The main objective of this project is to create an experimental and transnational adult school, structured and organized as such, where the participants share responsibilities at all levels: administration and organization of the school, teaching, couselling, students association, etc. It is an idea that opens possibilities in transnational cooperation.
The rationale lies on the idea of effective cooperation,the kind of cooperation that goes a step forward and aims not only for the exchange of ideas, but also for the concept of shared responsibility in a school for adults from different cultures and backgrounds. After having interrupted their education at some points in their lives because of previous failures and/or other personal circumstances, the adult students participating in this project will have the chance to benefit from an added value in their education thanks to the following basic principles: transnational scope, intercultural and interdisciplinary approach aiming for European certification and validation of non-formal education, lifelong learning and development of basic and transversal competences, the use of new technologies in blended education and prevention of school abandonment by means of an innovative approach to education. TASP will provide guidance and instruction in key competences and content areas, which can be easily integrated in any adult education program,by means of innovative technologies in the area of blended education through Moodle. The creation of this prototype school for adults responds, in the first place, to the need for improving the capacities of schools, especially the organizational management, shared in this case, by all the partner institutions. Secondly, the need for a type of flexibility which is offered through blended education to provide a flexibility and prevent drop-outs. Thirdly, the quality of instruction by means of research and implementation of best practices and by means of transnational teaching and learning activities, as well as the development of ICT skills and, finally, the need for counseling and equity from a transnational and intercultural approach.
As any other school, the TASP institution will offer courses for the students to develop key competences relevant in adult education such as linguistic competence in the mother tongue and in English, Science and Technology, ICT, learning skills, social and civil competence with an emphasis on European citizenship, entrepreneurial skills, as well as cultural and artistic competence. Besides, theTASP institution will provide teacher training and student counseling by means of specific departments, as an integrated part of the project activities.
More specific objectives are :
- To contribute to cross-border cooperation by the creation and foundation of a Transnational Adult School Prototype, structured as such (with adminsistrators, instruction departments, teacher training department, counsellor and students association) during the first three months of the project, between September 2015 and November 2015. The school l combines a phsysical space at each institution and a virtual space on Moodle.
- To contribute to improve quality and school development by creating a debate forum (September 2015) about school profiles
- To contribute to improve the quality by creating innovative courses with a basic course curriculum, teaching materials from an intercultural point of view, multimedia and assessment tools: from December 2015 to August 2016.
- To contribute to innovative methods by engaging participants in blended learning and transnational cooperation with a European dimension during the informative sessions and the registration of students: September-October 2015/September-October 2016 and September-October 2017)
- To develop basic and transversal competences by means of on-line courses especially designed by the 10 partners, for instruction in areas such as Foreing Language, Comparative Grammar, Basic English, Science, Arts and Design, European Citizenship, Entrepreneurial Skills, Literature, History and Culture , and implemented during two school semesters (November-April 2016 and November-April 2017).
- To contribute to the reduction of drop-outs by means of the students association and the research on best practices and students satisfaction so that we determine the best practices. This line of research will be conducted by observation and questionnaires between November-July 2016 and between November-July 2017.
- To contribute to the increase in the number of students who wish to continue their education at a higher level by means of the information and support provided by the TASP counsellor and by means of a database created by the 10 partners with information about organizations relevant in each content area as well as Higher Education institutions. This database will be created in September-November 2015 and updated during the whole project.
The T.A.S.P project is both, innovative and at the same time complementary to another project carried out by two of the participating institutions during the 2010-2012 Grundtvig Call, under the title of “Developing a Multicultural Virtual Classroom”. This was a successful project which developed the idea of a multicultural virtual classroom where all the participating countries created materials to present their countries as well as their cultural values and heritage to students from the different countries. The success of this project has led, with the passing of time, to a much more ambitious and demanding kind of project which views e-learning as an opportunity to create transnational schools at a European level. With the incorporation of eight new partners who strongly believed in the original idea and who have contributed, from the very beginning, to the development of the actual project, we have been able to design a prototype school for adults that combines a physical space, available at each participating institution, with a virtual space through Moodle. This transnational school for adults provides an added value to the teaching/learning process thanks to the international cooperation at all levels and thanks to the European dimension of the instruction.