About project – Creative Blog

Erasmus+ project Adult Education Action KA204 for 2019/2021 entitled “A teacher in a folk high school facing the challenges of contemporary Europe” was intended for teachers of folk high schools.

Its primary goal was to prepare teachers working in folk high schools in the field of methodology and didactics, and to develop a curriculum for adults with a low level of basic skills. By promoting the activities of folk high schools in Poland, the level of participation in lifelong learning should also increase.

As part of the project, in Brenderup Højskole – one of the Danish folk high schools – a course for 25 teachers from three Polish and one German folk high schools was held.

A healthy lifestyle and taking care of the natural environment are the basis of human functioning in the modern world. People have a problem with finding a balance between private and professional life, which has a negative impact on their mental and physical condition. We live in a fast pace, and competences in the field of digital technologies, household management or reading comprehension are low – hence the need to implement a pilot course “Budget in a nutshell” for 20 people with a low level of basic skills.

Due to the restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the classes were conducted in a hybrid way, and the participants managed to learn many secrets of the Internet, healthy cuisine, and even sports, natural cosmetics and household budget management. Despite the unusual conditions and remote meetings, the time spent together allowed not only to gain knowledge, but also to face emotions related to the situation in the world, as well as to make new friends.

During the course, the Grunvigian approach played a huge role – learning through joint action, group work, learning without coercion. The spirit of community, dialogue and focus on the real life of participants and lecturers prevailed.

As part of the project:

a curriculum for people with low basic skills was developed,
a guide on the methodology and didactics of work at UL was published,
a pilot course was organized for people with low basic skills,
a scientific conference was organized in the field of work methodology at UL (including one day of workshops for UL teachers),
four international meetings of the project partners were held.

Both the developed curriculum and the implementation of the pilot course contributed to the dissemination of work with people with low basic skills, which over the years will have a positive impact on these people (improve their quality of life, increase knowledge and skills in the field of basic skills, etc.). . Taking into account the fact that folk high schools are institutions of informal adult education, we are convinced that the promotion of the project will increase interest in folk high schools, thanks to which adults will use their offer more clearly (as is the case in Denmark or Germany, where there are more than 100 such facilities in each of these countries).