How to make educational process fascinating?
29.09.2011 | Publications
Should the educational process be fascinating? Skeptical responses on this subject were completelly dispelled during the Week of non-formal education in Belarus which has begun recently.
The best practices for holding
festivals or weeks of non-formal adult education were demonstrated by Switzerland,
Ireland, Georgia, Lithuania and Belarus at the international workshop on "EDUCATION
FOR THE FUTURE" which took place on September, 26-27 in Minsk and was run
up by registered representative in Belarus of community Deutscher Volkshochschule-Verband e.V. (FRG) [dvv international - the
Institute for International Cooperation of the German Adult Education
Association]. The workshop was attended by the dvv international representatives, as well as those of adult
education institutions of Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Germany, Armenia, Georgia,
Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
- Our goal is to exchange experience and
ideas to promote the adult education in Belarus and in other countries, -
said Olga Agapova, dvv international expert in Russia.
Educational festival in Switzerland: just
for the curious!
The educational process should be
fascinating, is sure Ruth Jermann,
deputy director of the Swiss Federation for Adult Education (SVEB). And she knows the recipes how to
make the education like this.
The festival movement in Switzerland has been developing since 1996. Originally,
the educational festival was held every three years, but to begin from 2009, it
has been held every year, namely, every second week of September.
Symbolic colors of the festival are blue and green. These are used while
decorating of the hall; these are present in the organizers’ clothes, as the
colors demonstrate the festival not to be a boring training, but a bright,
exciting event. There was chosen even the logo: a small smiling star, aimed at
promoting the city or region, where the educational activities are being held.
The festivals are free. Each year the organizers choose innovative forms of
work.
- This year we have decided to try
bookcrossing, says Ruth Jermann. People
dressed in blue and green were handing out books to people in public transport
and on the streets. Important was that the books were with blue and green covers.
And the volunteers were giving to people stickers with the inscription "I’m
learning" in different languages.
- At the opening of the festival, we use
the "big bang" approach, while creating a spectacular event,
continues Ruth Jermann. - For example, we
invite politicians or other celebrities that could attract public attention, to
participate in the festival. Another feature is the concept of holding the festival.
It is to compact all the activities in the course of 24 hours. Our slogan is
"24 hours for education". The festivals run from Friday, 17:00 to Saturday,
17:00.
The activities are held both indoors and outdoors. It could be gymnastics,
field trips; you can even try yourself as a baker in makeshift bakeries. The
actions can be run in any sphere; sports clubs, cultural institutions,
museums, etc. may take part in organization process.
Promotion of adult education in Ireland
A festival of adult education in Ireland is run by AONTAS (the Irish National Association of Adult Education, a
non-profit organization founded by the Ministry of Education).
Festivals of adult education in Ireland are relevant in relation to the
existing challenges in the education field in the country. According to
statistics, 14% of students in 2008 dropped out of school, 21% of people
working at present are insufficiently educated, having only lower secondary
education. There are currently fewer jobs in the country. In August,
unemployment was 14.4%.
- In Ireland, adult education is provided
by a number of organizations, including trade unions, some companies,
libraries, etc., says Niv Farren, a specialist in communication sphere in Irish
National Institution of Adult Education. The
first festival was held in 2007. The problem was the presence of dispersed
information from different organizations. We were a focal point to consolidate
the efforts of various groups and thus to influence the government policy in
adult education. Each day of the festival is dedicated to a particular issue.
For example, the recent trend is "green teaching" related to the environment
protection. In addition, we invite at our festivals employers. We do not pay
the participants, but provide them with some resources: information materials,
ideas, we teach them advertising, public relations, etc.
Much attention is paid to large-scale advertising campaigns to draw public
attention to the festival of non-formal education. Among the methods of
promotion are: publication of statistics and research findings in non-formal
education, as well as extraordinary examples of the ways how non-formal
education can change life. For example, meaningful became the story of one of
the participants who organized the education courses of teaching the mechanics
of cars and motorcycles. This is a good example of how the educational services
can easily find their target audience.
Giorgi Jikia, a project coordinator
of dvv international in Georgia, told
us how the Festival of adult education was held the last year. The festival
hosted a conference "Adult education and local development". To the
public of Tbilisi were presented a photo exhibition and a documentary about the
educational projects implemented by dvv
international which should facilitate the integration of internally
displaced people in local communities.
- The main idea is to popularize the concept
of learning throughout life, since it is quite a new idea for Georgian
society, said Giorgi Jikia.
In Belarus the Weeks of non-formal education have been held since 2005, and
from 2006 have been held Festivals of non-formal education.
The festivals of non-formal education in Belarus are held during three days.
The work is mainly based on parallel platforms, where the round-table
discussions, master classes, workshops are run, said Dmitry Karpievich, chairman of the Association for Continuing
Education and Learning. There are held exhibitions of organizations, programs
and projects of non-formal education. In the festival network are taking place
a number of competitions, such as, the best master class and the showcase of
the festival, the best edition, the best photograph and the site of non-formal
education. The first day is devoted to analyzing the current situation in the
field of non-formal education, the second one is Open Day, which is open to all
comers. On the third day, participants discuss joint plans for the future.
Julia Inysheva, Information service of "EUROBELARUS"
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