22 – 26 July, 2022
Maribor, Slovenia

In the Association EPEKA, Soc. Ent., we organize international training – digital competences and functional literacy.

As coordinator, the Association EPEKA, Soc. Ent., hosts international training for adult education professionals from Poland, the United Kingdom, Italy, Bulgaria, Serbia and Germany.

The second activity in the project, which was postponed due to the inability to implement mobilites during the COVID 19 epidemic, will address an area that several representatives of the final target group in all partner countries have stated is often under-represented in the activities of both public institutions and non-governmental programmes.

Individual approach and treatment, as well as career guidance, are important components of the work of adult education professionals with the final target group. They enable the creation of well-functioning teams within the educational process, the identification of learners’ existing competences and the guidance of learners into the training that will have the most positive impact on their integration and employability. At the same time, the individual approach is also a good basis for building trusting relationships between the educator and the learners. The international training activity, in which 14 experts will participate, will devote an essential part to developing the soft skills that are crucial for successful individual interviews – empathy, overcoming cultural differences, understanding the fears and inhibitions of people with fewer opportunities, and on the other hand, identifying lies and attempts at manipulation.

We will use the help of volunteers and non-formal education methods such as role-playing. We will also focus on non-formal education methods that promote cohesion within the group and facilitate cooperation in a heterogeneous group. The second part builds on the first.

Career guidance is a multifaceted process that requires a good knowledge of the learner and their competences and strengths. On the one hand, the trainer must have the skills to identify (sometimes hidden) competences, and on the other hand, the trainer must be able to teach the learner to see for him/herself what his/her strengths and weaknesses are and to take this into account in further education and job search. In this way, the educator can set and steer programmes in directions that address specific competences or pose challenges for the learner to overcome in order to develop further. The skills discussed are also key to building heterogeneous but cohesive teams within education, in which learners complement each other and share key knowledge and competences with each other.

Results: increased competences in individual work and career counselling, better understanding of the needs and specificities of end-users, increased soft skills, increased knowledge of NFE methods, increased international experience of training staff, progress in the implementation of O1.

The project is funded by the EU Erasmus+ programme.

The Association EPEKA, Soc. Ent., is supported by: