Teacher training in adult education. A case study from a multi-contextual approach

Adult educators often feel under-trained, lack a strong foundation, and have few opportunities for continuing education throughout their careers. This study is carried out in the context of a European Project where participate teachers from four European countries, Poland, Spain, Finland and Italy, recording information on training in companies. The goal was to contribute to their professional development, and the methodology were the case study and the participant observation technique through a checklist and field notes. The research involved 190 adult education teachers and 5 representative companies from different industrial sectors that offer training to their employees. The results of the descriptive analysis conclude that the participating teachers positively value reflection based on observation in contexts other than formal education. They highlighted some features of the training observed in companies that would be important to transpose into usual teaching practice. The most outstanding findings have been: the development of personal and social skills, an attractive approach to training, the use of technological and audiovisual resources, specific theoretical pills and greater prominence of practical training, among other aspects.