Module - Basic education

Target Groups

Basic education has different target groups, each with their own needs, characteristics and challenges. The main ones are described below (they often overlap):
Native people with low literacy skills

Source: writing handon Pixabay
They usually experienced formal schooling in their childhood/adolescence, but lack basic literacy and/or numeracy skills. Often these people associate school and thus learning with unpleasant memories and have developed (more or less successful) strategies in everyday life to avoid situations in which they feel insecure. The special challenge in working with this target group lies in the motivation to face the challenges due to low literacy skills and (re)engage in learning.



Offers for this target group aim on .
  • the development of literacy competence (1), especially in the ability to express oneself in written language and to be able to read and interpret longer texts
  • the development of mathematical competence and competence in science, technology and engineering (3) in order to be able to recognize and solve mathematical problems relevant to everyday life and work
  • the development of personal, social and learning to learn competence (5), especially to reflect upon oneself, the awareness of one's own learning process and one's own learning needs, the identification of the available learning opportunities and the ability to overcome obstacles in order to successfully learn
Furthermore .
  • the development of citizenship competence (6)
  • the development of entrepreneurship competence (7)
  • the development of cultural awareness and expression competence (8)

Second chance learners

Source: Gerd Altmann on Pixabay
This target group is concerned with catching up on (school) qualification in adulthood, either because they dropped out of school or because they did not manage to graduate. The offers for this target group are usually formally, i.e. administratively regulated and structured. Similar to the natives with low literacy skills, the special challenge in working with this target group lies in the motivation to overcome difficult previous learning experiences and to (re)engage in learning.



Offers for this target group aim on .
  • the development of literacy competence (1), especially in the ability to express oneself in written language and to be able to read and interpret longer texts
  • the development of mathematical competence and competence in science, technology and engineering (3) in order to be able to recognize and solve mathematical problems relevant to everyday life and work
  • the development of personal, social and learning to learn competence (5), especially to reflect upon oneself, the awareness of one's own learning process and one's own learning needs, the identification of the available learning opportunities and the ability to overcome obstacles in order to successfully learn
  • the development of digital and technology-based competence (4) as safe, critical and self-determined use of IT for work, leisure and communication
Furthermore .
  • the development of citizenship competence (6)
  • the development of entrepreneurship competence (7)
  • the development of cultural awareness and expression competence (8)

Refugees & migrants

Source: Wisamar Bildungsgesellschaft
This target group is very broad and diverse. The unifying element is that these people need to learn the official language of the country where they live now as a second language in order to be able to act and participate in everyday life. This involves the acquisition of oral language skills (speaking and understanding) as well as written ones (reading and writing). In addition, it is often a matter of imparting cultural and structural knowledge in order to enable active participation in the new country. The particular challenges lie in the diversity of the target group. Depending on the country of origin, learning a second language sometimes also means learning a new alphabet. The formal educational background of the participants can be very different, from people with academic degrees and knowledge of various other foreign languages to people with no school-leaving qualifications or, in some cases, no literacy in their first language(s). But nevertheless, this target group has in common a form of social exclusion which arises from the cultural differences between their home environment and the environment they moved to. The result often is low self-esteem, the inability to integrate into society and a poor knowledge of the environment they moved into.



Offers for this target group aim on .
  • the development of multilingual competence (2), especially in the ability to express oneself in spoken and written language and to be able to read and interpret texts with focus on acquisition of the country's official language(s) where they live now
  • the development of personal, social and learning to learn competence (5), especially to reflect upon oneself, the awareness of one's own learning process and one's own learning needs, the identification of the available learning opportunities and the ability to overcome obstacles in order to successfully learn
Furthermore .
  • the development of citizenship competence (6)
  • the development of ultural awareness and expression competence (8)

Job seekers

Source: kalh on Pixabay
This target group is also very broad and diverse. Some job seekers are younger, others are older, some are short-, some are long-term unemployed, some have health problems. What they have in common most of the time is low self-esteem, resignation to fate and often a lack of flexibility in the labor market (which is mostly needed nowadays because there no longer is one lifelong job). People looking for a job are a target group in the field of basic education because they need, for example, foreign language skills for a neighboring country or basic IT skills in order to increase their chances of finding employment.



Offers for this target group aim on .
  • the development of personal, social and learning to learn competence (5), especially to reflect upon oneself, the awareness of one's own learning process and one's own learning needs, the identification of the available learning opportunities and the ability to overcome obstacles in order to successfully learn
  • the development of digital and technology-based competence (4) as safe, critical and self-determined use of IT for work, leisure and communication
  • the development of entrepreneurship competence (7) as the ability of individuals of turning ideas into action
Furthermore .
  • the development of multilingual competence (2)

Elderly people

Source: Christian Carls, Forum Seniorenarbeit NRW (on Wikimedia Commons)
The term "elderly people" is a difficult, because subjective and country-specific, delimitation of the target group. It refers to people who are retired and - due to different needs and requirements - make use of learning offers in the field of basic education. This group is in itself extremely heterogeneous. Some of them need more incentives to continue to learn in retirement and others are very motivated and can't wait to participate in different activities. One of the special challenges in working with this target group is to pick up the different personalities due to their individual life stories and experiences and to take them along in the course, to know their individual needs and to design the course accordingly.



Offers for this target group aim on .
  • the development of personal, social and learning to learn competence (5), especially to reflect upon oneself, the awareness of one's own learning process and one's own learning needs, the identification of the available learning opportunities and the ability to overcome obstacles in order to successfully learn
  • the development of digital and technology-based competence (4) as safe, critical and self-determined use of IT for work, leisure and communication
  • the development of multilingual competence (2), especially in the ability to communicate in this language
Furthermore .
  • the development of cultural awareness and expression competence (8)

People with special needs

Source: Wikimedia Commons
In the target group of people with physical and mental health disorders, we perceive that their educational needs are the same as the needs of other adults. Obstacles they face are fear of incapacity, poor ability of concentration as a result of the side effects of medication, memory problems, low self-esteem (e.g. due to physical disability) and social exclusion. That is why people with special needs form a separate target group in the field of basic education in that there are offers specifically tailored to them. The offers aim primarily to strengthen the ability of concentration and memory and motivate them to engage in various educational activities for personal growth, to strengthen self-esteem and to expand the social network. In this way we support their abilities and skills to express themselves, to put their feelings, thoughts and opinions into words and to communicate in a self-determined way.



Offers for this target group aim on .
  • the development of personal, social and learning to learn competence (5), with a focus on creating a safe place where learning is possible and strengthening the ability of concentration, but also to reflect upon oneself, the awareness of one's own learning process and one's own learning needs, the identification of the available learning opportunities and the ability to overcome obstacles in order to successfully learn
  • the development of literacy competence (1), especially in the ability to express oneself in spoken and written language
Furthermore .
  • the development of citizenship competence (6)
  • the development of cultural awareness and expression competence (8)