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EPALE discussion: Basic skills learning provision

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EPALE Moderator

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 to help build more resilient and inclusive societies. Take part to the online discussion that will take place on this page on 16 and 17 September between 10:00 and 16:00 CET. The discussion will be moderated by EPALE Thematic Coordinators of EBSN.

Online discussion basic skills.

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.

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Etichete
Basic skills
Digital inclusion
Financial literacy
Health literacy

Comentariu

Profile picture for user Graciela Sbertoli EBSN.
Graciela Sbertoli
Joi, 09/17/2020 - 15:55

Dear all, thanks a lot for an active, rich and inspiring discussion.
Moderation will end at 16:00 CEST, but you can feel free to continue studying the postings and also commenting or adding references if you wish. We will make sure we gather all this interesting information and use it in further work within the EBSN's Capacity Building Series, which is created and presented within EPALE.
Thank you!

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Éva Vidovenyecz
Joi, 09/17/2020 - 14:46

Yes, we do have some very interesting things to share - unfortunately most of them are in Hungarian because they are the results of different methods we experienced in different countries. The main topics are: basic skills development, skills recognition and adult learning development.
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Éva Vidovenyecz
Joi, 09/17/2020 - 14:32

Greetings to everybody from Hungary. I represent an employment agency that is very active in studying and applying basic skills development methods with relatively good results. We are running several international projects focusing on the topic and keen on getting to know new ones. I am happy to read your profound comments and to have this opportunity to join such a great team of professionals.   
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Profile picture for user Ilze Onzule.
Ilze Onzule
Community Hero (Gold Member).
Joi, 09/17/2020 - 14:16

Hi, I am from Latvia. I am EPALE coordinator in one of Latvia's regions. I am in charge of organizing adult education in my city. Sorry for late joining the discussion, but I was on a business trip. I will read and learn the discussion topics and views later. There are a lot of senior people in Latvia, who needs  IT basic literacy. So some entrepreneurs whose clients are senior people ( for example banks, phone companies, heating companies, etc.) understand this problem and organize free of charge IT courses for these people.
 

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Profile picture for user Graciela Sbertoli EBSN.
Graciela Sbertoli
Joi, 09/17/2020 - 14:21

Thank you for joining in! 
Good contribution about interesting stakeholders! Yes, we need to establish cooperation with all the institutions that are interested in developing the basic skills levels of all adults.
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Profile picture for user Graciela Sbertoli EBSN.
Graciela Sbertoli
Joi, 09/17/2020 - 14:16

I feel now this discussion has become an interaction among three or four of us. And I have a feeling there are silent participants (lurkers) who could contribute at least a link to an interesting practice in their country, or even a sentence in their own language.
Come on! Let us "hear" you!
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Profile picture for user Graciela Sbertoli EBSN.
Graciela Sbertoli
Joi, 09/17/2020 - 14:34

We do need to be flexible with linguistic challenges. It is possible to write in Latvian and get it translated by Google Translate. It mostly works quite well although some sentences will be a bit peculiar. :-)
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Profile picture for user Graciela Sbertoli EBSN.
Graciela Sbertoli
Joi, 09/17/2020 - 13:57

What would you say are the most typical challenges faced by your national policy makers and providers when it comes to numeracy learning provision?

To answer on behalf of the country whose AdEd system I know best: lack of motivation on the part of the target group!
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By target group you mean learners or policy makers? Because I think it is both. The learners are often frightened and think they can "muddle through", and this "silence" is a very good excuse for policy makers not to do anything. But the PIACC results show clearly that we have a big problem here. 
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Profile picture for user Graciela Sbertoli EBSN.
Graciela Sbertoli
Joi, 09/17/2020 - 14:08

... the problem is not so much with the policy makers. The national program for basic skills for adults does put a lot of emphasis on numeracy, but we found that the learners only attended those courses if they were linked to digital skills - or, as an exception, to family learning (helping parents help their children with homework). As you say, most people think they will muddle through any way. After all, they do have calculators... :-) We need to use campaigns to foster a new understanding of numeracy!
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Indeed, we are still struggling with the awareness. It is quite amazing to see the news presenter on television saying: "the decrease in the increase of COVID-19 patents is becoming less".  And everyone nods, but it is clear that there are dozens of interpretations of such sentence. One of the problems that this is not always seen as part of numeracy, because it has nothing to do with performing an operation on two numbers.

Part of the awareness must come from the idea that it is necessary for citizens to be numerate to participate fully in a democratic society, where you are not intimidated by numbers. 


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Profile picture for user n002cr14.
Kees Hoogland
Joi, 09/17/2020 - 14:10

\Yes, if only 10% of the literacy budget was spent on numeracy. A lot could be done in the provision of activities which enhance the quality of numerate behaviour of participants. 
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If psychological factors are important, it is very hard to attract people to come to an "arithmetic class and doing the primary school all over again", with all the negative connotations that comes with that. It could be interesting to attract people with "camouflage"course on: trading at on-line market places, budgeting, using numbers in games, help them to help their children at primary education, .... So a very contextualized approach.
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... is a challenge Numeracy shares with Literacy. :-) Nobody wants to admit they need a class in "reading and writing". And presenting the courses as something that sounds like going back to school is a definite No-No. 

Camouflage sounds a bit like we are tricking the learners into doing something they do not wat to do :-), but it will certainly be miuch more motivating to present a very pragmatic objective for the courses. This is an issue where the Financial Literacy approach may help a lot!
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Once I gave a course that was called math to entertain you! 20 people showed up, half of them were actually afraid of math. We did only fun stuff, was very satisfying. But applying math/quantitive thinking to everyday life is also very effective: balancing your debt, comparing mobile phone expenses etc. But this could and should be part of "other" courses, literacy of basic courses in "life skills", as Gina Ebner calles that. 
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James Callus
Joi, 01/27/2022 - 15:20

I think these courses are crucial to educate adult learners.  When applying fun stuff related to their context they will find it extremely useful and might encourage others to join as well.

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Profile picture for user Graciela Sbertoli EBSN.
Graciela Sbertoli
Joi, 09/17/2020 - 12:58

What we have been discussing is that we shouldn't focus solely on the basic skills per se, but teach them in a context that is relevant to the learners. Financial Literacy is one such approach to Numeracy, more important than ever in the COVID era. What are your thoughts about this?
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Kees Hoogland
Joi, 09/17/2020 - 13:06

Absolutely true that numeracy must be learned (annd taught) in context, that makes it more meaningful for participants. At the same time, it is good to have a clear idea which thinking and which skills are useful in dealing with financial matters.
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I am probably late for the discussion as I have been out of my office up to now. I am an EPALE expert from Prague, CZ. As I go through your discussion, I find this good practice as really good. Financial literacy, along with numeracy, is still seen in my country as something crucial but also boring at the same time. So many people are reluctant to dig in it. This kind of gamification would be one of the effective ways how to deal with it and maky it more interesting and fun for the adults who need to get improved their skills. Some 15 years ago, I was invovled in the EC DOLCETA project where we developed courses for financial literacy, media, critical thinking etc but it is now not up to date I believe. So thank you for that!
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Profile picture for user Graciela Sbertoli EBSN.
Graciela Sbertoli
Joi, 09/17/2020 - 12:55

Dear all, it is time to discuss Numeracy and Financial Literacy.
Dr Kees Hoogland has just joined us.
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Profile picture for user Graciela Sbertoli EBSN.
Graciela Sbertoli
Joi, 09/17/2020 - 13:00

Yes, participants are asking for frameworks of competence goals and descriptions of short courses. 
What can you tell us about the developments in the Common Numeracy Framework you are working on?
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Kees Hoogland
Joi, 09/17/2020 - 13:08

In our Erasmus+ project we develop a common European Numeracy Framework. One of the main ideas is that the quality of Numerate behavior is driven by not only cognitive knowledge and skills, but also by psychological ans sociological factors. We try to combine that to a more holistic view on numeracy
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At the end of 2021 we hope to really have a good draft framework and some professional development modules. But in the mean time we give presentations and are engaged in "validation"workshops to ask experts about our choices and assumptions, for instance on which psychological factors are the most important and how you can formulate them in a numeracy context
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The upcoming OER and MOOC on Numeracy is indeed an important contribution to EPALE and in general in adult learning!

I would be cusrious to read about "typical" challenges participants of this discussion faced when it comes to numeracy or in general basic skills training programmes. 

Kees, based on you experience, what would you say the most typical challenges are to participants besides the fear of numbers?


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