Paradigm shift in education – is competency orientation the key?

Educating adults is a specific field of expertise; it will have to meet high standards, ambitions and expectations. This will only be possible if the profession of adult education sees itself, and is seen as a professional domain with its own professional structures; standards; quality policies and professional development programmes. The sector needs to organise itself at a European level.

With the European GINCO network as well as the GINCO tools & training project we seek to do exactly that. We bring together the professional players in the Adult Education sector to analyse, discuss, and develop the quality of professional development of adult educators in Europe in its global context and establish a higher level of professional competence among the educators at work in this sector.

 

Adult lifelong learning requires a competence approach. This implies that learning is leading to actual change of performance. In traditional approaches to teaching and learning the emphasis was on learning activities that would raise the level of knowledge, attitudes and skills. These three components however merely represent someone’s potential. In a competence oriented approach we focus more on improving a person’s actual performance in an actual situation. We focus on providing the feedback and inputs needed to help the person raise his/her level of performance.

Within the project GINCO tools & training we elaborate further on this to include also the developers and organisers of Grundtvig in-service courses. The project, its tools and training offers seek to equip Grundtvig course organisers (organisers, managers, developers, facilitators and trainers) to allow them to create optimal competence oriented learning conditions for adult learners in international Grundtvig courses.

To learn more about the GINCO network and the project GINCO tools & training go to www.ginconet.eu