IPAL- Quality in Adult Education
The Academy of Entrepreneurship is a partner in the Erasmus+ project IPAL – Improving Instructional Practices in Adult Learning and Supporting Adult Trainers’ Professional Development which focuses on the improvement of instructional practices in Adult Education at European level.
The IPAL project is a joint initiative of 5 organizations from Spain, Bulgaria, Italy, Greece and Germany. The consortium seeks to contribute to the upgrade of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) in Adult Education, by developing quality assurance tools and training resources that promote the professional development of adult trainers and the quality of Adult Education.
The partnership conducted a preliminary qualitative research in February-March 2021 in all participating countries for identifying specific CPD needs. More than 100 adult education providers and adult trainers were interviewed, giving fruitful insights and showcasing important aspects of CPD. The research results will contribute to the development of the project’s first intellectual output (IO1- check below).
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
- Development of quality monitoring tools for adult education providers’ performance in terms of the professional development of adult educators and the relevance of the adult education provision
- Development of training resources for adult educators for the improvement of instructional practices in Adult Education.
PROJECT RESULTS
IO1: Scorecard and screening questionnaire on adult education providers’ performance in terms of the professional development of adult educators
The tool will help each adult education provider to identify those areas of its approach to CPD that need assessment and improvement. It will offer a checklist of the most typical successful approaches and institutional policies in the field of CPD and help adult education providers to structure future quality monitoring and strategic development in this area.
IO2: Training resources and online training platform for the improvement of instructional practices in adult education.
The IPAL training resources will be developed in several transversal areas related to instructional practices. They will be organized in 8 modules, suitable for both self-study and use in CPD programs in the adult education sector. The resources will be structured with practical orientation in the following areas:
- Training through the flipped classroom approach
- Project-based learning
- Techniques for stimulating the logical thinking, imagination and memory of adult learners, including visual tools and special memorizing techniques
- Effective techniques for communication and work with parents and family members of adult learners
- Applying creativity techniques in adult education
- Using interactive (online and digital) resources, e-learning tools and social media in adult education; ICT-based tutoring services, pedagogies and practices
- Monitoring adult learners’ performance
- Culturally responsive teaching techniques
The modules will be approbated and uploaded on the IPAL e-learning platform.
IO3: Scorecard and screening questionnaire on adult education providers’ performance in terms of the relevance of the adult education provision.
The scorecard will cover different areas of institutional performance. For each area, relevant indicators, measurement guidelines and screening questions will be developed, complemented by guidance about measurement and evaluation. In addition, in order to facilitate benchmarking and improvement, relevant good practices will be shared.
Target groups
- Adult Educators
- Adult Education provider
- Other educational sectors (e.g. VET)
Partners
- TRIBEKA TRAINING LAB (Spain) – coordinator of the project
- PROMIMPRESA S.R.L. (Italy)
- EUROPEAN CENTER FOR QUALITY LTD – ECQ (Bulgaria)
- WISAMAR (Germany)
- ACADEMY OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP – Greece
