Improving senior education
About the Organisations
The partners of Golden Languages aim to improve senior education through two channels – adult education institutions and language schools. One channel is training teachers to teach seniors. The other is developing and adapting language courses and teaching materials suitable for seniors, for use by these teachers. Therefore, we develop these resources together, based on a work plan. And it doesn’t stop at development. The dissemination of the results is also part of the project.
Volksuniversiteit Breda
De Volksuniversiteit Breda (VUB) is the official applicant for the project and also carries out the general project management. The VUB is a community college that offers people above the compulsory school age, regardless of their previous education or position, the opportunity to develop and further their skills. The goals are to broaden their language skills, orient themselves towards science and culture, and stimulate creativity. The curriculum is broad and not degree-oriented. Two-thirds of the offering consists of language courses. The VUB offers 18 different foreign languages at various levels, in accordance with the European Reference Framework. As its name suggests, it operates in Breda and is independent of any political or philosophical persuasion. The foundation was established on June 8, 1973, and has its office in Breda, located in the Nieuwe Veste building at Molenstraat 6. The VUB is part of a network of 68 community colleges in the Netherlands. It is a medium-sized community college and receives its income primarily from tuition fees and income from other activities. The foundation is not-for-profit and receives no government funding.
Teacher Studio SL in Malaga
Teacher Studio consists of a team of education professionals and innovators in the fields of coaching, emotional intelligence, and neurodiversity. They also have experience developing and delivering teacher training programs, the use of learning and teaching solutions, promotion of cross-disciplinary learning activities, and are specialised in educational coaching and implementing emotional intelligence in the classroom. Mr Boelo van der Pool, CEO and senior lecturer, has over 30 years of experience in language learning and teaching and specialises in language coaching and language instruction for students with neurodiversity. He collaborates with a team of international language teachers, teacher trainers, and experts in neurodiversity to always offer their clients the best possible learning opportunities. At Teacher Studio, they believe in promoting effective, affective, and inclusive language learning opportunities for learners of all ages and backgrounds. They do this by listening to the needs of teachers and offering teacher development programs worldwide aimed at improving their students’ learning success. They also focus on providing inclusive and adapted language learning programs. And they develop strategies and teaching materials to help language learners who struggle with traditional language learning.
Blackbird, Language School in Čačak
Blackbird is a private language school in Čačak, Central Serbia. Founded in the 1990s, the school quickly grew to meet the growing demand for foreign language skills. The school has over 1,500 students annually in various European languages and has had a significant impact beyond its own region. The school prides itself on its role as a dedicated promoter of lifelong learning, intercultural cooperation, and the European dimension in education. Blackbird not only offers a full range of courses in various European languages, from English and German to Spanish, Italian, Slovenian, Scandinavian languages, and Serbian, for different age groups, from very young learners to adults and seniors. The school also has a long tradition as a preparation centre for Cambridge English exams and as a national
distributor of Cambridge University Press ELT materials 2. This latter role also keeps the school active in innovative programs, including the testing of exams and materials. The school is an active member of YALS, the national organisation of language schools, and is an associate member of EAQUALS and IATEFL, as well as of Elta, the national association of language teachers. What makes the school’s education unique, however, is the in-depth quality of its teaching methods. This ensures that each student receives a customised learning solution, fully tailored to their individual learning needs and profile. To achieve this, the school dedicates significant attention to the development of its staff and the continuous improvement of its language teaching products and internal organisation.
Senior Citizens Brabant Zeeland in ‘s-Hertogenbosch
Senior Citizens Brabant Zeeland is a network representing over 210,000 members. This makes it a powerful voice for seniors when it comes to pensions, purchasing power, housing, healthcare, well-being, inclusion, safety, and mobility. It shares a belief in the need to more effectively represent the interests of seniors at the national level, but is also convinced that this should happen from the bottom up, not from a national headquarters. This forms the basis for the collaboration of the five KBO associations within the Senioren Netwerk Nederland (Senior Citizens Network Netherlands). It shares a belief in the need to more effectively represent the interests of seniors at the national level, but is also convinced that this should happen from the bottom up, not from a national headquarters. This forms the basis for the collaboration of the five KBO associations 3 within the Senioren Netwerk Nederland (Senior Citizens Network Netherlands). These unions have a close-knit, decentralized structure with many local branches, which distinguishes Senioren Netwerk Nederland from other advocacy platforms. Twelve years ago, KBO-Brabant decided to withdraw from the KBO-Unie due to the national organization’s far-reaching centralization plans. At that time, a reverse trend was already visible: the transfer of social domain tasks from the central government to municipalities. Recently, KBO Gelderland, KBO Limburg, KBO Noord-Holland, and KBO-Overijssel also decided to leave the KBO Unie effective January 1, 2023, and to collaborate with Senioren Brabant Zeeland as independent associations.
EOTVOS LORAND TUDOMANYEGYETEM (ELTE) in Budapest
Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), Hungary’s oldest and most prestigious university, is a leader in the education of future intellectuals in the humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. With the broadest educational portfolio in Hungary, ELTE’s eight faculties cover fields such as law, humanities, educational sciences, psychology, teacher education, special education, computer science, natural sciences, mechanical engineering, and economics. The university offers 52 bachelor’s degree programs and 112 master’s degree programs, with a total of 13,162 courses. For international students, 104 programs are available in English, with students able to choose from 71 different language studies. Emese Schiller, PhD, is an assistant professor at the Institute for Adult Education and Knowledge Management, part of the Faculty of Pedagogy and Psychology at ELTE. Her research focuses on adapting individual guidance methods for autonomous learning to the specific needs and interests of older adults. This solution-focused approach to developing learner autonomy emphasises increasing self-awareness through individualised learning strategies and materials. It also focuses on improving learning skills in this age group by promoting independent interaction with cognitively stimulating study techniques and technology-enhanced learning tools. In addition to her research, Dr Schiller has trained continuing education instructors to become counsellor educators at a language school specialising in the education of older adults to increase their impact on educational practice. Currently, she is exploring the possibilities of promoting active ageing through intergenerational learning programs at higher education institutions as part of an Erasmus+ collaborative project, where she also serves as research leader.