ABOUT THE PROJECT

The LARA project arose from work undertaken by the team within two previous European Commission funded projects which were about creating and sustaining effective learning for older adults. Follow the links to discover more:

• LISA - Learning in Senior Age
• LENA - Learning in the post professional phase

LARA makes use of the experience of these previous projects to promote a view of learning as a key part of active ageing. The LARA team have created a training programme for adult educators that demonstrates the relationships between learning and ageing and gives practical solutions to addressing these in group learning contexts.

The project LARA seeks to support adult educators in developing responsive teaching and learning. By providing time for reflection, consideration of good practice from within Europe, review of the attitudes to and the realities of ageing, opportunities to self-audit existing professional skills and action plan for new ones the project makes a contribution to the competence of adult educators within partner countries and within Europe.

Ageing as a theme enables practitioners to work together on something that affects every individual. Ageing can impact on learning whenever and wherever it takes place and has implications for the full range of educational activity from motivation to learn through to application of what has been learned. Adult educators are challenged to review and update their attitudes to the conception and purpose of learning. The project will enable them to do this with their peers in a supportive environment.

The project provides a training package for use by future trainers as a basis for course delivery and/or by trainees for self study. The training equipes teachers and managers of adult education programmes to develop and deliver learning that is responsive to the demands and opportunities of ageing. The pedagogical principles that evolve from training are transferable and contribute to raising awareness of the need to “personalise” teaching and learning. Trainees will begin to develop the skills and confidence they need to carry off teaching that may be fundamentally different from what has gone before.

Fore more information about LARA, click on the links below or  left for

• Background to the project
• Aims and objectives
• Target group