EPALE held the online discussion titled Emphasising basic skills in the European Year of Skills on 27 June in collaboration with the European Basic Skills Network (EBSN). The written discussion was introduced by a live stream with invited experts: Sam Duncan, Associate Professor in Adult Education and Literacies at UCL Institute of Education, and Estera Možina on behalf of the Slovenian Institute for Adult Education (SIAE). The livestream and the following discussion were both moderated by Tamás Harangozó from the European Basic Skills Network. The event was organised to dedicate the time and space to discuss the role of adult basic skills in the context of the EU Year of Skills.

The opening stream was dedicated to one of the most pressing themes within developing adult basic skills programs, namely the professionalisation of teachers, instructors and trainers who specialise in adult basic skills (e.g., literacy, numeracy, digital skills, etc). The professional status of these teachers and trainers are not taken for granted in every country and, thus, face different challenges.

Sam Duncan presented her work with the Prison Reading Group's project which aims at developing reading circles in English prisons specifically for 'emergent' (or newer) adult readers, i.e., for people who feel they cannot read. The goal is to help them practice, enjoy and discuss forms of reading. The project team has recently completed a pilot project in 2 prisons.

We asked Estera Možina about SIAE’s recent work addressing the link between professional and personal identity of teachers working in adult education. The focus of the discussion was around what role does professional identity play in teachers’ motivation to invest in their own professional development, and how participating in action research can improve self-efficacy of teachers when it comes to professional development.  

The main points to take away from the live session were as follows:

• Basic skills programs are contextual - their content and the facilitators, trainers working in these settings are expected to consider the context
• Trainers working in basic skills development already come to teaching with a set of expertise that can be elicited during the training - professional development courses need to consider the prior knowledge and experience of the personnel. 
• Teachers and trainers' identity is influenced by professional, but as well as personal factors. Professional and personal identity should be in balance to make trainers more resilient to challenges they face during work. 
• Participation is an important element that result in motivation. Carefully designed action research methodology can contribute to a productive and self-fulfilling career engagement behaviour. 

The live written discussion on EPALE lasted until 16:00 CEST and it brought up several crucial aspects that are worth considering for the EU Year of Skills. Comments are still open, by the way!

Basic skills trainers face complex expectations

Talking about skills in general is a complex matter. Especially so when it comes to basic skills. Different stakeholders use different approaches when they describe what skills are essential for purposes (e.g., life skills, 21^st century skills, basic skills etc). Participants of the discussions noted that defining basic skills is difficult as everyone regards different skills as basic depending on their professional objectives. This poses a great challenge to designing professionalisation pathways for adult trainers as the expectations towards them grow significantly when all the different approaches are considered.

A teacher is like a scientist and an artist in one person who has the necessary knowledge, but the application of knowledge in each specific case is an art – Elga mentions.

Flexible learning pathways

The complex expectations towards basic skills teachers and trainers don’t only result from the diverse nature of basic skills, but also from the different venues basic skills programs can take place e.g., in prisons, at home, at work, at social institutions and public places. This calls for a flexible professional development scheme that can take up a modular format for trainers and teachers in which they have the autonomy to customise their own professionalisation pathway based on their needs. This can be supported by current policy initiative such as the EU approach to microcredentials that may be used to build up trust, create flexible solutions for certification. One EU project that follows this modular logic with the use of microcredentials is EBSN’s Professional Development Series offering 6 online courses with open education resources with a digital badge awarded to those successfully completing one or more of the courses.

Basic skills represent a gateway to active citizenship

Participants of the discussion agreed that the professionalisation of teachers and trainers is essential as basic skills serve as gateways to social cohesion, and active citizenship.

Basic skills also empower individuals to participate actively in society. Reading and writing enable individuals to engage with civic issues, understand their rights and responsibilities, and express their opinions. (Peter)

It’s impossible to be successful in society without reading, writing, ICT. But soon we discover this is not enough. We also need specific and technical skills related to a job, as well as soft skills to different domains of our lives. All this combination is a huge challenge in the professionalisation of basic skills trainers, especially when it comes to adults. (Dora)

Social and emotional skills are becoming increasingly vital to all parts of life in a world that changes so quickly. Being socially and emotionally skilled helps an individual gain overall well-being, do well at work, and keep learning throughout their lives. (Liga)

Basic skills are the foundation for lifelong learning and are fundamental for individuals to navigate various aspects of life effectively. Literacy, numeracy, and digital literacy skills enable individuals to access information, communicate effectively, and engage with modern technologies. These skills are essential for personal growth, employment opportunities, and civic participation. However, I want to draw attention to the fact that nowadays, one of the basic skills is the ability to learn. (Egija)

Basic skills are personal, not only the cognitive

Several comments targeted the need for acknowledging soft, and personal skills in basic skills initiatives. Training to become active in the labour market through focusing on work-based skills are important, but a great number of adults with basic skills needs require a more holistic approach that accounts for (inter)personal skills to develop the ability to manage one’s own life successfully. Basic skills provide a strong foundation for ongoing learning and personal development (Sanita). To this end the EU framework called LifeComp was mentioned, which represents a broader scope to skills: The European Framework for Personal, Social and Learning to learn Key Competence. It may be interesting to look at how LifeComp can play a role in adult basic skills program design and in other adult learning programs too.

Participants emphasised that for basic skills programs to succeed it is imperative that both trainers and the target group are involved in the planning process. On behalf of the trainers and teachers, this requires a reflective approach in practice. 

The responsibility for basic skills development is shared among employment, education & training and social sectors

Tackling all social challenges that (partly or completely) derive from the lack of sufficient skills to read and write, to execute basic numeric or digital tasks should not be the responsibility of education and training systems. It needs a multisectoral approach involving initiatives from the employment, social and health sectors. Trainers and teachers as well as actors from other sectors need to adapt their paradigm to the self-perception of adults, as proposed by Gisela.

Basic skills of adults are closely linked to their habitus - i.e., the way adults of particular background perceive and react to the world. As educators or employees, we tend to conceptualize the debate and the programme's offered in terms of our own habitus and simply assume that this matches the understanding and interests of the people we consider in need of these basic skills. This, unfortunately, is seldom the case.

Two interesting projects were mentioned in this respect:

1. The Young Service Steward Program is an EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Youth Employment Project implemented by an international consortium with organizations from Hungary – Romania – Spain with professional support from Norway. It aimes at preventing the growing competence gap between activation programs and the skills needs of the labour market. The Program matures the local employment within welfare and environmental services. It focuses on two areas of development:

• Support NEETs aged 25-29 by a 360° competence upgrade in a blend of digital skills, life skills, counselling, and employment in a flexible delivery system.
• Establish Local employment agreements among the key stakeholder of PES/public/private activation to enforce the 360° competence upgrade.

2. The REDEAL project is about enhance lifelong learning opportunities for adults in disadvantaged areas by developing the adult learning infrastructure and services at community level. The project offers professionalisation opportunities to adult trainers to engage disadvantageous adults.