Theroleofhighereducationinthe

processofprofessionalisationofadult
educators
***
th

4 Biennialmeeting
oftheESREAResearchNetworkforAdultEducators,Trainers
andtheirProfessionalisation(ReNAdET)

1113November2015, Cyprus
Organisedby
theOpenUniversityofCyprus(OUC)

http://esrearenadet.net/

http://www.ouc.ac.cy

Invitationforpaperproposals

ThepurposeofESREAReNAdETbiennialmeetingsistobringtogetherresearchers,policymak
ersandpractitionersfromthefieldtopresentandexchangetheirideasontherole/sofadult
educatorsandtrainersinEuropeaswellastodiscussissuesrelevanttotheirprofessionalstatus
anddevelopment.

Adulteducatorshaveoftenacquiredexpertisewithinasubjectareainthecourseoftheirinitial
studies, but often lack formal preparation for teaching adults prior to entering the profession
andatitsoutset.Hence,itisworthquestioninghowprospectiveadulteducatorspreparethem
selvestoperformaccordingtohighqualitystandardsinachangingworkingenvironment.With
theincreasedinterestinlifelonglearningandadulteducation,thequalificationsofthoseteach
ingadultsbecomesincreasinglyrelevant.Whileanumberofstudieshavefocusedonthequali
ficationofadulteducatorsandtheirneedforcompetences,thequestionofinitialeducationof
thosewillingtoenterthefieldofadulteducationhashithertobeenratherlimited.
Inrecentyears,theconcernabouttheneedtoqualifyadulteducatorsissharedamongpracti
tioners,academicsandresearchers.Thisisexemplifiedontheonehand,bythecreationofad
hoc training modules aimed at adult educators and, on the other hand, by the flourishing of
nationalandcrossnationalstudies,whichshedlightontheinfluencesofsocietal,educational
and occupational contexts within which professional development among adult educators oc
curs.However,arelativelylimitedattentionhasbeenpaidtotheroleofhighereducationinsti
tutionsontheinitialeducationandtrainingofadulteducatorstobe,whencomparedtoother
fields of education (e.g. primary and secondary education). Furthermore, while a number of
policiesemphasisethequalityofadulteducationandtrainingprovision,littleattentionispaid
within current policy discourses on the role of higher education in the initial education and
preservicetrainingofprospectiveadulteducators.

Thisbiennialmeetingfocusesontheimportantyetlessdiscussedroleofhighereducationinsti
tutionsinbothdeliveringacademicprogrammesthatproviderelevantcognitiveandprofession
alskillsandcompetencestofutureadulteducators,andinbeingmoreactivelyinvolvedinthe
currentdialoguewithregardtotheprofessionalisationpathsofadulteducatorsandtrainers.

Alimitednumberofpapers(max.50)willbepresented.Interestedcontributorsmaychoose
butarenotlimitedtofromthefollowingshortlistofsubthemes:
Initial education and training of adult educators and trainers in higher education envi
ronments.
Types of programmes that are or can be provided by higher education institutions for
thedevelopmentofrelevantprofessionalcompetencesbyadulteducators.
The role of universities as validating agencies of existing psychopedagogical compe
tencesforinserviceadulteducators.
Waysinwhichadulteducationpoliciesandinitialeducationandtrainingopportunities
forprospectiveadulteducatorsaffecttheroleofhighereducationinstitutionsinterms
ofacademicorientationandprogrammedelivery.
Existingsocialandculturalfactorswithinhighereducationinstitutionsthatinfluencethe
formationofinitialcompetencesandqualificationsofadulteducators.
Higher education institutions as stakeholders in decision making processes concerning
adulteducation.
Development of conduits among policymakers and academics with regard to the
professionalisationofadulteducators.

Guidelinesforsubmissionofpaperproposals
Proposals are invited for full papers only. Paper proposals should be sent as an attached file
[eitherin*.doc,*.docx,or*.pdfformat].TheyshouldnotexceedoneA4or1000words;they
must include a title and keywords, but not the author/s name/s, affiliation or institution/s.
Pleasesendinaseparatesheetyourprofessional/personaldata(name,institutionalaffiliation,
phone,faxandmail).AllabstractsforopinionpapersmustbesubmittedbyJune14th2015to
thefollowingemailaddresses:maria.gravani@ouc.ac.cyandesrea.renadet@yahoo.com.
Allpaperproposalswillbeblindreviewedbythescientificcommittee.Acceptancewillbecon
firmedbyAugust23rd2015.Finalversionsoffullpapers(nomorethan6000wordsincluding
references) must be submitted by Monday 19th October 2015. Paper presentations must not
exceed 20minutes in time length. The meeting presentations will be organised based on the
OpenSpacemethodandwillincludeflowsessionsandlearningcafs.Learningcafisasimple,
effective,andflexibleformatforhostinglargegroupdialogue.Eachflowsessionwillhave4to6
cafsandparticipantscanvisitalloftheminonesession.Thecafhostswillsharetheirideas
withalltheparticipants.Thelearningcafhostshave20minutesmax.forpresentingtheirpa
persandthesameamountoftimeforaroundtablediscussionwithparticipants.Thentheywill
receive new participants in their caf, they will present their papers again and hear the next
roundofparticipantsthoughts.Learningcafhostswillkeepnotesfromthediscussionforlater
onconclusions.Theymayalsousehandoutsorotherpresentationtechniquesinthecafe.g.
computers,posters,photos,iPadsetc.Theycanbringtheirhandoutswiththemtotheevent.
An adhoc interactive workshop focusing on teaching issuesin higher education institutions
willalsobeorganised.ThisworkshopwillhaveasathemeTeachingNarrativesanditwillbe
providedbyasmallnumberofselectedparticipantswhowillbeabletoorganisetheirteaching
experience in a narrative and/or interactive format by using acoopeartive approach with all
otherparticipants.Essentialythisworkshopwillfocusonasinglesuccessfulinteractiveteaching
experiencewithadulteducatorsinhighereducationcontext.Colleagueswhoareinterestedin
participatinginthisworkshoparerequestedtosubmitseparatelytotheirpaperproposals,an
A4 page describing their teaching narrative or story that will be enacted interactively, or a
relevantvideo.

ImportantDates

14thJune2015
deadlineofsubmissionofpaperproposals
acceptanceofpaperproposalswillbeannounced

23rdAugust2015

19thOctober2015
fullpapersshouldbesubmitted

20thAugust2015
deadlineforearlybirdregistration
th

9 October2015
finaldeadlineforregistrationandpaymentoftheconferencefee

ScientificCommittee
ReginaEgetenmeyer,UniversityofWrzburg(tobeconfirmed)
MariaGravani,OpenUniversityofCyprus
AlexandraIoannidou,OpenUniversityofCyprus
LarissaJgi,TallinUniversity
WolfgangJtte,BielefeldUniversity
SusanneLattke,GermanInstituteforAdultEducationDIE
BonnieSlade,UniversityofGlasgow
3

GeorgiosK.Zarifis,AristotleUniversityofThessaloniki

OrganisingCommittee
MariaGravani,OpenUniversityofCyprus
EleniPapaioannou,OpenUniversityofCyprus

ConferenceArrangements

Language
ThelanguageoftheconferenceandfullpapersisEnglish.

Venue
Moreinformationwillbecommunicatedlater.

RegistrationFee
EarlyBirdRegistrationFee
ESREAMembers
60
Nonmembers
80
PhDStudents
30

Registrationfeeafter20thAugust2015
ESREAMembers
120
Nonmembers
160
PhDStudents
60
The fees include conference materials and refreshments (coffee, tea, light lunch) during the
meeting;theyexcludetheconferencedinner,anyairport/hoteltransfersandhotelaccommo
dation.

ESREAConferenceBursariesforPHDStudents
Fortheconference,threebursariesareavailabletoPhDstudentswhoareindividualmem
bersofESREA,orstudyingatinstitutionswhichhaveinstitutionalmembershipofESREA.
To be eligible, your paper must have been accepted for the conference. Applications
should be submitted on the bursary application (available at: http://www.esrea
renadet.net/Application%20form%20for%20PhD%20Bursary1.doc) form together with
thepaperproposals.Bursaries,normally250,maybeusedtocoverallorpartofthecost
oftravelandaccommodation.

Registration
A conference registration page will be available by May 2015. It will be accessed from the
RENADETwebsitewww.esrearenadet.net

AccommodationArrangements
Moreinformationwillbecommunicatedlater.

Contact
Forquestionsandexpressionofinterest,pleasecontact:
maria.gravani@ouc.ac.cy
esrea.renadet@yahoo.com

Theconferencewebsitewillsoonbeavailableat:http://www.esrearenadet.net
5

Organisinginstitutions

ESREA(www.esrea.org):TheEuropeanSocietyforResearchontheEducationofAdults(ESREA)
promotesanddisseminatestheoreticalandempiricalresearchonadulteducationandlearning
inEuropeaswellasdebatesoneducationandtrainingpracticeswithinthefieldofadulteduca
tionandlearning.Networkmeetingssuchasthisconferenceareplacesforexchangeofresearch
anddiscussion.

Open University of Cyprus (www.ouc.ac.cy): The conference is organised by The Open

UniversityofCyprus,thesecond(inorderofestablishment)StateuniversityofCyprusandthe
countrys only Higher Education Institution dedicated solely to distance education.
The University offers undergraduate and postgraduate (at the Master and doctoral levels)
programmes, as well as vocational/training programmes of short duration. The awarded
degrees are equivalent to all accredited universities worldwide, regardless of the educational
methodologyusedconventionalornot.TheUniversity'sacademicprogrammesareallocated
withECTScreditunits,whichfacilitatecomparabilityofstudyprogrammesandtheintegration
ofstudentsatthereceivinginstitution,whetherattheOUCoranyotheruniversityinEurope.
ThemissionoftheOpenUniversityofCyprusistoprovidehighqualityacademicprogrammes,
to promote scientific research and to effectively utilise educational technology, methodology
and teaching method in open and distance learning. Further, OUC aspires to distinguish its
position in the Cypriot and broader European educational communities as an innovative
university delivering with teaching to students who are not physically present in a traditional
educationalsetting,suchasaclassroom,viaastateofthearttechnologicalinfrastructureand
educationalmethodology.

ESREAMembership
MembershipofESREAisopentoallindividualsandinstitutionsengagedorinter
ested in research on the education of adults and adult learning. To become a
member of ESREA fill out the form available at: www.esrea.org/membership and
sendbacktothesecretariataccordingtotheaddressontheform.