Newsletter
Number 3, October 2021

Erasmus+ Programme, KA2 - Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices
KA204 - Strategic partnerships for adult education

Project: “Creativity in Art&Design for Learners and Educators” – CrADLE

Dear reader,

we are happy to share with you the second CrADLE newsletter. You can read about the progression of our project below.

A brief update of the activities carried out within the project

Despite the crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the implementation and development of our Erasmus + KA2 CrADLE project - Creativity in Art & Design for Learners and Educators - CrADLE has been very successful so far. We are constantly trying to adapt to the current pandemic situation and stay safe, while still achieving our objectives and carrying out all of our project activities.

During the summer, in addition to the well-deserved vacation, we worked hard on the development of IO2 TRAIN THE TRAINER manual and accompanying program for educators, by carrying out an analysis of educational needs of seniors, but also educators/trainers who provide senior learners with educational services. We carried out this analysis by applying two questionnaires, one for educators, and another one for senior learners. These questionnaires were applied by each project partner in their country. The research reports have shown while it is not difficult to work with seniors, educators have to be more careful in the process of constructing and designing the courses by taking into account all the particularities of senior learners. We must not forget that they have an acute need; to benefit from optimal and inclusive conditions in training sessions or workshops which can be achieved by adapting educational resources and facilitating the physical participation of seniors with reduced mobility, meaning more attention should be paid to the health of seniors and other difficulties they face.

 The beginning of autumn surprised us in the process of carrying out the training activity C1 „How to teach the elderly?“, a workshop supported by the Romanian Institute of Adult Education. Although it was planned that this workshop be held face to face, the unpredictable course of the pandemic has stopped us from carrying out the workshop in this format.

Therefore, everything was adapted to carry out the workshop online, with the participation of 4 people from each organization (the consortium of partners of this project).

The course lasted 3 days, between 28th and 30th September, with synchronous and asynchronous work sessions in small groups by 4 partners, as blended learning.

The purpose of this training course was to understand the specifics of working with the elderly and the development of Train the trainer manual and program for educators, which was forseen as IO2 in our project.

The objectives of the course were:

- to develop skills for working with seniors by adapting the curriculum and it's content in accordance with the specifics of adult learning;

- to develop competencies for organizing and implementing training courses for senior learners;

- to apply an appropriate and effective methodology to facilitate learning for senior learners.

The first result of this training session was the development of a lesson plan applying the principles of adult education and pedagogy tips, studied and discussed during the 3 days, addressed to seniors on a specific topic chosen by each group.

We can say that the feedback received was positive, encouraging and motivating for the development of IO2, which is an educational resource for trainers who work or want to work with the elderly and develop educational services for this population.

Therefore, our work during this period will continue towards the development of IO2 – manual and accompanying program for educators, addressed to all trainers and practitioners in adult education who work with senior learners. As a part of the project, we will create a manual that will explain the methodology of working with the elderly. It will be a methodological manual that will contain all the constituent elements of the teacher education program for teaching and working with the elderly, accompanied by simoultaniously developed program for educators.

Thank you for your time and interest in the project. We will keep you updated with future activities.

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Kind regards,

Romanian Institute for Adult Education – IREA, Timisoara, Romania