|
Cluster
3
Capacity-building
in and for lifelong learning
With its experience
acquired
over
fifty years, the UNESCO Institute for Education pursues activities
throughout
the
world aimed at building and
strengthening
educational capacities of Member States through training and
institutional
development. In offering its assistance to those countries requesting
its
support in solving problems in the wider
context of lifelong
learning, the
Institute has always been attuned to satisfying local needs and
demands.
Prime examples of this are UIE’s interventions in so-called ‘emergency
situations’ in areas of conflict such as Afghanistan and Kosovo,
assisting
victims of violent social conflicts with their disruption of
fundamental
educational structures. Another activity of the Institute geared to
national
capacity-building in different regions of the world relates to the
fight
against the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Cluster 3 brings together those
endeavors
in which UIE provides empowering and preventive educational strategies
and develops supportive teaching materials. The most important
activities
within this group of programs involve interventions for literacy and
post-literacy
promoting portable skills, democratic and social competencies and
attitudes,
critical thinking, and problem-solving.
Activities
Capacity-Building for
Literacy and Adult Learning in Kosovo
Empowering Educational
Strategies in AIDS/HIV Prevention
Development of a Textbook
Series on African Perspectives on Adult Learning
International E-Learning
for Literacy
Capacity-Building in
Literacy and EFA in Afghanistan
Development of an Adult Basic Education
Programme (ABEP) in Botswana
European Regional Meeting
in Lyon: Literacy and the Promotion of Citizenship
Family
Literacy
Capacity-building
for Community-based Literacy and Life Skills Education Programmes for
Disadvantaged Young Adults (CABLE4Y Project)
Strengthening NFE and
Literacy Policies Through a Gender-equality Perspective
Capacity-Building
for Literacy and Adult Learning in Kosovo
In Kosovo the Institute
continues to provide technical support to the Women’s Literacy
Programme, which is implementing basic education in 130 rural areas for
about 2,250 adult learners. This is taking place within a network of 21
local women’s NGOs. After the conflicts of the 1990s it became of
utmost importance in Kosovo to tackle the problem of female illiteracy
(estimated to be above 20% in rural areas) and to construct an
adult-learning system catering first of all to those who could not
finish basic education. At the same time, it is necessary to build
capacities within the Kosovar Ministry of Education for developing an
adult-learning and training system in line with the European movement
towards a coherent lifelong learning strategy. Since 2001, UIE has
worked with UNICEF to support the development of a curriculum and
textbooks as well as to organize courses for literacy trainers,
monitors and facilitators in cooperation with the Ministry of
Education. A national qualification framework and corresponding
instruments of assessment and accreditation are currently under
deliberation following a series of workshops organized since October
2004.
In 2005 UIE’s activities in
Kosovo continued in conjunction with the Ministry of Education and
UNICEF. They are two-fold: following up on the Women’s Adult Basic
Education Programme, which is now co-funded by the German Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, and helping to build institutional capacities for
adult and lifelong learning systems. The proposed activities, which are
co-ordinated closely with UNICEF and the German IIZ-DVV in Kosovo,
include: final edition of a level IV textbook, training of a national
monitoring and training team, designing of the final evaluation
process, including the methodology and instruments for learners’
assessment; following up on the creation of accreditation procedures
within the broader structure of a National Qualifications Framework;
developing standards for establishing equivalencies for adult basic
education programmes; discussing an adult basic education and training
programme for different target groups that is equivalent to nine years
of primary education; promoting sustainable and effective partnerships
towards the creation of an integrated Adult Basic Education and
Lifelong Learning System in Kosovo; and upgrading the expertise on
these topics within the Ministry of Education.
Contact: Ulrike Hanemann
Empowering Educational
Strategies in AIDS/HIV Prevention
UIE's six-year project on
capacity-building in effective HIV/AIDS prevention will conclude its
third and final cycle in 2005. Based on the experiences and findings of
previous phases, activities in the next period will focus on four
aspects: 1) creating synergies through support of regional cooperation
in HIV/AIDS prevention with a focus on dissemination of empowering
learning strategies, 2) adapting empowering learning strategies in
other regions (e.g., francophone Africa), 3) strengthening
collaboration with respective regional and inter-regional networks
(e.g., ASPBAE, ADEA Working Group on NFE), 4) identifying appropriate
support structures for effective prevention work.
In co-operation with the ADEA
Working Group on NFE, a regional seminar for Africa is planned for
December in Uganda. Two publications are expected to come out of this
project, an advocacy document containing the main results of the International Seminar in Chiangmai in
2004 and a conference report on
the results of the Uganda Meeting.
Contact: Carolyn Medel-Añonuevo,
Werner Mauch
Development of a
Textbook Series on African Perspectives on Adult Learning
A new textbook series
entitled African Perspectives on Adult Learning is being co-published
by UIE and Pearson Education South Africa in collaboration with the
Institute for International Cooperation of the German Adult Education
Association (IIZ/DVV) and the Department of Adult Education, University
of Botswana. This innovative publishing project, designed with the
advice of an international editorial board chaired by the Director of
UIE, aims to provide trainers of adult educators in Africa with
textbooks more appropriate to the African context than those currently
available. The first five titles in this series being produced by teams
of African researchers include: Foundations of Adult Education in
Africa; The Psychology of Adult Learning in Africa; Developing
Programmes for Adult Learners in Africa; Research Methods for Adult
Educators in Africa; and The Social Contexts of Adult Learning in
Africa.
In April 2005, the series
launched its first volumes in a special event in Cape Town. The book
launch, featuring as keynote speaker the South African Minister of
Education, was coupled with an international conference held by the
IIV/DVV on “The Training of Adult Educators in Africa and Asia/Pacific:
Present Situation and Recommendations for the Future”. On the heels of
this meeting, the Editorial Board continued its initial steps towards
determining the aims and scope of a first generation of books designed
for universities in francophone Africa by expanding its membership
accordingly. In May/June 2005, a Writers’ Workshop was held in Cape
Town for the author teams of the two new books in Phase Two of the
series to address The Management of Adult Education in Africa and The
History of Adult Education in Africa. The scholars composing the latter
book will be working together at UIE in the fall as Fellows of the
Institute.
More
Contact: Orrin F. Summerell
International
E-Learning for Literacy
The 'International
“E-Learning for Literacy” project of the UNESCO Institute for Education
(UIE) is designed to build capacity and widen the pool of NFE providers
at all levels in the field of adult basic education and literacy. It
informs about international experiences and strategies by drawing on
the institutes’ rich collection of data from around the world.
The E-learning for Literacy project has two components:
(1) The website Literacy Exchange: World Resources on Literacy presents
case studies of 15 countries in a comparative manner (Brazil, Germany,
India, Jamaica, Kosovo, Mexico, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Oman, Spain, South
Africa, Somalia, Syria, Tanzania and Tunisia);
(2) The e-learning course Literacy and Basic Adult Learning targets
educators and practitioners who seek a comprehensive introduction to
the preparation of non-formal programmes and projects for adult basic
education and learning with a special emphasis on literacy. The weekly
workload of 6 hours allows for in-service training.
The course aims at
- Diversifying
the knowledge of educators and practitioners with respect to concepts
and practices that underlie literacy programmes around the world;
- Providing
access to a rich documentation and publication resource;
- Facilitating
exchange among learners with different backgrounds and experiences.
In terms of
methodology, a programmed instruction approach with interactive
self-assessment was chosen to support autonomous learning. This
approach is combined with collaborative learning activities. The
curriculum emphasises practice-orientation and exchange of experiences
among the learners and takes different learning styles into account.
Training institutions can obtain a free license from UIE in order to
use it for training on a non-profit basis.
More
Contact: Christine Glanz
Capacity-Building
in Literacy and EFA in Afghanistan
Afghanistan faces massive
problems with its educational system after 25 years of conflict and
wars. As a consequence of the Taliban regime’s oppressive policies for
girls’ and women’s education, high illiteracy levels for these groups
continue to be one of the key obstacles to their full participation in
society. In collaboration with UNICEF, the Institute has provided
technical assistance to the Department of Non-formal Education of the
Afghan Education Ministry since 2002. Two textbooks for women and
facilitators’ manuals have been developed in the Dari and Pashto
languages, followed by the proposal of a capacity-building project
employing innovative approaches. The present security situation has
prevented the Institute from strengthening the training and monitoring
system and implementing a pilot project to field-test the learning
materials with a community-based family literacy approach focusing on
girls and women.
UIE is prepared to follow up
on the technical services to the Afghan education sector in the field
of literacy and non-formal education as soon as the Afghan Ministry of
Education, UNESCO Field Office and UNESCO ED/EPS/SPP have agreed upon
the framework and an action plan. UNICEF Afghanistan has also announced
plans to continue with women’s literacy and to ask UIE to provide
technical support to field-test the literacy textbooks and teachers’
manuals developed in 2002/2003 and approved by the Afghan authorities,
to train teachers, and to strengthen the institutional capacities of
the Afghan Ministry for promoting literacy.
Contact: Ulrike Hanemann
Development of an
Adult Basic Education Programme (ABEP) in Botswana
UIE won a tender of the
Botswana Ministry of Education to develop a new framework and
outcome-based modular curriculum for adult basic education which
includes the development of learning material, a built-in monitoring
and evaluation system with equivalency compatible with a national
qualification framework, and training and capacity-building of a local
team.
In 2005, UIE will facilitate
the development of an overall strategic plan and the curriculum
framework. A kick-off workshop was held in February in Gaborone with
the core expert team and the national reference committee to review and
discuss the task and to outline the way forward. Together with the core
team, which at a later stage will be aided by specialized sub-teams,
UIE will work on the different components and content units of the
modular curriculum. Taking stock of existing materials and expertise
and involving all the relevant stakeholders define the initial
activities. The discussion of the curriculum framework started already
with a national stakeholders’ meeting and intensive workshops in May
and August. This framework, which will be presented to the Reference
Committee in October, provides the roadmap for the remaining work,
which will be concluded at the end of 2007.
Contact: Ulrike Hanemann, Anna Barkered
European Regional
Meeting in Lyon: Literacy and the Promotion of Citizenship
A Pan-European Conference on
Literacy was held in Lyon, France in April 2005 jointly organized with
the French Agence Nationale de Lutte contre l'Illettrisme (ANCLI -
Agency for the Struggle against Illiteracy), France’s National
Commission for UNESCO, the European Association for the Education of
Adults (EAEA) and the European Union Grundtvig Programme. Funded by the
EU, this first-ever regional meeting on literacy in Europe brought
together 150 policy-makers, research institutes, universities, public
and private providers of literacy, and other stakeholders from 38
countries to discuss literacy in the region. The objectives of the
regional meeting were:
- to
analyze trends on literacy in the region
- to
determine the status of countries vis-à-vis EFA goals on literacy
- to
highlight good practices that could be used to improve literacy
programmes
- to
identify possible areas of collaboration and develop corresponding
action plans
Two publications are
resulting from this regional meeting: an advocacy document in four
languages and a report of the meeting containing the major papers (in
English). The English version of the advocacy document, "Why Literacy
in Europe?", is now available in a print version as well as on UIE's
website (click here).
Contact: Carolyn Medel-Añonuevo
Family Literacy
Several studies have revealed
the strong correlation between the social background and the
educational progress of children. Family literacy represents an
intergenerational and community learning approach – linking elements of
adult education, parents’ education and primary education – to enhance
the literacy of both adults and children and support teachers and
parents in preventing future drop-out. In cooperation with the
Institute for Teacher Training and Curriculum Development of the
City-State of Hamburg, this project started in the summer of 2004 with
eight schools and two kindergartens in socially disadvantaged districts
of Hamburg. It focuses on five-year-old pre-school children and
six-year-old first- grade children and their parents. Working sessions
are being held with parents and their children aimed at encouraging and
enabling parents to help their children acquire literacy skills. Prior
to the start of the project, a survey was conducted to clarify the
needs of the target group. Supported by the
"Bund-Länder-Commission for Educational Planning and Research
Promotion" for a period of five years, this project will be monitored
and evaluated by the Department of Quality Development of the Institute
for Teacher Training and Curriculum Development in cooperation with
UIE. It is expected that this pilot will lead to the development of
teacher-training modules and materials enhancing the qualification of
teachers and educators in the prevention of illiteracy. In the long
term, the objective is to identify good practices and approaches in
family literacy, promote their wider dissemination, and help countries
to develop capacity-building programmes for policy-makers as well as
educators and parents.
With the start of the
2005/2006 school term, the project will continue with last year’s group
having now entered the first grade of the formal school system and at
the same time with a new group of pre-school children. To extend the
dimensions of the project on a European level, a proposal for a
Grundtvig II "Learning Partnership" (including partners from Bulgaria,
Ireland, Italy, Malta and Turkey) has been submitted to the European
Union. The project has been approved and will begin in autumn 2005.
More
Contact: Maren Elfert
Capacity-building for
Community-based Literacy and Life Skills Education Programmes for
Disadvantaged Young Adults (CABLE4Y Project)
Aiming to improve the quality
of community-based literacy and life skills education programmes, UIE
is working with on-going NFE programmes targeting youth in six
countries, namely Bangladesh, China, Lao PDR, Mali, Niger and Zambia.
The national project teams set up in 2004 will continue the development
of training materials and test them in the first half of 2005. UIE, in
collaboration with UNESCO field offices, is providing technical and
financial support to each country to finalise the training materials
and organise in-country training activities in the second half of 2005.
The question asked throughout this project is how to build the
capacities of facilitators to design locally relevant learning
opportunities for out-of-school youth in rural areas.
To build the capacities of
the national project teams, UIE is organising inter-regional
activities. A mid-term review workshop was organised in Baoding
and Beijing, China for June 2005 to exchange experiences on addressing
life skills learning in non-formal education, to peer-review the
materials, and to plan exchange study visits. This workshop was
co-organised with the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Programme of Education for
All (APPEAL) which is running a life skills project for community
learning centres in six countries in Asia. In October 2005, study
visits to an ABET (adult basic education and training) programme in
South Africa to observe good practices of community-based programmes
and training activities will take place.
Contact: Rika Yorozu
Strengthening NFE
and Literacy Policies Through a Gender-equality Perspective
Continuing its programme on
Engendering Research in Non-formal Education and Literacy, the
Institute, in collaboration with the ADEA Working Group on NFE, the
UNESCO Offices in Bamako and Senegal, and ERNWACA (the Education
Research Network for West and Central Africa) organized a
capacity-building workshop in Bamako, Mali for September 2005.
Participants from government, NGOs and research groups were invited
from Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Niger and Senegal.
The objectives of this
workshop were: 1) to enhance the capacity of participants to articulate
the relationship of gender, literacy and other socio-economic
variables; 2) to integrate a gender perspective into the study of
literacy policies, plans and practices; and 3) to develop guidelines
for the strengthening of literacy policies, plans and practices from a
gender perspective.
Contact: Carolyn Medel-Añonuevo
|