Service design for education: co-creation of effective learning practices with adult students; action research from adult literacy and foreign language education field.

Abstract

The acquisition of basic knowledge of the host country's language is a necessary step to-wards proficient and satisfactory integration into a new community. Foreign language litera-cy and learning paths offered by Centres for Adult Education play a significant role in the integration of individuals. Adult immigrant students face many practical challenges inde-pendent of the educational environment, which can impede or disrupt their learning pro-cess. However, effective strategies implemented by teachers can facilitate the course of second language acquisition. Enabling active involvement and fostering the self efficacy of students using co creation techniques has a positive impact on learning. As teachers, we have the opportunity to intervene by addressing internal factors such as self awareness, metacognitive skills, and providing adequate preparation for students. By designing the learning process in collaboration with adult learners as partners rather than passive recipi-ents, we can enhance their active participation and support them in achieving mastery. Promoting autonomous learning becomes possible when "learning to learn" is recognized as an essential component of language learning. (Council of Europe, 2018). The present thesis aims to understand how the Service Design approach can be used to enhance teaching and learning processes in a classroom with low linguistic proficiency. The use of Service Design as a teaching strategy can have several main outcomes, including enhanced student engagement, practical problem solving skills, empathy, and user centeredness. It involves learning through an iterative feedback loop, enabling students to delve deeply into critical aspects and continuously improve their solutions, potentially creat-ing a constructive habit that enables autonomous learning. The thesis is based on the action research conducted by the author at CPIA 1 Brescia school and is presented in a topic structured diary based format. Starting from assumptions derived from Design Thinking and Adult and Foreign Language education fields, the author attempts to apply Service Design theory, tools, and techniques within her classrooms to design qualitatively new learning experiences. Service Design tools are used to organize, investigate, collect, and co construct. This thesis describes the process and shares reflec-tions on the outcomes of using Service Design as a teaching strategy.