BeLL

The project will explore the personal and social benefits of learning (see Schuller et al. 2005; Manninen 2010). Until recently, this approach was rarely pursued, and the small number of conducted projects rather focused on the economic returns of learning. Evidence from the Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits of Learning (www.learningbenefits.net) demonstrates that most of the research in this area applies to compulsory education (primary and secondary education) and that there is comparatively little evidence on the social benefits of adult learning – in particular, non-vocational adult education. However, non-vocational adult education plays an important but poorly documented role in adult learning. The organizational structures vary a great deal, from well-developed provision (mostly in Nordic countries) to less organized activities that are often found, for example, in Central and Eastern Europe. In most countries, many non-formal adult learning activities remain “hidden” in non-profit and third sector organizations, self-organized study groups, and other spontaneous learning settings.

The present study is dedicated to document the complexity of the wider benefits of non-formal adult learning and to compare them within nine European countries. Moreover, the study focuses on the question what factors within non-formal adult education courses are related to the growing/outcome of the wider benefits. Therewith the project results will help to provide adequate and participant-oriented provisions in the field of adult education.

In general, the results will support actors and policy makers at local, national, and international level to make informed decisions about non-formal adult education provision, to develop organisational and other structures, and to promote higher participation rates. In addition, there will be a better understanding about the importance of the non-formal adult education sector in terms of its potential to contribute to adult wellbeing, active citizenship, lifelong learning, and to the challenges of globalisation.

BeLL is directly linked to several EU and OECD policy objectives, especially in respect of the follow-up indicators of the Lisbon strategy and new Europe 2020-strategy. UNESCO is working on increasing learning opportunities (for example, The 2012 Education for All Global Monitoring Report will focus on skills’ development, emphasizing strategies that increase employment opportunities for marginalized groups). OECD’s GPS-project (Leveraging knowledge for better education policies) has a similar objective, which is to provide a comprehensive evidence base on educational outcomes and policies as a basis for actionable policy decisions by governments.

The preparation of the project proposal is based on two developments. First, at the European level, EAEA and its national member organizations are working in the field of Lifelong Learning, promoting learning opportunities for adults, especially in the field of non-formal adult education. This includes data collection, promotions and policy development, working in close cooperation with policy makers, adult education providers and adult learners. Second, in Finland, the national member organization (Finnish Adult Education Association) undertook a wider benefits study (Manninen & Luukannel 2008), which documented the benefits of non-formal adult education in Finland. However, these results are country specific and not generalizeable to other European countries, which have a different and often less well developed organizational infrastructure, together with lower participation rates. The BeLL project will therefore build on previous research (re-using the theoretical framework and data collection procedure to create an European comparative study) and make use of existing levels of cooperation amongst the consortium members.

Die Erforschung der ‚Wider Benefits of Learning’ erfasst die Komplexität zwischen Lern- und Bildungsanstrengungen des Einzelnen und dem konkreten Nutzen für das Wohlergehen (well-being) von Individuen und Gesellschaften. Dabei konzentriert sich die Forschung vornehmlich auf soziale und individuelle Erträge und weniger auf den rein wirtschaftlichen Nutzen des Lernens ( z.B. in Form verbesserter Einkünfte oder einem höheren Steueraufkommen). Zu den sozialen Erträgen des Lernens rechnet die Benfit-Forschung beispielsweise einen verstärkten sozialen Zusammenhalt, funktionierende Netzwerke, eine bessere Volksgesundheit und ein höheres ziviles Engagement. Zu den Erträgen auf der individuellen Ebene zählen u.a. ein verbessertes Selbstwertgefühl, eine erhöhte Selbstwirksamkeit und eine ausgeprägtere (Selbst-)Reflexivität.

In Großbritannien und Finnland ist die sog. „Benefit-Forschung“ mit relativ breitem Anwendungsgrad, Publikationen und Studien bereits weitreichend etabliert. In anderen europäischen Ländern ist dieser Ansatz noch weitgehend unbekannt. Mit diesem Projekt sollen zum ersten Mal vergleichbare quantitative und qualitative Daten zu empfundenen und nachweisbaren „Benefits“ erhoben werden, die sich nach der Teilnahme an (Weiter-)Bildungsmaßnahme einstellen.Ziel: Das Projekt soll das Konstrukt „Benefits“ im europäischen Vergleich validieren und Ergebnisse im Hinblick auf deren Art, Breite und Zuordnung ermitteln.Vertreten sind sowohl Universitäten. (University of Eastern Finnland, Dept. of Educational Sciences and Psychology; Institute of Education, University of London, England; University of Barcelona, Research Centre (CREA) Spanien als auch private und staatliche Forschungsinstitute: Deutsches Institute für Erwachsenenbildung (DIE); Slovenian Institute for Adult Education (SIAE) Slovenien; Association for Education and Development of Women (ATHENA) Tschechien; Schweizerischer Verband für Weiterbildung (SVEB) Schweiz; Romanian Institute for Adult Education (IREA) Rumänien; als auch Praxiseinrichtungen (Associazione di donne Orlando, Italien.Koodinierender Projektpartner ist das Deutsche Institut für Erwachsenenbildung – Leibniz-Zentrum für Lebenslanges Lernen (DIE). Für die Dissemination der Projektergebnisse konnte mit der European Association for the Education of Adults (EAEA), Brüssel, Dr. Gina Ebner (gina.ebner(at)eaea.org), der zehnte Projektpartner gewonnen werden.