With the development of the Curriculum managerALE in 2021, a major gap in addressing the needs of adult education actors was closed. Since then, it has been piloted in several Asian countries. Now, with the translation of the curriculum into different languages, the way is paved for using it in other DVV International project regions such as Latin America and Eastern Europe as well.
When introducing a new tool such as the Curriculum managerALE, which addresses relevant learning needs of managers of adult learning and education institutions, it is essential to accompany such a process with close monitoring and evaluation. This is why the piloting of the instrument in Palestine and Kyrgyzstan as well as the management training cycles in Lao PDR and Cambodia (on which the curriculum is based) were followed by a study which looked at the immediate impact of the related trainings and options for further roll-out, institutionalisation and improvement. The study was conducted in the first half of 2023 and provided valuable findings.
Cross-cutting issues and community of practice
While the study acknowledged the differences between the four countries that had been analysed – mainly stemming from the fact that while Laos and Cambodia had already undergone a full training cycle of six modules, Palestine and Kyrgyzstan have only implemented half of the curriculum – it still managed to propose recommendations worth thinking about when working with the curriculum further.
Generally asserting that the trainings based on the curriculum met an urgent need within adult education institutions, an important recommendation pointed towards an even closer integration of the three DVV framework curricula (besides managerALE also globALE and institutionALE) by mainstreaming cross-cutting issues such as communication, teamwork or digital topics that are certainly of relevance as well.
In order to allow participants to stay connected and be able to further exchange good practices and various challenges, a community of practice was established in Laos after the end of the management training cycle. The authors of the study now suggest following the Lao example and setting up similar communities under the guidance of DVV International or partner organisations in the other countries that also work with the Curriculum managerALE. This will be particularly helpful once the entire training cycles will have been completed in Palestine and Kyrgyzstan as well. For the time being, the rest of the modules will be implemented at the end of 2023 as well as in 2024 in those countries.
Going west with the curriculum
But the curriculum will not stop in Asia. Just as with the other DVV International framework curricula, the aspiration is to use the Curriculum managerALE worldwide. The Latin American team has therefore already translated the curriculum into Spanish. First discussions with partners have revealed that there is great interest in the adult education community, particularly in Central America. DVV International therefore envisages piloting the curriculum in Mexico and Guatemala in the coming years. After that, as with the Curriculum globALE, it will be interesting to re-evaluate the use of the curriculum and possibly think of a second edition which takes into account lessons learned during the first cycle as well as recommendations from the recently finished study on the pilot in Asia. Furthermore, the curriculum is now also striking root in Eastern Europe. Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova are looking forward to exploring its potential as well – preparatory work in the form of a needs assessment has already been done.
Check out the Curriculm managerALE in our ALE Toolbox.
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