Session Information
02 SES 13 C, Overcoming Vulnerability and Enhancing Social Cohesion Through Inclusion, Communication and Active Citizenship in the Context of Adult Education and VET
Symposium
Contribution
The paper provides insights into the EduMap project’s objectives and will further consider its key theoretical and methodological approaches. EduMAP aimed to explore adult education policies and practices in Europe and beyond, specifically focusing on the extent to which these policies facilitate and promote the social inclusion of young adults, who are at risk of social exclusion. The paper will present the conclusions from the desk research and introduce the project’s key concepts and approaches that shaped the empirical research. In this research, the concept of active participatory citizenship was used as a conceptual lens to analyse the role of adult education in including young people into active social, political and economic participation and engagement. EduMap’s desk research findings supported the view that the development of social, political and economic engagement can take place through different types of adult education, such as vocational education and training (VET), basic skills classes and second-chance education, in both formal and informal settings. In considering these issues, the project’s research also investigated the role of information and communication processes in shaping aspects of access, inclusion and engagement in AE for young people at risk of social exclusion. It sheds light on interconnections and mismatches between the supply and use side of AE, identify critical points related to information and communication practices and ways of addressing them for making AE more inclusive and effective in cultivating APC for young people in situations of vulnerability or risk. One of the key outcomes is an analytical framework - the Communicative Ecologies and Assemblages Analytical Framework (CEA Framework). In this project, the CEA framework was used to analyse both the communication practices of young people and those of AE programmes across 5 key components: Goals, Social, Information, Media and Agency. Cutting across the rich variety of good practice cases we studied, across education providers, learners and young people not engaged in AE, the five components of the framework can be shown to highlight essential considerations for better connecting young people with suitable AE opportunities to make a difference for their lives.
References
Altheide, D. L. (1994) An Ecology of Communication: Toward a Mapping of the Effective Environment. The Sociological Quarterly, 35(4): 665-683 Evans, K. (2009). Learning, Work and Social Responsibility. Dordrecht: Springer. Holford J and Mleczko A. (2013) Lifelong learning: national policies from the European perspective. In: Saar et al. (eds). (2013) Lifelong Learning in Europe: National Patterns and Challenges. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd; 25–45. Kersh, N., & Toiviainen, H. (Eds.) (2017). Broad Research on Adult Education in the EU: Research Report. EduMap project. Available at http://www.uta.fi/edu/en/transit/index/D2.1.Report.30.6.2017.pdf Schuller, T, Watson, D 2009, Learning through life: Inquiry into the Future for Lifelong Learning: summary, National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (England and Wales), Leicester, Tacchi, J., Slater, D., and Lewis, P. (2003) Evaluating community-based media initiatives: An ethnographic action research approach. OURMedia III conference, Barranquilla, Colombia. 19-21 May 2003.
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