MOVE – Motivation and Commitment in the Everyday Lives of Adults with Basic Education Needs

The project aimed to promote and support commitment as a necessary condition for the participation of adults with basic education needs in learning programmes. The aim of the multi-stage research and development project was to learn from everyday behaviours associated with commitments (appointments, appointments, commitments, participation in offers) in the private, professional or official environment for the conception, organisation and implementation of literacy and basic education measures. The study was intended to show which conditions increase the likelihood that adults with low literacy skills will also make commitments to participate in learning opportunities and, above all, keep them.

Following a qualitative exploratory step, which involved stakeholders and providers of literacy and basic education as well as those with low literacy levels, a quantitative survey was conducted among adults with low literacy levels, some of whose responses were compared with those of a sample representative of the population. The survey was intended to use concrete scenarios to address the issue of commitment in everyday life. The central aim was to identify factors, individual and situational conditions that favour people with basic education needs making agreements and keeping commitments. This also involved voluntary commitments made by adults. The observation in the context of the population as a whole was intended to distinguish specific patterns of action of the target groups of literacy and basic education from the general behaviour of adults.

Based on the quantitative survey, in a third step, concrete options for action and recommendations for the conception, design and communication of basic education programmes were derived together with providers and stakeholders in literacy and basic education as well as adults with low literacy levels.
The project was supported by experts from science and practice throughout its entire duration.<br>General population survey:

Topics:
Interest in politics; important life values: friends, social advancement, environmental awareness, education; new learning, prosperity, support for others, commitment to society, children, profession, independence, health, new experiences, fun / enjoying life, happy partnership, reliability, stability in life; question on destiny vs. Self-determination; attitudes towards cancelling appointments; frequency of cancellations: Doctor, friends, boyfriend/girlfriend, family members, colleagues, restaurant, further education courses/ adult education centre, sports club/choir, parents‘ evening at school/kindergarten, family party, car repair shop, job centre, hairdresser, physiotherapy, citizens’ office; frequency of cancelling appointments; acceptable reasons for not attending; attitudes towards cancelling appointments; priorities for appointments; frequency of seeking help; frequency of receiving help; assessment of self-confidence and self-efficacy; reading difficulties.

Demographics:
Gender; age; age group; school-leaving certificate; occupation; occupational status; monthly net income of the main earner / in the household as a whole; main earner in the household; number and age of children in the household; multi-person household; gainfully employed persons in the household; marital status; federal state; number of inhabitants of the place of residence; character of the place of residence; federal state.

Additionally coded were:
Weighting; socioeconomic status (SES) according to Allensbach.

Survey of people with low literacy:

Topics:
Assessment of own economic situation; reading difficulties; hopes and fears; important life values: friends, social advancement, environmental awareness, education; new learning, prosperity, support for others, commitment to society, children, profession, independence, health, new experiences, fun / enjoying life, happy partnership, reliability, stability in life; question about destiny vs. Self-determination; attitudes towards cancelling appointments; frequency of cancellations: Doctor, friends, boyfriend/girlfriend, family members, colleagues, restaurant, further education courses/ adult education centre, sports club/choir, parents‘ evening at school/kindergarten, family party, car repair shop, job centre, hairdresser, physiotherapy, citizens’ office; frequency of appointment cancellations; acceptable reasons for not attending; attitudes towards appointment cancellations; priorities for appointments; frequency of seeking help; frequency of receiving help; assessment of self-confidence and self-efficacy; Prioritisation and time management in everyday life; willingness to learn cooking, driving, swimming, arithmetic, playing a musical instrument, communication skills, technical devices, reading and writing, healthy lifestyle, manual skills; finances, raising children; attitudes towards reading; reading skills; people in the environment who are informed about low literacy; importance of reading; people who support respondents in reading; openness with low literacy; sense of social belonging.

Demographics:
Gender; age; school-leaving certificate; occupation; number of jobs; number and age of children in the household; household size; total net monthly household income; marital status; nationality of parents; federal state; social class of the respondent.