IPAL Newsletter

The IPAL project primarily focuses on aspects of Adult Education that are related to the role of adult trainers in ensuring the relevance, quality and efficiency of adult learning. There is a consensus in Europe that high quality learning provision can be achieved by developing a skilled teaching workforce, notably through initial training, continuous professional development, and mobility.

The project’s overall objective is to develop quality assurance tools and training resources that promote the professional development of adult trainers and the quality of adult education.

The IPAL project aims at:

• providing access to practical resources for training in effective instructional practices and building the capacity of adult education providers to plan, design, deliver and assess CPD programs
• providing quality monitoring tools for adult education providers in the field of CPD of staff and overall relevance of the educational product which should promote better institutional development strategies and make the organizations more able to recruit and retain qualified staff

Scorecard and screening questionnaire on adult education providers’ performance in terms of the professional development of adult educators

In the frame of our qualitative research to develop this output, partners conducted more than 100 interviews with adult education providers and adult trainers to identify important areas of CPD that should be taken into account by training providers, so as to accommodate the needs of their trainers and improve their organization capacity. At the same time, having a plan for CPD will empower adult education providers to improve their educational programs by developing the skills of their people.

Based on the analysis of data collected, the IPAL consortium under the guidance of the output leader, Wisamar, developed a self-assessment tool for adult education providers with regards to CPD.

The self-assessment tool consists of 4 sets of questions that cover the following thematic areas:

1. Financing of CPD: Do you support your trainers to attend CPD activities?
   (financially/time off?)
2. Future Orientation: Do you make future plans, having CPD in mind?
3. Internal aspects: How do you organize your CPD plan?
4. Public image: Do you make use of CPD to improve your brand?

FIND THE SELF-ASSESSMENT TOOL FOR ADULT EDUCATION PROVIDERS HERE:

Submit your answers and then you will receive a downloadable fitting scorecard with useful information and tips!

Partners have kick started their work to design 8 training modules for adult trainers.
A questionnaire for the assessment of the modules’ structure has been shared with adult education providers and adult trainers for consultation. The training modules consist of the following topics related to teaching methods and techniques in adult education:

1. The flipped classroom approach
2. Project-based learning
3. Techniques for stimulating the logical thinking, imagination and memory
4. Effective techniques for communication and work with parents and family members of adult learners
5. Applying creativity techniques in adult education
6. Using interactive (online and digital) resources, e-learning tools and social media in adult education; ICT-based tutoring services, pedagogies and practices
7. Monitoring adult learners’ performance
8. Culturally responsive teaching techniques

The modules will be approbated and uploaded on the IPAL e-learning platform.

Stay tuned!

Interested to learn more about Continuous Professional Development (CPD)?

In our blog, you will find interesting articles to get familiar with CPD and its importance to improve instructional practices in Adult Education.