“To truly connect with young people, adult education must place them at the centre, offering spaces where they can express themselves and feel heard,” says Tommaso Caraccioli from the University of Würzburg. With this interview, ELM launches “Young voices”, a new series highlighting the perspectives of the next generation shaping adult education across Europe.
Fresh from completing a double master’s degree in Germany and Italy, University of Würzburg Research Fellow Tommaso Caraccioli is rethinking how adult education can foster inclusion, support educators and build stronger connections with younger generations. His path into the field began in a Kenyan prison, where teaching women about health and empowerment revealed the transformative potential of adult learning.
- What is your current position and background?
I recently graduated from the double degree master’s programme in Management of Educational Services, Adult and Continuing Education at the University of Würzburg in Germany and the University of Padua in Italy. I am currently working as a Research Fellow in Adult and Continuing Education at the University of Würzburg, where I focus on adult learning and education.
- What drew you to focus on adult education?
My interest in adult education began during my experience in Kenya with the Universal Civil Service, a volunteer programme promoted by the Italian government for people under 30. I worked with a small Sardinian NGO that had been active in the country for years. Among various tasks, I supported the centre’s clinical officer in training activities carried out inside the local prison.
The courses were aimed at women and covered a range of topics, including HIV and women’s empowerment. This experience was deeply meaningful for me: it was the first time I worked with adults, and it allowed me to truly understand the importance and value of adult education. Seeing the inmates—women from very different backgrounds—participate with such enthusiasm, motivation and joy was both surprising and deeply rewarding.
I realised that learning really is for everyone and that it can profoundly impact people’s lives. Even just a few hours of training can create a space to step away from everyday prison life, reflect on oneself, and imagine the possibility of change.
A few hours of training can create a space to reflect on oneself and imagine the possibility of change.
I do not know what paths those women followed afterwards, but I am certain that, at least in the short term, the experience left a mark.
I was also very impressed by our trainer, who was able to keep everyone engaged and attentive through the way she interacted with participants, the atmosphere she created and the activities she proposed.
That experience introduced me to the world of adult education. From that moment on, I chose to explore it further and make it the centre of my academic and professional growth.
- Which area of adult education are you most passionate about and why?
Inclusion and accessibility in adult education and professionalisation of adult educators. I find these two topics particularly meaningful because they address fundamental issues in adult education, though of course they are not the only ones.
On the one hand, adult education and training not only bring numerous benefits, such as the development of individual potential, empowerment and greater career opportunities, but also represent a fundamental human right. For this reason, everyone should have the chance to be included and to access such opportunities.
Unfortunately, this is still far from reality: large parts of the population remain excluded. This is why, in our field, it is essential to focus not only on those who are already included in the system, but also—and above all—on those who remain at the margins.
It is essential to focus not only on those who are already included in the system, but on those who remain at the margins.
The second aspect I consider central is the professionalisation of adult educators. They play a key role in the educational process, and much of its success—or failure—depends on their work, even if not entirely.
It is therefore crucial that they are given the opportunity to develop the skills needed to operate professionally in the field and, above all, that they are not left alone to face the many daily challenges, as too often happens. They should be supported in practical ways—for example, by providing access to further training courses or by enabling them to take part in communities of practice with other educators, where they can share experiences and exchange good practices.
I believe these are two key issues in ensuring high-quality education that is genuinely accessible to all.
- What kind of change would you like to bring in that area and how?
Regarding accessibility and inclusion, I consider it a priority to investigate who the people excluded are, ask why these people do not participate, and, most importantly, listen directly to them about the barriers they face, so that we can work concretely to remove the barriers.
We must listen to those who are excluded so that we can work concretely to remove the barriers.
This process needs to be carried out on several levels: not only by governments, but also by adult education centres and educators themselves. An educator, for example, might ask why a student has dropped out of a course and reach out to them to better understand the reasons.
For this to happen, I believe it is first necessary to foster a real modus pensandi, way of thinking, in our sector—one that puts these issues at the centre—together with greater cultural and professional awareness. This change should begin in universities and, more broadly, within all the institutions responsible for training practitioners.
As for professionalisation, I believe that, in addition to expanding training opportunities for adult educators and for all those working in the field, it is equally important to create more spaces for meeting, exchanging ideas and sharing good practices. Peer-to-peer comparison not only helps educators feel less isolated, but also stimulates the emergence of new perspectives and solutions.
- How do you think adult education can better connect with younger generations like yourself?
I believe that adult education must devote greater attention to the younger generation, and the first step in doing so is learning to listen to them—to understand their needs and aspirations.
In a society where everything moves quickly and change is constant, young people often find themselves under pressure, having to make decisive choices that profoundly shape their future. Entering adulthood can generate fear and uncertainty. Too often, however, they face these decisions alone, without adequate guidance or support.
The first step is to listen to the young people — to understand their needs and aspirations.
To truly connect with young people, adult education must place them at the centre, offering spaces where they can reflect, express themselves, and feel heard. It is essential to build a genuine dialogue with each of them, encouraging them to ask themselves what they really want and how adult education can support them. Only through such dialogue and authentic listening it is possible to build, together with the learner, learning paths that reflect their needs and aspirations.
I am aware that this requires more opportunities, more professionals in the field and more resources, and that it is often not possible to meet everyone’s needs. Nevertheless, if each of us working in this sector makes a small effort to pay closer attention and to respond to the needs of young learners as much as possible, we will begin to see changes—and with them, the benefits of this commitment.
- What skills or knowledge do you believe are essential for future adult educators?
I believe that, for future adult educators, a fundamental area of knowledge and competence concerns everything related to the world of AI. This is because AI can represent a major opportunity for education and training—for example, by supporting the personalisation of learning processes or by helping to create content.
Equally crucial, however, is enabling learners themselves to understand AI, so that they can make critical and conscious use of it. This includes, for instance, understanding how information is generated, how best to use it, and what ethical implications its use might carry. Achieving this first requires educators to study and research what AI truly represents, exploring both its opportunities and its limitations.
Educators must be able to recognise how reality is evolving and what new trends are emerging.
Another essential competence is the ability to stay continuously updated and in step with the times. To provide learners with content that is genuinely relevant and applicable to real life, educators must be able to recognise how reality is evolving and what new trends are emerging.
- How would you describe the value of adult education to someone outside the field?
The value of adult education lies in its ability to create opportunities for people. It is a broad and diverse field, ranging from organisational development to literacy, from prison education to many other areas, and it takes different forms: formal, such as vocational schools; non-formal, such as adult education centres; or informal.
The value of adult education lies in its ability to create opportunities for people.
In all its expressions, adult education offers opportunities, as it enables the development of skills and knowledge that are useful not only for professional growth but also for everyday life. Opportunities also arise through encounters with others, in safe and non-competitive spaces where people can engage with different points of view, open themselves to new perspectives, and sometimes even build new friendships.
These opportunities may sometimes be obvious, such as career advancement; at other times, they emerge gradually; and in some cases, they remain almost invisible. Yet they are always present—and they represent the true strength of adult education.
Tommaso Caraccioli
- Tommaso Caraccioli is a research fellow at the Adult Education Professorship of the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg in Germany.
- He recently graduated from the Double Degree Master’s program Management of Educational Services, Adult, and Continuing Education at the University of Würzburg and the University of Padua in Italy.
- Caraccioli has gained experience in adult education as a Junior Learning Assistant in a company specialising in learning and change, as well as through a traineeship with DVV International (Institute for International Cooperation of the Deutscher Volkshochschul-Verband) at their country office in Tbilisi, Georgia.
- His background also includes work in childhood education, supporting a community of minors in his hometown in Italy and serving in Kenya at a home for children with disabilities and street children.
