In the last days of December, the self-study manual Competent for work-based basic skills was published in printed and electronic form. The manual is the result of a multi-year strategic project Profi-Train 2017–2020, in which the SIAE and partners from Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Malta, the Czech Republic and Greece, all with very diverse experience in this field, participated. The manual is part of the professionalisation concept for adult educators that was developed by the leading partner of the project the Büro für berufliche Bildungsplanung (bbb) Dortmund (a private educational, guidance and research organisation). The project also addressed very important topics in the field of ALE in Slovenia, namely the qualifications, position and professional identity of adult educators who provide training for the development of work-based basic skills for employees.
The Profi-Train project aims to lay a new foundation for the professional and educational work of adult educators who enter companies with the intent to strengthen the basic skills of employees through training. The Profi-Train professionalisation concept was developed to enable ALE professionals to implement educational programmes that are useful for companies and employees, offer added value and enable employees to engage in lifelong learning. A comprehensive approach to the professionalisation of key personnel to perform the work-based basic skills training for employees also enables educational organisations to sustain and/or enlarge their offers, and at the same time can better reach companies by increased quality planning and implementation of respective services.
At the end of the project, the Profi-Train project partners offered free materials (Self-study manual, Guide for the training of the trainers and Guidelines for stakeholders) to adult educators, stakeholders and policymakers in Europe. The materials are available in languages of the project partners and include tested approaches for training professionals on approaching companies and preparing and implementing work-based training.
The publication of the Self-study manual acquiring competencies for work-based basic skills training was made possible by MESS. The manual consists of six thematic modules or phases of the process of preparation and realisation of training in the work environment. The material can be used as a comprehensive preparation for the training of professionals. Experienced practitioners can use it to upgrade their knowledge and skills and strengthen their professional role. The manual is suitable for very experienced teachers and educators as well as a wider professional public or other professionals in educational organisations or companies who wish to be familiarised with the field’s basics or its specifics.
We are convinced that a well-thought-out approach to the professionalisation of key personnel to perform the training for employees will pay off. Among other things, such an approach enables educators and teachers to reach target groups among employees who are usually hard-to-reach and have so far not actively participated in work-based basic skills training projects. It helps to strengthen their sense of professional identity because insights into their own professional dynamics sensitise them to the issues of identity and work, making it easier for them to understand and communicate with employees who experience much similar distress in their work environment on a daily basis. Last but not least, due to the more professional approach of educators, even low qualified employees experience learning as useful and as their personal success and can, by this, overcome barriers of participation that they have so far experienced most often in isolation and without any help.
We invite you to take a look at the self-study manual and explore the challenges and good practices that await adult educators in work environments.
Estera Možina, MSc (ester.mozina@acs.si), SIAE
