INNOVATIONS IN MATURE ADULT LEARNING

Our reasons

Per Formare choosed the topic of mature adult learning because:• its twenty-years experience in this field• fostering the active ageing• find and disseminate best practises on mature

adult learning

Definition of Lifelong Learning

Lifelong Learning refers to those activities which start in any moment of life to improve personal knowledge, abilities and competences for private social and work reasons.Its main goal is to assure social and working inclusion and it is based on the concept of learning in adulthood.The general goal of Lifelong learning is to contribute to the development of community through the permanent learning.

Level of education in Italy

Level of education per age groups

45-54

52,7%

Adults with Secondary and Higher level of

education)

55-64

44,4%Adults with Secondary

and Higher level of education)

65+18,8%

Adults with Secondary and Higher level of

education)

Level of education in Italy

Level of education per sex and age

45-54

54,6% women with secondary and

higher education45 -5448,2%

men with secondary or higher education

55 -6445,2%

men with secondary or higher education

55-6439,8%

women with secondary and higher

education

Female Male

Overview of on-going MA’s educational activity

Participation to educational activities people over 45

4,5%2,0%

EmployedUnemployed

Overview of on-going MA’s educational activity

Participation to learning activities per age groups

4,8%2,3%

45-6455-64 and 65+

Overview of on-going MA’s educational activity

Participation to educational activities per sex

7,5%6,5%

WomenMen

Forms of learning

Source. EUROSTAT, 2012 (Table: Participation in education and training by type, sex and age groups - % [trng_lfs_09])

Age groupsForms of learning

Formal Non-formal

45-54 0,5 4,3

55-74 0,1 2,2

Forms of learning. Generally speaking, data highlight the statistic preponderance of “non-formal” learning activities compared with “formal” ones (6,5% vs. 0,6%). ”Non-formal” learning is more common in the youngest age group (45-54) compared with the oldest one (55-74), with more than 2% points of difference.

The source of learning initiative

Age groups

The source of learning initiative

MA Employer Employment office

Other public institutions

(schools, universities)

Internet Family, friends, acquaintances

45-54 14,1 9,4 11,8 4,3 64,5 32,4

55-59 9,5 5,5 12,1 7,6 58,5 26,2

60-64 7,2 3,1 2,1 8,3 37,6 39,2

65-74 4,0 0,5 13,8 13,9 26,9 39,8

The table above indicates (in percentage) where people found learning initiatives according to the age in 2012.

Source: Istat 2012. La partecipazione degli adulti alle attività formative: PROSPETTO 14. PERSONE DI 18-74 ANNI CHE HANNO CERCATO E TROVATO INFORMAZIONI SULLE ATTIVITÀ

Added fields

The source of learning initiative . Data underline the active role of the youngest age group (45-54) in the independent research of information on learning opportunities (14,1%). The motivation to the independent research gradually decreases in the oldest age group, from 9,5% of 55-69 years old to 4,0% of 65-74 years old. Moreover, added data (Istat source) allows to highlight the importance of Internet as a tool used by people under 60 years old to acquire information. In the oldest age group the use of Internet is always relevant, however, it decreases in favour of the acquisition of information through friends, relatives, acquaintances. The role of employers of giving information about learning activities to workers is fewer than personal initiatives for all age groups and it gradually decreases from 9,4% for 45-54 age group to 3,1% for over 60. On the other hand, the importance in education of Schools and Universities goes progressively up according to the ageing of population, from 4,3% for 45-54 age group to more than 8,3% for over 60. The Job centers have an important role of giving information to all age groups, except for people 60-64 years old, which is only subordinated to the personal initiative of people 45-54 years old (11,8% vs. 14,1%).

Where the MAs study

Source. EUROSTAT, 2011 (Table: Distribution of non-formal education and training activities by provider [trng_aes_170])

ADULT

EDUCATION(Not group

of age defined)

Where do the MAs study/ learn? %

Formal Education Institution

Training institution

s delivering

various courses

(e.g. ZDZ)

Commercial institutions whose main

activity is not

education

Employers Employers organizations, chambers of commerce

TradeUnions

Non-profit associations

Individuals Non-Commercial institutions whose main

activity is not

education

Others

TOTAL 11,0 11,1 8,0 31,7 8,0 ND 4,9 3,6 7,7 13,3

Where the MAs study. Data highlight the importance of corporate teaching for everybody, with 31,7% in “non-formal” education for adults. Instead, schools and universities, centers for vocational training and commercial institutions with no prevailing educational purposes, all together constitute 30% of “non-formal” learning opportunities. Chambers of commerce contribute by 8% of cases, whereas a minority role is carried out by non-profit organisations (4,9%).

What the MAs study

ADULT EDUCATION(Not group

of age defined)

What do the MAs study/ learn?

General Programm

es

Education Humanities and arts

Foreign languages

Social sciences, business and law

Science, mathematics

and computing

Computer science

Computer use

Engineering,manufacturin

g and construction

Agriculture and

veterinary

Health and

welfare

Services

TOTAL 12,3 2,8 8,8 3,3 25,5 6,7 3,5 1,8 7,5 1,3 10,8 24,2

Source: EUROSTAT, 2011 (Table: Distribution of job-related education and training activities by field [trng_aes_166])

What the MAs study. Data show a strong interest of adults in management training (social science, business, law), with 25,5% of preferences, and in training related to services, 24,2% of preferences. The interest for general issues is the second topic in order of importance (12,3%), followed by health and social services (10,8%). Lastly, arts and humanistic subjects overtaken of more than 1% engineering, manufacture and construction (7,5%) and of more than 2% sciences and mathematics (6,7%). Information technology, in its theoretical and practical aspects , accumulates 5,3% of preferences. In total, mathematics and computer sciences have 12% of preferences. Eventually, there are foreign languages chosen by 3,3% of adults, followed by training methodologies (2,8%), agriculture and veterinary medicine (1,3%).

Informal learning

Success Factors/Barriers

To sum up

Levels of education:• Adult women show higher level of education

than men• People of 45-54 age group are more inclined

to participate to learning activities, to undertake individual researches and use internet as tool

To sum up

Learning motivations:finalized to use the acquired competencies at work

To sum up

Expenses:• mainly incurred by employers (51%)• a considerable number of people self-finances

its training (40%, data destined to decrease because of the economic crisis)

To sum up

Non-formal: education for adults is almost exclusively “non-formal”

To sum up

Informal:A great part of adult education is informal and it is a significant data (around 30%) considering the European standard

To sum up

Certification of competences:More and more linked with Non-formal and Informal learning, it will have a greater impact on adult training