Group 8: Soft Skills and Didactic Pathways in Adult Education

Dr. Gaia Gioli

Research shows that new and higher levels of soft skills will be needed for the civil society of tomorrow. Education, formation and training need to adapt at every level in order to satisfy the skill needs of individuals. As a matter of fact, the Process of Bologna called for an urgent reform of the higher education system where Universities are the institutions that drive change and innovation.

The comparative group will focus on the themes of soft skills and didactical methods applied in higher education institutions (i.e. Master Degree and PhD) in order to study the curricula and programmes on soft skills implemented by European Universities and embedded in the academic curricula at Master Degree and PhD levels.

Concretely the comparative group asks participants to prepare an essay focusing on the following aspects:

1.      Ambiguity of the definition of the term “soft skills” in the European Context: Which is the meaning of “soft skills” in your country?

2.      Actors involved at a macro level: Which is the role played by national policies in the definition of higher education programs?

3.      Programs/Curricula: Do Master Degree and/or PhD curricula in Adult Education at your University focus on soft skills that students and doctoral students should acquire? Can you map the presence/absence of a focus on soft skills in the didactics at your University?

4.      Study case: Can you describe the best practises that characterize your University in terms of Master degree and PhD programs for the soft skills development (kind of skills, tools for the soft skills development, linkage with the professional profiles in the Adult Learning sector, desired outputs in terms of soft skills)?

5.      Conclusions

6.      References

The objective of the comparative group is an analysis of your countries’ scenario in order to get to macro categories of comparison