When we talk about adult education in Europe, we naturally immediately think of Erasmus+, but how did adult education actually end up in Erasmus+? EPALE ambassador Jumbo Klercq from the Netherlands has been closely involved in this development in various roles from the beginning until now. In a series of blogs he takes us through this history and critically reflects on the various changes in the program over time.

How important is Erasmus+ for adult education and how important is adult education actually for Erasmus+? What are the predecessors of this program and what do we know about the background? What has been retained in the program as we know it today? What has disappeared? And how do we assess this? That is what this series of blogs is about.

Adult education

The concept of adult education was first used in the 19th century, when several initiatives emerged to improve the literacy, vocational qualifications and general development of the working class. Examples of this were the folk high schools, the folk universities, the trade union and evening schools. In the 20th century, adult education received greater recognition and support from the government, international organizations and academia. Adult education was seen as a means to promote democracy, social justice, economic growth and personal development. Nowadays we should say that many of these learning processes were non-formal education. My own background is in training and development work, I once started as a training worker at Volkshogeschool Ons Erf in Berg en Dal. In my country, the Netherlands, the term adult education was introduced in 1986, when the Adult Education Act (WVE) came into effect. This law brought all forms of education and training for adults under one regulation. In Europe, there was no European policy for adult education before 1995. The EU, which emerged in 1993 from the EEC, the European Economic Community, had no specific education policy, but there were so-called community programs such as the Erasmus program for higher education and the Lingua program for European language education. Both programs have offered students the opportunity to study abroad since 1987.

Socrates I, 1995-1999

When I was asked in 1995 to participate in the project Older Adults as Helpers in Learning Processes, coordinated by EAEA, the European Association for Adult Education, I quickly discovered that this project was largely funded through Socrates. This Socrates program emerged from the political will to develop a "Europe of Knowledge" based on an active lifelong learning policy. 1996 was declared the European Year of Lifelong Learning and in the same year the leading report Learning the Treasure Within, which Jacques Delors wrote for UNESCO, was published. The Socrates program was intended to strengthen the European dimension of the EU's education policy, but this should of course not replace the Member States' own education policy. EU policy should above all be complementary. However, it can be seen as a strategy to set up the basic for a European policy. Thus, a new large-scale program was launched, largely in favour of formal general education. The existing Erasmus and Lingua became part of this new programme, which was further expanded with the Comenius action, which focused on primary and secondary education. In addition, a place was made also available for adult education, open and distance education and for information networks (such as Euridyce).

The philosopher

It was not without reason that the program was named after the Greek philosopher Socrates (470 -399 BC) of the same name. He said: “The only thing I know is that I know nothing.” Socrates' approach to education was based on the Socratic method, which involves asking questions, examining arguments, challenging assumptions, and seeking the truth. He invited his interlocutors to critically question their own knowledge and beliefs and test them against reason. He constantly asked questions to learn more about the world and himself. Socrates conducted his conversations not as a debate or a lecture, but as a shared search for the truth. He listened attentively to his interlocutors, tried to understand and appreciate their points of view, and encouraged them to form and defend their own opinions. His approach was in line with modern educational views and is still in a certain way relevant for adult education in 2024.

The content of the program

Within the program, the emphasis was mainly placed on the exchange of knowledge and experiences between the different Member States. The idea was to further promote European cooperation and improve the quality of education through cross-border partnerships. It was recommended to submit project proposals in which organizations from Northern, Western and Southern Europe participated together. Familiarity with other countries, languages and ways of life was seen as a great advantage in education and working life. Mobility and exchange programs therefore became important elements of the program. Great care was also taken to ensure that poorer or remote regions could fully participate. The educational needs of disabled or other disadvantaged persons were also emphasized in all aspects of Socrates. Equal opportunities were the starting point. Furthermore, the program worked closely with several other major European initiatives such as the Leonardo da Vinci vocational training programme, the third Youth for Europa program and several parts of the Fourth Framework Program for Research and Technological Development.

Adult education within Socrates

This first Socrates program had a budget of approximately 850 million euros for the period 1995-1999. In 1997 this was increased to 920 million euros. The national offices were responsible for the management and follow-up of the decentralized actions, but also for information on the entire programme. In the Netherlands this was the European Platform for Dutch Education. This platform aimed to stimulate internationalization in Dutch education and thus contribute to the quality of education. 

The funds had to support a wide variety of activities. Only a modest portion was reserved for adult education. This was to benefit “transnational projects aimed at promoting the European dimension in all areas of general adult education, complementing the more vocational activities supported by the Leonardo programme”. These could include activities to raise awareness among adult educators of the importance of European themes through the dissemination of knowledge about the culture, languages and traditions of European countries. Or it could involve promoting a better understanding of political, economic and administrative aspects of the European Union. Or projects to promote the formation of networks of adult education organizations on themes of interest to the people of Europe. In short, there was room for a wide variety of projects.

Response from the educational field

In the field, Socrates was seen as an opportunity to put adult education on the policy agenda. There was a certain pioneering spirit. It was time to act. In particular, the national umbrella organizations were the first get active, with the EAEA leading the way. EAEA chose to mainly submit project proposals that could also contribute to further policy development in Europe. In this way, they tried to demonstrate that adult education could play an important role in European policy. This was also necessary, because only a small part of the budget was available for adult education projects. Moreover, too much attention was paid to the financial aspect of the projects, to the detriment of the pedagogical aspects. In addition to the extensive administrative accountability, there was also the barrier of co-financing: applicants had to finance a certain percentage from their own resources. Ultimately, this could also be “in kind”, for example in hours spent.

The results

In its first phase, the Socrates program sought to give priority to actions that could have a multiplicative impact, because the impact of the program depended to a large extent on the policies of the Member States, to which Community actions could only supplement. Between 1995 and 1997, the Socrates program was implemented in the fifteen EU Member States and in the countries that are part of the European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway). Since 1997 and 1998, the programme has been extended to countries that were candidates for accession to the EU (Cyprus, Romania, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia). The program contributed more to the development of the concept of European citizenship and less to the strengthening of the European dimension in education. Within the Comenius part, 350 intercultural projects were financed during the subsidy period. There were also several projects within adult education to develop the intercultural dimension of education, in particular by offering didactic modules or integration programs to people who are in danger of being excluded due to their ethnic identity, as well as to disadvantaged female population groups. I myself took part in a project, coordinated by a Norwegian organization, Pre-Retirement Education to Promote Active Citizenship, in which we produced a handbook of good practice for pre-retirement courses. 2.7% of the total Socrates budget was spent on adult education, opening the path of European cooperation to a wide range of target groups, including beyond school and higher education systems. An external evaluation of the program states: biggest criticism concerns the procedures applied, the dissemination of results and the follow-up and evaluation of the program as a whole. Many procedures were too cumbersome and complex, given the sometimes limited amounts involved.

The legacy of Socrates

What remains of this first Socrates program in the current Erasmus+? The most important advantage is that there is now more (financial) space for adult education, but that did not happen automatically, as we will see later. 

The definition of adult education has also been changed or adapted several times. Adult education seems to have definitely been given a place in the sun, but that also did not happen without the necessary discussion. Furthermore, regulations have changed dramatically. We will discuss further in subsequent blogs to what extent these changes are improvements or limitations.