MiA Aims, values and some results

Lena LindenskovFiaTest SRLBucuresti

26th October 2006

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Learning from other countries in EU

• Is possible and valuable• But WHAT can we learn• HOW can we learn• And WHY do we learn

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Seven partners

• Danish University of Education, DK • Regional Education Centre Utrecht , NL• Adult Learning Centre Fyn, DK• Norwegian Institute for Adult Education VOX• Slovenian Institute for Adult Education SIAE• Vilnius Adult Education Centre, Lithuania• AGORA - Association of Participants, Spain• The Hungarian Folk High School Society

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• The common aim is to contribute to • improvement of learning and teaching

mathematics in adult education (general and vocational) in EU countries

• improvement in participation and success rates of adult learners

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MiA wishes to investigatethree invisible aspects

• That numeracy is as important and relevant as it is and can be

• That adults actually have and can have informal and formal skills, knowledge, and habits

• How adults actually learn in their individual lives – outside formal schooling

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MiA conception of importance

From international surveys and European Commission papers we see

• that it is relevant and necessary to enhance numeracy* capabilities in a broader sense among European adults;

• and that we should think of numeracy* as a key competence for all in a knowledge-based society.

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• We think: Numeracy is relevant for adults for keeping and getting work and for further study.

• We think: Adults also want to help and talk to their children about school.

• We think: Numeracy is a tool adults need for daily life and relevant for personal fulfilment.

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* Importance of term choice?

• Numeracy / Adult numeracy …• Functional mathematics …• Mathematical literacy …• Quantitative numeracy …• Mathemacy …• Competence - Key competence …

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MiA challenges three misconceptions

• Only relevant for few people

• Just simple addition, subtraction, timetables, percentages and things like that, are relevant things to learn

• Adults can already or can easily (re) learn it by memorizing and by paper, pen, or screen exercises

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’in a broader sense’ !?!?!?

• Not just relevant for few people

• Not just simple addition, subtraction, timetables, percentages and things like that, are relevant things to learn

• Not appropriate nor easy just to (re) learn by memorizing and by paper, pen, or screen exercises

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’in a broader sense’ !?!?!?

• maybe also contra examples which are very narrow can communicate as well

• here come two examples from www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise

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1: addition and subtracting money

A power tool costs £42.95 on special offer in store A and £65.75 in store B. How much do you save if you buy it from store A?

You must:

• record amounts to two decimal places, putting in extra zeroes if needed

• line up the decimal points so they are underneath each other

• start your calculation from the right

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2: how to cope with the news

• A survey interviewed 500 teenagers. Almost half do not always wash their hands after they have been to the toilet at school or before eating.

• Math question is: How many is half of 500? Choose among 150, 200, 250, and 300

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MiA builds instead on broader values:

• treat adult learners as equals, and recognise adult learners as ’full’ citizens

• let education be a way to include people in the society

• also teachers and MiA participants can learn from learners

• adults want to understand the world around them and why things are as they are. We think adults want to be active.

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Therefore: MiA objectives

• to investigate alternative ways of learning basic mathematics by adults, especially in out-of-school situations, supported and coached by teachers in adult learning centres.

• to inspire to the use of alternative learning and teaching ways to be used alongside traditional teaching methods and outside traditional learning environments.

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• to provide teachers and adult learners with examples how to deal with different real-life situations in which numeracy skills can be further developed, e.g. at the workplace, at home, and in societal life.

By that learning can be more attractive and relevant for adult learners and so increase their motivation.

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MiA is organised in 6 steps

• An investigation of teachers’ views and experiences on learning and teaching mathematics in adult education. (1)

• Study on learning mathematics in action. There is a mutual influence between theory and experiences from NL, ES, DK of learning in action by which both can be enhanced. (2)

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• Analyses of competencies adults need to have acquired to become functional numerate. (3)

• Learning/coaching experiments in all countries. (4)

These lead to further development of

theoretical framework.

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• Mtw: MiA teacher workshops will be

developed for implementation and dissemination of learning in action. The workshops will be piloted in partner countries. The workshops will be evaluated and revised. The results are the basis for the MiA teacher workshops manual. (5)

• a handbook for teachers. (6)

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• The starting points contain theory and examples. Examples and theory is explaining each other, so we think of it as a circle.

• It is our aim to communicate to teachers and with teachers in ways that teachers connect to. We start discussions about examples and theory that demonstrates and inspires good practice. We make teachers discuss and reflect.

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MiA and teachers

• We wish to provide adult teachers with food for thoughts, in form of theory, methods, and ideas.

• Even 100 examples of what we have done and ideas of what could be done, would not serve as recipes for how to do. What we provide are starting points for teachers to improve.

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MiA and learners

• Maybe adults start education including some mathematics because of structural need but as adults come to know more, they may recognise that it is also a personal need to learn and engage in education.

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In this way MiA pays tribute to:

• N.F.S. Grundtvig

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It is our hope

• to support education in mathematics to become more effective as the scope of learning opportunities will be widened