Examining values in community stories of the electronic platform for adult learning in Europe

Bibliographic Data

ID21376152
AuthorsMehmet Durnali (0000-0002-1318-9362, Ereğli Faculty of Education, Department of Educational Sciences Zonguldak Bulent Ecevit University Ereğli Zonguldak Turkey, corresponding author), Mehmet Akif Ocak (0000-0001-8405-1574, Gazi Faculty of Education Gazi University Ankara Turkey)
Year2023
Volume60
Issue11
Pages4350-4371
Publication date2023-10-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePsychology in the Schools (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0033-3085 • E-ISSN: 1520-6807
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/pits.23028
OpenAlexW4385237983
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited43

This research aimed to examine the community stories of the Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe (EPALE) to understand and manage the de facto learning needs of adults in Europe and whether it has the functional capacity to be considered an innovative tool. The EPALE demands high‐quality publication and provides users with six key content types (news, blogs, resources, events, discussions, and community stories) to read, write, and comment on. Specifically, this research delved just into the community stories. We used a qualitative research approach while designing the research in phenomenology. The series of data included adult educators' and learners' stories in the 2020 and 2021 EPALE Community Story Books, and in the EPALE. We employed descriptive and content analysis approaches to find values in the content of the community stories, including the views of 214 users regarding their experiences with adult education. Accordingly, the participants' community tales for 2020 were categorized into four key themes: social inclusion, work skills, basic skills, and culture. The 2021 community stories were categorized into three key themes: inclusive social change, digital transition, and life and work skills. These findings showed the de facto learning themes of adults in Europe. As a result, we understood that community stories and the EPALE are effective adult education tools for gathering and disseminating users' views and experiences to understand diverse learning patterns, which has an influence on the success of adult education implementations

Adult education · Content analysis · Inclusion (mineral) · Pedagogy · Qualitative research · Social science · Sociology · Adult and Continuing Education Topics · Global Educational Policies and Reforms · Higher Education Learning Practices · Psychology · Social Psychology

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access