Chapter 7: Lifelong Learning as a core principle

This report focuses on the role of adapted work settings in the international framework provided by the UNCRPD; in particular, special attention has been given to Article 26 and 27, as they both deal with principles, measures and services offered by adapted work settings.
Adapted work settings, commonly known also as sheltered workshops, are not referred to in the UNCRPD. This requires clarifications for the thousands of people that benefit from their services and whose future looks therefore uncertain.
The analysis was carried out starting from three main subjects:
- what the Convention brought in general terms through its paradigm shift and the subsequent challenges for social services
- the analysis of the current text of Article 26 and 27 and the links to the role of sheltered workshop matters
- the history of the discussions around the inclusion of sheltered workshops in the UN CRPD.

Services like sheltered workshops may sometimes and very often fulfill more than one function for persons with disabilities, thus their compliance to the UN CRPD articles is particularly sensitive. In the framework of a holistic approach to persons with disabilities, where disability itself is not the focus of attention, but everything is about the individual and the enjoyment of his rights, it is of utter importance to keep a good balance between the multitude of skills, personal choices, possibilities of individual development and society’s response.    
The report provides a state of play of possible links existing between sheltered workshops and the UN CRPD in order to gain a view on future developments needed in the provision of work opportunities to persons with (intellectual) disabilities.

The full report is available here.

For more information on the report please contact Ms. Sabrina Ferraina at sabrina.ferraina@easpd.eu.

1. Introduction

Work as a fundamental form of social expression is an important human need in our society. It helps us achieve our personal goals, secures our existence, and gives each one of us a place in society. We can safely assume that work and social integration are integrally linked.

 

However the number of those for whom impairment renders it increasingly difficult to gain a foothold in the world of work has been growing at a steady pace. These include people with an intellectual disability, but also individuals who, as a result of delayed development or social interaction problems, need an additional post-school phase to achieve vocational maturity and/or for whom direct integration in the primary labour market represents too formidable a challenge.

 

This target group needs systematic and individualised provisions to render it possible or easier for them to enter the labour market and to support them in this integration process.

 

All measures relating to job integration focus primarily on practical vocational learning. Most of the qualification steps are offered in companies or in company-like structures and are thus designed to be as realistic as possible. This gives people with disabilities a chance to learn in ideal circumstances.

Together with this type of ‘on-the-job training’, support measures such as vocational orientation, social skills training, work-related excursions and job application coaching ensure that persons with disabilities can gain a stable foothold in the labour market. The concept of lifelong learning is a very important component of this approach.

 

Lifelong learning covers “all learning activity undertaken throughout life with the aim of improving knowledge, skills and attitude within a personal, civic, social and/or employment-related perspective". This EU definition, which was laid down in the 2001 document ‘Making a European Area of Lifelong Learning a Reality’, has lost none of its validity today.

 

The concept of lifelong learning expresses the idea that all of us are capable of absorbing educational processes and content throughout our entire lives, starting in the school period itself.

Lifelong learning serves our personal development, fosters our social integration and improves our employability. Lifelong learning gives persons with disabilities the chance to strengthen and expand their social competence and their personal skills, and to develop and improve their personal and vocational prospects. Unfortunately, there is often very little in the way of systematic public educational opportunities available for adults with special needs, and as a result part of this target group is excluded from the entire lifelong learning process.

 

In Europe there is no more than a sprinkling of integrative adult education courses designed specifically for people with impairment (e.g. the I AM 2003 project). The few courses that are offered take into account the participants' individual needs and prospects in order to best support them in their vocational development. Experience from various projects has shown that such courses do more than merely broaden participants' personal and specialised skills: they also foster self-confidence, social integration and personal development. Lifelong learning can therefore contribute significantly to the "empowerment" and "self-determined life" of people with impairment. This in turn improves not only their personal perspective, but also their vocational prospects.

2. What is the role of lifelong learning and/or integrative adult education for the integration of people with disabilities in the labour market?

When we read job advertisements, we see that job requirements often mention attributes such as: ability to work in a team, presentable appearance and good manners, social skills, reliability, an ability to deal well with customers, communication skills, friendliness and self-confidence.

The list shows clearly that in addition to vocational qualifications, a great deal of importance is placed upon social skills and more basic qualifications. We therefore must be capable of offering methods and ways of training and improving these basic competences and social skills. It is only through the interaction of vocational qualification and post-school lifelong learning that barriers to entry into the world of employment can effectively be broken down.

 

In its Memorandum on Lifelong Learning (European Commission (ed.): Commission staff working paper; A Memorandum on Lifelong Learning. SEC(2000) 1832, Brussels, 30 October 2000) the European Commission states in clear terms that lifelong learning is a prerequisite for employability and personal development, as well as for integration in society. According to the Commission, lifelong learning is more than basic training: it also includes "all purposeful learning activities undertaken on an ongoing basis with the aim of improving knowledge, skills and attitude".

 

2.1. Basic qualifications

For persons with disabilities (as for all job seekers), basic qualifications such as literacy and numeracy are very important, as they can often display significant weaknesses in these areas. Postschool adult learning opportunities offer these individuals the possibility to review and consolidate their school knowledge as a preparation for working life.

 

At the same time however, basic skills also need to include skills that are important for people in the modern world: IT skills, foreign languages, the understanding of technological culture, social skills etc. Many of these have in fact become ‘musts’ for gaining a foothold in the labour market. It is therefore very important for persons with disabilities to be given a chance to acquire these skills in formal and non-formal learning situations.

 

2.2. Key qualifications

Key competences, or basic skills, constitute an essential factor for successful integration in the labour market. Persons with disabilities can learn, practice and ultimately acquire many of these key qualifications in everyday life. Non-formal learning situations involving home, recreational and learning assistance play a significant role. In this context, learners can for instance be taught life skills such as how to deal with public authorities, money or mobile phones, or they can receive mobility training or help to organise support in their private lives.

 

Here are a few of the most important key qualifications expected by companies:

· punctuality, reliability

· order and tidiness at the workplace

· endurance and motivation

· independence and a sense of responsibility

· flexibility and willingness to cooperate

· ability to deal with criticism

· good manners

 

2.3. Social skills

A further prerequisite for labour market integration is the acquisition and strengthening of social skills. Persons with disabilities should learn to take decisions and assume responsibility for their own future and/or career planning. They should seek to improve their communication and contact skills with various types of interlocutors. They should develop an awareness of their own strengths and be conscious of their own development needs. However, many of these development steps depend on social interaction within their own environment, as well as on access to formal adult learning opportunities. It is therefore important to support persons with disabilities in the organisation and ensure the continuity of formal learning groups. Participation in such groups can be an important contribution to the development of their personality. Being confronted with both shared and diverging values, learning to set rules within one's own group, finding out about standards in the world of employment, the significance of social networks, the importance of material security and the topic of work and performance – these are all issues that can be communicated to participants through a variety of methodological approaches. A particularly important aspect in this context is the fact that people learn from one other.

3. Conclusion

This chapter has highlighted the importance of lifelong learning for everyone, especially for persons with disabilities who may be lacking some of the most basic skills. It and the chapters that have preceded it have offered an insight into the situation that persons with disabilities face when it comes to the issue of employment, both in a general manner and in a more detailed one, using the partner countries as examples. As we have seen, a lot remains to be done. It is for this reason that the next chapter aims to summarize four EU-funded projects which deal with the employment of persons with disabilities, and introduces the existing training materials (attached in appendix) which have resulted from them.

 

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