PROFUND: Participatory Development of an Evaluation Framework for Transformative Learning Processes
The project PROFUND was initiated through a pioneering collaboration between the University of Klagenfurt, the adult education centers (Volkshochschulen) in Carinthia and Vienna (Austria), and the adult education center in the city of Worms (Germany). The goal: to develop an innovative evaluation framework that documents and acknowledges transformative learning processes in adult education
The core of PROFUND is the participatory collaboration between adult education professionals and learners from basic education programs. Together, they analyze existing approaches to tracking learning progress and develop methods to identify and thus evaluate transformative changes in thinking, feeling, and acting. This work is supported by the rich experience and expertise of the members of the development groups, and the project ensures that the new evaluation framework is both theoretically sound and experience-based, as well as practically applicable.
The steering group, consisting of project leaders Monika Kastner, Angelika Hrubesch, Sarah Mühleck, and Tanja Leitner, recently highlighted the importance of collaboration and the project's goals in a video message. This message underscores the central role that participatory work plays in shaping educational processes.
The planned outcome of the project is a multi-layered evaluation framework that captures learning achievements at summative, formative, and transformative levels. This framework will help reflect on learning progress and enable a well-founded validation of educational outcomes, with the potential to sustainably improve the practice of adult education.
Further details about PROFUND and opportunities for participation can be found on our project website or in our introductory video, which provides deeper insights into the project's goals and progress. The project is co-financed by the European Union (Erasmus+ Program 2023-2-AT01-KA210-ADU-000178483).
