Improving Instructional Practices in Adult Learning and Supporting Adult Trainers’ Professional Development Erasmus Project

Project Title

Improving Instructional Practices in Adult Learning and Supporting Adult Trainers’ Professional Development

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for adult education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Key Competences (incl. mathematics and literacy) – basic skills; Recognition, transparency, certification

Project Summary

There is consensus in Europe that high quality learning provision can be achieved by developing a skilled teaching workforce through initial training, continuous professional development (CPD) and mobility. The IPAL project is a joint initiative of 5 organizations from Spain, Bulgaria, Italy, Greece and Germany that seeks to contribute to achieving this task. It targets the the following groups:
=Primary target group: adult education providers (organizations) and adult educators (trainers), policymakers, educational experts
=Secondary target group: relevant stakeholders in other education sectors (e.g. VET)
The CPD of adult trainers is weakly regulated and very much depends on the institutional policies and practices in the organizations providing adult education. It contributes to, and in turn is strongly facilitated by, an overall commitment to relevance and efficiency of adult education provision, at the level of both public policies and individual institutions. In addition, adult education trainers currently face a number of challenges that require them to gain specific skills to use new methods and approaches in training and classroom practice.
The project’s overall objective is to develop quality assurance tools and training resources that promote the professional development of adult trainers and the quality of adult education.
The specific objectives are:
-To develop a quality monitoring tool for adult education providers’ performance with regard to the continuing professional development of adult trainers
-To develop accessible and relevant training resources for adult educators targeted at improving instructional practices and equipping adult trainers with the resources and skills to introduce and use new methods and approaches in the training process, in particular methods suited to handling learner diversity, teaching in a multicultural environment, developing creativity and innovation and applying digital and ICT tools in teaching
-To develop a quality monitoring tool for adult education providers’ performance with regard to overall relevance and quality of educational provision
The following outputs will be developed:
1. Scorecard and screening questionnaire on adult education providers’ performance in terms of the professional development of adult educators. The tool should help each adult education provider identify those areas of its approach to CPD that need assessment and improvement; offer a checklist of the most typical successful approaches and institutional policies in the field of CPD and help adult education providers structure future quality monitoring and strategic development in this area
2. Training resources and online training platform for the improvement of instructional practices in adult education. The resources shall be developed in several specific transversal areas related to instructional practice. They will be organized in 8 modules in a way that would make them suitable both for self-study and for use (after possible extension, adaptation and remixing) in CPD programs in the adult education sector. The modules will be approbated and uploaded on an online learning platform
3. Scorecard and screening questionnaire on adult education providers’ performance in terms of the relevance of the adult education provision. The scorecard will cover different areas of institutional performance. For each area, relevant indicators, measurement guidelines and screening questions will be developed, complemented by guidance about measurement and evaluation. In addition, in order to facilitate benchmarking and improvement, relevant good practices or superior performance will be identified
The following multiplier events will be organized in order to test, promote and disseminate the project outputs:
– Pilot demonstration training in innovative instructional practices for adult educators: 40 external participants representing the target groups
– Final conference in 4 project country focused on promotion and dissemination of the project results: 160 participants in total
IPAL aims at:
-providing access to practical resources for training in effective instructional practices and building the capacity of adult education providers to plan, design, deliver and assess CPD programs
-providing voluntary quality monitoring tools for adult education providers in the field of CPD of staff and overall relevance of the educational product which should promote better institutional development strategies and make the organizations more able to recruit and retain qualified staff
-improving the skills of educators and instructional practices in the classroom, and increasing efficiency and relevance of the educational provision
-enhancing awareness among adult education providers and adult trainers of quality monitoring in adult education

Project Website

http://www.ipalproject.eu

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 182315 Eur

Project Coordinator

TRIBEKA TRAINING LAB S.L.U. & Country: ES

Project Partners

• EUROPEAN CENTER FOR QUALITY OOD
• WISAMAR BILDUNGSGESELLSCHAFT GEMEINNUTZIGE GMBH
• Promimpresa Società Benefit S.R.L.
• ACADEMY OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP ASTIKI ETAIREIA