UK NATIONAL COORDINATOR FOR THE EUROPEAN AGENDA FOR ADULT LEARNING.2014/5.

PROJECT SUMMARY

The rationale for this project is generated by the positive impact adult learning can have on all levels of society across Europe. The European Commission acknowledges the value of adult learning in its strategies Europe 2020, ET2020 and the European Agenda for Adult Learning (EAAL). NIACE as UK National Coordinator has a long track record (since 1921) in working across all aspects of adult learning; vocational education and training (VET), community learning, qualifications and curriculum reforms, as well as engagement activities such as Adult Learners’ Week, World Skills, Learning at Work Day, Maths for All and many more.

During 2014/15 we intend to build on the work we undertook as National Coordinator in 2012/14. There will be five workpackages. Three focus on adult basic skills, digital learning, and engaging hard to reach groups. A fourth workpackage will involve the four nations of the UK in sharing policy and practice lessons from these projects and others. The aim is to promote policy coherence and better sharing of practice. The final workpackage will coordinate the work programme, monitor its impact, and disseminate findings.

Our target groups are UK decision-makers at all levels (national, regional, local), adult education professionals, those grassroots organisations involved in projects, and any learners involved.

We aim to have strategic impact on policy development in the UK and Europe by promoting evidence-based approaches, building on projects and contacts established in the 2012/14 programme of work. This will result in better communication, sharing of practice, and contribution from the UK to the EAAL.

PROJECT PREPARATION PROCESS

NIACE drew up this proposal based on a wider programme of work for England supported by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (DBIS). This ensures synergy with other programmes and the concerns outlined above, as well as cost-benefits in utilising existing research and re-contextualising it for the other countries in the UK. This was achieved through discussions with DBIS, the UK Reference Group (which includes representatives of all four UK nations and the UK National Agency for Erasmus +), and within NIACE.

NIACE PROJECT TEAM

Project Manager: Joyce Black, Assistant Director Development and Research.

WP1aEmily Jones (Research Manager)

WP1b Alex Stevenson (Policy Lead for English for Speakers of Other Languages)

WP2a Nicola Aylward (Policy Lead for Young Adults)

WP2b Alex Stevenson (Policy Lead for English for Speakers of Other Languages)

WP3a Kevin Campbell Wright (Policy Officer, Digital Learning)

WP3b Susan Easton (Policy Lead for Digital Learning)

WP4 Mark Ravenhall / Jan Eldred (Senior Research Fellows)

WP5 Joyce Black (Assistant Director)

RATIONALE AND NEEDS PROBLEMS AND CHALLENGES

With the publication of the OECD’s Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) in October 2013, a new impetus has been given to a) ensuring the UK policy community has the best evidence bases available to support policy formation, b) supporting the continued development of improved approaches to adult literacy (English), numeracy (maths) and problem-solving in technology enriched environments (digital learning), and c) supporting access to learning and progression for disadvantaged groups.

In terms of a) the UK, although a research-rich nation, currently does not have a coherent approach to gathering evidence on participation, progression, and achievement in adult learning. Just two of the four nations of the UK participated in the PIAAC survey. In a recent speech (4 April 2014) the Minister for Skills at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said Britain ‘must do more’ in valuing international evidence and learning from it. The minister made a link between OECD reports and policy formation: ‘Job Study, PISA and PIAAC…held up a mirror to governments, economies and societies. The reforms they inspired have, directly or indirectly, changed lives.’

PIAAC also indicated that the UK facessignificant challenges in attainment in maths and English. These challenges are particularly acute for particular groups such as 16-24 year olds (young adults) and those out of work. Therefore a number of our workpackages focus on the needs of these groups. As with the EAAL, the focus of the UK work is on improving skills for low-skilled individuals and participation in learning for groups currently excluded from education, training and the labour market.

PROJECT DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The aims and objectives of the workprogramme will be to:

  • Enable greater policy coherence through sharing existing research, looking for regional and local case studies, and disseminating it
  • Engage a wider range of policy makers, influencers and decision makers in each of the four home nations
  • Promote evidence-based approaches to policy development and formulation across the UK
  • Produce, translate and disseminate evidence which effectively supports young unemployed adults to get the skills they need to access sustainable work
  • Attend and contribute totransnational events and collaborations to ensure that UK policy and practice is promoted, and to learn from other countries’ experience
  • Establish and run four Impact Forums, one in each of the four UK nations, to support collaboration, policy coherence and the sharing of transferable practice
  • Organise and run a summative conference to disseminate and showcase the work in 2014-15.

PROJECT ACTIVITIES AND METHODOLOGY

This year’s work programme will build on the successes of the 2012/14 programme and add some new features in response to the PIAAC report on adult skills. There will be an integrated set of five workpackages (WPs), each addressing a key concern in both the EAAL and the UK government’s approach to developing adult skills. WP1 will focus on adult basic skills; WP2 will focus on participation and progression for excluded groups; WP3 will focus on digital learning and problem-solving in technologically enriched environments. (These projects all build on NIACE’s existing UK work-programme to ensure synergies and cost-effectiveness.) The three thematic workpackages will each report into an Impact Forum for each UK nation (WP4a-d), whose job it is to encourage policy exchange and coherence, making sure that the UK-wide research and development is translated to address local circumstances. These four WPs will be underpinned by WP5 focusing on the management of the programme, promotion of the EU agenda, dissemination, liaison with the EC and other NCs, and project evaluation.

SCHEMATIC OF WORKPROGRAMME AND TIMETABLE

WP1
Adult basic skills & UK response to PIAAC / WP2
Participation & progression of excluded groups / WP3
Digital learning and problem-solving
WP4a
Impact Forum
England / WP4b
Impact Forum
Northern Ireland / WP4c
Impact Forum
Scotland / WP4d
Impact Forum
Wales
WP5 Programme Management
Dissemination
Evaluation
MILESTONE / INDICATOR
Establish the Impact Forum lead agencies
Evaluation plan drafted. (11/2014) / Contracts in place with lead agency for each impact forum.
WP1-3 established &reported on to UK reference group meeting. Briefing for Impact Forum leads & progress checking (12/2014) / Project plans for each WP in place and approved.
Meeting actioned and minuted.
Evaluation plan approved
Initial meetings of Impact Forums (1/2015) / Four meetings actioned and minuted.
WP1-3 fieldwork (January – September 2015) / Monthly reports on progress to Project Manager
Second meetings of the Impact Forums and UK reference group meeting (3/2015). / Five meetings actioned and minuted.
Advertisement of final conference plan
Interim report to EC (4/2015) / Report received and approved
National Coordinators’ Meeting
Third meetings of the Impact Forums and UK reference group meeting (6/2015). / Five meetings actioned and minuted.
Finalisation of the Conference marketing
Final conference advertised / Marketing uploaded to the NIACE EAAL websites
Final meetings of the Impact Forums and UK reference group meeting (9/ 2015). / Five meetings actioned and minuted.
Finalisation of the Conference marketing
Final conference (9-10/ 2015) / Conference with 100 delegates, 80 from UK nations and 20 from other European countries.
Evaluation and final report (10/ 2015) / Final report sent to DBIS/EC and signed off for publication.

IMPACT, DISSEMINATION AND EXPLOITATION, SUSTAINABILITY

TARGET GROUPS

In order to have strategic impact the project will target key decision-makers and influencers in each of the four UK nations. We will reach them through a combination of the four Impact Forums, the six projects (WP1a-3b), ongoing media and social media interaction, and a summative international conference. We will produce a final report for different audiences: at EC level, at national level (UK), at regional level (in this case England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales). We will also target a small number of grassroots practitioners and learners and aim to bring them together with policy-makers to talk about their experience of learning and access to learning and progression.

EXPECTED IMPACT OF THE PROJECT

Target groups will be reached throughout the life of the project through a combination of bespoke communications, contact with the Impact Forums (in each country), through general NIACE briefings and communications, through networks of practitioners in the UK and internationally. We expect the programme to have the following impacts:

EU level:

Improved information sharing and involvement with UK projects, practice and policy development.

National level:

Greater coherence in and knowledge of policy development across the four nations of the UK.

Improved communication about adult learning and skills policy and practice in each of the four nations and devolved administrations.

Joint working on specific projects and networking of adult education professionals

Regional level:

Impact forums established as a means of getting a regional focus on the EAAL and improving communication with other regions, or statistical neighbours in Europe.

Local level:

For some localities and local adult learning and skills providers there will be an opportunity to be involved in projects.

All learning providers in membership of the lead organisations (approximately 1000) will receive a series of communications and information on the EAAL, Erasmus + and the UK National Coordinator work-programme.

NIACE and its partners across the UK will keep in touch with partners after the project finishes through ongoing membership communications, special interest groups, ongoing forums and projects, Adult Learners’ Week (reaching 100,000 individuals per annum), UK Parliamentary events, and work with the Devolved Administrations.

DISSEMINATION AND EXPLOITATION STRATEGY

NIACE as the National Coordinator and the four Impact Forums will work closely with the UK National Agency for Erasmus+ to ensure joint working, joint use of platforms and websites to promote each other’s programme of work.

NIACE and its partners will use their own website articles, postings and blogs to refer to the EAAL work and the UK work programme. Each WP will have its own communications and dispensation plan as part of its Prince 2 Project management processes.

This will include a summary of activity in the current work section of the NIACE website. We will use NIACE HQ, NIACE DysguCymru and NIACE staff Twitter accounts to promote EAAL work and the UK work-programme to approximately 10,000 unique followers in over 30 countries. Through our membership of the ICAE, EAEA and EBSN we will promote our work and the EAAL to fellow members and encourage participation in events.

We will run a summative conference for 120 people from 20 countries, with a good balance of representation from across the UK. We will summarise activities in a final report and ensure that it is targeted to reach key influencers, decision-makers and adult learning professionals.

WORKPACKAGES

WP1A National inquiries and UK follow-up to PIAAC

This WP will continue to promote evidence-based approaches to adult learning policy development across the four UK nations and with comparators in the rest of Europe. NIACE researchers will summarise PIAAC findings in relation to other datasets and research for presentation to each UK impact forum. Building on work in England NIACE will develop a set of frameworks for use in the field. This will look at such issues as the role of ‘embedded’ and ‘integrated’ approaches to basic skills learning (English and maths). We will continue to work with relevant agencies on research into participation including OECD, CEDEFOP, and the UK Commission for Employment and Skills.

DELIVERABLES OUTPUTS

  1. Presentation of research findings to impact forums
  2. Set of frameworks written and consulted upon with a range of providers across the adult learning sector in the UK
  3. Seminar in conjunction with statistical neighbours in European regions and nations (in conjunction with EBSN)
  4. Presentation to final conference and report.

WP1B Basic Skills and Social Inclusion

The project team that worked on the NC 2012/14 project will present the findings from the final report (case studies and research) to each of the impact forums. Working with the Impact Forums they will identify areas for further research and dissemination activities with the aim, through liaison with the National Agency, of presenting at one Erasmus + event in each of the four UK nations in 2015.

DELIVERABLES OUTPUTS

  1. Presentation to each Impact Forum and identification of case studies across the four nations
  2. Further research liaison and fieldwork with potential case studies
  3. Presentation to UK conferences and events
  4. Liaison with and presentation to EBSN
  5. Summative report with case studies
  6. Presentation to final conference and report.

WP2A employability skills for young unemployed adults

This WP represents a continuation of the groundbreaking work in the 2012/14 NC work programme. This project worked with young adults and a group of employers to look at what an ‘employable citizen’ of the future is. The aim was to build a community of practice for employers, learning providers and learner representative groups. The NIACE project team worked with community partners in England, Scotland and Wales to train a team of young people as researchers to interview employers. The second stage will be to extend this approach to Northern Ireland, and run a seminar in the UK parliament with invited participants from across the UK and Europe (MPs, MEPs, local councillors) to discuss the findings and actions.

DELIVERABLES OUTPUTS

  1. Presentation of research to Impact Forums, identification of further dissemination activity
  2. Identification of further projects in Northern Ireland and other parts of the UK
  3. Training of new project(s).
  4. Research fieldwork
  5. Planning and delivery of seminar
  6. Presentation to final conference and report.

WP2B Supporting progression for excluded groups

This WP aims to enable better support for those practitioners working with socially excluded groups and those furthest from learning including ex-offenders, offenders in the community, homeless people, care leavers and young adult carers. We will use existing networks of practitioners and paraprofessionals (such as community learning champions and learning ambassadors) to build a strong evidence base to demonstrate impact and the effectiveness of community learning approaches to reach, engage and enable progression of excluded learners. A literature review will be undertaken. NIACE researchers will present findings from work in Wales and England to all Impact Forums, and hear from similar projects in Scotland and Wales. Case studies will be identified and developed for presentation to the Impact Forums and the summative conference.

DELIVERABLES OUTPUTS

  1. UK Literature review
  2. Presentations to four impact forums and identification of case studies
  3. Case studies (two from each UK nation)
  4. Presentation to final conference and report.

WP3A Digital Learning in communities (policy development)

This WP builds on evidence, previous inquiries and research (including PIAAC) to support and underpin the effective use of technology for problem solving at work, in family and community settings, and using the virtual campus in secure environments. There will be a particular focus on how niche groups gain access to learning through technology and progress onto other forms of learning. We will run a series of Europe wide webinars to share practice, gather evidence and present back to the field emerging implications for policy in the UK.

DELIVERABLES OUTPUTS

  1. Desk research report circulated to UK and EC partners
  2. Three sets of presentations: findings, implications, recommendations
  3. Policy framework consulted upon and completed
  4. Presentation to final conference and report.

WP3BSelf organised learning groups using digital learning

This WP continues the work started in 2012/14, which developed an online survey for existing self organised learning (SOL) groups and developed an online resource for such groups. In 2014/15 we will continue the work by improving and maintaining the online resource, sharing with colleagues in other European nations, working with the impact forums to look at ways of extending, developing and mainstreaming the work in each of the four UK nations. A report and presentation will be made to the final conference in September 2015.

DELIVERABLES OUTPUTS

  1. Minutes of meetings of steering group
  2. Website resources developed and disseminated
  3. Presentations to the impact forums and other European countries
  4. Final report drafted and published
  5. Presentation to final conference and report.

WP4 Impact Forums (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales)

The Impact Forum in England will be led by NIACE. The Impact Forum in Scotland will be run by Scotland’s Learning Partnership. The Impact Forum in Northern Ireland will be run by the Forum for Adult Learning Northern Ireland (FALNI). The Impact Forum in Waleswill be led by NIACE Cymru (NDC).

WP5a Management, liaison and impact monitoring.

The WP is about the management and coordination of the programme of work in the other workpackages, their monitoring, feedback to the projects and reporting to the Commission at the interim and final stages. It provides sufficient time for NIACE staff to attend meetings of National Coordinators in Brussels and general liaison with other National Coordinators and the UK National Agency for Erasmus +.

DELIVERABLES OUTPUTS

  1. Attendance at UK and European meetings (minutes)
  2. Presentations at UK and European conferences
  3. Interim and Final reports
  4. Impact monitoring reports.

WP5b Dissemination and final conference.