PART 4

Adult education supplement

Adult education supplement is an additional training for circle leaders and personnel. Here you will deepen your knowledge and look more closely at pedagogy and adult education.

Adult education supplement

PART 4 Adult education supplement is an additional training for circle leaders and personnel. Here you will deepen your knowledge and look more closely at pedagogy and adult education.

Film: Introduction to supplementary training Here Animor will give you an introduction to the in-depth training. This part is for those of you who are newly employed or a circle leader and want to deepen your knowledge about adult education. CLOSE VIDEO CLOSE VIDEO

Repetition adult education Adult education - free and voluntary

• The participant himself or herself chooses to participate and chooses subject
• The participant must be given influence over structure and content
• Based on the participant's needs and experience
• Individual course plans, free from grading

Every adult education association has its own profile and particular characteristics. Adult education must be many-sided and flexible. We receive financial support from the society for our adult education enterprise in the form of tax monies from the government, municipalities and county councils. This gives us a particular responsibility, to see to it that our adult education enterprise is designed in a way which corresponds to the purposes which the donors of the subsidies have specified. Repetition adult education Adult education - free and voluntary

• The participant himself or herself chooses to participate and chooses subject
• The participant must be given influence over structure and content
• Based on the participant's needs and experience
• Individual course plans, free from grading

Every adult education association has its own profile and particular characteristics. Adult education must be many-sided and flexible. We receive financial support from the society for our adult education enterprise in the form of tax monies from the government, municipalities and county councils. This gives us a particular responsibility, to see to it that our adult education enterprise is designed in a way which corresponds to the purposes which the donors of the subsidies have specified.

The leader's role CLOSE VIDEO The role which a circle leader has in a group depends on a number of different things. A leader in a music group does not have the same function as a leader in a study circle in language. What type of leader you are is governed by the subject which the study circle deals with.

A leader can, for example, be:

• An expert in the subject
• A practical adviser
• A discussion leader
• A convener

An important concept in adult education is that every person must be able to contribute with his or her own experiences and knowledge which indirectly contribute to the group's development. There is a democratic concept in the study circle, and the leader's role should separate itself from the more traditional leader's role.

In addition to the circle's subject, the participants' expectations and desires play a large role in the design of the leader's role. The circle leader must listen to the participants so that all will have the same expectations. In that way you will create the study circle together.

The circle leader is of course in a way a formal leader, but it is important to let other participants in the group lead and take the initiative in situations where that is suitable. Bring other participants forward and let several take responsibility in areas where some other person has more knowledge. Every participant has his or her own goals with the circle, his or her own experiences, his or her own learning style and expectations.

Sometimes participants expect that the circle leader will act as a traditional teacher, that is, that the leader is the one who makes decisions, teaches, and is the one who speaks the most. It is therefore important that the circle leader, even during the first meeting, has a discussion with the group about the participants' expectations and the circle's structure. And of course include everyone! Tips and discussion What does the leader role entail? How can you, as leader, act so that all group members will speak and be participatory?

Below are some examples of what can contribute to activating the participants:

• A secure and open atmosphere: devote a little time in the study circle to getting to know one another!

• Vary the size of the group: exercises in pairs, in small groups, individual work and large groups. It is easier to express yourself in a small group, this is especially important to think about if the group is new. It is easier to collaborate in a small group and many tasks are both more fun and more efficient if one can collaborate with others. A person who is unsure of himself or herself will dare more in a small group – and then also learn more.

• Furnishings: a traditional classroom furnishing easily creates distance between the participants. Vary and test new ways! CLOSE VIDEO

Participant influence CLOSE VIDEO In order for all participants to have influence over the study circle, discuss how the group wants to function and work when the circle starts. Here are some support questions:

• Why do they want to learn this subject?
• Why have they chosen Folkuniversitetet?
• What expectations do they have about you as leader?
• What do they expect from their comrades in the course?
• What do they themselves think that they will do/contribute in order to learn?
• How do they want to work?
• How do they not want to work?
•What experience to they have of the subject? E.g. from school?
• What demands can you, as leader, make of the participants?
• What demands can you, as leader, not make of the participants?
That the participants have influence is one of the fundamental prerequisites for operating a study circle and other adult education enterprises. It is therefore important that the dynamics in the group function.

At Folkuniversitetet we encourage participation to take place in small groups because:

• It is easier to speak in a small group. Especially at the beginning.
• It is more fun to learn together.
• In a small group all may speak, all can be active at the same time.
• People have each other as sounding boards
• People share their experiences and knowledge with each other.
• Two know more than one, three know more than two. There is simply much more knowledge.
CLOSE VIDEO

We are burning for learning. It takes us to new places – both in the world and in thought. It enables us to see in new ways. It makes us more clever. And the more we understand the better we become at understanding others. But the very most important is that every individual with these capacities in turn contributes to a better society. Knowledge changes.

Thoughts about teaching Motivation Motivation is an inner driving force and a will or a desire to accomplish something. The participants in a circle come voluntarily. They want to participate. Here you, as leader, can help the group to satisfy the participants' driving force. Unfortunately there are no simple methods for increasing motivation but a good understanding of the group's combined driving force will provide good conditions for the participants to learn what they want to. Different teaching styles Think about and discuss with your participants:

Is there an optimal way to learn new things? Do you always learn in the same way? Can the subject have significance for the learning process?

Questions which can inspire discussion:

• Have you recently learned something new and interesting? How did the process work?
• Do you remember some school subject which you thought was difficult? What do you think would have made the subject easier?
• How do you go about solving a difficult math problem?
• How do you go about learning something practical?
How a person learns differs from person to person. One group needs to read about the subject in order to understand, some would prefer to listen and talk, while others must test things practically. Some people do better with working in groups while others would prefer to learn on their own. It is not always easy to find the optimal method for each person in a group, but if you vary the way in which work is done it will be easier to create a situation which works for everyone.

Active teaching A good procedure for learning something is to be active. It is not enough that you, as leader, talk and present a mass of information. Active learning is a method which is based on John Dewey's theory ”Learning by Doing”. In order to learn so that one remembers and can use the new knowledge it is necessary that there be space for participants to be able to discuss, work practically, and explain to one another. It is therefore good to weave together theory, practice, reflection and activity and to make them into a pedagogic unit.

Active teaching is developing and encouraging the following abilities:

• Problem solving
• Communication
• Teamwork
• Capacity for empathy
• Analysis and reflection

If you want to know more, look up: David Kolb, Active learning, and John Dewey. Goals and success Success is motivating! Encourage, give praise, show the group's progress. You can also help the participants to see their progress themselves.

Without a goal is it hard to see a direction, therefore it is necessary for all to be agreed on the goals for the circle and that every participant's individual goal is reasonable. It is good, even from the beginning, to set partial goals on the way to a final goal. To check off these partial goals is satisfying and creates motivation to go further. Sometimes there may be a tentative feeling that appears at the start – it doesn't matter, the study circle is intended as a developing process. Check off the partial goals – is it going forward? Lifelong learning Learning is a process that continues during the entire circle and also outside of it, in private. Use the experiences and thoughts which the participants have from their lives outside of the study circle, and give the participants assignments which will get them to "take the circle home with them". Some words about home assignments Are there to be home assignments in a voluntary study circle? It is not obligatory that you are to devote yourself to the circle's activity when you are home. We believe, however, that having one's own work is an important component during the learning process and that one's own stimulus promotes curiosity. We also believe that curiosity is the corner stone of lifelong learning.

One's own work:

• Gives you an opportunity to practice what you have learned and prevents you from forgetting
• Gives you a chance to deepen and broaden the knowledge from the circle in accordance with your own interests
• Creates connections between the meetings

Planning A successful study circle, as well as other educational or cultural activities, requires good planning.

The planning documents for the course, namely the method study plan within the study service or the web text for the course activity, describe the circle and course at an overarching level. However, each circle is unique.

By writing a work plan within the study service or keeping notes/logbook within the course activity, you create a more detailed description of how the individual circle is conducted and developed. The focus should be on learning and development..

The e-list provides a basis for the work plan and notes. You also specify the study material used in the e-list, which is mandatory for study circles and other educational activities.

Tips and discussion How can you involve your participants in the planning - both at the start of the circle and thereafter from time to time?

Planning helps you and the group to:

• Include important content

• Work pedagogically, adapted to the individual and with the right way of working for the purpose

• Vary and make follow-ups without losing the direction of the meetings

• Be able to adjust certain parts of the content during the course of the journey

• Remember what has functioned well and re-use it in the next study circle/course

Digital aids Here are examples of digital aids that we use within Folkuniversitetet. Teams is a software for collaboration and communication used by Folkuniversitetet for remote work and virtual meetings. Teams allows for document sharing, messaging, and video meetings. Moodle is a platform for distance education used by Folkuniversitetet. It creates virtual classroom experiences where participants can access learning materials, discuss topics, and collaborate with each other online. Zoom is a software for virtual meetings, remote meetings, and online teaching. It is particularly useful because it enables interaction at a distance.

Within the various enterprise forms there are opportunities for new thinking. But it is important that we always follow the rules and instructions which apply to adult education's various enterprises. In Part 3 of this material you were given a short introduction to our ruling document, which is called Atomen. Below there is a little repetition of the most important guidelines for our adult education work.

Atomen contains rules, interpretations and examples of how the adult education enterprise is to be operated.

You will find the regulatory structure Atomen appended under deepening [Sw: ”fördjupning”] furthest down on the page. Studies conducted pursuant to plan The adult education association's organising role The adult education association's enterprise can be carried out in collaboration with member organisations, other organisations, associations and individual groups or by directing itself to the public by means of open course activities. Only the adult education association can be the organiser of enterprises that are entitled to governmental subsidies. Folkuniversitetet thus cannot transfer its role as organiser, or act as an intermediary, to a collaborating organisation. Any reimbursement to another collaborating party must be supported by reported and verified costs which are directly connected to the relevant adult education enterprise.

Read more about the organising role in Atomen.

The adult education regulation regulates governmental subsidies to adult education enterprises. It says that the study circle enterprise, with common studies conducted pursuant to a plan, is the basis of the adult education association's enterprise.

The circle work thus serves the purpose of teaching – a development in the circle. An enterprise the purpose of which is games, playing or sports, or their production/development, cannot be reported as an enterprise that is entitled to governmental subsidy. This means that a study circle can never involve only:

• Exercise/proficiency training
• Practice
• Production/development
• Socialising
• Reproduction

Repetition, practice and exercise/application are included in all learning. But they may not dominate the study time and make the learning process stop but instead must strengthen and develop learning.
The participants must, through jointly planned studies, move themselves forward towards the knowledge and proficiency goals which the group has established. Study circle A study circle can be supplemented, for example, with other activities than ordinary meetings. It may involve distance learning, study visits, collaboration with another circle, or contributions from an expert. Study visits which are included in the study circle are counted as a meeting. Study visits may not be more than the regular meetings. A traditional study circle may also be combined with a distance event or take place entirely at distance. Other adult education enterprises Other adult education enterprises are the most common form for newly-created enterprises since they permit more flexible and freer forms. The meetings in a newly-created enterprise can be longer and carried out more intensely than in a study circle. Weekend courses are an example of another adult education enterprise. The participants can also be more than can be registered for the study circle. In other adult education enterprises even children from 6 years of age may participate. Folkuniversitetet must, however, be able to justify how the government's purposes with governmental subsidies to adult education are satisfied in enterprises which are directed towards children. The enterprise can also be carried out at a distance if other conditions for the enterprise are satisfied. Cultural programs Cultural programs provide an opportunity for circle participants to share what they have learned in a study circle. For example, this can be in the form of an exhibition, or a theatre or dance performance. The cultural programs can also be entirely free-standing and carried out together with a cultural association or some other collaboration partner. Cultural programs must be open to the public and publicised in advance. Remember that if there is a musical component in the cultural program it must be reported to STIM. Guidelines and Atomen

Link 01 Atomen, the framework of adult education (Swedish) Link 02 Pedagogical framework, our view of learning Link 03 Read more about our mission Link 04 Research information, lectures & seminars More information

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