Monitoring and evaluation mechanisms in adult education in countries by region
6.9 Research and collection of data and good practice
Governments in Europe and North America have prioritised research capacity and resources, which is evident in the quality and character of policy decisions and programme strategies in adult education.
Governments from other regions must also give importance to enhancing capacity and resources for policy-relevant research.
Overall, more differentiated data are needed than are currently available at national and sub-national levels. The interplay between participation as an input factor, processes and outcomes needs to be emphasised when collecting and disseminating data for monitoring and evaluation purposes. Participation is an important input factor, but needs to be related to output factors, such as progression and retention rates.
Cuba is one of the few developing countries that have dedicated knowledge management systems for the collection,
analysis and dissemination of data and good practice. Its government promotes the study of adult education in the doctoral programmes of departments of adult education. In addition to pedagogical and didactic processes, its authorities are also looking at how to transition adults from adult learning centres to continue their studies in higher education and universities. Research on transitioning literacy and English
language learners to adult basic and adult secondary education has been conducted in the United States of America.
In New Zealand, research takes place at the practical pedagogical level, particularly with regard to the “learning workplace”.
It concentrates on formative evaluation of literacy and numeracy projects run by industry training organisations (Ryan et al. 2012), as well as the transfer of literacy, language and numeracy skills from learning programmes to the workplace (Cameron et al., 2011). Research has also been conducted into “Increasing the engagement of employers in workplace literacy programmes” (New Zealand Department of Labour, 2010). Similarly, a Welsh study looks at the experiences of and levels of satisfaction amongst those participating in work-based learning programmes.
Research conducted to inform policy and programme design and implementation in England (United Kingdom) deals with economic impact, learner satisfaction, the wider benefits of learning, and longitudinal surveys of adult learners in college-based literacy and numeracy courses. The relevance of adult education programmes for economic development has also been the subject of research in Croatia.
6.10 Conclusion
The key dimensions of quality, identified as relevance, equity, effectiveness and efficiency, structure, process and results of programmes, are not new constructs in the discourse on adult learning and education. The renewed emphases arising from the Belém Framework for Action (UIL 2010a) are the juxtaposition of equity and quality, justification and validation of input and process by outcome criteria, and the placing of adult education within the framework of lifelong learning.
“Participation is an important input factor, but needs to be related to output factors, such as progression and retention rates.”
Conceptualising quality in terms of learning outcomes and results of programmes, and assessing learning that emphasises recognition, validation and accreditation of diverse learning experiences, are important steps towards lifelong learning.
As noted above, 70 per cent of the 129 responding countries reported that an RVA framework was used in assessing adult skills and competences. The use of learning outcomes in a broad sense can promote clarity and thus enhance participation through emphasising the relevance of programmes.
Learning outcomes require attention to the following aspects:
• levels determine whether learning outcomes are overarching at the level of policy, deal with intended learning outcomes at the level of qualification standards, or deal with specific learning outcomes at the level of learning programmes;
• learning outcomes should not be formulated in narrow and restricted ways, limiting rather than broadening expectations of learners;
• learning outcomes should not be tied to rigid output measures but should be used in conjunction with process and content data; and
• assessment approaches and methodologies must incorporate different levels and contexts.
Three-quarters of the countries who submitted data to this report had developed and used quality criteria for adult education programmes. However, there was wide variance in the understanding of quality, and in how quality indicators are defined and used. The responses from countries suggest that state authorities will continue to assume a major responsibility in regulating and setting standards of quality in adult literacy and adult education, and quality should play an essential role in shaping educational policy. This state role includes promoting and applying the lifelong learning perspective in adult education by ensuring diversity of pathways, encouraging all stakeholders, including the private sector and non-governmental organisations to create programmes responsive to different learning contexts and learning needs of adults.
It is important for research to contribute to quality management in adult education, taking into account the causal chain between input, process, output and outcome. Emphasis needs to be placed on the interests at stake for the different stakeholders. It is important for countries to highlight the link between quality inputs and the achievement of equity, social inclusion and economic development. Resources and capacities for research need to be enhanced to disseminate and apply “best practice” in adult education within and across countries.
These measures are needed to complement assessment and accountability procedures, in order to improve effectiveness and efficiency of adult education systems.
Key messages:
• Recent years have seen the continuing development of national qualification frameworks (NQFs) in Member States, which in turn have prompted the development of mechanisms for the recognition, validation and accreditation of non-formally and informally acquired knowledge and competence (RVA).
VET systems face the challenge of accommodating a broader range of vocationally relevant adult learning, merging general with vocational education, and formal with non-formal and informal learning modalities. These developments are part of the redesign of education and training systems and practices in conformity with the paradigm shift towards lifelong and life-wide learning.
• Professionalisation and regulation, together with research, monitoring and evaluation, still require concerted action.
Professionalization and regulation require judicious calibration in the interests of affirmative consolidation of both experienced and novice practitioners.
• Many Member States have developed and apply quality criteria, yet with wide variance in their conceptualisations, definitions and uses of quality indicators.
UNESCO could act as a global clearing-house for an integrated and critically reflective debate with respect to the benefits of heterogeneities for quality in adult learning and education.
ENSURING QUALITY IN ADULT EDUCATION
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