Meeting Tackling Poverty Ina den Hollander

The CINOP organisation “The CINOP organisation is an independent, (inter)national research, project management and consultancy firm that is specialised in lifelong learning, vocational education & training (VET), adult education and employability.” CINOP has several departments - ecbo, research institute on VET and AE (PIAAC) - CINOP Advies (consultancy) - CINOP Global -Public Programms for the Ministry of OCW -NA-LLL (National Agency on LLL, Leonarda da Vinci)

CINOP Advies / Public Programs The CINOP Consultancy unit works for: central and local governments educational institutions labour market parties On the following themes: the quality of VET adult education and basic skills sustainable employability labour market mobility From 2003 – 2012 we were one of the partners in the government program on fighting low literacy. In 2012 we developed the official standards for adult education on literacy, numeracy and digital skills.

Our program today Can education for adults with low basic skills make a difference in social inclusion. The “Taal voor het leven” (language for life) program Instruments CINOP is developing for the program:  Language assessments for the intake of learners, to be used by (trained) volunteers.  ‘Taalmeter”, a digital instrument testing reading competences. The test gives an indication for possible low literacy skills.to have a point of reference on on the levels 1F and 2F (in CEF-terms: A2 and B1) Volunteers in adult education

Can education for adults with low basic skills make a difference in social inclusion. EDAM-project (EDucation Against Marginalisation): a Grundtvig research-project coordinated by Maastricht University in 8 European countries. Research “Leren voor leven” (learn for life) Prof. Dr. Maurice de Greef, Free University of Brussels

Can education for adults with low basic skills make a difference in social inclusion. EDAM-project showed that after participating in adult education for approx. four months: 44.2% of the participants report a better mastery of basic life competencies (activation) and experience more feelings of happiness, safety and control (internalization); 37.4% participate in the community (participation) and experience social interactions (connection) more than before the program. These figures are very high in comparison with the 10-20% revenues of training programs as generally reported.

Can education for adults with low basic skills make a difference in social inclusion. What makes adult education successful in enhancing Social Inclusion?  Offering opportunities and support to the participants to use what they have learned during the program in their daily life (transfer)  Organizing education that takes the daily life experiences of the participants as the starting point of learning, stimulates discussion and triggers to look at the learning contents from multiple perspectives.  Support and recognition by the teacher

Can education for adults with low basic skills make a difference in social inclusion. The research “Learn for life” in the Netherlands shows the same indicators for succesfull learning of adults: 1.Transferpossibilities: 2.Teacher support 2.Learning contents & activities The learners experiences an increase in social inclusion around 38% after following courses in basic skills. The teachers report an increase in social inclusion for their learners around 45%.

Can education for adults with low basic skills make a difference in social inclusion. What do learners say about their increase in social inclusion ? -Better literacy and numeracy skills -Reading books and papers -Writing s or letters to make a complaint -Using public transport -Establishing relationships in the neighborhood -Fill in official forms -Asking for help

The language for life program from the Reading and writing foundation Program initiated by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. 5 million euro’s every year during 3 years Goals: -Find more adults with low basic skills and encourage them to take part in education to increase their basic skills -Increase the number of adults participating in forms of formal, non-formal and informal education -Develop new and innovative methods to reach these goals Inspiration: the Skills for life programm in the UK and the Learn for life project in Ireland.

The language for life program from the Reading and writing foundation Project in six regions. Forming of alliances of all types of organisations (local government, libraries, educational institutions, companies, organisations for social welfare) to fight low-literacy. Courses given by volunteers, with a professional as a coach. Developing instruments and learning materials to be used by volunteers.

Instruments developed by CINOP for the language for life program. Intake-assessments: -Testing language skills (reading, writing, listening and communication -Three levels: in CEF-terms A1, A2, B1 -The concept is functional language learning in two contexts: work and daily life -The levels, the language tasks and the criteria for evaluation are based on the official standards -Goal is giving the volunteer input to develop a tailormade program for the learner Dilemma’s -Is it possible to construct the assessments in a way that a volunteer can use it and make a reliable evaluation -Is it possible for a non-professional to make a correct interpretation of the results -Is it possible for every type of volunteer to use the assessments or do they require special skills

Instruments developed by CINOP for the language for life program. Taalmeter -Digital instrument -Testing reading competences as the most important indicator for literacy skills. -The test gives an indication for possible low literacy skills. -Further intake is necessary!!! -It’s not an exam, there is no “pass” or “fail” (which turns out to be a problem when used by non-professionals) Let’s take a look:

Brainstorm: volunteers in adult education Why volunteers Tasks Roles Competences

What kind of roles volunteer fulfill in the Dutch context Educator in formal education Educator in non-formal education Assistant educator in formal learning programs Assistant educator in non-formal learning Coach or counselor Coach in online learning / helpdesk-assistant Facilitator of readingclubs in library’s Stimulating others to follow courses (ambassador, coming from the targetgroup Being a mentor for other learners

What kind of tasks a volunteer is doing in his specific role in adult education. Examples: -As an assistant educator he’s the counselor of small groups of learners that work on specific learning tasks, making it possible for the teacher to differentiate in group-sessions -……………………………

Which competences a volunteer must have or develop? Competences: - General competences for all types of volunteers - Competences for special roles and tasks

Just an example: a first draft for a competence profile for volunteers working on a helpdesk for online learning programms (NL)(1) Knowledge: the volunteer -Must have excellent digital skills -Must have language skills in Dutch language skills on level B2 from CEFR -Must have knowledge of the difference between learning Dutch as a first and as a second language -…….

Just an example: a first draft for a competence profile for volunteers working on a helpdesk for online learning programms (NL)(2) General competences: the volunteer -Can work systematically -Proves be be reliable -Can cooperate -……. -……..

Just an example: a first draft for a competence profile for volunteers working on a helpdesk for online learning programms (NL)(2) Special competences for being learning counselor in online learning: the volunteer  Communicates on the level of learners  Has good counseling skills (…?)  ………………………………………………………

Questions and discussion

Ina den Hollander Phone: