Jnos Szigeti Totti

DOCUMENTING AND ANALYSINGTHE RESULTS OF

NON-FORMAL ADULT EDUCATION:THE HUNGARIAN EXPERIENCE

AbstractMany valuable activities atid local innovatiotis go on in the field of non-formal adultleaming. With the pressures of day-today work it is Impossible to have a systematicoverview of these, so that they are forgotten and are not continued, developed orpassed on to others. More generally, these activities fail to be documented andanalysed, even though they could be the key to further development. Suchdocumentation and analysis have now been attempted in a project in Hungary, using amethod similar to the European Open Method of Co-ordination (OMC) strategy. OMC Isan especially suitable tool in the field of education and training. It is applied underArticles 149 and 150 of the European Union Treaty as a part of educational strategyAccording to the definition in the Lisbon Conclusions, CMC is a way of achievingconvergence in working towards the most important EU goals. According to theConclusions, the method is completely decentralised and builds on partnership. Its goalis to help Member States gradually to develop their own policies on a given subject.CMC methods include indicators of progress, exchange of good practice, regularmonitoring and peer reviews that create mutual learning. These methods and tools havebeen used in a decentralised way to document the experiences of non-formal adultlearning in Hungary. The article summarises the results of that project.

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DOCUMENTAR Y ANALIZAR LOS RESULTADOS DE LAEDUCACIN NO FORMAL DE PERSONAS ADULTAS: LAEXPERIENCIA HNGARA

ResumenMuchas actividades vaiiosas e innovaciones toca/es continan realizndose en el campodei aprendizaje no formai de personas aduitas. Con ias presiones dei trabajo diario esimposibie tener una visin gnerai sistemtica de eiias, por io que quedan oividadas yno se continan, desarrollan o transmiten a otros. De forma ms gnerai, estasactividades no son documentadas y anaiizadas, aunque podran ser ia dave para unmayor desarrollo. Un proyecto en Hungra ha intentado realizar esta documentacin yanlisis mediante ei uso de un mtodo similar a ia estrategia del Mtodo Abierto deCoordinacin Europeo (OMC). Ei OMC es una herramienta especialmente adecuada enei campo de ia educacin y ia formacin. Se aplica de conformidad con ios Artculos149 y 150 del Tratado de la Unin Europea como parte de la estrategia educativa. Deacuerdo con ia definicin de las Conclusiones de Lisboa, ia CMC es una forma dealcanzar la convergencia en el trabajo hacia ias metas ms importantes de la UE. Segnias Condusiones, el mtodo es compietamente descentralizado y construido en base aia asociacin. Su meta es ayudar a os Estados Miembro a desarroiiar graduaimente suspropias poiticas sobre un tema dado. Los mtodos dei CMC incluyen indicadores dedesarrollo, intercambio de buenas prcticas, monitoreo y evaluaciones regulares porpares que crean aprendizaje mutuo. Estos mtodos y herramientas han sido utilizadosde forma descentraiizada para documentar experiencias de aprendizaje no formal depersonas adultas en Hungra. El artculo resume los resultados de ese proyecto.

LES RSULTATS DE L'DUCATION NON FORMELLE DESADULTES EN HONGRIE

RsumNombre d'activits prcieuses et d'innovations iocales se passent dans le domaine del'ducation non formelle des adultes. Les pressions du travail quotidien empchent d'enavoir une vue d'ensemble systmatique, si bien qu'elles tombent dans l'oubli et ne sontni poursuivies, ni dveioppes, ni transmises d'autres. D'une manire plus gnrale,aucune documentation n'a t produite au sujet de ces activits qui ne font pas non piusi'objet d'une anaiyse, bien qu'elles puissent tre ia d pour poursuivre tedveloppement. L'on tente prsent de runir une teiie documentation et de procder une telle analyse dans le cadre d'un projet men en Hongrie, qui a recours unprocd similaire ia mthode ouverte de coordination (MCC), instrument stratgiqueeuropen. La MOC convient notamment dans le domaine de i'ducation et de iaformation. Applique dans le cadre des articles 149 et 150 du trait de i'Unioneuropenne, elie fait partie de sa stratgie ducative. Seion la dfinition qui en estdonne dans tes conclusions du trait de Lisbonne, ia MCC est un moyen de faireconverger tes efforts entrepris pour raiiser les principaux objectifs de l'UE. D'aprs cesconclusions, cette mthode est compltement dcentralise et se base sur la notion de

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partenariat. Son objectif consiste aider les tats membres dvelopper leurs proprespolitiques concernant des sujets donns. La mthode de la MOC fait appel, entre autres, des indicateurs d'volution, des changes de bonnes pratiques, une surveillancergulire et l'valuation par les pairs pour gnrer un apprentissage mutuel. Cesmthodes et outils ont t utiliss de faon dcentralise pour dcrire les expriencesd'ducation non formelle des adultes en Hongrie. L'article rsume les rsultats de ceprojet.

The systematic collection of 'good practice'

Throughout Europe, hundreds of thousands of people, organisations andinstitutions, and indeed whole countries, perform well or badly, with ups anddowns, slowly or quickly, in all spheres of social life. There have beennumerous debates at the European level stemming from the fact thatorganisations and Member States have prepared good practice reports that areso meaningless that they fail to provide an interpretable picture: what is thesignificance of the good practice in that particular field?

I remember the moment in 2003 when we released the translation of theguidelines from Brussels on good practice at the general assembly of theHungarian Folk High School Society and started familiarising ourselves withand applying the 'good practice approach'. In our case it was important largelybecause we had heard many times at our forums how many valuable activitiesand local innovations were going on in our organisations, yet it was impossibleto achieve a systematic overview. As a result, much was forgotten and neithercontinued, developed or was passed on to others. These activities failed to bedocumented, systematised or analysed, even though they could be the key tofurther development - we said as much to each other on many occasions. Themethod we used was not very far removed from the European Open Method ofCo-ordination strategy. The requirement to publish the results of particularprojects received a strong boost in Europe in the early 2000s, as part of theLisbon Strategy effort to enhance the motivation to develop lifelong learning.It was realised that huge investment in development programmes was too oftengenerating little return in the sense that partnerships and results simplydisappeared once the projects finished and were not being built into themainstream of professional activities.

One of the first and most important reactions to this at European level wasthe introduction of the requirement of sustainability as a criterion in thetendering process. The next phase included the requirement for dissemination.

Since education and culture are two of those areas in the 27 Member Statesof the EU that only play a supplementary or supportive role, the so-called Open

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Method of Co-ordination (OMC), already used in social and employmentpolicy, began to be applied in the fields of education, training, adult educationand lifelong leaming from 2000-02. OMC is a European development methodused in the most developed countries to decentralise from the top down in aproductive and creative way, and is applied according to national and localinterests. This is how the first systematic collection of good practice came aboutin Hungary, following the familiarisation and experiments conducted at theHFHSS general assembly.

Decentralisation according to the Lisbon Strategy

The Open Method of Co-ordination (OMC) is an especially suitable tool in thefield of education and training. It is applied under Articles 149 and 150 of theEuropean Union Treaty as a part of the educational strategy. According to thedefinition in the Lisbon Conclusions, the Open Method of Co-ordination is away of achieving convergence in working towards the most important EUgoals. According to the Conclusions, the method is completely decentralisedand builds on partnership. Its goal is to help Member States to graduallydevelop their own policies on a given subject.

OMC methods include indicators of progress, exchange of good practice,regular monitoring and peer reviews that create mutual learning. The EUCommission accepted a recommendation in 2003 dealing with guidance ongood practice. The tool of cooperation between Member States can be appliedat national, regional and sub-regional as well as at organisational level. There isan even more important expression besides 'peer review': peer learning. It is acommonplace view that leaming informally from peers is much more effectivethan leaming enforced from the top.

New European adult education and development documents

The Hungarian Folk High School Society (HFHSS) thought it was high time togive a new impetus to this activity, and this led to the publication of documentson the development of adult education and lifelong leaming in 2006 and 2007.'This programme was supported by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour in2008.

It is clear that the creation of these documents will give a new urgency tothe development of adult education over the coming years, using the results andinterpretations of systematically collected 'good practice'. When we adoptedthe OMC method, adapting it to both national characteristics and EUrequirements, we included the collection of good practice in our programmes.

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The place of non-formal learning

Another of the many reasons why HFHSS felt it was especially important topromote this activity in Hungary was to emphasise the importance given to non-formal adult education at European level. Especially these days, the twodocuments mentioned above repeatedly stress the need to consolidate non-formal and all non-traditional forms of leaming. There is an intemational trendthat the more adult education and the entire system of lifelong leaming aredeveloped, the more high-quality non-formal adult leaming is encouragedinstitutionally and financially, with considerable social participation. Where thetheory and practice of lifelong leaming are less well-developed, as in Hungary,non-formal leaming carries less weight in every sense: in recognition, support,quality and participation rates.

It is a common Hungarian habit to overlook the existence of non-formalleaming, as if it were not there. Although we always mention it, itsinterpretation and scope are limited to workplace non-formal leaming. Non-formal leaming at the workplace is a significant scene of leaming in the modemknowledge-based economy, but only if such a corporate culture has beenformed already and is a part of a well-developed vocational and furthereducation system. That is not our subject here, but it is a fact that no recognitionis given in Hungary to workplace non-formal learning. It is an obvious matterof self-interest to claim that non-formal leaming is important. However,emphasising non-formal learning is not just a Hungarian phenomenon, and inHungary, the formal system also faces obstacles. While we know that non-formal and informal learning has a significant yet unexplored role within thecontext of formal education and training, budgetary support has suffered manycuts in Hungary, that distribution mechanisms obstruct more efficient and up-to-date thinking and practice.

One of the most important, perhaps hidden, messages of the two new EUdocuments is that the acknowledgement of non-formal leaming should beformalised, because learning outcomes will not increase as fast as is neededwithout that. However, Europe faces the problems of an ageing society andeconomic production that lags behind that of some parts of Asia. Researchesshow that a much higher number of adults participate in non-formal leamingthan in formal leaming, and non-formal leaming has significant benefits for theeconomy, wealth, health and quality of life. Here again, unfortunately, the moredeveloped countries have been able to respond by thinking in the long term and,moreover, by integrating non-formal education into their overall developmentpolicies. At the same time, the less developed countries have fallen into the trapof thinking only in the short term, usually providing modest and ineffectiveadult education funding. There are not enough resources, but the lack of cost-effectiveness is an even greater problem. The transparency of the entire

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application and tendering process and other, perhaps more significant problemsrelated to the lack of efficiency tests, are not included in this discussion.

The picture revealed: not comprehensive but a first'milestone'

What has been said so far has hopefully raised some interest, so what innovativecollection methods did the HFHSS working group come up with. It should besaid at the outset that the highly valuable data collected already provide aunique illustration of the practice of non-formal adult education in Hungary.However, this is just the first step. The guide, which was approved after lengthydiscussion, suggests how the materials should be used. I would like toemphasise that there was a conscious effort to cover all sectors and types ofadult education where possible, and not just folk high schools, even thoughHFHSS is presently one of the most comprehensive non-formal adult educationorganisations in Hungary.

Good practices have been grouped by regions instead of subjects. We cannotsay that these examples represent all current Hungarian good practice, but ifanyone was left out, that was not deliberate. We can say that we made aconscious effort to involve everyone: corporations, employment centres, adulteducation institutions, private businesses and other civil and non-profitorganisations, as well as folk high schools. We did not select or give preferenceor prioritise, since adult education can in our opinion only be successful if itacts together. And it needs success badly.

A few examples of the subjects and the good practices collected

Western DanubiaTraining programme for prisonersCreating an integrated labour market service system - an alternative approachEducating women on maternity leaveWine tourism training

Central DanubiaIncreasing opportunities for rain men - working with children with autismTherapeutical masseuse trainingFolk high school course on historical issuesEthnic music circleEnglish as the language of workExercise for women club

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South DanubiaComplex village catering trainingTraining civil organisations in the fields of culture and civilisationPC world for pensioners

Central HungarySelf-help English study circleVillage research as a methodTraining youth helpersMotivating the employment of women in small villages and farmsPersonal and team building programme

North HungaryImproving citizenship quality in marginalised regionsVocational education for multiply disadvantaged Roma adultsHealth-improving lifestyle coursesHandicraft training for the re-integration of women into the labour marketMultiple language online coursesPuppeteer training

North Great Plain'I will have a better life as of tomorrow' courseSecond chance schoolTraining of trainersFolk high schools for the aged

South Great PlainHelp and new opportunities for graduatesFree university for pensionersPatients' health clubsGardening training for the long-term unemployed

Looking ahead

Numerous examples could not be included in the data collection due tolimitations of time and finance. A good number of the examples are drawn fromprojects funded by Hungarian or international tender. This means that theintention to improve relates not only to our regular provision, where we all havedreams that will probably remain dreams, given the demands of everydaysurvival. The interpretations of good practice represent different levels, and themajority bear the characteristics of the tedious, dry wording of final reports tofunding bodies.

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In fact we have scarcely mentiotied another fundamental problem of thenational and international tendering procedure: that there is hardly anyprofessional quality assurance, monitoring, post-analysis, effectivenessassessment or analytical reasoning in the majority of activities. Most of theconcern is with money: anyone winning a tender is given the chance to spendwhat they have been given, even if this has to be done through a maze ofbureaucracy. No one usually asks what the measurable professional and socialbenefits turn out to be.

This does not mean that those who call for tenders do this consciously orthat those who apply are not creative, eager and excellent professionals. In themajority of examples there is proof that people doing their job on a very highlevel have been involved. However, we should not forget that one beneficiarycomplained in the report that the project sponsors regarded the recipient almost'as a thief and not a professional partner. Unfortunately this situation extendsbeyond adult education, and is a fair insight into conditions in our country.

We feel that there is too little analysis in the examples of good practice, toolittle examination of the connections between things, and it is clear that theauthors generally choose the easy way, providing descriptions without deeperanalysis or conclusions. In some cases of activities supported from projectfunding it is not evident what will happen to sustainability and whetherreplication is feasible.

The most widespread, fundamental conclusion of this collection is that thereis no far-reaching, national adult education development policy. Instead, thefocus is on structural development that relies on individual initiatives that havesome assurance of sustainability, and on integrating the various activities in thedirection desired by govemment, so that excellent achievements can raise thecountry's European profile and involvement in Europe. This is not impossible,but existing national policy can most generously be described as 'ad hoc'.

The reporting of good practice varies: some can 'sell' the little they havedone for a lot, while others fail even in the introduction to mention the full valueof the whole of the activity. Learner-centred cooperation and collaborationbetween institutions, sectors, regions, etc., still remains a long-term goal.However, the report provides opportunities for significant peer learning, inwhich those in charge of social and other specialist policy areas can learn fromtheir peers. The data may also be of importance to education professionals,especially in promoting a change in perspective, and may lead to a fundamentalreform of the mechanisms of support policy (quality assurance and focus onachievement).

Life goes on, and we shall further develop the good practice of systematiccollection and analysis. It is important for this work to continue as one of

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UNESCO's adult education activities, and to be extended outside EU MemberStates, since mutual learning plays a major part in adult education development.

Dr Jnos Szigeti Tth is President of the Hungarian Foik Higti Sciiooi Society (HFHSS)and President of the European Association for the Education of Adults (EAEA).

For further information please contact

Magyar Npfoiskolai Trsasg1077 BudapestWesselnyi utca 13. II/5EAEA Link Office for Central Eastern EuropeTel:+36 1 411 14 59Fax:-1-36 1 411 14 60e-mail: mnt@nepfoiskola.huweb: www.nepfoiskola.huSkype: nepfoiskola (mnt@nepfoiskola.hu)

Notes

' See: http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/lll/adultcom_en.htmlAnd http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/adult/com558_en.pdf

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