmann, Educational Consultant and Research Specialist for the subjects: languages, integration and literacy, language tests, Verband der Volkshochschulen von Rheinland-Pfalz e.V., Germany
- Online lecture: 29 September 2015
- Duration: 1,5 h
- Description: One of the most important tasks of an adult education center: language courses and social integration activities for people with an immigrant background.
Adult education as empowerment tool: democracy as participation – doing democracy!
- Lead: Members of the democracy collective Watch it!, RIO/FOLAC, Sweden
- Online lecture: 6 October 2015
- Duration: 3,5 h
- Description: Exploring different approaches to working with democracy, with examples from Swedish folkbildning and Watch it! – a collective of young pedagogues and activists based in Malmö, Sweden.
Community Learning Champions (CLCs) National Support Programme
- Lead: NIACE, United Kingdom
- Online lecture: 13 October 2015
- Duration: 1 h
- Description: A session on supporting volunteers in community learning settings. The Community Learning Champions National Support Programme was established in 2009. The Support Programme aims to strengthen the role and contribution of all those who volunteer in community learning contexts. It provides information, advice and resources to share good practice and encourage adoption of the supported volunteer approach. It includes the nationally recognised and respected CLC “brand” and badge, which may be used by registered schemes and their CLCs and indicates their commitment to a voluntary national quality standard and statement of values and principles.
English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)
- Lead: Alex Stevenson, Head of ESOL, NIACE, United Kingdom
- Online course: 20 October 2015
- Duration: 50 mins
- Description: A session on what ESOL looks like in the UK and NIACE’s work in this area. English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) is a high priority for NIACE. We work nationally and internationally with a wide range of partners to support the development of effective policy and practice, and highlight the importance of ESOL as an area of adult learning.
Webinars: sharing good practice in adult education across Europe
- Lead: Kevin Campbell-Wright, Project Officer, NIACE, United Kingdom
- Online course: 27 October 2015
- Duration: 1 h
- Description: A session on how to proactively use webinars to share good practice in adult education across Europe.
4. Working with specific target groups
In this category a variety of courses will cover the following themes:
- Outreach, Empowerment and Diversity (OED) in adult education.
- Social integration.
- Adult education for the hardest to reach.
Situational barriers and learning abilities of functionally illiterate individuals participating in programmes of elementary adult education in Serbia
- Lead: Aleksandar Bulajic, MPhil, Research and Lecturer Assistant, Faculty of Philosophy, Belgrade University. The session is organised in cooperation with Adult Education Society, Serbia
- Online lecture: 3 November 2015
- Duration: 1,5 hours.
- Description: The overall goal of this session is to inform adult educators about the potentials of applied theater and the benefits of using interactive methods and drama techniques in educational setting, with an emphasis on legislative theater and prison drama in penitentiary institutions.
Applied theatre methods and adult education: legislative theatre in prison
- Lead: Tamara Nikolić Maksić, Teaching Assistant, Adult Education Department, Faculty of Philosophy. The session is organised in cooperation with Adult Education Society, Serbia
- Online lecture: 10 November 2015
- Duration: 1,5 h
- Description: The overall goal of this session is familiarising with and informing participants on key issues concerning the situational barriers and cognitive functioning characteristics of illiterate adults undergoing a process of elementary adult education.
Key elements on how to make adult education work for the group furthest away from education
“We’re searching for the stuff that works”
- Lead: Steen Høyrup, Danish School of Education – Learning Based Innovation, and one of the reseachers behind the publication “We’re searching for the stuff that works”. The session is organised in cooperation with DAEA, Denmark
- Online lecture: 1 December 2015
- Duration: 1,5 h
- Description: In Denmark two researchers have been investigating specific adult educational learning courses in the field of non-formal adult education and they found some key elements in the process of creating motivation for the group furthest away from education. The result of the work is a matrix of key elements, that can be used to stimulate and support the development of motivation for lifelong learning. The key elements have been defined by crossing the answers from the participants and the professionals and then analyzing the set-up in a motivation and learning theoretical perspective.