More, Different and Better

I sometimes think of European adult education policy as a series of Russian dolls. The ‘big babushka’ is Europe2020 which has set targets for the European economy to achieve by 2020. This addresses potential barriers to growth in each country, including education and skills – the general recommendations for the UK can be found here.

Inside of this is the recently published Rethinking Education (summary here) which looks at the education system of each EU member state. It makes the case for a stronger focus on vocational learning and ‘transversal’ competencies, such as languages, as well entrepreneurial and ICT skills. Better recognition of qualifications across countries is also a priority, with consistent standards, so that a trained engineer can be recognised as such wherever in Europe they choose to work.

Then, within that, there’s the smaller, perfectly formed ‘doll’ of adult education. Last year, NIACE accepted the invitation to act as the UK National Coordinator for the European Agenda for Adult Learning, which set out how adult learning links with the big strategic goals of Europe 2020. The Agenda has five priorities:

1. Making lifelong learning and mobility a reality.
2. Improving the quality and efficiency of education and training.
3. Promoting equity, social cohesion and active citizenship through adult learning.
4. Enhancing the creativity and innovation of adults and their learning environments.
5. Improving the knowledge base on adult learning and monitoring the adult learning sector.

The work programme started last October, after an initial meeting of all National Coordinators in Brussels. NIACE’s work as coordinator is co-funded by the European Commission (EC) and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and involves:

• Promoting adult learning in the UK and in particular any European dimensions
• Sharing good practice within the UK and the EU
• Sharing policy messages between member states

Working with other countries and through engagement at the European level, I have learnt that in some respects we are envied in the UK on three grounds.

Firstly, we in Britain, have a long established belief in the promotion of adult learning. We have national celebrations like Adult Learners’ Week, Learning at Work Day, VQ Day and Colleges Week.  We also have events in parliament and across the whole of the UK. These are often the envy of our European colleagues.

The second area where the UK succeeds is that we try to understand the nature of participation and learning. Of the home nations England, is particularly strong with the government’s Department of Business, Innovation and Skills clearly wanting to better understand the nature of participation.  Without a body of evidence, it’s very difficult to make an intervention. To a lesser extent, I think that’s supported in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, but it’s sad that the National Adult Learning Survey is not UK-wide anymore.

The third area where we are seen as a leader in Europe is in trying to understand the impact of adult learning, not just participation. For many years NIACE has been prioritising the study of the wider benefits of learning. Part of this is about quantifying the benefits to your health through participation in education.

However, we still have a lot to learn from other parts of Europe. NIACE is involved in a number of pan-European projects, where we are sharing case studies of good things happening in the UK, but also learning from what others are doing. We are heavily involved in the European Association for the Education of Adult (EAEA) with its 122 members across 43 countries – not just the member states of the EU. We’re also involved in European Basic Skills Network (EBSN) which focuses on literacy and numeracy across Europe. It’s integral to our work to learn from practice in other countries.

We will be meeting with colleagues from across the UK and Europe in Cardiff at the end of this month – if you would like to be part of this conversation join us on the day.