Within the Erasmus+ program, our project manager Barbora Gecseov\u00e1 attened a course on the education of adults in Brussels. She resonated with the term “Bildung” and in the interview, she also reflects upon the perception of lifelong learning in society.<\/p>
It aligns closely with my current role as a project manager at The Bridge. I wanted to explore the field more deeply and gain new perspectives on adult education as a whole. The course seemed like the perfect opportunity to do that and especially since our organization is part of an Erasmus+ accredited consortium, enabling us to utilize funding to support staff development and upskilling.<\/p>
The course was extremely professional and engaging. It gave me the chance to zoom out and view adult education from a \u201cbird\u2019s-eye perspective\u201d. I started to see it as a system made up of individuals with very different ages, needs, and motivations. One term that really resonated with me was Bildung<\/em>. It\u2019s a concept that focuses on holistic personal development, not just professional growth. It\u2019s particularly common in Scandinavian countries, where self-development is treated as a serious societal priority. That\u2019s something I think we could embrace more widely.<\/p> During the study visits, we explored two inspiring organizations. The first was a Belgian NGO teaching literacy in French to communities. They explained how literacy has evolved within last 100 years and shared their “train the trainer” methodology. The second visit was to a Dutch “second chance” school offering dual learning programs in fields like healthcare, cooking, hospitality, or metalworking.<\/p>