“Transnational Education for Adult Migrants- TEAM” Project, funded by the European Commission, supported by the Center for European Union Education and Youth Programmes, and under Socrates/ Grundtvig 2 Programme coordinated by HYDRA International Project and Consulting CO. with the partnership of VHS- Cham, VHS- Lauf and and AOF- Vejle adult education centers was given the Grundtvig 2006 Award by the European Association of the Education for adults-EAEA on 18th November in Aviles- Spain during the EAEA’s General Assembly of 2006 and the award ceremony.
In addition, TEAM Project was selected as the most successful project among the other Grundtvig 2 Projects that conducted between 2005-2006-time periods, by the Center of European Union Education and Youth Programmes (Turkish National Agency). As a consequence of this success, the project was given the opportunity to be represented at the Joy of Learning: Grundtvig 2 European Conference that held on 5-8th October 2006 in Tuusula- Finland. Within this way, TEAM Project could also find the opportunity to expand its valorization activity at international sphere, where the wide spread participation realized with 117 participant attendance from 38 countries.
The Grundtvig programme, which is part of the wider Socrates Programme aims to promote the European dimension of adult education and to ensure that all European citizens have continued access to learning opportunities throughout their lives. This was called the Grundtvig Award in Adult Education, after NFS Grundtvig, the Danish educator who has been centrally influential in the development of adult education, and non-formal adult education in particular, in Europe and the worldwide.
In Turkey, there have been several projects conducted under Grundtvig Programme since 2004. Despite its short history in Turkey, this programme has a long-standing tradition in the European Union countries and “adult education” and “Grundtvig Programme” itself have provided to establishment of new and important institutions and organizations.
EAEA is one of these significant institutions, which has started its activities in 1953 under the name of European Adult Education Office, has 114 members working in the area of adult education and has 50 million people throughout Europe. With its non-governmental organization status, EAEA aims to offer information and service to its members via various courses, conferences and seminars; develop potentials of its member institutions through projects, publications and training programs and to be partners with other international institutions working in the area of adult education. EAEA which defends life time education; also develops curricula and policies to increase the consciousness of its members on social integrity and integration, democratic participation, fight against poverty and discrimination and integrating values of Europe.
HYDRA is also an adult education institution along with the social Projects that has realized along with the social Projects that has realized, is the official member of European Association of the Education of Adults – EAEA. HYDRA International Project & Consultancy Co., is a non-profit profit organization that has been established to provide knowledge oriented technical, economic and legal support, in accordance with the realities and needs of our country, to all institutions and organizations that aim to provide sustainable development both domestically and abroad. EAEA, being a non-profit organization, aims to gather local, regional, national and international institutions working in the area of adult education in Europe under an umbrella. In this context, HYDRA which is an non-profit institution that prepares and manages projects and conducts educational activities in the field of adult education, has received official member status in 2005 EAEA General Board Meeting held in Norway on 20 November 2005. HYDRA has participated to the training program on “Citizenship Education” held in Hanover, Germany on 9-13 October 2005.
The first Grundtvig Award in Adult Education was launched earlier in 2003 by EAEA in order to recognize and celebrate excellence in adult education. The Award was to be given to the organization or participants who presents the best product of a transnational project in adult learning. Adult education projects which at least one Transnational partner were eligible to enter a product for the award, and products included videos, photographs, books, power point presentation, slides and posters, and so on. Indeed any product that is accessible to the public, that is presented in a comprehensible way, and that may be useful and/or transferable to others was eligible to enter this competition.
This year, the 4th Grundtvig Award 2006 was given to TEAM Project with the special theme that reducing poverty in the light of the fact that in spite of the efforts of social and economic development, poverty is persistent and difficult to eradicate.
Since took a place as a terminology in literature ‘Sustainable Development’, the definition of poverty has changed. Poverty, which has been defined as inadequate income level, lately has included good alimentation, access to infrastructure systems such as electricity, water and drains and services such as education and health, participatory democracy, human rights and freedoms to its context. In the economies planned without taking into account sustainability, getting poorer while developing is the most possible result.
The best way to establish a ‘Sustainable Development’ in a country is initially building an education structure that every individual can benefit from and access to. Building this system on a life-long learning plot is known to be very important. Life-long learning is a must to increase the productivity of the individuals in professional and personal activities and to develop new skills for their needs in this globalizing life platform as parts of information society. Life-long learning is important also on increasing the total life quality of the human being who is the most important resource of education, operation and production.
In the lights of this broad definition of the “poverty”, TEAM Project adapts “capability approach” for the integration of migrants into host countries. This approach emphasizes functional capabilities ("substantial freedoms", such as the ability to live to old age, engage in economic transactions, or participate in political activities); these are construed in terms of the substantive freedoms people have reason to value, instead of utility (happiness, desire-fulfilment or choice) or access to resources (income, commodities, assets). Thus, from this standing point, poverty is understood as capability-deprivation. It is noteworthy that the emphasis is not only on how human beings actually function but also on their having the capability, which is a practical choice, to function in important ways if they so wish. Someone could be deprived of such capabilities in many ways, e.g. by ignorance, government oppression, lack of financial resources, or false consciousness.
This approach to human well-being emphasises the importance of freedom of choice, individual heterogeneity and the multi-dimensional nature of welfare. In significant respects, the approach is consistent with the handling of choice within conventional microeconomics consumer theory although its conceptual foundations enable it to acknowledge the existence of claims, like rights, which lexicographically dominate utility-based claims. This approach contrasts with a common view that sees development purely in terms of GNP growth, and poverty purely as income-deprivation.
In the target countries of TEAM Project; namely Germany, Denmark and Turkey, the traditional “income-deprivation” approach adapted for the social integration of the immigrants group. But, the real needs and expectations are ignored by the adult migrant education programmes. Thus, first off all the needs and communication problems should be made visible for creating a better integration adult education programmes that based on “capability approach”. On the other hand, TEAM Project defines integration as “a process in society which includes everybody living in a society at all times. One cannot do without the pursuit of integration. This pursuit can be seen in a person when he or she takes the initiative to integrate him- or her socially. This is true for locals as well as migrants!”
With this motivation and standing points, TEAM Project aims to eliminate the communication problems between adult migrants and trainers working in integration programme and create an innovative methodology as containing active and good citizenship notions that will satisfy the needs and expectations of the migrants for a more successful integration by
supplying new tools for “social integration” in Europe. In this regard, also display models to Turkey, which is a transit, destination and source country, but does no have adult education migrant education programmes.
The main approach of this project to the migrant integration is using “good citizenship” concept in the current adult migrant education programs. “Good Citizenship” concept includes honesty, good will, respect, responsibility, and courage. A good citizen is someone who has 'empathy' for other people, cares and shares, respects people, understands that rules are made for good reasons and does not break them, judges people on their behaviour not on their colour or appearance and cares about the community and our world. The magical keyword in wide spreading the good citizenship consciousness in social level is “education”. Educationally improved courage, self-reliance and self-respect grow and develop in a circle where democracy deepens and human rights become widespread.
Despite its small budget, in terms of the Project’s expected results as well as the expectations from Grundtving projects, TEAM Project has succeeded in a way more than expected. Both its nomination as the most successful project among the other Grundtvig 2 Projects that conducted between 2005-2006-time periods, by the Center of European Union Education and Youth Programmes (Turkish National Agency) and Grundtvig Award 2006 of the EAEA, which can be seen as the Nobel Prize for projects are the proofs of the success of TEAM Project. As HYDRA, both as behalf of our organization and our country, we share this honor and happiness with you. |
