e taPas del Plan

The status of adult learning professionals varies greatly from country to country. Some say it is a profession that is only for those who are unable to teach elsewhere. Others say that it is a highly respected occupation with a lot of professional freedom. Overall we can con- clude that the profession has multiple identities. Adult educators belong to different groups in which they develop their identities. They are professionals in their disciplines – the sub- ject they teach (instructors) or use (consultants, psychotherapists, advisers), coaches, evaluators, head hunters, shop stewards, etc., or they feel connected to adult learning as a field or practice and/or profession (community workers, folkbildare, study circle leaders). In general, despite poor employment conditions in some countries, frequent low wages and limited social security, as reported in chapter 6, job satisfaction is high. The influx of edu- cators/practitioners is sufficient.

We will first look at the case studies, which reveal a wide panorama of views and perspec- tives on the attractiveness of working in NVAL (see box below).

Austria - Flexible working hours and opportunities to shape the syllabus make the work of education professionals employed in adult education interesting and diversified. This diversity is attractive above all for the personnel responsible for management, counselling and planning - i.e. the full-time educa- tion professionals. Due to the, to some extent, unsatisfactory working conditions (cf. the employment situation of full time staff) this situation is seen differently by the many freelance employees. Never- theless, they receive a lot of recognition in their jobs, a fact reflected in the feedback from partici- pants.

Belgium - Working in the formal Adult Education sector has a good reputation. People think (often before they start working in formal AE) that adult learners are more motivated to learn, and that therefore teaching adults is more attractive than teaching youngsters. In practice, however, this is not always the case

Bulgaria - NVAL professions are generally seen as unattractive, especially if they relate to teaching. NVAL educators fall into the same category as normal teaching staff but they earn less and their working conditions are not always good. The same applies for most staff in NVAL. Managerial and ad- ministrative staff, however, may have better working conditions and slightly better salaries.

Estonia - Working in adult education is also quite attractive here (Tallinn University, Open Univer- sity). Specialists such as adult educators and training managers have a good reputation in the Esto- nian training market. Adult training has a high reputation and it is economically efficient.

Professionalisation – joining together in professional unions, associations and organisations. There are possibilities for learning and self development in continuing education as well as at univer- sity level.

Greece - Overall this is not an attractive profession. It is badly paid and demanding, although it is delivered in very good conditions in terms of infrastructure. Managerial and administrative staff work long hours. The same applies to educational planning and technical support staff. Teaching staff also need to work additional hours to prepare courses. However, many people, especially young graduates, consider that this market gives them an opening for a career in education.

Poland - It is clear to all involved that salaries are above average and are often very attractive. The disadvantage lies in the insecure source of income (customers). Some organisations such as language schools have plenty of candidates (thus the hourly rate at such schools is lower than in other places), while others pay more but it is possible to have long periods without the possibility of earning money. The profession of adult educator is certainly perceived as very attractive: good money, interesting job, possibility for development, the image of being a well educated person, and opportunities for making contact with people and ideas. All these factors make it a desirable profession.

Portugal - The adult learning field is generally considered attractive, even though working conditions may not be very stable and satisfying. One attraction is that professionals work in teams and establish relationships with people in general and with colleagues in particular. The work may also be a way of supporting adult learners in doing something different that is of benefit to them. Professionals can learn a lot both as professionals and as individuals in society as they are able to be autonomous, re- sponsible, creative, and innovative, doing a different kind of work that is useful and relevant in social and personal terms. This is especially the case if we consider that Portugal has a long history of adult education, which expresses the influence of formal education (namely second-chance education, such as evening courses for adults) and its limitations in educational and pedagogic terms. However, the adult learning professions is not really recognised as a profession. No trade unions exist, and neither do professional associations or interest groups. However, some networks have been established, for instance, of local development agents, community educators and practitioners within higher educa- tion, especially within educational sciences. Obviously the debate on professionalism is emerging. Nevertheless, a lot of the contextual factors such as initial training employment conditions and need further improvement before professionalism can be fully established.

Romania - Training positions in the private sector are much more attractive in terms of both status and salary, compared to the public sector. According to the data collected through interviews, in some cases where adult training programmes are based on international projects, the training activity seems to be attractive because it is based on different types of cooperation with other similar organisations from abroad. All the trainers interviewed see this cooperation and involvement in international projects as an important opportunity for personal development and recognition in the field. Taking into account that most of the training is based on a project concept in multinational teams, all the preparation ac- tivities but also the interactions between trainers in various teams represent the most important learn- ing experience. Their most significant learning experiences were training programmes organised abroad. They had the opportunity to get to know different training practices in different cultural con- texts, organised by prestigious training providers in Europe.

United Kingdom - Adult Continuing Learning has historically been considered a low status occupation since many of its activities are at the basic skills level and are not clearly linked to vocational compe- tence.

153 We also asked NVAL providers for their opinion on whether working as adult educators is attractive (figure 9.1).

Figure 9.9.1 Perception of the NVAL providers interviewed of the attractiveness of work-

ing as adult learning professionals for people with a relevant (educational/ professional) background (n=45)

High (attractive) Average Low (unattractive)

Source: Interview NVAL providers in-depth phase (2007)

Figure 9.1 shows that the information from the country studies supports the opinions that emerged from the interviews with providers, i.e. that, in general, working in the sector is attractive.