Programme

Future educators, educational designers and dedicated teacher for adult learners-of age, different skills and usually discontinuous training experiences – need tools of assessment of competences validated and aimed at supporting the implementation of flexible educational strategies for continuously directing learning activities according to learners’ needs.
The adult literacy course is intended to enable students to deepen existing examples, tools analysis-methodologies-the elements necessary to the understanding of educational-pedagogical work characteristics to play with adult learners. The course also aims, through individual and small groups work, to develop students’ skills related to the design, formulation and revision of open-ended questions and formulated answers literacy assessment in adulthood.
In particular, the course aims to develop students ' knowledge and skills associated with the following contents:
-most relevant international comparative surveys on adult skills assessment;
-theoretical and methodological foundations of international comparative surveys on adult learning with specific reference to the literacy and to the definitions provided in the framework of investigations;
-the preparation and administration of the questions (types of stimulus and response, administering paper and pencil and computer based, review mode, encoding open-ends);
-the results of the major international comparative surveys on adult skills assessment, with particular reference to the OECD survey PIAAC;
-diachronic perspectives in the analysis of the data available on a worldwide scale in relation to the skills of the adult population (OECD, UNESCO, World Bank data collections and surveys). In particular, it will propose a comparison between surveys IALS, ALL and PIAAC;
-the relationship between functional literacy and ICT at the national level: critical analysis of the impact of technology on literacy and how informal and non-formal learning in adulthood.

Core Documentation

Vertecchi, B. Percorsi di ricerca educativa. Gli editoriali di Cadmo, Milano, Angeli, 2014, pp. 41-59.
Di Francesco, G. (2014). PIAAC-OCSE. Rapporto nazionale sulle competenze degli adulti. ISFOL.
OECD. (2013). OECD Skills Outlook 2013: First Results from the Survey of Adult Skills. OECD Publishing.

Further study material will be made available during the lessons and on the website of the course.

Reference Bibliography

Alberici A., Imparare sempre nella società della conoscenza, Bruno Mondadori Editore, Milano, 2002 Bynner, (a cura di), Tracking adult literacy and numeracy: Findings from longitudinal research Routledge, New York and London, 2008, pp. 59-84. CEDEFOP, Skills Supply and Demand in Europe: Medium Term Forecast up to 2020, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2010. Di Francesco G., PIAAC. Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies. Le competenze di base per vivere e lavorare nel terzo millennio, “Scuola Democratica” n.1, 2014. Dinis da Costa P., Rodrigues M., Vera-Toscano E., Weber A., Education, adult skills and social outcomes: Empirical evidence from the Survey on Adult Skills (PIAAC 2013), Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2014. European Commission, Europe 2020, a Strategy for Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth, COM (2010) 2020 final, Brussels, 3.3.2010. European Commission, An Agenda for New Skills and Jobs. A European Contribution towards Full Employment, COM (2010) 682, 23.11.2010. European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, Adult Education and Training in Europe: Widening Access to Learning Opportunities. Eurydice Report, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2015. Gallina V. (a cura di), La competenza alfabetica in Italia, Franco Angeli, Milano, 2000. Gallina V. (a cura di), Letteratismo e abilità per la vita, Armando, Roma, 2005. Gray W.S., The Teaching of Reading and Writing, UNESCO, 1956. ISFOL, Il framework teorico del programma PIAAC. Metodologia e strumenti per la valutazione delle competenze degli adulti (a cura di Di Francesco G.), Isfol, Roma, 2014a (Temi & Ricerche, 4). ISFOL, Le competenze per vivere e lavorare oggi: principali evidenze dall’indagine PIAAC (a curadi Di Francesco G.), Isfol, Roma, 2013 (Research Paper, 9). ISFOL, PIAAC-OCSE Rapporto nazionale sulle competenze degli adulti (a cura di Di Francesco G.), Isfol, Roma, 2014b (Temi & ricerche; 5) . OECD, OECD Skills Outlook 2015: Youth, Skills and Employability, OECD Publishing, Paris,2015. OECD, All on board: Making inclusive growth happen, OECD Publishing, Paris, 2015. OECD, OECD Skills Outlook 2013: First Results from the Survey of Adult Skills, OECD Publishing, Paris, 2013a. OECD, The Survey of Adult Skills: Reader’s Companion, OECD Publishing, Paris, 2013b. OECD, Literacy, Numeracy and Problem Solving in Technology-Rich Environments: Framework for the OECD Survey of Adult Skills, OECD Publishing, Paris, 2012a. OECD, Better Skills, Better Jobs, Better Lives: A Strategic Approach to Skills Policies, OECD Publishing, 2012b . OECD, Towards an OECD Skills Strategy, OECD, Paris, 2011 . OECD/Statistics Canada, Literacy in the Information Age: Final Report of the International Adult Literacy Survey, OECD Publishing, Paris, 2000, . Parlamento europeo, Consiglio dell’Unione europea, European qualifications framework. Raccomandazione del Parlamento Europeo e del Consiglio del 23 aprile 2008 sulla costituzio- ne del Quadro europeo delle qualifiche per l’apprendimento permanente (2008/C 111/01), G.U.U.E., C 111, 2008, pp. 1-7. Reder S., The development of literacy and numeracy in adult life, in S. Reder e J. Bynner, (a cura di), Tracking adult literacy and numeracy: Findings from longitudinal research, Routledge, New York, 2009. Schaie K.W., Perceptual speed in adulthood, “Psycology and Aging”, n. 4, 1989, pp. 443-453. Schleicher A., OECD Skills Strategy, 2012 . Schleicher A., PIAAC: A New Strategy For Assessing Adult Competencies, “International Review of Education, Springer”, n. 54, 2008, pp. 627-650. World Bank, Stepping Up Skills for More Jobs and Higher Productivity, the World Bank Group, Washington, 2010.

Type of delivery of the course

Face to face lessons

Attendance

It is not required compulsory course attendance.

Type of evaluation

Multiple choice test.