The Estonian National Support Service of EPALE – the Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe and the Association of Estonian Adult Educators Andras are jointly organising the 5th Adult Educators’ Unconference. The aim of the Adult Educators’ Unconference is to promote the debating culture in the community of adult education and to bring the topics relevant for the community into focus, in order to find solutions to them together.

The 5th Adult Educators’ Unconference will take place on 21 November 2019 in the Tallinn Teacher’s House at Raekoja plats 14.

Based on the call for ideas carried out among the educator community, at this year’s unconference we are looking for answers to the questions related to different aspects of the quality of a training course: What kind of impact does the threshold-based quality assessment system for further education institutions have on the quality of a training course? How can people from different generations study together? When do skills become outdated; and what to do with them? How to reduce the ecological footprint of training courses? How to support the development of a self-directed learner in the workplace? How to develop the learning skills and key competences of adults on any training course? How does the presence of an external observer on a training course impact learning? How to support learning in memory institutions? What is done on different continents to assure the quality of training courses? How to better engage the Russian-speaking community in the development of adult education policy and practice?

The written summaries of discussions that have taken place during previous unconferences are available on the EPALE platform.

This year’s unconference is a bit different. We will start by recognising the Educator of the Year 2019 and the author of the most popular blog post from Estonia on the EPALE platform. As a lead-in to the unconference, Professor Margus Pedaste from the University of Tartu will share his thoughts and help the participants tune in.

This lead-in will be followed by simultaneous discussions on the same topic – “Enhancing the quality of continuing education via external quality assessment – opportunities and challenges”, with the staff members of the Estonian Quality Agency for Higher and Vocational Education and members of the working group who were directly involved in the development of the threshold-based assessment system acting as experts.

After that, we will focus on different aspects of the quality of a training course in nine simultaneous discussions. For the first time, two of our discussions will be held in a foreign language. The topics of the discussions are: 

1. Intergenerational learning

• Moderator – Katrin Karu, Tallinn University 
• Expert – Felika Tuul, the University of Tartu

2. Outdated skills

• Moderator – Halliki Põlda, EPALE ambassador
• Experts – Külli All, the Ministry of Education and Research,
  and Elliko Konno, the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund

3. An educator’s environmental awareness and reducing the ecological footprint of training courses

• Moderator – Veronika Tuul, EPALE ambassador
• Expert – Janika Ruusmaa, Tartu Nature House

4. Supporting the development of a self-directed learner in learning in the workplace

• Moderator – Sigrid Aruväli, EPALE ambassador
• Expert – Jana Schmidt, Cleveron AS

5. How to develop the learning skills and key competences of adults on any training course?

• Moderator – Tiina Jääger, EPALE ambassador
• Expert – Diana Eller, Tartu Vocational Education Centre 
• Expert - Airi Broberg, Pärnu School for Adults

6. An external observer on a training course – how does it impact learning?

• Moderator – Madli Leikop, EPALE ambassador
• Expert – Eda Anton, the Association of Estonian Adult Educators Andras: the leader of the workshop for adult educators from the Tartu region

7. The quality of teaching adults in memory institutions is in the hands of competent and motivated adult educators

• Moderator – Merle Koik, EPALE ambassador
• Expert – Kaari Siemer, the Estonian National Museum

8. The quality of training courses in other parts of the world (the discussion will take place in English)

• Moderator – Marin Johnson, EPALE ambassador
• Experts – Richard Aboagye Kumi and other Master’s degree students enrolled in the IMAESC programme at Tallinn University

9. The engagement of the Russian-speaking educator community in adult education policy and practice in Estonia (the discussion will take place in Russian)

• Moderator – Jelena Lohmatova, EPALE ambassador
• Expert – Tatjana Kiilo, the Ministry of Education and Research

The discussions will be followed by oral summing-up sessions and an open microphone session, enabling each participant to express what they consider topical in the field of adult education today. 

The unconference can be followed on the Internet. Simultaneously with the unconference, there will be an online discussion carried out on the EPALE platform. The online discussion will be moderated by Rando Proomet. Students of andragogy will contribute to the merging of the unconference and the online discussion. After the unconference, the EPALE ambassadors, in cooperation with the experts, will compose written summaries about each discussion topic. The summaries will be published on the EPALE platform.

The agenda of the unconference:

• 10:30-11:00 Arrival and registration of the participants
• 11:00-11:35 Opening session, recognition of the Educator of the Year 2019 and the author of the most popular blog post on the EPALE platform
• 11:35-11:55 “The Quality of a Training Course” – an inspirational speech by Professor Margus Pedaste
• 12:00-13:00 Discussions, 1^st round: The impact of the threshold-based assessment system for further education institutions on the quality of a training course
• 13:00-14:00 Lunch
• 14:00-15:30 Discussions, 2^nd round: various topics
• 15:30-16:00 Coffee break
• 16:00-17:00 Summing-up of the discussions

The unconference is organised by the Estonian National Support Service of EPALE – the Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe, with the support of the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union, and the Association of Estonian Adult Educators Andras, with the support of the European Social Fund and the Ministry of Education and Research. The unconference is free for the participants.

NB! In order to participate in the unconference, being a registered member of the EPALE platform is a precondition. Sign up and become a member HERE – it’s easy and fast!

You can contact the organising team at:

e-mail: mittekonverents@kutsekoda.ee