Professional Administrative Support for Adult Learning Pro- SAL PROJECT INFORMATION

Project partners are Wedgwood Memorial College

Pro-SAL is a Grundtvig Training Course Project Grundtvig training courses aim at improving the availability and quality of European courses for adult education teachers, managers and other adult education staff socrates/grundtvig/index_en.html socrates/grundtvig/index_en.html

Target group: Administrative staff of adult education organizations

Objectives: Research on adult education administrative staff in participating countries Research on training provision currently available for this target group Analysis of needs Development of a modular training course Piloting, evaluating and reviewing of the course Implementation and dissemination

Benefits of the Project for Training Course Participants Improved international understanding and communication competencies Improved knowledge Better administrative skills Networking Increased professional and personal skills and confidence

Benefits of the Project for Training Course Providers Research on the situation of administrative staff in adult education organisations in European countries Analysis of needs Course concept containing 3 modules: –Intercultural communication –Improvement of communication theory and skills –Documentation processes

Research 2007 Research carried out in each country – telephone interviews and questionnaires

Purpose To identify similarities and differences in relation to Adult Education Administrators within the following areas: Role and type of work undertaken Qualification requirements and levels Existing skills and training needs Types of adult education establishments Research in the context of adult education administrators This was done to develop a training course

Main Findings: Titles and Qualifications No consistent use of occupational titles to describe administrators in any of the countries Similar level of qualifications across all countries Italy required a school leaving diploma with a further 3-years-training

Main Findings: Titles and Qualifications (2) Bulgaria and Latvia employed the highest number of people with higher education qualifications Italy and UK – increased tendency for graduates to be involved in administration, graduates that could not find work in their degree subject (this group used mainly self- studies) Income and qualifications varied considerably – according to position

Work and Tasks of the Target Group Very similar in all countries Range of general office work – including student-related tasks (e.g. production of certificates) No generic job descriptions in any of the countries Role varies according to the structure and size of the centre Focus is on administration rather than supporting students (although this is done, it is not included in the job description)

Existing Training Germany has specific training for all staff in adult education organisations – including the development of the adult education business Somewhere else there are no specific courses, but there is access to a broad range of courses that the organisations generally offer

Training Needs Bulgaria, Germany and the UK identify competence needs in adult guidance, inter- cultural communication, cultural awareness, and technical skills Other countries referred to the development of technical skills, communication skills and support for emotional flexibility– but nothing that related specifically to adult learners

Adult Education Establishments This only refers to Germany, Italy, Norway and the UK – where adult education is well developed Adult education is very diverse – some establishments are very large, this being their only purpose– others offer adult education together with other courses, being only a small part of their work Different organisations offer adult education, e.g., Norway and UK in terms of voluntary sector, adult and community learning, further education

Adult Education Establishments (2) Both Italy and UK mention funding as important for determining what is delivered and where Funding in UK is being withdrawn from the adult education sector for most things except for lower level qualifications (emphasis is now on age group) Staffing structure varies according to size – larger organisations have curriculum management teams, others have 2 or 3 people sharing most tasks

Existing Research Projects There are remarkable research projects relating to adult education – particularly Germany, Latvia, Norway, UK Germany is the only country with research specifically dealing with the administrative role This is a completely under-developed role and perspective in other countries

Conclusions Roles and responsibilities are similar all over the partner countries The level of qualifications is generally high Administrators play an important role in adult education, for which there is no specific training This could result in a waste of potential for both the organisation and the individual

Conclusions (2) It seems that there are no defined career paths for administrators specifically in adult education The basis of skills and knowledge for administrators changes as their role becomes more complex, e.g., intercultural projects Research in this particular area is rather under-developed The structure of adult education establishments across the countries varies considerably

Training Course Title: “Administration in Adult Education – Improving Intercultural, Communicative and Quality-related Competences” Target group: Administrative staff in adult education organisations Grant: Participants can apply for a mobility grant of Grundtvig 3 Adult Education to their National Agencies, see:

Training Course Pro-SAL Pilot Course in Andreas Hermes Academie, Bonn, June 2006

Aims of the training course: Sharing perceptions of different cultures and customs, recognising differences and similarities and understanding why they occur Enlarging communicative competence Identifying critical incidents in adult education organisations Improving the understanding of documentation and statistical issues

Comments of the participants on the pilot course I am convinced that working in groups encouraged us to give the best of ourselves. The learning method in groups is most effective in international courses, when you not only have to learn something new and say your opinion, but at the same time have to work with very different people, who speak different languages, who belong to different cultures and you have to adopt in this crowd. That was fantastic! Each training unit had aspects which fit my work, in each unit I learned from the trainers and the participants. The self-esteem rose.

Comments of the participants on the pilot course (2) It also gave me a wider perspective on my work to get an idea of how it is to work with adult education in other countries. I liked many of the presentation tasks and the evaluation tasks. I will try to use some of these in some of our courses. The course was useful - I learnt a lot of interesting things and took part in diverse activities and discussions, which will help my professional development.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!