ACE - „Developing Adult Educators‘ Competences to Promote Learners‘ Lifestyle Entrepreneurship“

ACE logoACE - „Developing Adult Educators‘ Competences to Promote Learners‘ Lifestyle Entrepreneurship“( No. 2015-LT01-KA2014-013404)

The project is financed by Erasmus+ Programme, Key Action 2 “Cooperation for innovation and exchange of good practices”, Action “Strategic partnerships for adult education”. The project lifetime is 2 years – September 2015 – September 2017. The project will be implemented through the partnership of 5 EU countries – Bulgaria, Lithuania, Cyprus, Poland and UK. It will directly involve 90 adult educators and 72 adult learners from disadvantaged backgrounds.
About ACE    

The methodology of the project is based on the blended learning approach using the reversed/ flipped training method, ICT tools, Open Educational Resources. The project will adapt the good practices from UK on Lifestyle Entrepreneurship as a useful alternative to self-employment for adults with fewer opportunities and from disadvantaged backgrounds. The idea of Lifestyle Entrepreneurship is centered on learners’ passions and hobbies. A lifestyle business is one where the owner seeks to make the business successful not only in terms of profitability but also in terms of the ability to avoid social isolation and foster engagement.

The Aims
To develop the basic and specific adult educators’ competencies working with disadvantaged learners with focus on innovative ways of outreach and delivery of learning activities  
To provide necessary knowledge and information to adult learners with fewer opportunities and from disadvantaged background on access to adult learning services and the possibilities for employment on the basis of their lifestyle, abilities and talents

The Objectives
1. to strengthen the competencies of adult educators supplying them with innovative and attractive training material and ICT tools based on Lifestyle entrepreneurship (LSE) approach
2. to enhance the professional development of adult educators by introducing the innovative education methods: blended learning, reversed/flipped training, Open education recourses (OER)
3. to develop OERs tailored to the needs of adult educators in order to support digital integration in learning to reach the learners from disadvantaged backgrounds
4. to increase the motivation and reduce disparities in learning outcomes of adult learners with fewer opportunities and from disadvantaged backgrounds using LSE approach and ICT tools with the long perspective of getting self-employed

The Intellectual Outcomes
1. Curriculum for adult educators - practitioners “Promotion of Lifestyle Entrepreneurship for disadvantaged learners”
2. Training material and ICT tools for adult educators-practitioners Module I “Basics of Life Style Entrepreneurship”, Module II “The Use of ICT and OER in LSE”, Module III “Marketing of LSE for disadvantaged people”, Module IV „An assessment tool of learners’ skills and competences in LSE”, Module V „Creating awareness on validation of the acquired competences”.
3. Guidelines for adult educators-practitioners “How to offer lifestyle entrepreneurship for disadvantaged learners using Open Educational Recourses” Target Groups  adult educators-practitioners  Learners from disadvantaged backgrounds (senior citizens, people living in remote areas, in long-term unemployment, women of social exclusion, low-skilled workers, etc.) The adult educators - practitioners will improve these competencies: General - sense of innovation and entrepreneurship, digital competence, social and civic competence; Specific - competence in marketing and public relations, competence on an assessment and validation of informal and non-formal learning, competence on Being an advisor/counselor/facilitator