Competency Improvement Needs of Facilitators for Enhancing Adult Education Programme in Edo State, Nigeria (Published)
We designed this study to determine the skill improvement needs of facilitators for enhancing Adult learning programmes in Edo state, Nigeria. The research design was a descriptive survey. The population of the study was 549. Simple random sampling technique was used to drown a sample of 108 facilitators by balloting. Two research queries were posed with two null hypotheses to guide the study. A researcher-designed questionnaire was used to elicit information from the respondents. The questionnaire instrument was subjected to face and content validation using three experts from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. We used Cronbach alpha to determine the reliability coefficient of the instrument. The result was .85 and .68 for each query. We analyzed the data collected using mean and standard deviation to answer the research queries and used t-test statistics to analyze the hypotheses at (P>0.05) level of significance. The result showed that the skill improvement needs of facilitators to enhance adult education programme include: the ability to find the right condition that will enable achievement of programme goals, analytical ability to evaluate the various ways in the light of multiple factors that may hinder or help in programme implementation, and the ability to sequentially coordinate activities for a smooth flow of programme activities. It also includes listening ability, knowing the demographic nature of messages, and presentation of subject matter in the right context for learners understanding among others. We recommended that facilitators should be equipped with these skills to improve adult education programmes in Edo state Nigeria.
Keywords: Adult Education, Improvement, Needs, competency, facilitators
Coaching For Adult Learners and Educators- Needs and Expectations (Published)
The article presents the results of a pre-analysis of learners’ and educators’ needs and expectations carried out under the multilateral Grundtvig project Coaching Skills for Adult Education (COACH4U) with the aim of establishing the nature of their work and communication with adult learners. The research was conducted during January – February 2015 through a focus-group discussion with 47 participants from the UK, Spain, Cyprus, Poland, Sweden and Bulgaria. The indicators used in the study are: communication with adult learners in and out of the classroom; general awareness of coaching and coaching skills; knowledge of specific coaching techniques; use of coaching techniques; expectations about the application of coaching to participants’ personal expertise; expectations about improving participants’ expertise in different areas; application of acquired coaching knowledge and skills to the context of partner organisations. Some conclusions oriented towards professional competences in adult education are formulated on the basis of the research.
Keywords: Adult Learners, Coaching, Educators, Expectations, Needs, Project