EPALE discussion: Basic skills learning provision
Ensuring basic skills for all is a necessary step to enable societies to combat current and future social, health, environmental and economic challenges, and to implement policies effectively in order to support the sustainability of European societies and economies and promote a healthier planet.
Basic skills are transversal. Not only are they relevant to educational policy, but also to employment, health, social and environmental policies. Building cohesive policy measures which support people with basic skills needs is necessary not only to make Upskilling Pathways a success, but also to help build more resilient and inclusive societies.
The online discussion will take place on this page on 16-17 September between 10:00 and 16:00 CET and will be moderated by EPALE Thematic Coordinators of EBSN Graciela Sbertoli (Secretary General of EBSN) and Tamás Harangozó.
The discussion on 16 and 17 September will include the following topics:
- critical literacy
- health literacy
- financial literacy
- numeracy
- basic digital skills for the future.
Please join our online discussion on Basic skills learning provision on 16-17 September 2020!
Comments will be open on 7 September so participants can introduce themselves or post their comments in advance.
Komentari
Numeracy and Financial Literacy
Thanks a lot for your comment and very useful information, Gabi! We look forward to further study these issues when the discussion officially starts at 10 o'clock today. "See" you soon!
Likeme (1)
Critical Literacy
Looking forward to joining in the discussion on this as it is something I am deeply involved with through the Information Literacy Group of CILIP in the UK. Although I have taught this mostly to teachers and students the principles remain the same and this to me forms part of life literacies. The CILIP ILG definition https://infolit.org.uk/ILdefinitionCILIP2018.pdf also encompasses health literacy, financial literacy and digital literacy amongst other strands
Likeme (5)
Information literacy
Thank you for this very interesting contribution, Sarah! Let's discuss after 10 o'clock how we can all foster the development of structures for provision of Information Literacy without losing focus on initial literacy and on the path the learner needs to walk to attain functional literacy, which may be considered a precondition for information literacy!
Likeme (1)
Discussion EBSN
All topics of discussion are important. Basic skills will contribute to resilience. EBSN has a key role. This network was the first to start stakeholder training through the MOOC of EBSN's Capacity Building Series on EPALE. The trainings very useful for me as an expert on adult learning, lifelong learning and skills policies.
Likeme (3)
personal responsibility
In the process of the development of skills it is also important to raise the personal responsibility for learning and training. Adults have to be aware - what skills do I need to be more skilfull in my job , how to be more healthy, how to use finances...
It has to be developed already in schools,universities and of course in families as well.
Likeme (2)
Thank you!
Thanks a lot for your comment, Zhuliyan! Hope to be able to chat with you during the discussion tomorrow!
Likeme (2)
Promoting personal responsibility
That is very true, Ilze. And yet, experience shows that unless there is a strong political will on the part of the government to create national strategies for upskilling of the adult population, the task becomes too difficult for most individuals. That is why Upskiling Pathways was created as European initiative.
Likeme (2)
Numeracy has long been neglected!
In my opinion, numeracy as a basic skill has long, too long been neglected, and sometimes even with an arrogant attitude: I was always bad in math, you can get by without it. Yes, you can, but barely, and even less in future. World as it is is confusing, and you need to know your (quantitave) facts in order to make the right decisions. I my opinion, each subject in school should be "enriched" by quantitative reasoning, history, biology, whatever. Math is not just math, but understanding the world.
Likeme (4)
Re skilling
The topic for todays discussion is of utmost importance for any country and for every person. In the rapidly changing world all stakeholders have to be "rapid" in thinking and doing . We have passed already from 3 R's (reading , writing,arythmetics)to 4 C's -(critical thinking,communication,collaboration,creativity) that are necessary to be involved in society and in labour market.We are speaking about financial literacy, health literacy,ICT literacy.....It means we are speaking about re skilling and re skilling to stay in labour market ,to be included in society. It would be interesting to hear more about the results of the projects , that are finished,but it still goes on in different forms insuring re skilling in the country.
Likeme (2)
training illiterates during covid-19
We had a meeting yesterday with the national ALFA-network of NVL in Finland. This relates to teaching basic reading and writing for migrants, often entering as illiterates, or from another alphabet. In this group there are many with poor digital skills, making distance learning very hard. This has led to a number of courses not starting this autumn, due to covid-19 restrictions, and/or fear of covid-19. Unfortunately there seems to be no easy solutions for this, and the often touted mantra of digital solutions does not work well here. There has also been a shoft in perceptions since the spring, when many back then expressed enthusiasm about the new teaching opportunities distance education seemed to offer, and the possibility this gave to many unable to come to the class room. Now, as the pandemic continues, the challenges with the weaker learners are more apparent. Are there any here having made similar reflections in other countries?
Likeme (4)
Numeracy, the forgotten skill...
You are absolutely right! But we will talk a lot about Numeracy in this discussion. Stay tuned!
Likeme (1)
Building on the basics
Thank you for your contribution, Ilze, and welcome to the discussion. Yes, indeed, we have to consider the 4 Cs you mention, and I hope we can do it while still making sure that we do not forget the initial 3Rs and the digital skills that have become essential as well. I think what we need to ensure is that all national skills policies provide adults with ALL the skills they need. Learning provision needs to bring adults to a functional level in the most basic skills, in a context that also teaches them the 4 Cs you mention and many other aspects, like media and information literacy, health literacy and financial numeracy.
Likeme (1)
Coping with digitalization for specific target groups
Hi, Johanni, and welcome! Yes, that is indeed a timely question. There is no doubt in my mind that this disappointment is due to the fact that we were not prepared for the crisis. We should have been giving all learners a lot of training in the use of digital tools, but many teachers waited until the learners had acquired a basic level of literacy... What to do now, indeed. I think there are examples of groups that have coped well with this issue. I will try to find some links, but I hope you also find answers from other participants.
Likeme (2)
Message from Norwegian experts
Hi again!
I have asked some Norwegian colleagues and I got this answer: " We have had varying evaluations about this type of teaching. We see that generally the success of the setups depends largely on the digital competence of the teachers. Which means that it is ultimately a questions of leadership responsibility and competence. We need to face this issue squarelt because that is where the problem lies."
Do you agree with this evaluation of the situation? Are your teaching providers aware of the need to give their teachers not only enough digital skills training but also the necessary didactic insights, to ensure that online training becomes feasible and efficient?
Likeme (3)
Starting where they are...
... means in many cases starting with learners who are quite competent in the use of their smart phones, adds my Norwegian source. They may not be able to use all the phone's functions, but they are good with a few of them. You can start there and develop both literacy, numeracy, digital skills and language, while addressing social knowledge and active citizenship, financial skills, health issues, etc.
Likeme (2)
...is a good idea
That is another aspect of this, where i think we may make better progress. Adapting the teaching to mobile first may indeed in some cases really help. I have heard of successful such ones, and i can only hope that is being mainstreamed to reach more.
Likeme (2)
Mainstreaming the good examples...
... is indeed needed, and it is something we can do together as a network!
Likeme (2)
Teacher ICT skills
Yes I agree that teacher skills are important. But it also a question of the institutions cancelling courses because of covid-19, and participants not signing up for the same reason to those that still provide this training. My point is that we are talking about an exceptionally fragile group here, where "normal" procedures may not apply. And while this can possibly in part be remedied by teacher training, that is far from enough.
Likeme (1)
Practical issues and vulnerability
Yes, I see your point. The problem is that this crisis will be long... In Norway we have fortunately found we can organize small group meetings from time to time, since the contagion rate is not too critical. But yes, it may prove very difficult to keep the learners' motivation and persistence in times of crisis. And all the more important because of the crisis! But I am still optimistic that one can find ways... My Norwegian colleagues tell me they have been using whatsapp with learners that are at very low levels of literacy, using pictures and videos, and they have been able to keep at least that very important social contact. We have a lot to explore regarding these issues!
Likeme (1)
I think the way of learning
I think the way of learning is very good because it is practical. It's also a question of how to reach the people. This is probably best possible through members of the respective groups.
Likeme (1)
Teachers' digital skills
Yes I agree with you Graciela and your colleagues. Teachers have really been thrown out into deep water and it's very important to enhance their digital skills but as manager of a small center I must admit it's bit difficult to do so, mostly because it's difficult to pinpoint what training is needed and also because not all of our teachers are a part of our staff. There is a need to make the time available for trying out different things and both technology as well as time are very expensive for small entities. We received a KA1 grant to use for attending learning courses with the aim of enhancing digital needs of our staff but such courses seem to be really hard to find or they are just touching on the basic things which we have already learned. So if anyone knows about an advanced course for AE teachers where they can train digital skills and proper didactics for this new way of teaching and learning please let me know!
Likeme (1)
EPALE Ressource Kit 1-3
I do not know about teaching courses online for your trainers, but what I can encourage you to have a look at are the 3 volumes "EPALE Ressource Kit 1-3, you will find it on the EPALE Site and it is for free! Many things are eyplained very simple and maybe you can figure it out together. Each teacher "learns" one thing and then teaches it to others. This way you will help yourselves AND strengthen the teaching community! Here is the link:
Hope it helps!
Likeme (1)
ICT skills
Dear Johanni
I have no experience with teaching of illeterates,but I think ,it is not only a problem for them.It took a lot of time for adults in general to get used to distance learning.Technologies are developing so rapidly that is difficult to follow different approaches in this way of learning. Many of adults are on the so called "user's level"' and it is not enough for successful learning.Perhaps it would be useful to organize some courses how to be successful in distance learning. At the same time not all tutors are very good in ICT. It means that learning is necessary from both sides.
Likeme (2)
Training illiterates
We have had the same problems here in Iceland. We cancelled our Icelandic courses in the spring and than opened for them again in May. It is very difficult to teach a language when the students have no former knowledge in the language before, with only digital solutions. Most of the courses we are offering we could change to a digital solution when the centers closed down but with these courses we have not yet found a solution.
Likeme (3)
One-to-one- Meetings?
Is it possible to install one-to-one meetings between learners of advanced classes and those newcomers? They can "talk" for 10 minutes max, and thus get more aquainted with the language. There are plattforms providing the technical support.
Likeme (1)
Good idea...
... if you can manage to mitivate the more advanced learners. :-) But maybe it can be a task they get recongnition for?
Likeme (0)
Whatsapp and other communication apps?
My Norwegian colleagues tell me they have used Whatsapp, FaceTime and other video communication apps... Yes, it is difficult to set this sort of thing up when they haven't learnt it in advance. I think maybe the main difficulty is not with the mode of learning itself, but the fact that we were unprepared for the crisis. Do you agree?
Likeme (0)
Training illeterates
We have had also, same problems. Face to face ducation formats in all government and private turns inti distance. However, there were problems related to digital skills. Adults had difficulty to use apps as google meetings, zoom, or moodle lms.
Ministry of national dducation started an program that aimed to enhance teachers' digital skills and distance learnkng. I experienced that small children can get used to distance systems and effectively used them in a short time.
Adults certainely need trainings on digital skills in turkey.
Likeme (0)
Financial literacy