Adult educators enter their carriers along as many paths as they themselves are many. Few adult educators start their professional life aspiring to support the learning, training, and education of other adults, but more and more people find themselves entering this special and diverse group of educators. Some train colleagues in the art of searching for weapons in departure halls of airports. Others teach adults who never finished their secondary education and want to finally acquire their journeyman's certificate. Unlike teachers in other levels of education, the carrier path is in few instances clearly outlined in the official education systems. However, as the importance of adult learning increases in today's economy, the need for quality assurance in adult education has risen, and with it the demand for educators who have at least a minimum level of competency. This has led to a growing number of projects and initiatives aimed at identifying adult educator skills and to lay out clear roadmaps to acquire them. In this paper I will describe an Icelandic project which in some ways seems to differ from most other such projects at least in its method, and which, due to this method might have uncovered some interesting aspects of the skills adult educators do develop through their practice and which ones remain underdeveloped. The project, furthermore, developed a tool for prior learning assessment for adult educators, and a roadmap for competence development. These will be presented and discussed.

1. Assessing the skills of adult educatators in Iceland
and paving the path for further devlopment
An ongoing project with The Education and Training Service Centre (ETSC)
Hróbjartur Árnason – University of Iceland – hrobjartur@hi.is
Download the presentation here: http://tiny.cc/nael22

2. „Lengi býr að fyrstu gerð“
Adult Education in 20.
Century
• Voluntary work
• Visionary work
• Amateurs
• Outside of formal system
Teachers
• Volunteers
• Enthusiasts
• By coincidence
Hróbjartur Árnason | hrobjartur@hi.is | 2022
Things often stay as they begin

3. … a core strategy for companies and governments
• “most sustainable and integrated region…”
• Nordic Vision
… a way to keep up with development
• 4. industrial revolution
• Climate crisis
• Democratic challenge
… a responses to crisis
• Financial Crash 2008
• COVID 2019
Today Adult Education is…
Hróbjartur Árnason | hrobjartur@hi.is | 2022

4. What shall we call it?
Hróbjartur Árnason | hrobjartur@hi.is | 2022

5. What shall we
call them?
Hróbjartur Árnason | hrobjartur@hi.is | 2022

6. We see an increased demand for quality and results in Adult Education –
Both from participants and “buyers”
Symptoms:
• Many reports from national and international organizations about:
• Workplace competencies for the future
• The role of adult education in society
• Laws on adult education
• A plethora of quality standards for adult education
• Software producers demand trainer certifications (CTT+ etc. )
• Company officials ask for information on “Return On Investment” and/or
“Return On Expectations” for training and development
“Visionaries were fine, but now we need professionals!”
Hróbjartur Árnason | hrobjartur@hi.is | 2022

7. Beginnings
Hróbjartur Árnason | hrobjartur@hi.is | 2022

8. A report on the education and background of
adult educators in 34 European countries
• Background and education of instructors very varied
• Many without special training in adult learning
• No indicators that one model is better than the other
• Extensive experience – usually 10-15 years from other fields
• “Missing: Clear learning paths” (Report from 2010)
Key competences for adult
learning professionals
Example
Hróbjartur Árnason | hrobjartur@hi.is | 2022

9. Nordic countries – NVL report from 2016
Demands to adult educators?
• Formal: Mainly for the most vulnerable groups
• Most demand professional knowledge
• Few formal demands for didactical skills
• But Adult education on the upper secondary level
Hróbjartur Árnason | hrobjartur@hi.is | 2022

10. But… What do they need to know?
Well known standards
• FENTO - UK
• IBSTPI - USA
• EU
NOW various suggestions from
numerous projects, national and
international
• Agree on main lines
• Recent changes:
• Digital competencies
• 21. century skills
• Skills for sustainability
Hróbjartur Árnason | hrobjartur@hi.is | 2022

11. THIS is what they “need to know”!
Attitudes to…
• participants who are adults
• themselves as instructors
Knowledge and skills
• Organize learning processes
• Lead learning events
• Assess learning and give feedback
• Use digital tools
• Communication
Integrate With learning outcomes
• World goals for sustainable development
• 21. century skills
Hróbjartur Árnason | hrobjartur@hi.is | 2022
Photo by Alfons

12. Need a common bases in knowledge and attitudes
• Common vocabulary
• Basic attitudes built on knowlede about adult learners
• Experience is a good teacher, but theoretical knowledge makes it potent
Should build their instruction on solid foundations
• Research, theory, and accepted usage
• They give the professional concepts to understand experience
• They point towards variables which are crucial for addressing challenges
• Theories help the professional to find solutions to concrete issues
Need methodic skills
• Create a learning community
• Explain learning content
• Support learners towards self-directed learning
Adult educators
Hróbjartur Árnason | hrobjartur@hi.is | 2022

13. Challenge: How do we support
instructors to increase their
competency in teaching adults?
• Fragmented field
• Diverse situations / various contexts
• Different reasons for teaching
• Experts and longtimers in companies
• Teaching is a sideline
• Self-image in the trade not “adult educator”
• Busy with other things
Hróbjartur Árnason | hrobjartur@hi.is | 2022

14. A Competency mapping process
Originally developed by HRSG, Human Resource
Systems Group, Canada
Adapted by The Education and Training Service Centre
(ETSC) in Iceland
A collaboration project with the University of Iceland
• Describes competencies in a way that
can be used to describe any job
• Our aim: To find a common
description for most adult educators
• Adult Educators from various
settings and roles
• Instructors with different experiences
Hróbjartur Árnason | hrobjartur@hi.is | 2022

15. The Competency Mapping Process
3 analysis meetings
10-20 Participants
Various fields of adult
education (e.g., LLL-
Centres; Red Cross;
Trade Unions etc.
Companies)
Different levels of
competence
Define the Job
What is the job
about?
Define
competencies
What competencies
do they need?
Publish Job Profile
Steering group
Representatives
of the field
Hróbjartur Árnason | hrobjartur@hi.is | 2022

16. Examples of competencies
Competency Level Implication
Leads Change
(Initiates & leads
change and supports
others through change)
Level 4 Leads a group of learners,
Encourages Learners, Assists
learners according to their
needs, Organizes learning
processes, Supports learning
Show Initiative
(Shows initiative and
endurance dealing with
challenges, grasps
opportunities which
present themselves)
Level 4 Actively keeps abreast in own
field of expertise, Assesses
learning needs, Organises
learning paths, Foresees
challenges, leads groups of
learners
Deck of cards with preprinted
descriptions of competencies,
eg:
• Work towards solutions
• Lead change
• Show initiative
• Sense of quality
Hróbjartur Árnason | hrobjartur@hi.is | 2022

17. Product
• Job Profile
• Instructor in adult education
Hróbjartur Árnason | hrobjartur@hi.is | 2022

18. Learnings from the process
• "View from Mars“
• Many “Instructor Competencies” are common to jobs which involve
leadership, innovation, responsibly and initiative
• (Fits with my experience when I teach trainers in companies....)
• Depicting instructor competencies with a general vocabulary opens up the
field and gives adult educators a way to relate and connect what they do
to other jobs
• The process made us aware of our jargon
• Educators from business frustrated with our jargon
• Also opened our eyes for the peculiarities of the job
Hróbjartur Árnason | hrobjartur@hi.is | 2022

19. Next step: [ Self ] – assessment Tool
• Tested by students of
adult learning at the
University
• Tested with 4
experienced
instructors
• Focus group
• Developed further
based on reactions
Hróbjartur Árnason | hrobjartur@hi.is | 2022

20. Specific chapter on digital competencies
European Digital Competence Framework – DigCompEdu
(Digital Competence of Educators)
Hróbjartur Árnason | hrobjartur@hi.is | 2022

21. Use of tools
For instructors
• Understandable information on
necessary skills and competencies
• Assessment of competencies
• Clear, inviting learning paths
• Motivation
For administrators
• Frame for instructor competencies
• Support during Hiring discussions
• Tools for development coaching
• Quality management
• Clarity
Hróbjartur Árnason | hrobjartur@hi.is | 2022

22. Further development…
… a road map
Courses, guidelines to acquire Instructor Competencies
• Level 1, 2 & 3
A learning path:
• Necessary courses
• Usefull courses
• Practical courses
Community of practice
• Online
• Conferences
• Breakfast meetings
• Webinars
Certification
• Badges???
• Other ???
• Diploma 30 ECTS
• Diploma 60 ECTS
• Master of Arts 120 ECTS
Photo by Akshay
Nanavati on Unsplash
Hróbjartur Árnason | hrobjartur@hi.is | 2022

23. Hróbjartur Árnason
University of Iceland
hrobjartur@hi.is
Download the presentation here: http://tiny.cc/nael22
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