Project Aims
The general aim of the project is to support adult educators in designing, delivering, and promoting more attractive and inclusive education for all generations of adult learners.
Objetivos
DESCRIPCIÓN DEL PROYECTO - Prioridades
- Ampliar y desarrollar las competencias de los educadores y resto de personal que apoya a los estudiantes adultos, en particular para evaluar sus conocimientos y habilidades previos y para motivarlos a aprender; mejorar los métodos y herramientas de enseñanza mediante el uso eficaz de soluciones innovadoras y tecnologías.
- Promover Erasmus + entre todos los ciudadanos y generaciones, incluso ofreciendo actividades de educación e intercambios de experiencias con las personas mayores, con miras a construir y dar solidez a la identidad europea.
- Apoyar las oportunidades para que todos adquieran y desarrollen competencias clave, incluidas las competencias básicas con el fin de fomentar la empleabilidad, el desarrollo socioeducativo y personal, así como participación en la vida cívica y social.
Nuestros objetivos son:
- Explorar y debatir los temas más actuales relevantes para el aprendizaje permanente de todas las generaciones, ayudar a los educadores a fortalecer las competencias clave de los estudiantes adultos.
- Aunar las perspectivas de los educadores y educandos adultos jóvenes y mayores, con especial atención al aprendizaje permanente para facilitar el intercambio de experiencias y la inspiración mutua.
- Promover el aprendizaje permanente para todas las generaciones: para la inclusión social, reduciendo el desempleo y desajuste de habilidades, lucha contra la xenofobia, afrontamiento de las migraciones, uso sensato de las nuevas formas de comunicación.
Construir capital social y promover la cohesión y la confianza fortaleciendo la educación de adultos y proveedores que ofrecen aprendizaje intergeneracional. - Incrementar el nivel de conciencia sobre el papel del aprendizaje permanente en el proceso de fortalecer y apoyar los valores comunes, el compromiso y la participación cívicos, identidad y solidaridad.
- Promoción de la movilidad educativa europea y el programa Erasmus+ para todas las generaciones.
Activities
The design of the work programme is chronological. All project activities are divided into 3 phases and 13 Work Packages (WP), including transversal activities of management, evaluation and dissemination. There are 6 Transnational Project Meetings (TPM) planned: 1 kick-off meeting, one summary meeting, and 4 working meetings aiming to exchange experiences and good practices. The workflow during the 4 working meetings gives each partner a space to share their expertise in the field of intergenerational learning.
There are also two international short-term joint staff training events planned. The work programme also includes one start-up package (WP01) and a concluding package (WP10) finalized in delivering final recommendations and the Exit Strategy.
Partners
Fundacja Alternatywnych Inicjatyw Edukacyjnych (Coordinator)
Our main goal is Lifelong Learning promoting – developing of one’s abilities, predispositions, and interests – both in personal and professional life. Based on our international contacts, we are using international good practices in adult learning. We are promoting and supporting vocational and personal development through culture and art (professional as well as unprofessional), active democracy, and educational mobilities in the EU. We work with intergenerational groups, including both the seniors (Third Age Universities among others) and the youth and youth workers (Eurodesk). Foundation of Alternative Educational Initiatives was founded in April 2011 in Bielsko-Biała (South of Poland, Silesian Voivodship).
Webpage: fundacjaaie.eu
Associazione Culturale EduVita E.T.S., ITALY
EduVita is an Italian NGO dedicated to the promotion of lifelong learning and the development of intergenerational and intercultural relationships. It is a coworking and co-learning space, a cultural and educational centre in Lecce, South Italy, founded in January 2019. Their main activities are:
intergenerational learning
language courses for elderly people
intercultural learning
digital education
promoting of youth initiative and entrepreneurship
Escuela Oficial de Idiomas Madrid-Villaverde y Extensión El Espinillo
The Official School of Languages Madrid-Villaverde (EOI Madrid-Villaverde) and its Extension El Espinillo is a public language school established in 1990 in the capital city of Spain, Madrid.
We have more than a thousand students (16-65y.o.) including teachers, unemployed and retired people, housewives, young professionals, or university students, just to mention some.
In our institution, we teach and certify language learning in English, French, and German.
Our main goal is to promote lifelong language learning to strengthen the students’ professional development, communication skills, and personal growth through language and culture. In addition to teaching, our School gives our students access to extracurricular activities with multicultural content
Link: https://www.educa2.madrid.org/web/centro.eoi.villaverde.madrid/inicio
https://www.educa2.madrid.org/web/centro.eoi.extvillaverde-elespinillo.madrid
Challedu
Challedu pioneers new models of learning, inclusion, and engagement. Its team consists of educators, teachers, experts, and game designers and designs playful experiences and games with the aim to transform every activity into an irresistible experience. The scope is to unlock the transformative power of people as seekers and solvers of complex problems, risk-takers, inventors, and visionaries. Our work also empowers creativity, fantasy, inclusion, and empathy.
Webpage: challedu.com
Ecological Future Education
Ecological Future Education (hereinafter – EFE) is a Non-Profit private organisation that has been created to promote a sustainable development mindset in everyday life.
EFE aims to help introduce a new learning and thinking method which would promote environmental awareness as an interesting adventure where everyone participates, thus making the world a better place.
The objective is to inform youth about environmental issues, and daily habit awareness, to improve young people’s skills and competencies concerning green thinking, and to raise social responsibility.
Target groups – social risk groups, young people with destructive problems, adults, and young people. EFE provides training for educators, trainers, and youth workers.
Webpage: www.efe.lv/eng
Recommendations for more inclusive intergenerational adult education
Learning with each other
- Create opportunities to encourage learning with each other by planning and designing learning processes to give time, and create a safe space and opportunity to use each other’s experiences.
- Ensure equal participation: allowing everyone to be heard and challenging stereotypes and prejudice and, giving time and space for that, creating safe learning environments.Allow experimentation – allow failing, acknowledging that making mistakes is an important part of the learning process.
- Avoid unreflective censorship. Allow each type of idea and contribution – try to understand them. Later on – together with the learners – decide whether you want to keep/follow them or not, according to some clearly set, transparent criteria.
- Be flexible about the role of the facilitator: sometimes there is an uninvolved and unbiased facilitator needed (like during Structured Democratic Dialogues), and sometimes – playing an active role by the facilitator is essential (like during linguistic mediation).
- Well-planned and consciously designed intergenerational education can be very effective for bridging the gaps (cultural, ability, knowledge, etc.), and supporting inclusion.
- ‘Role-play’ techniques, ‘role models’ as an educational methodology, supporting the learners to put themselves into someone else’s shoes are useful tools to learn with each other and from each other, to cooperate and include, challenging stereotypes, and fighting prejudices.
- Include learning about various cultures/contexts in the learning process to support inclusiveness. Activities related to national peculiarities and false stereotypes together with generational features to promote the self-knowledge of participants and deeper understanding and collaboration are also recommended. The latter is a very useful tool for multicultural and multigenerational mediation.
Learning from each other
- When learning from each other, it is important to overcome all kinds of challenges or initial expectations regarding different learning styles and preconceived ideas about assumed knowledge (senior students might be used to more teacher-centered approaches, whereas younger learners might be more independent). Therefore, senior learners are more reliant on the teacher and more passive in their learning, while younger students expect more independence and active learning. So finding the right balance between both approaches is paramount to learning. It is important to explain to learners how the learning process is implemented and why this implementation has been selected from the beginning.
- Showing more reluctant learners the benefits of more active learning might help them to understand the proven benefits of more active approaches and build more trust in the group as a generator of knowledge.
- It is essential to address the issue of different levels of digital competencies among learners (younger generations might rely more on digital devices when learning compared to more adult learners). Encouraging group and pair work so that they can work together to help each other might reduce the gap.
- It is important to come up with activities and dynamics to break stereotypes and cultural barriers in order to enhance group cohesion. This might prove more difficult at first but only by building trust and relying on each other’s prior knowledge learning will take place. It is important that people meet each other at eye level, with mutual respect.
Learning about each other
- As an educator of an intergenerational group of learners, do your best to learn as much as possible about your learners. Ask, what are their previous experiences with lifelong learning? How do they imagine the ideal learning environment? What are their concerns concerning common learning? It is worth devoting some time to address these kinds of questions in the first lessons/workshop together.
- Planning to work in a group of learners composed of ‘the youth’ and ‘the seniors’ – it may be a good idea to first ask those questions to the younger and older learners separately, before their first meeting together.
- It is worth planning and realise some team building exercises to prepare the intergenerational group to learn together. It is worth including cultural/artistic/creative activities here. Having some fun, co-creating, brings people together.
- Working with groups of learners mixed in age, various learning approaches, and teaching methodologies can be needed. Try to be flexible and to hear the needs and expectations of the group of learners. Personalise. Adapt. Engage.
- The “coffee breaks” time is an important part of the learning process. Ensure this time.
- Include elements of the cultural exchange to the learning process: the exchange on and sharing of traditions, food customs, habits, and background lets the people see themselves just as interesting people, not just the learners.
- Digital competencies are important for all generations, and it is worth to use also digital tools for the learning process. Still, various generations may be accustomed to using those tools differently. Do your best to find synergies here, creating opportunities and allowing learning from each other.
Related Articles
- Practical experience in an intergenerational training of digital competencies
- How to make education more attractive and inclusive for all generations?
- MEDIATING THE MEDIATION - EOI Madrid-Villaverde and El Espinillo. Contribution to the E4ALL KA204 ERASMUS+ PROJECT.
- Mediating Mediation
- How to plan a change in intergenerational groups?
- Game cocreation for intergenerational audiences. Experiences shared to E4ALL Erasmus+ KA204 project.
- What is the H5P Framework?
- Animaker
- EduVita_A reflection on the co creation workshop.pdf
- EduVita_ART THERAPY IN IGL_bibliography_EduVita.pdf
- EduVita_E4ALL GAME BASED LEARNING_uploads.pdf
- EduVita_IGL approach_E4All_EduVita.pdf
Related Knowledge Pills
- Technology in intergenerational learning?
- Linguistic mediation/How to get seniors more actively involved in language learning?
- How can we involve people with no experience in the game design process?
- How to involve senior learners in active, non-formal education?
- How to attract multigenerational group through the use of internet?
- How to ensure all the voices would be equally heard in an intergenerational group discussion?
