The manuals, titled Counsellor Competences for Guiding Adult Learners and Guidance Process for Adult Learners, were the result of the Erasmus+ KA3 GOAL project, which was successfully completed in 2018. In Slovenia, the project was led by the MESS (Ema Perme), in collaboration with the SIAE and the IRSVET. In addition to the aforementioned manuals, the manual Outreach in Guidance for Adult Learners was already published in 2018, and a fourth one on partnerships in guidance activities for adult learners is forthcoming. They are used to present the results of the project, which encompassed various areas of guidance work development. The objective was to increase participation of low-skilled adults, and other vulnerable groups of adults in education and learning.
The evaluation of project activities showed that guidance in adult education is complex. Adequate counsellor training, a systematic and comprehensive approach in planning, implementation, and evaluation of the results and effects of the guidance process, are key factors in providing a good guidance process and achieving the expected results and effects. The manual Counsellor Competences for Guiding Adult Learners, prepared by Tanja Vilič Klenovšek, MA, and Andreja Dobrovoljc, MSc (both of the SIAE), introduces the particularities of guidance activities for adults, implemented in various organisations: guidance centres for adult education (ISIO centres) and adult education units in secondary education centres, as well as the tasks performed by the counsellors. Counsellor competences were defined on the level of the project and practice in Slovenia, intended to serve as a starting point to prepare a single profile of counsellor competences in adult education. The particularities of individual types of educational organisations, as well as their guidance activities, were taken into account.
The manual Guidance Process for Adult Learners, prepared by Barbara Kunčič (IRSVET), includes expert orientations to implement a high-quality guidance process, based on the experiences and developmental approaches of the GOAL project. The evaluation of the project results showed that vulnerable groups of adults require in-depth and comprehensive guidance, more meetings, and additional motivation and support for further education and training. The results also highlighted the importance of the guidance process structure, which is why a general guidance process model for adult education was developed as part of the GOAL project, defining the key phases in the process, as well as other support factors (use of guidance tools, collaboration with experts from other organisations, etc.). The manual includes a model of the process and questionnaires to manage the guidance process, depending on the type of meeting with the learner (first, subsequent, closing). The processes that were formed as part of the project can aid the counsellors in the implementation of the guidance process.
The manuals are intended for the counsellors as well as their adult education partners, and other educators who may find themselves in the role of counsellors. They can be usefully applied by the stakeholders included in the further development of the guidance activity in adult education.
Andreja Dobrovoljc, MSc (andreja.dobrovoljc@acs.si), SIAE
