In June 2023, Adult Learning Wales, the National Organisation for adult learning in Wales, the UK, became a member of the EAEA (European Association for the Education of Adults) and members of Adult Learning Wales’ management team attended the Association’s Annual Conference in Zagreb, Croatia, where ALW was inaugurated into its membership.
ALWs reason for wishing to be a part of the EAEA ‘movement’ is to promote the benefits of, and demonstrate the value of, adult education across Europe; both its informal and formal learning contexts. As an organisation, in a post-Brexit world, ALW has been acutely aware of the need to retain close working relationships with friends and partners across Europe, and in joining the EAEA, we feel that we have found our ‘home’ in the world of European adult education. The warmth of welcome that we have received since joining has been phenomenal, and we are so grateful for the friendship and connections that the EAEA provides.
During the Conference in Zagreb, Beth John (Regional Manager for South West and Mid Wales at Adult Learning Wales) and Professor Dina Soeiro (Polytechnic University of Coimbra, Portugal and EAEA Executive Board Member – 2023 to 2025) discussed a museum that they had visited separately, during their time in Zagreb. This museum is called The Museum of Broken Relationships – a very small museum, in the centre of Zagreb, set up by two Croatian citizens, to celebrate ‘everyday objects’ which signify or hold relevance/pertinence to a ‘broken’ relationship’. Exhibits at the Museum are sent to the Museum from members of the public from across the world. It is a fascinating little museum – so simple in its concept – and it is its very simplicity which leads to both its success and profound and enduring impact on those who visit it.
During the conference, Beth and Dina discussed how they could work together and use their experience of having visited the Museum, as a resource in classrooms, in their respective organisations, to strengthen learners’ basic skills in reading, speaking, writing and listening. The Museum has produced a book which features 203 photos of everyday objects and text in English, explaining the context and relevance of each of the photographs to their owners’ ‘broken relationships’. Beth and Dina realised that the book could be used as a fantastic skills development resource in literacy, ESOL, art and personal & social development classes, to name but a few curriculum areas.
Dina and Beth left the conference with plans to further discuss with their staff, how they could work together in a collaborative way, to develop something more significant than just their own organisations using the resource, in isolation. Since September 2023, Beth and Dina (and respective colleagues in Wales and Portugal) as well as a colleague in Thailand, have been in active discussion as to how the inspiration of the Museum, and the book of its name, can be used in a number of ways to facilitate learning. At one of these meetings, the founder of the actual Museum joined the discussions, and is absolutely delighted to be a part of the Project, going forward.