Critical thinking in adult education: an efficient methodology
A new tool in education of adult learners is closer to its completion. The members of the consortium of the project with the title NEWS: New Education With Success, soon launch a brand new output containing efficient methodology with a transversal competence - critical thinking.
The objective of the project is to enable adult educators and trainers to provide better and more targeted teaching and learning opportunities through the use of tools that will be implemented as part of the project. This is provided within three outputs:
- Survey of Needs in the field of Adult Education,
- Methodology: General methodology - critical thinking with media education, ICT and foreign language education,
- Manual for training new educators
It represents a practical outline of approaches towards critical thinking, modern tendencies in adult 45+ and 60+ education and a manual how to create your own efficient module. It consists of several interconnected parts: The methodology, trainer and trainee handbooks for the general course as well as handbooks for trainers and trainees for three specific modules media education, ICT and foreign language education.
They provide clear, comprehensible and applicable insight into key competences in adult learning in relation with critical thinking. The content for the modules, methods, forms and procedure all focused on development of critical thinking in the scope of education and real-life situations.
The whole set represents a unique intellectual and educational material eagerly needed by trainers, professionals, scholars and trainers now as well as in the future. We dare to assume that the above-mentioned material has a potential to serve as a starting point for the development of education in several branches. It is almost all-inclusive, applicable and attractive educational equipment that can find its place in all institutions providing education for adult learners.
The manual for training new educators is about giving teachers the necessary know-how to work with the NEWS approach and methodology. The manual provides a training guide on how to set up and implement a course using the NEWS methodology. What makes it special is that the manual uses activities from the curriculum not only to give trainees an awareness of critical thinking, but also to apply the approach directly. They learn how to use the NEWS methodology by using it. In addition, the manual contains thematically sorted resources and tools as well as an overview of various good practices from all partner countries, which can serve as both illustrative examples and inspiration.
The whole methodology and its partial activities will be evaluated by practice. Participants, trainers from different countries, educational scope and environment, will put the whole material into practical examination and evaluation. Yes, they will teach in a pilot course according to it and provide the feedback needed most: by trainers and trainees themselves. And the next step? You will be informed soon ...
The project NEWS – New education with success is funded within the Erasmus+ programme under the project number 2019-1-EE01-KA204-051675. The project is carried out by a partnership of various institutions from 6 countries: Kuressaare Gümnaasium from Estonia (coordinator), Bites SMC Vilnius Gabriele Petkevicaite from Lithuania, UNIZA Žilinská Univerzita v Žiline from Slovakia, POU Pučko otvoreno učilište Čakovec from Croatia, Planeta Ciencias from Spain as well as VHS Krempe e.V. and Wisamar Bildungsgesellschaft gGmbH from Germany.
