In the latest EPALE Podcast Christin Cieslak speaks to Isabelle Palanchon, Deputy Director for CEMEA France (Centres d’Entraînement aux Méthodes d’Education Active), Maja Maksimovic from the University of Belgrade, and Fergal Finnegan from the National University of Ireland in Maynooth, but also representing ESREA, European Society for Research on the Education of Adults. Christin and her guests talk about how Safe Spaces in Adult Learning and Education (ALE) play a crucial role in enhancing engagement and understanding of direct democratic processes.

What are Safe Spaces and why is it important to talk about them in Adult Learning?

When talking about safe spaces, Maja Maksimovic points out that we first need to define what we mean by safe and what is space. For her, safety in this context is about trust. Space is also not only the place we go, but it is something we create under the given conditions and shaped by our experiences.

Fergal Finnegan emphasises this as well as the context and explains that for him, good adult education has to be a place where people can fully be human, are respectful and can build relationships. In learning settings, it is always crucial to think about power and the implications that come along with it.

Isabelle Palanchon agrees with the aforementioned and adds that especially in adult education we usually have very diverse groups with different backgrounds and often people have had difficult experiences with schools or challenges with learning when they were younger. That is why it is even more important to have safe spaces for the learners here and that the framework and all the participants are respected.

Going beyond individuals: Political and democratic aspects of safe spaces

After this brief introduction to the topic, Christin moves on to its political and democratic significance. Fergal brings up the fact that open and safe spaces for learning require us to focus on devising a democratic culture. It is about what it means to listen and what it means to be heard.

Isabelle then adds that when it comes to the value of popular education, it is not only supposed to be education for all but also education for all. And it is important that the participants can be the actors in what they are learning. This includes reflective space for gaining distance and managing emotions.

Maja continues by highlighting that safe spaces for learning are not necessarily comfortable, and democratic values should be part of these spaces.

“Usually when we feel uncomfortable, we learn.”

Through democratic processes and participation, together we can create a dialogue about learning, different perspectives and experiences.

Addressing Inequality and Privileges

Next, the discussion revolves around disadvantages and privileges and how to address them in adult education. The basics for all kinds of learning is to know how to learn. Isabelle mentions that there is already inequality in access to educational institutions. She refers to the importance of less formal education spaces to build a bridge and simplify access to education for disadvantaged people.

Maja carries on by speaking about how to talk about privileges. Because we mostly feel more comfortable in homogeneous groups, we particularly have to bring together diverse people and build a trustworthy setting to reflect on privileges and different experiences. Substantially, the human cost of Inequality is immense and adult education has a role here to address that, Fergal concludes.

Affecting people’s engagement in Democracy: The role of Safe Spaces

“Engaging in society is always a question of voice and power”

Since engagement has to do with power, available resources and the capacity for autonomy, supporting individuals through education with this, will at the same time support democracy. Fergal adds that we need to think critically and carefully about who is in the room and whose voice is not heard at all.

Isabelle agrees by saying that creating a democratic culture means sharing power. In the ALE sector, this can be sharing the power of proposing content or of making decisions. Following on from this, Maja poses the question of how to be more self-reflective in our own practices, e.g. when it comes to educational paradigms.

EU’s tasks to support and maintain safe spaces in Adult Learning

Closing the discussion, Fergal emphasises the responsibility of many stakeholders to advance democracy, equality and freedom through education. Adult educators have to strengthen the connections of their organisations and practices to enable safe spaces for learners and practitioners as well. Meanwhile, the EU can reinforce this effort by funding projects, supporting practitioners and good adult education as a whole.

Maja also stresses the huge geographical differences within the EU, which are furthermore reflected in education and learning; we can not isolate adult education from the public discourse. For the EU, it is crucial to be fully aware of these differences.

As a final remark for the EU’s task, Isabelle advocates supporting all forms of learning, non-formal education and creating a pathway between formal and non-formal education for more accessibility. This includes not only focusing adult education on employability but also a stronger focus on citizenship and critical thinking.

Read the full transcript here