preparatory adult education in denmark: some basic ideas and some dilemmas
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Preparatory Adult Education in Denmark: Some basic ideas and some dilemmas. EMMA Study Visit Copenhagen 9 – 12 May 2007 Lena Lindenskov 10 May 2007, DPU. The study visit shows stories and voices at three levels. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Preparatory Adult Education in Denmark: Some basic ideas and
some dilemmasEMMA Study Visit
Copenhagen 9 – 12 May 2007 Lena Lindenskov
10 May 2007, DPU
The study visit shows stories and voices at three levels
• At the system level: background, policy, framework, information campaigns, centrally developed material
• At the level of labour markets organisations: background and policy
• At the participants and teachers level:materials, practice, experiences, personal aims
Some background in 2000
• Adults learning mathematics mentioned in Prime Minister’s opening talk in October 1999
• Consensus in Parliament, May 2000• Results from SIALS • Employment rate is very high• International research and educational reforms• Socio-demographic trends (few young people, lots
of old people)
Danish state of the art 2007
• A growing awareness of needs and relevance - and of barriers and dilemmas
• A growing consciousness of the necessity of long term effort
• Networks between state, local authorities, institutions, and teachers
• Institutional experiences and conceptual understanding of what is relevant and accessible numeracy for the participants
Decisions in 2000 of Ministry leading to a national numeracy course for adults
• Curriculum at two levels (!!!)• Courses are to run for 40-60 lessons (level 1), as well as
60-80 lessons (level 2). • Curriculum is outcome-based with specific goals to be
attained.• Examinations, written and individual are national, and are
non-compulsory
The two levels on a row
• level 1 : figures and quantity • level 2: patterns and connections, including the area of
“form and dimension”, as well as “data and chance”.
Basic ideas - A
• The aim is to support adults in further developing their numeracy (NUMERALITET: functional mathematical skills and understanding that in principle all people in society need to have)
• by holding in respect at the same time– relevance of everyday mathematics – adult participants’ experienced worries and difficulties,
and their competencies, experiences and aims
Basic ideas - B
1. Oblige adult participants as co-citizens 2. Countermeasure invisibility of everyday structures and
elements that can be approached by mathematical skills and understanding
– in work, in learning/studies/courses, and in everyday life, including children’s homework
3. Countermeasure invisibility of adults’ competencies and worries
– in work, in learning/studies/courses, and in everyday life, including children’s homework
To oblige adult participants as co-citizens is institutionalised as:
1. Let them play at home - flexible organisation in space
2. Flexible organisations in time
3. Special economical support
4. Pre-test as a possibility (!)5. Non-compulsory national
examination (!)6. Requiring special
education for teachers
LL&TW’s inspiration for curriculum development which countermeasures the
invisibilities• Anthropological studies
(Alan Bishop and others)• Research on adults’
learning and thinking about education and learning
• Curriculum from other countries
• The numeracy operational model (Lindenskov & Wedege, 2001; Wedege 2004) :
- situation context- personal intention- media and data- mathematical knowledge and activities (2004)
Official intented aims for Preparatory Adult Education
• to ensure participants the possibility of clarifying, improving and supplementing their functional arithmetic and mathematical skills.
• to increase the participants' possibilities of coping with, processing and producing math-containing information and materials.
Official intented aims for Preparatory Adult Education
1. to develop the participants' numeracy, which consists of the functional mathematical skills and understanding that in principle all people in society need to have.
Mathematical awareness
• Is part of the aims for level 1 and level 2• It is exemplified in the Ministry’s guidelines • Is modelled in the SPC-model (Lindenskov, 2004)
SPC-modellen
Process what exists
Construct what does not
yet exist
Sense what exists
Content – a dynamic interplay
Activities(A.Bishop)
Data and
media
Math con-cepts and operations
Bishop’s six activities
• Counting• Measuring• Locating• Designing• Playing
• Explaining
FVU-mathematics level 1 activities
Counting (reading numbers, sorting, comparing, calculating)Measuring (surveying, weighing, comparing, calculating, converting, sorting out)Locating (denoting place, time and direction)Playing (following rules and strategies)
FVU-mathematics level 2 activities
• Counting• Measuring• Locating• Designing• Playing• Explaining
FVU-mathematics level 1 goals
Read, evaluate critically, and compare numerical data, numbers and codes.Read and understand information in simple tablesCompare, sort out and round off figures and quantities
FVU-mathematics level 1 goals (continued)
Estimate numbers and distances, heights, volumes, weight and time on the basis of a sense of units of measurements (cm/m: dl/l: g/kg: sec/min)Add, subtract, multiply and divide whole numbers and decimals with denomination, and critically evaluate and control results with and without aids.
FVU-mathematics level 1 goals (continued)
Count and measure and both estimate and precisely calculate numbers, length, height and distance, as well as weight, materials, time and money.Convert measurements of length (cm/m), weight (g/kg), time (min/hours and days/weeks) and volume (dl/l).Formulate arithmetical problems to handle simple quantitative questions
Level 1 Data and media
Amount, time, price, discount, loss, weight, temperature, volume, length, distance, numbers, and dates.Written information and communication (informative and instructive texts, reference and fill-in texts), oral information and communication, concrete materials.
Level 2 Data and media
Currency, interest, price, discount, loss, weight, temperature, distance, direction, point, diagrams, figures, set of data, probability, numbers, time, dateWritten information and communication (informative and instructive texts, reference and fill-in texts), oral information and communication, as well as concrete materials.
Level 1: Math concepts/operations
Cardinal numbers, ordinal numbers and codes and numbers.Less than, more than, equal to, the same as and different from.Positional system.Units (metre, litre, kilogram, hours) and conversion.
Level 1: Math concepts/operations (continued)
Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division of whole numbers, and decimals using aids.Special figures and connections usable in mental arithmetic and estimations.Special fractions (¼, ½, ¾,) and percentages (10%, 25%, 50%).Length, height, breadth, and perimeter
Level 2: Math concepts/operations
Proportions and proportionalitySimple formulas from everyday contextsSystems of units and scaleTriangle, quadrangle, circle, box, cylinderSymmetry in patterns
Level 2: Math concepts/operations (continued)
Area and volume of planes and spatial figures in everyday lifeSystem of co-ordinates and simple graphsBar and pie chartsMean and dispersionSimple combinatorics
References
Lindenskov, Lena (2004). Aviser i matematikundervisningen – hvorfor og hvordan?: - matematisk opmærksomhed med og mod avisen som medie. I: LAMIS Sommerkurs-rapport 2003 (s. 58-82). Trondheim: Norwegian Centre for Mathematics Education.
Lindenskov, Lena; Wedege, Tine (2001). Numeracy as an Analytical Tool in Adult Education and Research. Centre for Research in Learning Mathematics, Publication no.31, Roskilde University.
Wedege, Tine (2004). Lifelong learning of mathematics, focus on adult education. In Stedøy, Ingvill M. (ed.) Mathematics Education – The Nordic Way. A Pre ICME-10 production (pp.41-50). Trondheim: Norwegian Centre for Mathematics Education.
Wedege, Tine (2006). Numeracy as a tool in adult mathematics education: success or failure? To be published in Bergsten, C. (eds.) Proceedings from the fifth seminar on research in mathematics education. MADIF 5. Linköping: SMDF.
Curriculum and guidelines from Ministry
• Curriculum and teacher requirements : ”Bekendtgørelse om undervisning m.v. inden for forberedende voksenundervisning (FVU-bekendtgørelsen) BEK nr 1374 af 15/12/2005 (Vedrører lovbekendtgørelse Nr.16 af 07/01/2005)”
• See the guidelines at http://us.uvm.dk/voksen/fvu/vejledninger.htm?menuid=350525 by pressing at ”Undervisningsvejledning i FVU-matematik.”