Session 0 : Grundtvig 2 March 2002 Selection - Mr. Jose Gutierrez

Socrates/Grundtvig

NA Informal Meeting - MALTA

25 - 27 April 2002

Friday 26th April 2002

Session 0 : Grundtvig 2 March 2002 Selection - Mr. Jose Gutierrez

FOCAL ISSUES:

95% of the total budget will be distributed between 1359 applications.
Only when both parties (i.e Commission and NA) sign the Operating Agreement, will the contract be sent to the NA.
The increase in the budget is approximately 45%.
What shall we do if we have more than 1 National Partner participating in a project?

NAs can limit the number of national partners.

The Finnish NA has limited the number to 2 National Partners.

Larger countries appear to have more National Partners than smaller countries.

Highest increases in participation in the following countries : MT, IS, IE, BE-fr, CY, IT, GR, SK, PL, ES, DE.
Lower increases in participation in the following countries : SE, RO, BG, NL, DK, FI, NO.
In general : A higher demand in Southern EU Countries.
The Grundtvig programme supports visits and mobilities.

Decentralised Actions are vital for the Grundtvig action and mobility should take place.

NAs should stimulate the mobility of learners.

When there is a low budget, we have to reduce the number of mobilities.

NAs must have strategies to help participants cope with problems that are encountered during the mobility.

It was a new experience for the BE-fl NA to have adult learners' mobility.

Section 1 : Grundtvig 2 - The Educational Policy behind Learning Partnerships

Presentation by Ms. Livia Ruszthy - Hungary NA - Quality Indicators for LPs - feedback from experts

Problems

Generic nature of the field to be measured.

Identify the role of the process.

There are 2 main categories in the Application Typology

Group 1 - Mini-TCPs - It contain a mini product

Group 2 - The product has been chopped off. What remains is the importance of the experiences that derive from the learner. It constitutes an on-going process.

Education has to move from process orientation. This process describes the learner's approach.
Learning Partnerships should be more learner centered.

3 main Evaluation Tools

Attitude Analysis - It is a test which exams the target group. What is tested is the learners' attitude towards learning. So that the test is valid, the questions have to be formulated in a certain way. In the questions, the emotions have to be addressed and not the intellectual.

Handbook for Quality Assurance and Self-Evaluation - It is very short and contains self-evaluation tools that can be used by any adult institution and learners. This handbook contains several criteria to be examined and evaluated.

Assessment of Learning Capacities - This assessment takes the form of a questionnaire. The students' autonomy to learn is crucial. The learner has to fill in this questionnaire to identify areas for improvement. There are 3 advantages :

It can be done on a continuous process.
The actors are the students themselves.
This questionnaire identifies areas for development.

Presentation by Ms. Eija Wilen - Finland NA - What is the process based learning in Learning Partnership?

In the Process based learning partnerships, the adults know what they want and decide what they want to study.
Teachers, trainers and students are all learners and have equal opportunities. All partners involved in a project should be at the same level.
The co-ordinator, together with the partners, should form and write the application form. Each partner is an adult and has experiences to share with his/her partners. The partners should compare what they have learnt to what the others are learning - making the learning process easy to each other.

Continuous communication between the partners is a must.
Face-to-face meetings are events where the partners learn how other institutions work.
In the partnerships we need more concrete starting points, new ideas, etc. We should focus more on the starting situation and be more motivated.
The application form should include more details and description. If the process is good, the plans must be flexible to change.
In the reports, the partners should describe what they have learnt from the partnership and what where their experiences.
After each meeting one should have a diary to write down ideas and share them.
Observation of one's learning process is a motivation to the other learner.
It is important that a Learning Partnership have joint results and products.
The application form can be improved and make it more oriented to the learner.
Clear information and guidance are important for a good partnership.

Discussion

We must make a difference between the Centralised and Decentralised Actions.
It is important to make a profile of the learners' partnerships.
The 406 renewal application forms contain vital elements of what happened in the past year; elements that describe the difficulties and strategic points that went ahead during the year of the project.
We must make a difference between the dissemination of Centralised and Decentralised projects.
All participants in the project are participating in the learning process.
A grid should be used and presented in the meeting that will be held in Denmark in October 2002.

Presentation by Ms. Julia Stone - UK NA - The importance of learner involvement in GR2 projects

NAs should get more adults involved in the learning process - to create a learning society.
We should develop an immediate audience where partners have contact with other learners.
The NAs have to motivate learners to become more involved in every aspect of the projects - to be part of a team.
The excitement of a project comes from the involvement of the travelers themselves. Mobility derives innovation.

Discussion

Tying the learning partnership with the National Context.
Southern countries might have innovative ideas different from the Northern countries - to give a European overview of what is happening in different countries.
Lack in funding support will develop in lack of innovation from the applicant side.
We need the support of national experts from different fields.
Production orientation comes from the supplier side. NAs should guide the applicants in what fields they have to work.
Innovation and stimulation should be more matched with the needs of the learner. NAs should help institutions to create the sense of innovation in the learners.
Not everything that applies for Grundtvig 1 applies for Grundtvig 2.
Learners need more ideas from NAs to develop their projects. There is also the need that learners come forward and present their ideas.
Language barrier is a disability in the project.
The working groups can provide practical help and ideas. The Commission can formally support these groups. They can produce tools that are innovative.
The Grundtvig action can create courses, supported by the European Commission, that can help co-ordinators and partners in developing a project.

Presentation by Ms. Grazyna Klimowicz - Poland NA - The importance of learner involvement in GR2 projects

In 2001, 26 projects have been submitted under Grundtvig 2 and 16 projects have been accepted.
In 2002, 67 applications have been submitted.

Discussion

The crucial thing in a project is dialog which helps in the development of the project.
The progress of a project is seen from one year to another.
To live in an open dimension in education is a great challenge for the learners.
The partner finding web site is a helping tool for the partners to find other partners. It can be the main reference point which partners can use. A dynamic interactive tool to use in the project.
It is a good training for the co-ordinator to meet his/her partners, so that they can improve and exchange ideas. It is an added value to the project.
One of the objectives of the Grundtvig action is that the people reach each other. People living in rural areas are one of the priorities to develop a good project. These people should be attracted to participate in projects.
NGOs should also be involved in projects but sometimes it is difficult to find.

Presentation by Ms. Claudine Dalmas - Malta NA - Management difficulties for Grundtvig 2

Opening Pandora’s Box

Sometimes the learners do not feature as much as they should be in a project.
A first matching list should be done before the national selection to identify how many partners are involved in a project.
A Learning Partnership is a joint project and must be managed decentrally by each country.
There is no limit for the Variable Amount but the NA can guide the applicant about the average amount that he/she can request.
The financial report must assess the grant requested.
Reserve Lists - If the project is of bad quality, than it is not eligible for funding. If the project is of good quality but there is a problem of funding, then the project should be put on reserve.
All partners, together with the co-ordinator of the project, should prepare and plan the application form together. The co-ordinator remains the key person of the project.
Contact Seminars are key elements to find appropriate partners for the project.
A conference should be created in NETY as regards Preparatory Visits to see if the visit is taking place and which country is going to attend the visit.
NAs should not do qualitative selection between New and Renewal Application Forms. The Renewals should respect the criteria. If the quality of the renewal is poor, then the application form should not be approved. A Renewal application form can only be renewed if it is of good quality.

Presentation by Mr. Rudolf Sindelar - Czech Republic NA - Monitoring Visits Report

It is of utmost importance that NAs meet the co-ordinators of the projects.
The first meeting between the NAs and co-ordinators is crucial to help them in difficulties, disseminate information, give them ideas, etc.
The partners are also glad to have support and help from the NA.
Co-ordinators of past projects can lead the working groups during the meetings.
Networking is important during the project because the partners will get to know each other and strengthen the cooperation between them.
Experts can also be invited to the monitoring meetings to have face-to-face contact with the participants. The Commission is willing to participate in these meetings.
A training seminar with the Technical Assistance Office is vital for the project. They can inform the NAs what they look for when they are assessing the projects.

Presentation by Ms. Georgia Sarri - Greek NA - National Evaluation Report

Evaluation is a management tool because it shows how we are managing the project.
We must not stop at the description of the project but we should interpret the results.
In the evaluation process several points can come out : What were the obstacles, what is the Commission expecting from the NAs, etc.
The working groups might help in this process.

Saturday 27th April 2002

Grundtvig 3 : Grants to participate in Adult Education Training Activities

Presentation by Ms. Edita Treciokiene - Lithuania NA

It is important to have quality assurance at institutional level.
There should be an emphasis on the course provided and what actually does this course have to offer to the participants.
The database for Grundtvig/Comenius Courses will not be divided but the applicants have to enter the required fields to find the appropriate courses.
A good idea is to have an on-line application form for the course providers. If this will be the case, it is important that the NA controls and validates the courses.
NAs should organise meetings with the course providers so that they can give some feedback about the courses.
The course provider must follow the criteria when he/she is going to offer and apply for a course. They should also evaluate his/her course to see if it was a learning experience for the applicant.
It is the responsibility of the NA to stop the course provider if the course is not eligible and does not follow the criteria.
At the end of the course, each participant can assess the course.
NAs should promote Grundtvig 3 so that more applicants will apply in the next round. This could be done through information sessions.
National Funding can be used for replacing a teacher when he/she attends a course funded under the Socrates Programme.
Grundtvig 3 presents us with the reality of Adult Education.

Presentation by Ms. Claudia Laubenstein - German NA

31st July - An extension in the Grundtvig 3 budget. The budget can be spent until 31st October.
Written procedures will be presented to the members of the Committee. By mid-May there will be an answer from the Committee. From 2002 - 2003 onwards, Grundtvig 3 participants can participate in courses that are less than 1 week.

Discussion

Grundtvig study visits can be included in a Catalogue, like the Arion action, for 'ordinary teachers'.
Conferences and Seminars will help to increase the participation in the Grundtvig action. They add another perspective and can be organised by institutions, national bodies, etc.

Although there might be a lot of effort from the course providers to organise courses, there might be no applications from the participants.
If development of courses is funded, this will be an incentive to organise more courses.
A National Database of needs should be set up and linked all over Europe. It creates a better understanding of the needs in different countries.
There is a need for more quality control from the NAs because some courses are just touristic courses.
Internet is the best tool to disseminate the courses.
Using funds by transferring the money from Grundtvig 2 to Grundtvig 3 and extending calls would create havoc and would be difficult to control what is going on.
There is a need for a catalogue, a manual for guidance on quality so that the NAs can work on it.

Presentation by Mr. Philip Sonderberg - Denmark NA - The Danish Grundtvig Conference

A draft programme of the conference was presented.
The conference is one of the official events for the Danish presidency.
Mainly it will be a 3-day conference for the working partnerships.
Dates are tentative and will be confirmed later on.
During the conference there will be discussion on different themes in the Learning Partnerships. Need to plan the right partnerships in right workshops to yield good results.
The NAs will have an active role in choosing the partnerships.
Issues of workshops :

What does an ideal partnership look like?

What experience was gained till now and how to use it to make status and deal with problems?

Models of evaluation.

Linking formal and non-formal institutions.

There will be Learning Partnerships space to present and discuss results.
Planning of a journalist to work as a reporter, try to get key points and present them to the public.
Target audience is approximately 100 people from the Learning Partnerships and 10 from Grundtvig 1 and 4: total number around 150 people.
A lot of planning needs to be done to have active participation from everyone.
There is a need to identify the target groups, for example people with special needs and the disability.