Grundtvig IST

Reference Nr. LT-2013-030-002

Welcome to Lithuania!

Andragogical Master Classes (AndraMast)

Vilnius, Lithuania

Explore andragogy by AndraMast!

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Organizer: Lithuanian Association of Adult Education (LAAE,

www.lssa.smm.lt)

Gelezinio Vilko Street 12, Vilnius, Lithuania

Tel./fax: + 370 5 2312309, lssavilnius@takas.lt

Contact person: Ms. Dalia Cymbaliuk

About us

Lithuanian Association of Adult Education (LAAE) is non-governmental

umbrella organization established in 1992 and currently having 41

institutional members and 75 individual members.

LAAE is focusing its activities in following directions: Adults

Teaching/Learning Methods and Development of Skills to Work with

Adult Groups; NGO Leader Training; Development of NGO Strategy;

Development of Adult Civic skills; Adult Social Initiatives; Possibilities

Development.

LAAE is also involved in international cooperation and in European

projects related to intercultural issues. LAAE has carried out a

transnational project in civil education and is actively involved in

educational policies. All activities are carried out through ten (8) regional

divisions all over country.

LAAE is the member of European Association of Education of Adults

(EAEA) www.eaea.org

Mission of the Association:

We, Lithuanian Association of Adult Education, in cooperation with

Lithuanian and foreign adult educators and institutions, are calling get

together individuals and representatives of various organizations for the

purpose to promote an approach of lifelong learning within the society and

the development of opportunities for continuing education.

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Course overview

Goals of the course

To offer the participants the tools for development of adult

education programs based on constructivist learning theory and

contextual learning concept

To offer the participants the tools for developing of key

competences A4 and A5 identified for working in the adult

learning sector in the study financed by European Commission:

„Key competences for adult learning professionals”.

Objectives

to raise the awareness of participants of importance of application

of constructivist learning theory and contextual learning concept

for creating effective results oriented training programs based on

understanding of cognitive processes and adult learning

motivation.

To develop understanding of constructivist learning theory and of

contextual learning concept.

To develop understanding of adult learner.

To develop understanding of the role of trainer in adult learners

learning.

To improve application of training/learning methods applicable for

contextual learning.

To improve the development of training programs using

constructivist learning theory and contextual learning concept.

Target groups

The target group of the workshop is adult educators with at least 3 years of

experience of work with adult audience, headmasters of adult education

schools and teacher trainers.

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Practical arrangements

Sessions

Session 1: 23 – 27 September, 2013 (arrival on 22.09, departure on 28.09)

Session 2: 24 – 28 March, 2014 (arrival on 23.09, departure on 29.09)

Working Language – English

Course fee and subsistence

Fee in Euro for accommodation and meals: 685 Euro

Course fee in Euro (tuition and materials): 750 Euro

Cancellation fee in Euro: 100 Euro

Cancellation rules:

The cancelation has to be announced to LAAE via e-mail, one moth (4

weeks) prior to the course start date.

Accommodation

Accommodation will be in single rooms in a hotel, located in the nearby

vicinity, where the workshop is going to be run and within a walking

distance from the city center.

Steps to register to the course

1. Fill in the AndraMast application form

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFVmaV

JfSjBIaDNNU0gtV0V6eU1VS1E6MA#gid=0

2. (deadline 15.04.2013 for the course in September).

3. Wait until you receive the pre- registration form.

4. Contact your National agency to get the application form.

5. Send the completed application form and pre – registration form to

your National Agency(deadline 30.04.2013 for the course in

September).

6. Wait for approval and contact Ms. Dalia Cymbaliuk (LAAE) to

confirm your participation (please, also contact her in case you

have not been awarded a grant).

There are limited places available: we can invite 20 participants from

European countries only. If we will receive more applications, candidates

will be selected according to the following criteria: work experience in

Adult Education, motivation to participate and English languages skills

(selection will be based on application form).

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Programme of the training activities (day by day)

Arrival Day/ Sunday. Welcome to Vilnius, Lithuania! (www.vilnius.lt )

Arrival, individual impressions on Vilnius. First acquaintance.

From 20.00 Dinner

Day One/Monday. Starting construction - putting foundation

Morning Session Greeting rituals. Presentation of program, finding the

expectations of participants, creative self –

presentations.

Afternoon session Interactive lectures on basic learning theories. Why

constructivist theory is important for adult education?

Day Two/Tuesday. Constructing self

Morning Session Introductory session. Creating visual constructs.

Pictures

De-constructing and re-constructing adult learner

Learning motivation. Learning styles.

Adult cognitive development: what they remember,

how they remember.

Putting pieces together. Picture of adult learner.

Afternoon session Constructing self

Picture of self (adult educator). Teaching (?) styles.

Role of adult educator.

My core qualities, pitfalls, challenges and allergies.

Reflection.

Day Three/ Wednesday. Creating contexts

Morning Session

Leaving to Kaunas (www.kaunas.lt)

1. Workshop at Vytautas Magnus University

Department of Educology

(http://edukologija.vdu.lt)

2. Presentation of organization of Adult Learners

Weeks in Lithuania.

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Afternoon

session

Group work. Outdoor activities: discovery learning

situations and learning contexts in non - traditional

learning environments (shops, churches, markets,

squares, restaurants, etc.).

Returning back to Vilnius. Preparing presentations of

findings.

Day Four/ Thursday. Constructing training methods

Morning Session Introductory session. Constructing cognitive patterns

(gestalts).

Presentations of findings learning situations and

learning contexts.

Training methods workshop.

Afternoon session Training methods workshop (continued).

Day five/ Friday. Constructing Program

Morning Session

Morning session. Creating verbal constructs.

Building blocks of program.

Constructing program (assignment).

Afternoon session Constructing program (continued).

Space saving. Integrating. Creating “matrioshkas”.

Evaluation of the workshop. Adieu rituals. See you…

Departure Day/Saturday

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Preparation for the Course

Before the departure the participants will send to the organizer relevant

personal and professional information that will be used for better course

organization.

Before the course the participants will be asked to make preparations for

the course:

to do short surveys of learning motivation of their learners (one page

questionnaire will be provided)

to come with at least one example of method which they use to help

learners to transfer abstract theories into real life situations.

The organizer will also provide:

information on how to obtain grants and how to fill out application

forms,

information on payment schedule,

program of course content and time table,

detailed information on location of course,

organization of accommodation,

organization of cultural activities during the course.

Follow – up

The organiser will create Facebook profile which will provide web-based

forum for keeping contacts and sharing insights of participants on adult

learning after the course. Course organisers will facilitate this networking.

All materials of the course will be placed on web (Drop box or Google

docs) for mutual benefit.

The participants will get the Certificate of attendance, issued by LAAE. In

the Certificate will be describing the type of training and its content.

Europass certificate (only at request).

Methods of the Course

Interactive lectures, workshops, reflection, individual and group

assignments, discussions and evaluation.

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Methodology of the Course

We build our course on two essential concepts: basic competencies of

learning professionals and on constructivist learning theory.

1. Basic competencies of learning professionals.

The course is based on developing of key competences A4 and A5

identified for working in the adult learning sector in the study financed by

European Commission: „Key competences for adult learning

professionals”1.

A4. Being an expert in a field of study/practice

Title: Competence in making use of their own expertise and the available

learning resources: being an expert in a field of study/practice.

1 B.J. Buiskool, S.D. Broek, J.A. van Lakerveld, G.K. Zarifis, M. Osborne. (2010).

Key competences for adult learning professionals. Contribution to the

development of a reference framework of key competences for adult learning

professionals. Final report. Zoetermeer.

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Description: The adult learning professional is competent in using their

own expertise in a specific field of study or a field of practice and is aware

of relevant recent developments in the (academic) field of study or

practice. This not only to transfer knowledge or skills but also by selecting

and providing resources, to enable adult learners to learn and develop

themselves. Closely related to this competence comes the competence to

choose and attune resources to the educational level and background of

adult learners.

A5. Being able to deploy different learning methods, styles and

techniques

Title: Competence in making use of different learning methods, styles and

techniques including new media and awareness of new possibilities,

including e-skills and ability to assess them critically: being able to deploy

different learning methods, styles and techniques in working with

adults.

Description: The adult learning professional is competent in, and shows

confidence in, using different learning methods (didactics), styles

(approaches) and techniques including new media, ICT and social

networks in the learning process of adults. Didactics refers to specific

methods to enable adult learners to learn and gain knowledge and skills.

Approaches alludes to the different styles of transferring knowledge, which

includes traditional teaching, facilitating, coaching and supporting adult

learners in their own learning.

2. Constructivist learning theory

How do adults learn best? Ask yourself, "How do I learn best?"

For example, do you learn better when someone tells you exactly how to

do something, or do you learn better by doing it yourself? Many people are

somewhere between of those two scenarios. This has led many educators to

believe that the best way to learn is by having adults construct their own

knowledge instead of having someone construct it for them. This belief is

explained by the Constructivist Learning Theory. This theory states that

learning is an active process of creating meaning from different

experiences. In other words, adults will learn best by trying to make sense

of something on their own with the teacher as a guide to help them along

the way.

The majority of learners are unable to make connections between

what they are learning and how that knowledge will be used. This is

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because the way they process information and their motivation for learning

are not touched by the traditional methods of classroom teaching. Adults'

involvement in their schoolwork increases significantly when they are

taught why they are learning the concepts and how those concepts can be

used outside the classroom. And most adults learn much more efficiently

when they are allowed to work cooperatively with other learners in groups

or teams. That leads us to the Contextualized learning - a concept that

incorporates much of the most recent research in cognitive science2.

Our approach

The key word in this Workshop is construction. Therefore we will develop

the expertise of adult learners’ professionals by constructing the house of

learning:

1. We will start from constructing theoretical foundation. Our experts

will provide interactive lectures about basic learning theories, discuss

their advantages and limitations. We will stop longer on constructivist

2 Brooks, J. and Brooks, M. (1993). In Search of Understanding: The Case for

Constructivist Classrooms, ASCD

Expertise

Constructivist theory of learning

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learning theory and explore why it is important especially for adult

learning.

2. In order to understand we need to de-construct adult learner (it is

always interesting to see “what’s inside”). How to do it? Luckily adult

learning professionals’ participants of the course are adult learners in

this workshop. In order to understand THEM (learners), they will

analyse SELF. Your own experience and self-reflection will be our

resource (with a little help of experts-moderators). From the other

hand, we will ask participants to make some preparation for the

seminar: to do short surveys of their learners. In the end of the session

the participants will be given the chance to re-construct adult

learner. For this purpose they will choose the details which they want

to put together to have the whole picture of adult learner.

3. Having knowing learners more deep we will go for constructing self

as adult learning professional/trainer. Participants will have the

opportunity to paint their group self-portrait: what is our role in

learning of adults? What are our teaching styles and how they fit with

role? What are our core qualities, pitfalls, challenges and allergies?

4. Having more knowledge on THEM and on US, we will start

constructing training methods. In this workshop firstly we will

explore Edgar Dale cone of learning and discuss the experience of

participants in applying different learning methods in adult learning

environment. We will try some methods and then we will go into

deeper understanding of methods and how they help adult learners to

develop learning constructs. We will ask our participants to come with

at least one example of method which they use to help learners to

transfer abstract theories into real life situations. That will help us to

construct our constructs on learning methods.

5. And now it’s time to go further putting things together- constructing

training/learning program. We will explore the possibility to apply

constructivist learning theory to our particular training field.

Discussions, discussions, discussions: “The more you talk, the more

you learn”.

6. Each day will start with creative developing of certain cognitive

abilities: visual processing, verbal processing, and designing cognitive

patterns. Experts from creative world will assist us in designing new

constructs.

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Trainers

Prof Dr. phil. Horst Siebert (DE), Professor emeritus

at Adult Education Department and at VET and Adult

Education Institute of Leibniz Universität Hannover.

Mr. Siebert is one of leading constructivists in German

education, author of numerous books on adult

education, constructivist approach on adult education

and on adult learning methods.

Prof Dr. habil. Margarita Teresevičienė (LT),

Head of the Department of Education at Vytautas

Magnus University. Responsible for the research in

the field of education particularly Lifelong learning;

validation of non - formal and informal learning;

development and monitoring of undergraduate,

graduate and post graduate study programs in the

field of Education.

M.Teresevičienė delivers courses for students on Adult Education;

Lifelong long Learning; Curriculum development, Cooperative learning,

Didactic. She is the author of numerous articles and books on adult

education.

Arūnas Bėkšta (LT). President of Lithuanian

Association of Adult Education (2007-2013), editor

and author of books and articles on adult education.

Mr. Bėkšta delivers trainings for civil servants on

Strategic Planning, Change Management, Leadership,

Personnel Management, Time Management, Project

Management, Problem Solving and Decision Making.

As training expert implemented EU projects and

provided training of trainers in Albania, Armenia,

Bosnia-Herzegovina, Georgia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Tajikistan,

Turkey, Ukraine and Zambia.

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Explore andragogy by AndraMast!

Organizer: Lithuanian Association of Adult Education (LAAE)

Gelezinio Vilko Street 12, Vilnius, Lithuania

Tel./fax: + 370 5 2312309,

lssavilnius@takas.lt

www.lssa.smm.lt

Contact person: Ms. Dalia Cymbaliuk