Life long learning as a way to grow self-confidence
Erasmus, Uncategorized

Lifelong learning as a way to grow self-confidence

Lifelong learning as a way to grow self-confidence


 

“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.” — Henry Ford

Alan Honan 

Born in Ireland, Alan has been travelling the world since the age of 18, and fell in love with Croatia and Zagreb. He enjoys being a teacher and  loves seeing the improvement in his students. He is a bookworm, and  enjoys learning new skills.

Alan Honan

What is Lifelong Learning? 

Well, it’s something we do all our lives whether we realize it or not. We learn every day either in formal or informal ways. Formal learning is what we get in schools or universities and is structured to lead to a certificate or diploma, while informal learning is what we learn in everyday life either at work or through relationships such as family life or friendships.

Every time you learn a new way to do something or deal with a certain situation you are learning, and as long as you live you will continue to learn, so it makes sense to find out the best ways to learn and the things that will benefit us the most. In today’s world, it’s more important than ever to keep up with the almost constant changes in technology, both at work and in society in general, as seen with the increased use of social media for communication and interaction.

Increased choices in everyday life

Let's look at what we can get from lifelong learning and the ways we can achieve the best results from this fascinating and rewarding journey. The first and most obvious way we can benefit from further education is at work where extra skills can lead to better job prospects and consequently to better pay, which in turn gives us more choices in our everyday lives, i.e. where we can live, where we can eat or socialize, and the people we choose to socialize with are all connected to our position in society and our financial position. Whether we like it or not, society has levels and our education and financial position dictates our place in it.

"Education breeds confidence. Confidence breeds hope. Hope breeds peace." – Confucius

The Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Join Our Zagreb Erasmus+ English Courses for Teachers

Learning helps grow confidence

Lifelong learning helps grow self-confidence, as we have all heard the phrase that knowledge is power, so it makes sense that the more we know the more confident we feel. In life, nothing makes us feel more helpless than being in a situation we have no idea how to get out of, when the solution to our problem could be something simple but our lack of knowledge keeps us from it.

So the more we learn, the better equipped we are to deal with life’s problems, and the more confident we become.

Physical benefits of lifelong learning

It has been proved that people who continue to learn throughout their lives live longer and tend to be healthier than those who do not. Studies have also shown that lifelong learners are less susceptible to degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, often by quite a large percentage. So there you go, continuous learning leads to a longer and healthier life.

Social benefits of lifelong learning

One of the best ways to meet people is in local education courses where you not only get to meet people who have the same interests as you (which makes interaction a lot easier), but you also can socialize with them after lessons. Common interests are a great help when meeting people for the first time and can help you to improve your social skills in a safe setting where personalities take second place to the subject being learned.

"Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don’t." Bill Nye

So what else do we get from lifelong learning apart from better career prospects, longer and healthier lives, and more interesting social lives? Our own self-development as individuals is largely based on the knowledge we acquire and the relationships we cultivate in our lives, and the more we learn and share with like-minded people, the richer and more fulfilling our lives become. We grow into more stable and more interesting people who have the confidence to truly become the best possible versions of ourselves.

Communities grow as a result of lifelong learners, as the more skills and knowledge we acquire, the more we have to offer to the communities in which we live. As stable and successful individuals we provide better role models to the younger members of the communities we live in .

There are a lot of negative influences in society today, which include political radicalism and intolerance, so now more than ever stable and educated individuals are needed in communities to provide balanced and sensible solutions and discussions that address whatever problems that may arise within these communities.

"I never lose. I either win or learn." Nelson Mandela

So there we have it, lifelong learning not only helps us grow and develop as people, creating fuller and more interesting lives, but also creates safer and more inclusive communities which are far more fun to live in, where we get to live with a more diverse and interesting society that offers us more varieties of culture, food, music, and people with which we can interact. Everyone benefits from this approach to living and we constantly evolve as individuals and communities.


Alan Honan

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Erasmus, Uncategorized

How to find a good training (host) organization for Erasmus+ courses

How to find a good training (host) organization Erasmus+ courses

Finding good, reliable and qualified training organization is not easy. Nowadays, a lot of educational organizations are not just providing education for their general target group, but have evolved into training institutions, having professionals with years of experience and knowledge that is worth sharing and developing.

However, choosing the right host organization is crucial for your experience.

Look for references

Make sure you are checking the references. Having social proof (ratings) displayed on webpage can help you see what kind of experiences have past participants had. Also, some organizations might be ideal for your needs, but might not work for somebody else. Do thoroughly your research. You don’t want to go to Erasmus + and just get back with a bag of goodies. You want to be inspired and get tools and skills that will serve to you and your organization in future work. It is an investment.

Price is not irrelevant: Even though Erasmus + is covering all the expenses, you don’t want to be careless with the prices. Prices of the courses can tag from 300 – 1300 € and it really depends what package you are getting. For example, it might seem a lot to pay 1300€ for 7-day course, but keep in mind that for that price you are probably getting a full package. Meaning, all meals included, accommodation covered, cultural visits organized for you. You basically have to get there and enjoy. So before agreeing to pay so much for the course, make sure what is maximum amount your National Agency is covering for the course fee. If the course fee with full package is over maximum, then you will have to reallocate your budget for the course fee from Individual support from the project.

Some courses might be very cheap, make sure why is it so. They might offer just a course, and you will have to take care of the accommodation, meals, breaks, networking activities etc. If you don’t mind, then you should have no hesitations. So first of all, make sure you are getting fair quality for certain price.

Pay attention to the communication: before writing your application, learn about your partner organization. Partner organization is responsible for providing you with Job Shadowing or Training Courses. You can search for partners here and here and here. Once you find a couple of organization that you like, take action and contact them. Communication is a key of every partnership. And that starts from the beginning and first contact. If someone is taking longer then 2 days to answer you, it’s better not to push it, but to find organization that will be willing to cooperate and have active communication with you. The last thing you want is not to get answers from partners on time. That is important in every step from arranging traveling to payments, contracts etc. If you have to wait for answer to come days and days, collaboration will not go smoothly. So contact your potential partner organizations and ask them about their offer in detail. About their references, about their prices, about their prior help in writing proposal, about partnership agreement.

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Erasmus, Uncategorized

What is a KA 1 activity within Erasmus

Hi there,

If you are a teacher, trainer or educator, I’m sure you are well aware what challenges are we facing with the change in pupils concentration, demand for the innovative teaching methods and constant self improvement to meet the standards of todays needs.

Lifelong learning is ongoing, voluntary, and self-motivated pursuit of knowledge and is one of the goals and  of the key elements to having a successful career and a fulfilling life/work balance.

We are here for you to:

  • Provide you with high-quality education, training and lifelong learning
  • Support educational staff in implementing competence-based teaching
  • Encourage a variety of learning approaches
  • Explore and validate new key competence

You ask yourself, what do I need to do to use those benefits?

Well, the European Commission has developed Erasmus + courses for you and your organization to use it and upgrade your skills.

But, first thing to start with is to actually find out can you and your organization get involved in Erasmus + courses and how can you get an Erasmus + grant?

To do so, you need to get into ERASMUS + KA 1 Activity that offers you 3 different types of sub activities you can choose when writing a project.

  1. Job Shadowing – yep, sounds creepy ? but I assure you, you won’t need to become a vampire to participate. This activity is created for people who want to learn good practices from their colleagues in other similar European organizations. You will most likely be participating on meetings, classes and back office activities and tasks. This way – learning by seeing, you can implement newly learned skills and practices in your organization when you get back home.

  2. Attending Training Courses – you want to upskill yourself or your organization community, learn new teaching strategies, approaches or improve your soft skills? You can choose from wide range of specialized courses. From learning and improving your English, to entrepreneurship, marketing skills or new teaching methodology. For more tips, make sure to check our description on How to find good training organization, because this will be crucial in your successful application process as well as in finalization of your project.

  3. Teaching others – this activity is designed for those who want to share their knowledge and experience in their own expertise. Find organization who is searching to upskill its team and share qualifications you are acing.

One site that will help you more to get familiar with the program is EC.EUROPA.EU .

There, you will find all the guidelines that can help you get closer to your mobility.

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