Educators at Work in two Sectors of Adult and Vocational Education: an overview of two European Research projects (original) (raw)

2009, European Journal of Education

In 2000, the Lisbon European Council set itself the goal of making the European Union the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world. Education and training are critical factors for achieving the Lisbon strategy's objectives of enhancing economic growth, competitiveness and social inclusion. In this context, the Commission stresses the importance of lifelong learning and the role of adult learning, including its contribution to personal development and fulfilment in reaching those objectives (European Commission, 2001). Although the role of adult learning is increasingly recognised in the Member States' National Reform Programmes, implementation remains weak (European Commission, 2006a). Most education and training systems are still largely focused on the education and training of young people and limited progress has been made in changing systems to reflect the need for lifelong learning. Further action is therefore needed to confront the challenges facing the European Union and the Member States. The European Commission (2006b) refers to five key challenges that need to be addressed by adult learning stakeholders in Europe: (1) Removing the barriers to participation; (2) Ensuring the quality of adult learning; (3) Recognising and validating learning outcomes; (4) Investing in the ageing population and migrants; and (5) Establishing indicators and benchmarks. In order to help strengthen the adult learning sector so that it is able to use its full capacity, the European Commission developed an Action Plan on Adult Learning (European Commission, 2007), the general objective of which is to implement the five key messages above. The professional development and the improvement of the quality of teachers and trainers have been recognised as a priority at European level. After all, it is they who help learners to develop knowledge, skills and attributes. However, not much is known about this particular group of practitioners (Eurydice, 2007). At the European level, there is a lack of information about who they are, how they are recruited, their specific roles and tasks, what competences and qualifications they are expected or required to possess, their employment status, how their professional development is organised, how they are assessed, and the attraction of their profession (European Commission, 2007). This article aims to bridge this gap and describes the variety of contexts in which adult learning staff are working. Furthermore, it seeks to reveal the factors that promote or affect the quality of the work provided by these practitioners. It is