Introduction
The
EAEA is a non-profit NGO with almost 100 national
and regional member organisations in 34 European
countries working in the field of non-formal adult
education. EAEA members represent more than 5,000
organisations on regional and local level that
reach an estimated 60 million participants in
adult learning Europe-wide. The EAEA’s purpose
is to link and represent European organisations
which are involved in adult learning. Its primary
focus is NGOs whose principal aim is the education
of adults, and it works through national
co-ordinating bodies for adult learning.
Originally
known as the European Bureau of Adult Education,
which was founded in 1953 by representatives from
number of European countries, the EAEA will
celebrate its 50th anniversary at its
annual assembly, which will be held in Cyprus in
November 2003. Hopefully this event will give a
good occasion to take stock of the treasures of
the past half a century and relying on these roots
the EAEA will succeed in facing the global
challenge of learning in coming years.
The
EAEA was already committed in the preparatory work
of the Confintea 1997 and in the previous years it
had been active in the adult learning arena
internationally, especially in making a
contribution to the European Year of Lifelong
Learning in 1996.
The
UNESCO Institute for Education Hamburg played a
key role in the work of Confintea 5, and the EAEA,
in close co-operation with the UIE, took part in
all strategic preparatory work and, among others,
contributed to the success and outputs of the
event significantly. After the major changes
starting in 2000 in the European level
co-ordination of educational policy development,
the EAEA's concern is still how to contribute to
the implementation of the recommendations and
commitments of the Confintea 5
as it is shown by the documents of the Sofia
UNESCO regional meeting held in Bulgaria in 2002.
(1) The implementation of the agenda for the
future of the Confintea has mainly been done at
national or local level as adult learning
activities are carried out on these levels in the
network of the EAEA.
The
extremely diverse and rich activities of the
national institutions and member organisations
make it almost impossible to make a summary, so
readers will find below a presentation and
analysis of EAEA activities and the main trends of
development in EAEA’s efforts. Taking into
consideration the guidelines of the reporting,
(See The Common Grid for Reporting: a Diagrammatic
Overview proposed by the UIE.) the EAEA found it
more suitable to follow the cross-cutting issues
as areas for analysis in its reporting.
With the main points of the areas for analysis
considered, this summary report makes references
to the grid of themes and structure of the field
of adult learning.
1.
Progress towards the quality of adult
learning
2.
Emerging concerns, new major trends and
challenges
3.
Statistics and collecting baseline
information and data on adult learning
4.
Research studies in the field
5.
Partnership between various stakeholders
6.
The role and function of NGOs and CSOs
7.
Future actions planned after
2003
8.
New draft recommendations
1.
Progress towards the quality of adult
learning
1.1
From educational quality policy to the practice of
quality development in adult learning
The quality of education is considered in all
Member States to be a concern of the highest
political priority as it was clearly stated in
Article 149 of the Treaty. During the French and
Spanish Presidency in 1995, the evaluation of
pupils’ achievements and external evaluation of
schools were already considered. The first
explicit document in this respect was the Recommendation
on European co-operation in quality assurance in
higher education in 1998.
The second such recommendation was to conduct a
pilot project (1997-98) involving secondary
schools throughout the Union. Ministers in 1999
signed a Declaration on the Quality of School Education. The first European
Report on the Quality of School Education was
presented in 2000. The continuation of this work
was initiated with experts designated by 35
participating ministers in order to identify a
limited number of indicators for the quality of
lifelong learning. (2)As it can be seen quality
development thus conquered the field of adult
learning as well between 1995-2000. Educational
policy co-ordination on European level was
launched after the decision of the Lisbon Summit
(2000), which will be dealt with as emerging
concerns and challenges under point no. 2 of this
report. (3)
1.2
Socrates programme I.
In addition to the educational quality issue being
brought to the foreground in governmental
educational policy, the Commission established the
Socrates programme and the Leonardo vocational
training programmes in 1995 for the development of
educational and training practices. In the first
phase between 1995-99, the programmes mainly aimed
at the development of educational and training
practice in the framework of European
transnational projects. See details about
Soctrates and other programmes (4). In the first
phase between 1995-99, adult learning appeared as
vocational training (Leonardo) or other paths in
adult education, that is it did not receive as
much emphasis as from 2000 onwards, when a
specific adult learning action was incorporated in
the Socrates programme under the title
‘Gruntvig’. The EAEA membership and the EAEA
itself had taken a role in proposing the creation
of a separate adult learning action within the
Socrates programme, as a result of which the
Grundtvig action was launched in the second phase
of Socrates between 2000-2006 and the proportion
of support for adult learning was increased to a
significant extent compared to the first phase. (5)
It should be mentioned that funding for adult
learning was and continues to be very low as
compared to vocational training or research, not
to mention the Social Funds. A more in-depth
analysis of the proportion of funding for various
programmes and, within them, for adult learning is
still missing. A
large number of the member organisations of the
EAEA used the opportunities offered by project
frameworks and the organisations themselves
participated in the quality development of adult
learning. From 2000 onwards, the EAEA in the new
Grundtvig action as part of the Socrates II
programme undertook many different actions to
enable member organisations to become familiar
with the new Grundtvig action of the Socrates II
programme and to stimulate transnational
co-operation in the field of lifelong learning in
general and adult learning in particular. (6)
1.3
Forums, trainings and analyses
Participation and widening participation in
European project co-operation as a theme was
regularly dealt with at annual assemblies from
1997-98. In addition the EAEA organised special
forums in order to facilitate finding potential
project partners not only at the national but at
the European level as well.
The VCVO (Vlaams Centrum voor Volksontwikkeling)
organised in collaboration with the EAEA, an
international forum in Alden Biezen in 2000, where
participants were introduced to the different
programmes dealing with lifelong learning
(Socrates II and Leonardo da Vinci II programmes,
Culture 2000 programme, the European Social Fund
and its objective 3) and given detailed
information about the main characteristics and
application procedures of these programmes.
Socius, the legal successor of VCVO, is going to
organise a similar EU level forum in 2003 as well.
One of the highlights among the activities in 2000
was the
'training course in European project management'
organised in Gothenburg within the framework of
the European Service Network Adult Learning
(ESNAL) by the Nordic Folk Academy, in close
co-operation with the EAEA. All the project
partners were actively involved in presenting the
different results of ESNAL to the participants,
who came from all over Europe. Training courses,
with a similar function, on European project
management, were organised by the EAEA in Estonia
in 2002 and in Cyprus in 2003, which were attended
by participants from all over Europe. One of the
main objectives of the Annual Assembly held in
Hamburg in 2001 was the presentation and
dissemination of the results of successful
projects on the basis of information compiled by
the IIZ/DVV. (7) EAEA initiatives at the analyses
of further project co-operation are dealt with
more details under research, point no. 3 of this
report. The EAEA analysed adult learning projects
implemented between 1995-99 already in the light
of the recommendations of A
Memorandum on Lifelong Learning. The latest
stage in this process is 2003, when the Commission
initiated wide-ranging consultation on the
development issues of the programmes after 2006.
The EAEA also contributed to the public
consultation process. See Consultation - The
Future Development of the EU Education, Training
and Youth Programmes after 2006.
The
EAEA participated in a number of projects either
as a co-ordinator or a partner, and its member
organisations also actively participated in
project co-operation. Further information is
available on projects implemented in recent years
and currently running on the website of the EAEA
under the Projects heading. (8)
The
member organisations of the EAEA were directly
involved in dealing with wide-ranging practical
and theoretical issues of quality assurance in
adult learning, and contributed to the efforts of
the Commission related to the quality development
of adult learning projects. (9) In order to
utilise project results, applicants are able to
gain information about the latest project outcomes
in the inventory of successfully implemented and
completed projects.(10)
1.4
Extension of the EU educational programmes
It
is important to note that a number of Socrates
programmes, mainly in the field of higher
education, have been opened for countries out of
the European region in the framework of External
Aid programmes aiming at co-operation in the field
of education and training. The Asia Europe Meeting
initiative (ASEM) in the field of lifelong
learning can be considered as one of the
most significant. (The
ASEM third event was held in Seoul in
October 2000 and the 4th ASEM summit was held in
Copenhagen in September 2002. Between the two an
ASEM lifelong learning programme was launched in
the framework of an Asia-Europe co-operation. The
extension of these programmes is of utmost
significance in the global development of adult
education with the EAEA playing a possible role in
the process.
2.
Emerging concerns, new major trends and
challenges
2.1
European Year of Lifelong Learning, 1996 and the
Delors report
Mainly
from 1998 onwards the EAEA continuously developed
its policy advocacy activity although it was not
only directly stimulated by the Confintea held in
1997. The Commission issued important documents
already in 1994 and 1995, which influenced adult
learning. Such documents include the (1994) White
Paper - Growth, Competitiveness and Employment and
the (1995) White
Paper - Teaching and Learning: Towards the
Learning Society. The latter stated:
"Education and training, whether acquired in
the formal education system, on the job or in more
informal ways, is the key for everyone to
controlling their future and their personal
development". The conference The Learning
Age: Towards a Europe of Knowledge held in
Manchester in 1998 stands at a pivotal point in
the evolution of these policies. In the EAEA’s
view this evolution process can rely on:
*
the lessons of the 1996 European Year of
Lifelong Learning
*
previous lifelong learning conferences
*
the sanction of the Amsterdam Treaty to
take the agenda forward.
In addition the Commission is also in the process
of reviewing its programmes in this area for
renewal or re-launch. It is also mentioned in the
new constitution of the EAEA, agreed by the
General Assembly held in Manchester in 1999, that
the EAEA's mission is to work for the creation of
a learning society. However, these processes only
marked the beginning of a new phase in policy
development. Among all the EU documents mentioned
above, the Jacques Delors Report had the most
significant impact. (11)
2.2
Global actors, the World Bank and the OECD
Naturally
the EU did not act in an isolated environment but
contributed to significant efforts exerted in
policy development at a global level parallel with
activities launched by influential international
organisations such as the World Bank and the OECD.
The World
Development Report- Knowledge for Development
was published in 1998, then the World Bank
launched its 3-year programme called Education for the Knowledge Economy (EKE). Another landmark in
globalised educational and training development
processes was set by OECD activities, significant
mainly from the aspect of economic growth, such as
the Definition
and Selection of Competencies (DESECO), the
IALS survey on adult literacy skills and the Thematic Reviews on Adult Learning, which included several EU member
countries. (12)
2.3
The Lisbon Summit and A Memorandum on Lifelong
Learning, 2000
This
process was completed by the Lisbon Summit of the
European Union and A
Memorandum on Lifelong Learning (2000), which
opened up a new phase in educational and training
policy development. Rubensson gave a descriptive
summary evaluation of the historical background of
the processes. Rubensson draws a distinction
between two generations of lifelong learning with
different meanings which have developed in
different contexts. (13) The idea of lifelong
learning was first introduced 30 years ago by the
UNESCO. Over a short period lifelong learning, and
closely related ideas on recurrent education from
the OECD and „éducation permanente” from the
Council of Europe made a great impact on the
debate on educational policy. The idea was
grounded in a humanistic tradition and linked to
the expectation of a better society and higher
quality of life.
The
ideas did not come to fruition in concrete
educational policies. Rubensson explains this by
arguing that these visions remain on a vague,
utopian level and were never transformed into
implementable strategies.
A
comparison between the first and second
generations of lifelong learning shows that the
ideological contents of the concept have been
replaced by a narrower interpretation centring
around the needs of the economy for skilled labour
with the necessary competence. Lifelong learning
is merged with elements of the economic human
capital theory. At the risk of
over-simplification, we can say that the term
lifelong learning has been transformed from
idealism to reductionism. There is something to be
gained from both generations of the concept.
Economic reality cannot be disregarded, but
lifelong learning is also important for the
development of democracy and from a humanistic
educational perspective.
The
more integrated approach of the third generation
of the concept is related to the fact that a
concrete programme on its implementation was
developed in 2000-01, in which EAEA also played an
influential role. During the consultation process
a strong recognition emerged that democracy and
the economy are, of course, inter-linked with each
other, and a stable democracy is a prerequisite
for long-term economic growth. The EAEA could also
contribute to this process. The Lisbon European
Council in March 2000 set the European Union the
strategic goal, reaffirmed at the Stockholm
European Council in March 2001, of becoming “the
most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based
economy in the world capable of sustained economic
growth with more and better jobs and greater
social cohesion”. The Memorandum emphasised a
balance between learning activities for
employability and learning activities for active
citizenship. After the consultation process an
overall consensus can be surmised around the
following four broad and mutually supporting
objectives: personal fulfilment, active
citizenship, social inclusion and
employability/adaptability. The Communication
(2001) defined new priorities and put personal
fulfilment and active citizenship in the first
place.
2.4
The Strategic Development Plan of the EAEA–A
Mission Statement issued for 2000-2002 (14)
On
the basis of the above mentioned challenges, the
EAEA decided to react pro-actively and developed a
mission statement, in which it was expressed that
the EAEA's mission is to work for the creation of
a learning society. It does this by encouraging
the demand for learning by organisations and
communities, and in particular by women and
excluded sectors of society. It equally seeks to
improve the response of providers of learning
opportunities and of local, national and
transnational authorities and agencies.
The
other document
published by the EAEA was a policy statement about
lifelong learning in Europe (published in February
2001). (15) Following the mandate given by the
General Assembly in Limerick in 2000, an ad hoc
group developed the EAEA policy statement on
lifelong learning. It is intended for decision
makers at all levels and for providers of lifelong
learning with the aim to raise EAEA's own profile
and to gain further credibility as a fully
recognised partner for advocating adult education
and lifelong learning in the wide European
"landscape" of different interest groups
around the theme of lifelong learning. The
intention was to help the EAEA to act as the voice
for adult and lifelong learning and to advocate
adult and lifelong learning as a positive factor
for European integration and democracy as well as
for bridging different sectors and contexts of
learning with the aim to prevent the learning
divide. The policy statement was widely
distributed at European level and at European
conferences where the EAEA was invited to play an
active role. (2001)
2.5
Consultation Platform, 2001
During
the consultation process on the Memorandum seven
major adult learning networks in Europe took an
initiative to form a Consultation Platform, which
gave a good example of inter-sectoral co-operation
of different stakeholders of adult learning. The
group consisted of the EAEA, CSR Europe, the
European Forum of Technical and Vocational
Education, the European University Association,
the European Vocational Training Association, and
Solidar in association with their European Youth
Forum. Their critical reflections on the
Memorandum and their suggestions on the
implementation of lifelong learning into practice
contributed to the progress of an integrated
approach as well. (16)
The
EAEA also conducted consultations in its network.
During the EAEA’s consultation a number of key
issues were raised, which are especially relevant
for the region out of Europe. These issues are:
the role of NGOs and civil society, the basic
skills development of the low educated and the
attention to be paid to marginalised groups in
democracies. The majority of the EAEA member
organisations carried out consultations with their
own member organisations within their particular
countries and/or networks. As a consequence, over
3000 organisations from sixteen countries were
involved in the consultations, including small
grass roots and neighbourhood organisations and
those representing regions, national bodies,
interest groups including those working with older
people, women and other groups, libraries,
churches and broader European networks.
The
objectives and key messages of the Memorandum were
welcomed for several reasons:
*
It provided the opportunity and rationale
for a wide debate involving many different
stakeholders around the key principles of lifelong
learning and how these might be translated into
practice.
*
It concentrated attention upon the need for
an inclusive policy concerning the importance and
relevance of lifelong learning for everyone.
*
It enabled NGOs, for the first time, to
enter into a dialogue with the Commission about
lifelong learning.
*
It indicated that further concrete action
was to result from the debate.
In brief, participants of the consultation wished
to stress that the Memorandum failed to give
sufficient attention to or recognition of the
following issues:
*
Lifelong learning has a wider purpose than
employability and serving the needs of the labour
market; the individual, community, social and
democratic benefits of learning are equally
important.
*
NGOs play a significant role in the
provision of lifelong learning opportunities,
particularly in respect of informal and non-formal
learning.
*
The learning divide and the needs of those
excluded from opportunities and those outside the
labour market should be given higher priority.
(See 16.)
In response to the challenge posed by the
enlargement of the EU with 10 CEE countries, the
EAEA co-operated in organising an international
conference entitled Good Practices Supporting
Lifelong Learning held in Budapest in May 2001,
which was part of the national consultation
process in Hungary with a European outlook.
(17)
At the end of 2001 the Commission issued the plan
of action entitled Communication from the
Commission - Making
a European Area of Lifelong Learning a Reality,
which partly mirrored the inputs of the whole
consultation process. (18) The EAEA initiated to
maintain the so called NGO Platform of 7
organisations and continue its work in the new
phase of the process called: Concrete objectives
of education and training systems in Europe. The
EAEA co-ordinates this group, which will start its
work in 2003.
2.6
A new period in the European level co-ordination
of educational and training policies
The
Lisbon Summit brought about significant changes.
One of these changes is that the practice of
policy harmonising implemented in the field of
economic policy was concretely introduced in the
field of social policy and within this in the
field of educational and training policy. As it
was indicated above when dealing with the
educational programmes of the EU, a unique
practice is being implemented in Europe in EU
level co-operation in the field of education and
training policy, which is based on the sovereignty
of national cultures and educational systems and
on the principle of subsidiarity. Such
wide-ranging, profound and differentiated
mechanism embracing nation states exists in no
other region in the world. Its significance lies
not only in preventing the direct and exclusive
assertion of the short-term interests (e.g. market
oriented short term vocational training ) of a
global economy and market through the active
participation of states, governments, social
partners and the Parliament of Europe but also in
the practice of. the so-called “soft
governance” harmonising of member states and
interest groups, where significant actors
co-operate and compete for the assertion of social
aspects. What’s more, non- financial and non
economical harmonising was actually first
implemented in the employment policy, then in the
field of social policy, thus preceding education.
(19) Another significant step ahead taken by the
Lisbon Summit was the introduction of the Open
Method of Co-ordination (OMC). Respecting the
competencies of participating countries, the OMC
relies on continuous consultations with social
partners including NGOs, and strives for the
transparency of the process, which reduces the
possibility that policy harmonising is restricted
to negotiations between respective government
elites. The system of working out indicators and
benchmarks for individual activity areas such as
education serves as a tool. (The significance of
the topic is dealt with in more details under no.
3 Statistics and collecting baseline information
and data on adult learning.)
Between
2000-2002, as a result of the conclusions of the
Lisbon Summit a programme for the practice of EU
level harmonising of educational and training
policies was worked out and the Concrete
Objectives of Education and Training Systems in
Europe (Stockholm and Barcelona Summits) was
launched. Initial outcomes are not too encouraging
even though a significant step has been made in
employment and social policies by attaching
unprecedented importance to education and
training, and by the politization of education
that raises education and training to the highest
level of political interest, however, initial
disadvantages are also obvious. In comparison to
the approach of A
Memorandum on Lifelong Learning, which was
mainly meant as an ‘in principle’ discussion
material and recommendations, the Concrete
Objectives of Education and Training Systems in
Europe programme is a comprehensive
implementation programme affecting educational and
training policies with objectives to be achieved
by 2010 thus it is bureaucratic and possesses the
features of policy level practice. Its
implementation into practice was started in
2002-03, which is a joint learning experience for
the partners (government experts of 25 current and
future member states, European level stakeholders
etc.) Although the Concrete objectives programme
still treats lifelong learning as a fundamental
horizontal objective, the application and
implementation of the recommendations of the
Memorandum as well as its progressive approach
seem to be temporarily pushed to the background.
Important new concepts in approach were proposed
by the Memorandum (e.g. the significance of
non-formal and informal learning) while the
Concrete objectives work programme aims at
comprehensive policy development to be conducted
by educational administrations, which will affect
the entire institutional system of education and
training. Educational ministers received an
‘order’ from the highest political level,
which is a challenge that has never been faced. In
the past few years, ministers of education met in
order to discuss differences taking the autonomy
of their own national systems as a basis. This has
changed, and from now on ministers must discuss
what is common (in terms of problems and results)
and what is to be achieved at national and
European levels. This is definitely a turning
point!
Thanks
to efforts exerted by the EAEA in the late ‘90s
and after 2000, in the framework of the concrete
objectives work programme, the EAEA was enabled to
directly delegate experts to 5 work groups out of
the eight set up by the Commission and to actively
contribute to their work. It is a new challenge to
the EAEA to be able to participate as a
significant partner in this new, EU level work and
mechanism launched in the field of policy
development in education and training.
The
work groups are the result of restructuring within
the Commission; 13 objectives have been identified
and put together in 8 work groups. The EAEA is
represented and works directly in the following
five:
-
Education of teachers and trainers
-
Basic skills, foreign language teaching,
entrepreneurship
-
Making the best of resources (reforms of
co-financing)
-
Open learning environment, active
citizenship, social inclusion
-
Making learning attractive, strengthening
links to working life and society
Through
the above-mentioned groups the EAEA also takes
part in the work of the Standing Committee of
Indicators.
On the EAEA home page, a separate page was opened
with the title of Influencing public policy, where
continuous feedback is provided and an ongoing
forum is maintained on the activities related to
the work programme of the Concrete
Objectives of Education and Training Systems in
Europe.(20)
The policy advocacy activity started by the EAEA
in 1997 was raised to a higher level and continued
in a more complex environment in 2002-03, which
also means that the stakes are higher and more
concrete. In the first place it implies a
permanent working process until 2010. In the
autumn of 2003 proposals will be submitted to
ministers, and in the spring of 2004 they will be
included in the agenda of heads of states and
governments. The development and further
implementation of the work programme will be
regularly overviewed at the annual summits.
In
this new period of educational policy harmonising,
it is a great challenge to the EAEA to
successfully represent, assert and implement all
the tasks that are formulated in its mission
statement in terms of social inclusion, learner
centred approach, the humanistic and democratic
concept and realisation of lifelong learning and
adult learning as an alternative in our
globalising world.
2.7
The challenge of the enlargement of the EU
The
far-reaching decision to enlarge the EU with
Central-Eastern European countries in May 2004
will bring about great changes and development for
Europe. Although the EAEA has long been a
pan-European organisation and its member
organisations from non-EU countries enjoy equal
rights, the enlargement will also affect the EAEA.
Countries
in the CEE region started to participate in the
Socrates, Leonardo and other educational and
training programmes of the EU in 1997 and 1999,
however, their full EU membership will mean new
challenges to the EAEA.
Partly
in response to this, the EAEA opened its Central
and Eastern European Link Office in Budapest in
2002.
The
Budapest Link Office of the EAEA aims to
*
promote the introduction of EAEA and member
organisations' activities in the region;
*
promote the forwarding of information as
desired and defined by the Central-Eastern
European member organisations;
*
develop professional bi- and multilateral
co-operation between Eastern, Western, EU and
accessing countries;
*
raise the number of EAEA member
organisations in Central-Eastern Europe;
*
contribute to the better introduction of
lifelong learning activities performed in
Central-Eastern Europe among EAEA and EU
member-states.
When in 2001-02 the Budapest Link Office started
to plan its activities, it conducted a survey
among CEE members to map their demands. In 2002-03
it implemented a project called MALL (To Make up
Arrears in Lifelong Learning) with the
participation of 10 CEE countries in order to
explore their experiences in transnational project
co-operation. (21)
Naturally the project could not give a full answer
to this complex system of tasks, but only make a
small, initial contribution.
3.
Statistics
and collecting baseline information and data on
adult learning
3.1
European Service Network Adult Learning
(ESNAL)
A
continuously returning and chronic problem is the
lack of comparable data on adult learning
internationally. The EAEA sees that even though in
the preparatory work of the Confintea 5, the UIE
and its partners conducted some relevant research
projects on participation in adult education and
other fields, this development has not converged
in the work of different stakeholders such as the
OECD, the EU, the World Bank and others. (22) In
2002-03 the Task Force of the ICAE of the world
wide “shadow report” had to identify that one
of the biggest gap is the lack of available and
adequate data on adult learning.
Among other demands, these deficiencies called
into existence one of the important EAEA projects
called ESNAL in 2000/2001. (23) The ESNAL
(European Service Network Adult Learning) project
set out to design, implement, pilot and up-date
online services for delivering information about
transnational work, research, statistics,
terminology, accreditation, quality concerning
adult education for use both at European level and
in national and regional contexts.
ESNAL
has a number of different components. At a
technical level, it comprises an infrastructure of
communication channels (including an intranet for
the ESNAL Project Core Group, subproject leaders
and experts as well as a web-based conferencing)
together with the public interface and the web
presence of all the results of the different ESNAL
subprojects, which can be retrieved, shared and
re-used by adult educators and learners in a
variety of adult education contexts.
At
a pedagogical level, the project articulated an
approach to using computer-mediated distance
conferencing to stimulate discussions around new
policy areas in the field of adult learning. The
most valuable part of ESNAL was probably the ALICE
database. It is characteristic that the ESNAL also
identified deficiencies in the statistics of adult
education in Europe.
3.2
Measuring of lifelong learning
The
consequence of the Memorandum 2000 also set a new
milestone. The Memorandum suggested that research
relevant to the key messages should be
prioritised. The recently published Communication
on Lifelong Learning called for additional
research to support the development of this
initiative. The initiative could call upon more
than fifty-five completed and ongoing research
projects that can provide valuable insights into
the development of lifelong learning. (24) The
Commission identified six “areas of action”
which can better integrate the various learning
environments. The Targeted Socio-Economic Research
(TSER) programme and the key action Improving the
Socio-Economic Knowledge Base of the Fifth
Framework Programme covered all these areas and
provided some valuable recommendations.
Comparable
information and statistical measures are essential
to the development and implementation of coherent
and comprehensive lifelong learning strategies.
Statistics and indicators already form an
essential part of existing initiatives in the
field of lifelong learning with a view to
monitoring progress both in achieving identified
targets and in implementing policy objectives. The
Task Force on Measuring Lifelong Learning
established an overall framework for extending the
statistical information in the field of lifelong
learning and launched a process aimed at revising
statistical methodologies. (25) Traditional
learning statistics have been based on the
description of formal facts of schooling. The aim
is to have a more comprehensive and systematic
method which covers the softer factors of
conditions and achievements of learning including
non-traditional learning settings and learners and
exploring the problems of non-participation.
EAEA
participants took part in the conference Measuring
Lifelong Learning organised by the Eurostat and
the European Commission in Parma, Italy, 2001 and
in their contribution they emphasised the
importance of the recognition of non-formal
learning and the (non-economic) wider benefits of
adult learning.
3.3
Benchmarks and indicators
A
number of EAEA members are also members in another
network called European Learning Account
Partnership, which is working on the reform
mechanisms of the co-financing of lifelong
learning. (26)
The
new contour of a long standing common framework
could be seen in the work programme of the Concrete
Objectives of the Education and Training Systems
in Europe. In the work programme the
Commission set up a Standing Committee for
Indicators (SCI). In co-operation with the
specific expert sub-groups, the task of this
committee is to build up the common framework of
educational indicators for assessing the different
fields and aspects of education and training
including adult learning. The second important
task of the SCI is to define benchmarks which are
tools for measuring the objectives set to be
achieved in education and training in the
countries of Europe. The challenging advantage of
this initiative is convergence, the intention to
reach common, internationally comparable data
collection and its joint interpretation. Meanwhile
it is a question which indicators and benchmarks
are important from the point of view of
non-traditional learners and civil society and
which are to be introduced. The questions that
emerge:
Does
the concrete objectives work programme have an aim
to develop indicators itself or does it want to
use only those which have been set up now for the
year 2010? It is rather contradictory. Why are
indicators introduced if they are only composed of
existing data collections and there is no way to
develop indicators on the basis of extended or new
quantitative and qualitative data collections?
Launching new European wide surveys requires
substantial financial and organisational
commitments. This is true. The concrete objectives
programme set up new objectives and does it
propose to reach them by old type of data
collection? If the work programme suggests
investing more efficiently in education and
training why can it not invest more into
developing new types of indicators as well? In
measuring the educational achievements, there is a
trend to turn from mainly input indicators and
data on formal levels of schooling to more
output-oriented indicators and to data on
indicators of socio-educational aspects, which
represents great progress. The OECD IALS and the
PISA surveys are characteristic new research
projects that represent this developmental trend.
Nowadays many educational authorities and experts
quote the findings of these surveys, which became
“magical resources” for argumentation. The
scope of these series of surveys is far from
showing an overall picture, however, they
represent the strengths of a more in-depth
strategic analysis required by the future
development of educational policies. The
conclusion is that it would be a strategic way to
extend this type of surveys into many other forms
and levels of learning in order to gradually cover
more and more forms of learning (non-formal,
informal learning, the soft and not measurable
data of lifelong learning activities
etc.).
It
is also a challenge for the EAEA and for other
international actors how they could influence
public policy development in adult education
through valuable indicators and benchmarks.
(27)
4.
Research studies in the field
4.1 Messages for the future
In
2000-01 the EAEA, against a background of
developing a new policy framework for lifelong
learning in Europe, carried out an analysis of
projects for adult learning supported by the
European Commission in the first phase of the
Socrates programme (1995 - 1999). The study allows
for assessing how far the transnational action the
European Commission had co-funded might relate to
the agenda of the Memorandum as well as matching
the experience of the adult education projects of
the Socrates I Programme to the key messages of
the Memorandum.
The
purpose of the study was to assess the extent to
which the projects related to the Adult Education
Action of the Socrates I programme providing a
basis for implementing a new policy for lifelong
learning in general and within the Grundtvig
Action of the Socrates II Programme in particular.
Specifically, the study sought to examine the
activities carried out and to analyse the results,
the impact and the sustainability of the projects
supported, to verify how project activities and
outcomes were oriented towards meeting the needs
of the different target groups as well as to
ascertain the extent to which the projects have
contributed to the development of the formal and
non-formal systems of adult education at local,
regional, national and European levels.
The
study also puts forward suggestions and
recommendations for further work needed within the
Grundtvig Action of the SOCRATES II Programme in
terms of target groups, themes and methodologies,
players and networks, dissemination mechanisms and
strengthening of the European dimension generally.
In
addition to the study, which is available in
English, French and German the complete report of
the quantitative analysis, about 175 tables as
well as the complete database containing all
quantitative and qualitative findings, forms an
integral part of the work carried out during the
contractual time of this project. (28)
4.2
The MALL survey
Since
1997 and 1998, the Socrates and Leonardo da Vinci
programmes have been opened up for the nationals
and institutes of a number of countries which have
applied to join the EU such as the Czech Republic,
Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia. Others such as
Bulgaria, Baltic States and Slovenia could join
these programmes in 1999.
In
the framework of the Accompanying Measures, the
project entitled To Make up Arrears of Lifelong
Learning (abbreviated as MALL) accomplished a
survey with the involvement of adult learning
providers from Central Eastern Europe that
submitted applications either under the Phare
(adult education oriented) programme, the Leonardo
da Vinci or the Socrates- Grundtvig co-operation
programmes between the period of 1997-2001.
The
partnership of the MALL project sent over
questionnaires to approximately one and half
thousand providers in 9 countries, analysed the
287 responses received, and invited 150 providers
to focus group sessions in order to have
face-to-face discussions of their experiences
gained in European co-operation under the above
mentioned programmes. (29)
5
Partnership between various stakeholders
5.1
Adult Learning Weeks and Festivals
One
of the most successful activities initiated by the
NIACE is the Adult Learning Weeks and Festivals,
which are already organised in more than 40
countries world wide. In 2000, member
organisations, the SVEB and the NIACE,
representing the EAEA, started the global launch
of the Adult Learners' Week which took place in
Hannover during the EXPO 2000. In co-operation
with a number of partners the NIACE published The
Learning Festival Guide. (30) The SVEB
contributed to the publication of The Learning
Festival Guide in French and German languages. (
31) As a result of promotional support and
co-operation from the IIZ/DVV, Learning Festivals
were organised in most Central, Eastern and South
Eastern countries, regional activities in Skopje,
Macedonia in South Eastern Europe will be held
this year. (32)
5.2
The International Council for Adult Education
CONFINTEA
in 1997 was
a success, but it left the ICAE in a serious
financial and management crisis. The organisation
was never able to fully exploit the success and
momentum built up during CONFINTEA. The ICAE
instead had to concentrate on healing its internal
wounds and it had to focus on bringing the house
in order. The ICAE went into an administrative
mode of operation.
After
long discussions on the critical situation of the
ICAE at the executive board meeting of the EAEA
(Mechelen, January, 1999), the EAEA formally
proposed that Paul Bélanger could be nominated as
the potential next president of the ICAE. The
Executive Committee meeting of the ICAE held in
February in Toronto, which was the first Executive
Committee meeting after Confintea, Hamburg, 1997,
meant a turning point. The main issue of this
meeting was that the representatives of EAEA and
Latin-America were
especially critical of ICAE. A notice entitled
“The way out and the future for ICAE” was
presented here with valuable comments attached,
especially from IZZ/DVV.
The
Executive Committee of ICAE decided to set up a
Task Force group and proposed the representation
of the EAEA
too. The EAEA executive board in Mainz, in May
1999 decided to confirm the role of the Task Force
and a letter signed by the president of the EAEA
was written to the president of the ICAE in order
to clarify again the standpoint of Europe. In the
period between May-September, 1999 the Task Force
group worked intensively on documents such as the
Renewal Discussion Paper, criteria for the posts
of president, treasurer and members of Executive
Committee and on other documents. The EAEA started
to more actively join the crisis management of the
ICAE and the restructuring of the ICAE network in
co-operation with the Canadian Advisory Group, the
group of donors of the ICAE and other regional
members involved in the Task Force group.
One
of the most important positive factors in the
whole process was the review of donors initiated
by Danida, Denmark. Most of the contributions and
suggestions of the EAEA representative of the Task
Force were accepted by the TF group as soon as the
final drafts of the Task Force were accepted also
by the Special General Assembly of the ICAE in
Manila, 1999. The representatives of the EAEA at
the SGA of the ICAE had success in launching the
reconstruction of the ICAE and electing the new
President in the person of Paul Bélanger, who
came into office on 1st of January,
2000. (33)
The
Norwegian member of the EAEA hosted the strategic
planning workshop in Oslo (1999) and the ICAE
further worked on its planning at the Damascus
executive committee meeting in 2000. The document
approved in Damascus by the ICAE entitled Seizing
the Moment was also presented.
The
EAEA decided how the Constitutional Committee of
the ICAE would be guided by the EAEA and noted the
need for the ICAE to take a measured approach to
developing its base and strategy, and decided that
any proposals to the preparatory groups were
advised to go through the EAEA. An initial
document was drafted on the renewal of the
constitution of the ICAE for the Executive
Committee meeting (Damascus, September 2000). The
document “Learning by Dialogue”, a draft
synopsis on capacity building in the ICAE network
in co-operation with the EAEA, was also produced.
The
Ocho Rios Conference on 9-12 August, 2001 and the
General Assembly of the ICAE were important
events. The conference was mostly organised in
workgroups, one special plenary session discussed
adult learning in the Caribbean region. The
participants of the conference issued a document:
The Ocho Rios Declaration - Adult Learning: A Key
to Democratic Citizenship and Global Action, which
is available in English, French and Spanish on the
ICAE website. (34)
The
Ocho Rios Conference in August showed the highest
rate of EAEA participation, as compared with the
conferences in Cairo (1994) and Manila (1999). In
the preparatory work EAEA representatives took
part in the work of the Finance Committee, in the
initiation of the Policy Advocacy Guide and in the
work of the Constitutional Committee. EAEA
representatives conducted three workshops: a)
Making a case for adult learners: guidebook on
policy advocacy ; b) Lifelong learning and adult
education policy ; and c) Adult Learners’ Week.
The
initiative of producing an Advocacy Guide of
Lifelong Learning as a project gained the highest
preference of the participants of the GA in Ocho
Rios.
5.3
The Advocacy Guide
Under
an International Call for projects, the EAEA was a
partner in the project entitled Increasing Demand
for Learning - An International Advocacy Guide.
The initiative for this project was developed at
the ICAE conference in Ocho Rios, in August 2001
(cf. Activity Report 2001), following a decision
of the Executive Committee of the ICAE in late
2000; it is a large partnership, comprising
organisations from Europe, Asia, Latin America and
Australia with the NIACE as the lead contractor.
The
intention of the project was to develop policy
advocacy tools for learning and advocacy
approaches that may be used to stimulate demand
from governments and funding agencies. The seminar
on the work of the guide took place in Budapest in
2002 .
The
Guide was first published for European use, but
with a possibility of adaptation in other regions.
Most of the work was realised by the NIACE. (35)
The EAEA Budapest Link Office contributed to
translating the Guide into German and French
languages.
5.4
ASEM
The
EAEA, took part in the ASEM Lifelong Learning
Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in May 2002,
and presented a paper Building Bridges for a More Integrated Approach. The idea of an ASEM
(Asia Europe Meeting) initiative on Lifelong
Learning originates from the conclusions of the
conference on "States and Markets" which
took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, in March 1999.
One of the main conclusions of the conference was
that lifelong learning is a prerequisite for
mitigating the negative effects of globalisation.
The conference agreed that the ASEM-countries have
a common interest in identifying and exchanging
experiences regarding lifelong learning. At the 3rd
ASEM summit in Seoul, October 2000, the heads of
states encouraged the further development of an
ASEM initiative in lifelong learning.
The
aims were :
*
establishment of an ASEM network in
lifelong learning;
*
formulation of recommendations and policy
advice on lifelong learning to be presented in an
Asia-Europe meeting in late 2002;
*
identification of potential pilot
activities involving ASEM countries. See EAEA’s
contribution under (36).
5.5
The Right to Learn Throughout Life - Monitoring
Confintea
Through
its representative, the EAEA was invited to
comment and co-operate on the ICAE Shadow Report,
entitled The
Right to Learn Throughout Life - Monitoring
Confintea. The objective of the project was to
direct the attention and action of decision-makers
and public opinion towards the right to learn of
men and women by assessing the implementation of
the commitments made at CONFINTEA and other UN
summits; to build the capacity and expertise of
the ICAE and its network in monitoring adult
education at a global level. (37) The Shadow
Report will be published with the support of the
EAEA-member IIZ/DVV.
5.6
Other international contacts
The
EAEA had been asked by the Commission to organise
a visit to Europe of a group of Chinese adult
education colleagues who work at the Beijing
Academy of Education. The group visited EAEA
member organisations in Austria, Belgium and
Germany, and had a series of meetings with members
of the Commission.
As a result, several contacts have been
established and will probably lead to project
co-operation between European and Chinese
organisations.
In
late 2001, the EAEA co-organised a conference on
Adult Learners' Weeks in Brussels together with
the UIE and the NIACE. The result is an increasing
number of organisations in Europe that wish to
organise Adult Learning Weeks in their countries.
The Adult Learning Week Guide and the support from
various organisations with experience in this
field help making new events a success.
The
EAEA participated in the Interagency Strategy
meeting on Lifelong Learning organised by the UIE
in Hamburg in April 2002. The objectives of the
meeting were to explore the relevance of lifelong
learning to educational and development challenges
in developing countries and to identify main frame
factors in relation to the goals set by the Dakar
Framework of Action and the Hamburg Declaration on
Adult Learning. The president of the EAEA also
attended the UIE´s 50th anniversary in
June 2002.
6.
The role and function of NGOs and Civil Society
Organisations (CSOs)
6.1
NGO Consultation Project on the Memorandum
The
EAEA undertook a wide consultation exercise with
non-governmental organisations involved in adult
learning in member states, candidate countries and
wider Europe. The consultation process is
described in this report under no. 2.5. The EAEA
distributed a questionnaire based upon what was
drawn up by the Commission, but one which was
further developed to contain additional questions
aimed at NGOs and invited proposals to be included
in an action plan. The majority of EAEA member
organisations carried out consultations with their
own member organisations within their particular
countries and/or networks. As a consequence over
3000 organisations from sixteen countries were
involved in the consultations, including small
grass roots and neighbourhood organisations and
those representing regions, national bodies,
interest groups including those working with older
people, women and other groups, libraries,
churches and broader European networks. (2001)
6.2
NGO Platform on Lifelong Learning
The
EAEA wrote a response to the Commissions’
discussion paper ‘The Commission and
Non-Governmental Organisations’. The EAEA agreed
‘that the objectives must enable NGOs to make a
genuine and full contribution to policy-making and
implementation and to have equity of access’.
(38)
6.3
The Platform of European Social NGOs
The
Social Platform is an association of over 37
European NGOs which are working to build an
inclusive society and promote the social dimension
of the European Union. In March 2001 the EAEA
became a full member of the Platform of European
Social NGOs, thus adding an important dimension to
EAEA's work not only for advocating adult learning
for all but also for contributing to the creation
of an inclusive learning society in Europe. It
also offers the EAEA the opportunity to take part
in policy discussions of interest to NGOs and
civil society as well as to gain access to a
variety of useful information made available
through the platform to its members. (39)
7.
Future actions planned after 2003
In
this section we have used a number of suggestions
raised in the EAEA’s midterm development plan,
which was approved by the board in January, 2003.
Nevertheless, further elaboration is needed in the
light of the outputs of the Confintea plus 6
events and action should be taken in order to
reach a set of recommendations for discussion and
approval by the GA of the EAEA, 2003.
( 40)
Despite
progress in recent years, the EAEA’s global
position is not strong enough, mostly manifested
in national level undertakings and in valuable
regional and national level activities and efforts
made independently of one another out of Europe.
Only some of the countries (Nordic) and some of
the national organisations attempted to respond to
increasing global effects. However, there is
little common accord in these attempts. The
experiences of recent years (1999-2002) show that
the organisational development of the EAEA itself
is one of the preconditions for acting more
efficiently in the global arena. The ICAE is one
of the traditional and right partners in this
respect, which, in the past two-three years,
managed to overcome some of the serious
organisational crises it had to face in the past
decade. The Advocacy Guide project (NIACE, EAEA,
UIE, IIZ/DVV) and the “globalisation” of the
Adult Learning Weeks are the most positive
examples for EAEA level global activity and
co-operation. It is not possible here to cover all
the valuable work of EAEA members, for example the
world-wide activities of the IIZ/DVV. See the
journal Adult Education and Development and other
resources. (41)
Another
good example was the UNESCO conference held in
Sofia. Two
hundred delegates from Europe, North America and
Central Asia participated in an international
conference on Lifelong Learning in Europe: Moving
towards EFA Goals and the CONFINTEA V Agenda in
Sofia, Bulgaria, 6th–9th
November, 2002. Participants included government
ministers, parliamentarians, officials from
government and multi-lateral organisations,
representatives of non-governmental organisations,
researchers and adult education practitioners. The
Conference was supported by the Ministry of
Education and Science of the Republic of Bulgaria,
UNESCO and its Institute for Education (UIE), the
European Commission Directorate General for
Education and Culture, the European Association
for the Education of Adults (EAEA) and the
Institute for International Co-operation of the
German Adult Education Association (IIZ/DVV).
The
Conference fully supported the Dakar Framework for
Action on Education for All (EFA), the CONFINTEA V
Agenda (the resolutions of the Fifth World
Conference on Adult Education held in Hamburg in
1997), the CONFINTEA V Follow-up Report, and the
Lifelong Learning and Education policies of the
European Commission. Support was also expressed
for the Lifelong Learning policies adopted by the
European Commission designed to encourage gender
equality and intercultural learning, to combat
racism and xenophobia, to promote social inclusion
and the inclusion of older learners and people
with disabilities.
European
level EAEA policy strategy should be developed for
the global learning challenge, strengthening
global perspectives in lifelong learning, and the
implementation of a 3-5-year plan of action should
be started. It would be useful to schedule the
discussion of the draft at the same time as the
completion of the so-called report on The
Right to Learn Throughout Life – Monitoring
Confintea to be produced by the ICAE and the
Confintea plus 6 event of the UNESCO in the autumn
of 2003, when the respective boards of the EAEA
and ICAE could hold a joint seminar with the
participation of interested EAEA members.
1.
Financial possibilities must be sought for
the revision and evaluation of important adult
learning activities conducted out of the European
Union, and for the creation of information
exchange and co-ordination between donors and
significant organisations, which should be linked
to building contacts with the DG for External
Relations.
2.
Co-operation and dialogue with regional
organisations such as the ASPBAE, the CEAL and the
REPEM should be strengthened. In co-ordination
with the ASPBAE, the EAEA should contribute to the
joint implementation of the ASEM follow-up pilot
projects. Recommended priority field for pilot
projects of the ASEM is the Thematic Network on
Basic Competencies.
3.
In the framework of the Socrates extension
in MEDA joint projects should be conducted mainly
in the Arab region located closest to Europe. The
IIZ/DVV will organise a MEDA Conference on Adult
Learning in Malta in September, 2003.
4.
More powerful advocacy is necessary in
order to reach EFA objectives in the African
region and to support the elementary recovery of
the African regional organisation.
5.
Jointly with universities, the EAEA should
launch training activities, scholarship and study
trip programmes or contribute to existing ones in
the field of adult education practitioner,
counsellor and research training that promote:
-
the creation of a stable and viable system
of relations among organisations in regions out of
Europe;
-
the emergence of a young generation of
adult educators;
-
building up a global network and joining it
to the EAEA.
6.
Between 2003-5, the EAEA should consciously
organise joint consultations and working seminars
with the adult learning organisations of the North
American region and
