For the third year running Ljudska univerza Ormož (Adult Education Centre), Slovenia, has successfully implemented mobilities in the field of adult education for accredited organizations. This year, we have attended an Erasmus seminar and implemented a group learners' mobility. Coincidentally, we have chosen two countries beginning with a letter i, since we attended a seminar in Iceland and took our learners to Ireland. 

Staff mobility in Iceland

Smart Teachers Play More organization prepares a variety of interesting Erasmus seminars in Iceland. Three employees went to Reykjavik in March to attend three different seminars, including Smart Teachers Play More (STPM), Well-being and stress management, and Smart Teachers Emerging Leader. This allowed us to gain new knowledge in three diverse fields. 

STPM seminar is all about movement and including movement in your lesson planning. As a teacher, you can prepare various activities that include movement, and these activities can be used for revisions and learning in all school subjects. All that needs to be done is combining lesson aims with movement activities. These activities can be used for students to relax a little bit and to improve motivation for work and learning during the lesson. The seminar participants also gained a valuable lesson on the importance of giving clear and precise instructions, so the activity is implemented as planned by the teacher. 

Well-being and stress management seminar included the topics of meditation, yoga and mindfulness for calming the classroom. This gives the students the opportunity to calm down and focus which allows them to follow the class. The name of the third seminar reveals it’s intended for leaders, who learned how to create a suitable environment for growth and development for employees. The seminar also covered topics such as types of leadership and competences needed to establish a good working team on one hand and also how to take care of yourself as a leader on the other hand. A leader should minimalize the stress that is inevitably connected with leadership.

All seminars included plenty of pair or group work, which enabled a great exchange of good and bad practice examples, experiences, advices and insights into schools systems around Europe. 

What knowledge have we gained at these seminars?

We have gained many interesting ideas that we can use in our work, like Via character strengths survey, Eat the frog technique, breathing exercises and using movement as a learning method. We have also realized that most of Erasmus seminars are mostly aimed at kindergarten and schoolteachers. 

Since most of the seminar participants are from such organizations, this is a given, but as adult education providers we missed content aimed at teaching adults. We have also learned that Iceland doesn’t have organized adult education at all unlike Slovenia.

Mobility of adult learners

This has been our first taste of organizing mobility of adult learners, which made it even more intense, in regards on how are we going to find a great hosting organization, how are we going to choose the participants, what kind of a program will we have and how are we going to logistically organize everything. There were many questions, and gained answers sprouted even more questions. The most difficult part was finding a reliable partner organization since we wanted one with similar program to our and, of course, interested in hosting 12 participants. I found such a partner at the TCA seminar in Tours (France) were I met Brid Mary Murphy from an Irish organization Cork College of Further Education and Training – Clonakilty Centre. 

Since our aim was to take on the mobility our learners of English language to improve their speaking skills, it was an added bonus to get an organization from an English speaking country. In April, we took our participants to Clonakility, a lovely Irish town, for a six day mobility, which included learning about educational programs of our organization and improving the usage of speaking skills in everyday situations. Working with their groups who are learning English as foreign language speakers, our participants realized that they already had a lot of knowledge and began to speak English more confidently. At the cultural evening, we introduced ourselves with our typical food, and to top it off we sang the authentic Prlek song "Dere sem jaz mali bija".

The participants also discovered the history of Clonakilty, heard new facts about Ireland, and tried their hand in Ogham writing. We visited Michael Collins House and learned more about this important Irish politician and revolutionary. It was also interesting to cooperate in their Spring Clean Day of their local beach, which brings together various organizations. But there was no shortage of cuisine, as we cooked and tried a typical Irish lunch, which we all enjoyed.

What knowledge have our participants gained?

I prepared learning booklets for them, in which they wrote about what they've learned and also about their overall impressions of the mobility. These are some of their thoughts, translated into English:

“I have learned a lot of new words, expressions, information about Ireland and Clonakilty. The program included everything: learning, cooperation, sightseeing, workshops, learning how to get around town, taking care of the environment, using IT. … Attending the mobility motivated me to learn English.”

“What I’ve experienced through Erasmus program was special and different. Besides improving my knowledge of English, I’ve gained new motivation for learning a foreign language. I’ve gained more self-confidence and discovered that even in third life age it is possible to effectively gain new knowledge and learn about new environment. I loved being in the company of people of various cultural backgrounds.”

“Learning was shown in a fun way. I mostly gained self-confidence. Working in a group with speakers of other languages gave me the motivation to conquer my fear of speaking English.”

“I gained broader view on my surrounding, even through English learning. I’d like to continue with my path of learning and exploring other countries.”

“Learning was shown in a fun way. I mostly gained self-confidence. Working in a group with speakers of other languages gave me the motivation to conquer my fear of speaking English.”

“This experience enriched me, being in contact with other people gave me more self-confidence and I discovered that people are good and interesting regardless of where they live.”

“The entire mobility allowed me to revise team work and sense of mutual respect. I became more confident in my English speaking skills and I learned it’s never too late to learn. It’s worth it. I gained so much inspiration and a will to learn.”

“The mobility motivated me to learn English, because I realized that with learning and revising I gain more words for easier communication with other English speaking people.”

“We, as a group, cooperated very well, we became more connected and this connection, for some of us, will last. … I think this experience gave all of us the confidence in using English and we will continue learning it.”

“I’m motivated to continue learning English, because I actively used it in shops, in small talk with other participants in their classes, on the cultural event. I have realized how important are international cooperation, accepting other nations and knowing a foreign language.”

“When we met their students from other countries, I realized how difficult their lives are and I empathized with them. I really liked the attitude this school has for these students and we must never forget to be empathic regardless of their nationalities.”

“The mobility gave me some confidence. I realized I’m not afraid to communicate in English language. I will study English as long as there will be a program for ‘old-timers’ at Ljudska univerza Ormož, because it brings me joy.”

“I’ve learned and discovered a lot of new things, even though I haven’t visited many foreign countries. Every day I got more confident in using the language.”

What I can add is that participating in Erasmus mobilities enriches our adult learners.

Instead of a conclusion, one practical example of what a diverse knowledge do participants gain during the mobility. One of the participants called me just when I was preparing a Slovene version of this article and she mentioned how she’d learned how to use WhatsApp for group communication, sharing photos and downloading photos on the computers. She concluded the conversation with “What can a person learn.”

Let this thought be your guide on why it is worth participating in Erasmus mobilities.

Ana Kaučič is employed at the Ljudska univerza Ormož as an education organizer. She is responsible for counseling, project writing, implementing approved projects, and leading English language courses. She has been involved in adult education for over five years, and prior to that, she worked at an elementary school as an English teacher.