The project

The project is drawn in the context of the current crisis in Europe that extends in many different areas, five of them having the biggest influence on adults’ education:

• the economic crisis,
• the social crisis,
• the crisis of European cohesion and identity,
• the ethical crisis
• the personal crisis – particularly due to the status on labour market.

On the other hand, even there are 17 years for adoption of EU laws that forbid discrimination, about 40% from immigrants, descendants of immigrants and minority ethnic groups continue to face widespread discrimination across the EU and in all areas of life (because of their ethnic or immigrant background, as well as potentially related characteristics, such as skin color and religion) most often when seeking employment. The percent is almost double among over 35 years old adults with low skills (particularly communication in adoption country’s language) and low qualification.

For these persons – but not only, autobiographical method could create a comprehensive solution for supporting low-skilled/low-qualified adult learners. By sharing the story of our lives at any age&in any context, we may strengthen a process of self-knowledge, self-awareness, self-education.

The more important is this method for people with a “double identity” as migrants&ethnic minorities – who are in a permanent inner fight between two social and cultural identities: one of the majority they live in and one of the minority they come from (even is about a country they just migrate from or their ancestors came many years ago or the ethnos they belong to).

In this context the main goal of the project is to contribute to facilitate a bigger participation of low skilled adults coming from migrants and ethnic minorities groups in education/training programmes that will increase their chances on inclusion in society and on the labour market – as a main pillar for their social inclusion

Specific objectives:

1. enhancing the professional development of 120 adult educators working with low skilled/qualified migrants and minorities from the 5 partner countries – by equipping them with important knowledge, improved abilities and offering them a complex and flexible training kit for using autobiography in adults’ education (tested on 10 different groups of low low-skilled/qualified adults from migrants/minorities groups)
2. developing and testing (on 10 different groups of low/skilled/qualified adults from migrants and ethnic minorities groups – 2 from each country involved) new, innovative and flexible (easy to adapt) training materials based on autobiographical method.
3. fostering international dimension of low-skilled/qualified adults’ education by developing training materials that use the expertise of 5 countries and an on-line Resource Center – continuously updatable with training materials and other useful information from all Europe.

The project is developed by a partnership involving 5 organizations covering the whole Europe (from North – Sweden – to South – Italy and from West – UK to East – Romania) with different backgrounds, expertise and approaches of adult education issues, particularly of tailoring learning opportunities to the needs of individual low-skilled/low-qualified adults.