With the motto “Dialogue for all”, we aimed to create and test accessible materials and training methods on dialogue in everyday settings for adults to fill in an existing gap in the field of dialogue education. Initially, ur specific objectives were: - An increasing number of Europeans have the skills and opportunities to engage in dialogue, and consequently have a greater sense of engagement. This issue we addressed through material design and pilot dialogues. - Trainers, coordinators and other individuals working in educational institutions have the tools and an increased ability to engage people in dialogue in a variety of settings. This issue we addressed through training and material design. - Dialogue skills are better understood as a basic life skill, especially as comes to adult learners. This issue we addressed through material design and dissemination activity. We did not have a need to modify these objectives during the project
The Dialogue in Adult Learning (DIAL) project aimed to contribute to resolve the issue of social polarisation, rife all across Europe. Its particular aim was to address the uneven distribution and lack of dialogue skills among adults. The partnership wanted to address the following specific needs: - Opportunities for acquiring dialogue skills don't fall evenly. Hence, we targeted training towards groups underrepresented in adult education or that are otherwise vulnerable and people who work with these groups. - Dialogue needed to be addressed as a basic life skill, as it is often ignored in dialogue models and adult learning, but has a demonstrated link with other basic skills like literacy. - Most existing training programmes and materials are targeted at children or adolescents. Adult learners are somewhat neglected in the area of dialogue skills. We aimed to fill in this gap. - Opportunities for dialogue often occur in organised settings: schools, specific events etc. There was a need to bring dialogue to everyday settings and involving more people. - Adult educators lack the ability to train and promote dialogue skills among their learners. Therefore, there was a need for a related training model.