BestBonds – extending the competences of adult educators Erasmus Project

Project Title

BestBonds – extending the competences of adult educators

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: Inclusion – equity; Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning; ICT – new technologies – digital competences

Project Summary

Today’s Europe is not in the same shape and size as it was in the past. It is dynamically changing, shifting the schemes and affairs it is comprised of, but, we truly want to believe, that the one thing that never changes is the European Values and the European Solidarity.
It is because of those values that we need to reflect on all the different structures in adult education not only on a local, regional and national level but also on an individual level. Thanks to the “BestBonds – extending the competences of adult educators” we are going to better and improve the European reality. We trust in the impact on both adult educational and social systems in each of the various dimensions and on each of the mentioned levels.
The project will tackle the most pressing, emerging issues, which partners, adult educators, observe in their daily work with adult learners, coming from many different cultural, linguistic and religious backgrounds. These issues are concerning the educators and learners in many ways, and since the teaching-learning process requires both to be active and present, both are the target of this project. Even now, riddled by the COVID-19 pandemic, the set of troubles and issues has not changed, if anything, the pressing issues from the time before did only get an additional weight to themselves. Only now do we appreciate the true value of skills enabling us to work from home, and how important the ICT aspect of our working lives has become.

We believe that these parties should understand each other very well in order to make the learning process as effective as possible. The effectiveness is very dependable on educators’ preparedness and openness. The need to supply the learners with viable, valid and proper learning methodologies and curricula is only one of the keys to successful adult education. Adult learners are much different from youth learners, coming from different, often complicated backgrounds, which often become a fundament for future misunderstandings, unintended results, demotivation and, in a later scope, lack of desired knowledge. Another big obstacle presents itself in the form of poor educators’ knowledge about not only the learning process itself but, and most of all, motivational strategies, linguistic toolsets, methodologies, ICT classroom elements, Social Media and educational policies. Those are crucial in conducting an inclusive and professional teaching-learning process.
All the activities planned in the project are tailored in cohesion with a given partners’ needs and desires in order to better his/her experience, the scope of services offered and future perspectives, but also, for all future educators and adult learners to make proper use of. Only thanks to the partnerships we exchange knowledge and experience through can we assure the highest level of quality of inclusive teaching and the best care we can offer our learners.
We plan to conduct 4 short-term mobilities:
1. The role of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in adult education, activation of language skills and international culture.
2. Education of adults and professional integration of migrants and national minorities.
3. Activation of adults with low competences, including language skills, to undertake the process of professional activation.
4. Transnational competences as a key catalyst for an intercultural adult curriculum.
They will be fulfilled at 97 local mobilities in total. The projected, tangible results are, as follows:
1. An online learning space, for all future learning purposes, for both the educators and learners to use.
2. A set of guidelines, intellectually and methodologically valid in accordance with the need of educators and learners.
3. An inclusive teacher’s profile.
4. A toolbox for all the lesson plans and scenarios.
The example of the intangible results this project expects to achieve are:
1. A good practice network.
2. Exchanging and gaining knowledge through international bonds.
3. Improving the sets of offered services by all partner organizations.
4. Being able to pinpoint all of the strong and weak suits of given national formal education systems.
It is profoundly important to conduct the project transnationally for the results to be of a projected, required and up to European Standards quality.
Our teaching, based on the communicative methodology and hands-on teaching methods, involve activating all of our participants and teaching by action. This approach will allow participants, both educators and learners to put their desired skills directly to practice whilst learning.
BestBonds is going to have a visible impact on various levels: systemic, organizational, educational, teaching material-wise and, most importantly, will serve as a future benchmark for all of the others facing all the same issues sometime in the future.
We trust, that this project, by being sustainable and innovative, will prove that for Europe, there is not one obstacle being insurmountable.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 119328 Eur

Project Coordinator

Europejskie Centrum Mlodziezy & Country: PL

Project Partners

• Ustanova za obrazovanje odraslih Dante
• ATHENS NETWORK OF COLLABORATING EXPERTS ASTIKI ETAIRIA
• MUNDUS BULGARIA
• Cross Culture International Foundation Cyprus