LLLP's EU Level Tampada final conference on Wider benefits of learning

On the 25th of March 2021, LLLP project team organised the final conference of the Tampada project at European level on “Wider benefits of learning: Why and How to measure them” (agenda of the conference).

LLLP was a partner in TAMPADA project, which was ended after 30-month of implementation. While the other partners hosted events at national level in Greece, Sweden, United Kingdom and Slovenia, LLLP opted for organising a European-wide conference in order to exchange practices and raise awareness on the importance of better measuring adult learners’ lifelong and lifewide progress.

Watch the conference recording video below

The conference was quite a success as it gathered over 140 participants from across the EU but also from as far as Japan, Australia and Pakistan! The conference was moderated by Susana Oliveira, LLLP Steering committee member. She welcomed the participants and invited them to share examples of wider benefits of learning using a virtual interactive tool (Mentimeter) – See the examples from participants. It seemed that most participants had already a very good awareness of what those examples can be, such as in social inclusion, citizenship.

Presentation of Tampada project outcomes

The introduction was followed by a presentation by Pauline, Project and Policy coordinator at LLLP, of the main Tampada project results (download her presentation). In her presentation, she outlined why there is a need for better monitoring and assessment of wider benefits of learning in adult education focusing on the European context. She raised the challenge that even though awareness on those benefits is increasing, initiatives to systematically measure them remain scare, fragmented, time-bounded and overall, insufficiently spread.

The main results from Tampada are the publication of an “Evidence collection toolkit and framework for tracking and monitoring the progress of disadvantaged learners”, which defines AE outcomes under 4 areas: Development of self and life skills, Health and wellbeing, Employability, employment and learning, and Social, community and citizenship. The Toolkit also includes a 6-steps methodology that adult learning providers can follow to measure learners’ lifelong and lifewide progress.

This Toolkit has been transformed in a user-friendly digital assessment tool that AEPs and educators can use to measure their learners’ progress. Stakeholders interested in using the tool can express their interest here in a Google Form.

Finally, Pauline shared some recommendations from the project addressed to adult education stakeholders and policy-makers for further development of initiatives like Tampada. A Policy report is upcoming and will soon be published on the project website.

Panel discussion with three speakers

The project presentation was followed by a panel discussion involving a researcher from the Free University of Brussels (VUB and Chair of adult education at Unesco), a representative of adult education in Belgium-Flanders, as well as a policy-maker from the European Commission (Adult learning unit at DG EMPL). Maurice De Greef presented impressive research studies and their results (download presentation) on measuring adult learning outcomes.

Karine Nicolay presented the project of the national coordinator in Flanders for the European Agenda of Adult Learning (Lang Leven Leren) and the Erasmus+ project GOAL (Guidance and Orientation for Adult Learners) and she emphasised as well the importance of open recognition (download presentation). Finally, Martina Ni Cheallaigh shared some European policy achievements, for instance with the Upskilling pathways Recommendation. She also mentioned a few other important EU policies such as the 2020 publication of the European Skills Agenda as well as the upcoming promising revision of the EU agenda of adult learning this year by the Slovenian Presidency of the EU (2nd semester of 2021).