Bridging_Barrieres – Competence Development at the cutting edge for educators in Adult Basic Education in Europe Erasmus Project

Project Title

Bridging_Barrieres – Competence Development at the cutting edge for educators in Adult Basic Education in Europe

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 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Overcoming skills mismatches (basic/transversal); New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning

Project Summary

Adult basic education (ABE) forms a vital part of adult education, allowing adults with gaps in their basic skills to improve in reading, writing, calculating as well as in using IT in professional and everyday life. Moreover, ABE is helping migrants who have received only a rudimentary education prior to their move to acquire good skills in the use of the language of the receiving country

Adult basic education isn’t organised equally across Europe, reflecting different historical pathways, institutional environments and policies. Educators in adult basic education have entered the field based on a diverse set of educational backgrounds and experiences. Programmes preparing educators to teach adult basic education courses vary grossly between countries.

In many European countries, teaching in adult basic education is not regulated as a profession and the principles of practice are characterised only in a rather vague way in policy documents and funding guidelines. Competences crucial for successfully helping adults to acquire basic skills are typically not described in a systematic manner. While it is well documented that educators in adult basic education capitalise on informal workplace learning induced when tailoring their provision to the diverse needs of their clients, there is no recognised approach to display the wealth of practical knowledge applied for ‘making learning happen’ in adult basic education. Prior learning of educators in ABE is, as a consequence, also not recognised and certified, putting practitioners at a disadvantage in their professional careers.

Educators in adult basic education face a lack of opportunity for exchanges with practitioners working in other European countries. Currently, there is a lack of frameworks allowing for comparing the qualifications achieved and making visible the specific competences of educators in adult basic education. This limits the opportunities for gaining recognition for acquired competences when moving from one country to another, the mobility of educators in adult basic education is thereby clearly limited also.

The project aims to contribute to the professionalism and professionalisation of adult basic educators in Europe by developing new approaches to make visible and systematise the specific skills and competences applied in adult basic education.

The project’s key goals include
– Support professionalisation of adult basic educators In Europe by exploring approaches to adult basic education in selected in European countries and developing a competence based training (curriculum, methodology, design and materials) for adult basic educators, spelling out educatos ability to help learners to overcome specific learning barriers
– Enrich the visibility and systematisation of competences of adult basic eduators by developing a competence matrix for competences used in delivering adult basic education, applying proven approaches (VQTS) in the field.
– Support the development of a European profile of asuld absic education by establishing a network of adult basic educators in Europe.

The project comprises of three intellectual outputs (IO). IO1: Development of a competence matrix and IO2: Development of a competence-based
curriculum for adult basic educators and IO3: a methodological handbook for a training for adult educators on how to help learners to overcome specific learning barriers, anchored in the competence matrix developed.

Project outcomes aim at supporting professionalism of educators in the field and support the shaping of a distinct profile of adult basic educators in Europe. It will support adult basic educators to make explicit their specific competences and identify areas for further professional learning. It will expand the opportunities of organisations active in adult basic education to support the professional development of their trainers. By putting emphasis on the questions of how educators effectively help learners to overcome their barriers in their learning, the project gains the potential of improving the quality of provision of ABE courses across Europe, thereby supporting the achievement of the ET2020 goals to reduce the number of low skilled adults in Europe.

Project Website

https://www.bridgingbarriers.eu/

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 220411,3 Eur

Project Coordinator

3S UNTERNEHMENSBERATUNG GMBH & Country: AT

Project Partners

• ISOP GmbH
• E-CODE
• Associazione Il mondo nella città onlus