Chapter 3. TRAINING ADULTS IN THE SYSTEM OF CONTINUOUS EDUCATION

In the matter of uniting humanity on the basis of certain value bases and targets, of course, continuing education is one of the priorities. Continuity appears in the modern cultural and educational context as an idea, principle of learning, quality of the educational process, a condition for the formation of a person. The idea of ​​continuity of education appeared in the history of culture in the era of Plato and Aristotle. In terms of content, it was for the first time theoretically substantiated and presented by the great Czech thinker and teacher J. A. Komensky, who built in his writings a system aimed at teaching "all to everything", starting from the mother school and ending with the academy. However, the society was able to fully begin to understand and translate this idea into practice only in the last third of the 20th century.

To define the category of continuing education, the international vocational-pedagogical community uses a number of terms. In modern literature one can find such stable combinations as "adult education" (adult education, Feducation des adultes, Erwachsenenbildung); "continuing education" (continuing education, continuous education); "further education" (further education, Weiterbildung); "renewable (recurrent) education" (recurrent education) as receiving education "in parts" throughout life by alternating training with other activities, mainly with work; "permanent education" (permanent education); "lifelong education" (lifelong education); "lifelong learning" (lifelong learning, Feducation permanente).

In each of these terms, emphasis is placed on a specific side of the phenomenon we are considering, but the idea of ​​life incompleteness and incompleteness of education for an adult is common in terms of meaning, and therefore the objectively existing need for him to constantly remain in the position of discipleship.

The problems of continuing education can be divided into two main areas. The first is connected with the construction of a lifelong education system as part of social practice - the socio-educational aspect of lifelong education ', the second with the process of mastering a new life, social, and professional experience by a person - the psychological andragogical aspect of lifelong education. That is why in the second half of the 1990s, in the field of adult education, the combination of the principle of continuity of education with the principle of learning throughout life and the creation of a learning society was proclaimed. Thus, an attempt was made to consolidate in the public consciousness an understanding of the mutual responsibility of society, the state and the individual for the development of educational processes.

Among the functions of continuous education, the following are distinguished: developmental (satisfaction of the spiritual needs of the individual, the needs of creative growth); compensating (filling gaps in basic education); adaptive (operational training and retraining in a changing industrial and social situation); integrating into an unfamiliar cultural context; re-socialization (re-socialization).

In the content of continuing education, it is customary to single out three main semantic areas related to adult education: literacy training - in a broad sense, including computer, functional, social, etc .; vocational training, including vocational training, retraining, advanced training (Job qualification); general cultural - additional education not related to labor activity (life qualification).

As a generalized socially significant indicators of education (as a result of education) on the side of the individual are literacy, professional competence, culture. Let us dwell on these concepts in more detail.

Literacy is a socio-pedagogical characteristic of a person, reflecting the ability to read, perceive and understand the necessary amount of socio-cultural information encoded in a certain sign or communication system. The level of literacy of a person determines the degree of accessibility for him of one or another information, which is owned by the society (society), which means - a measure of adaptability to the surrounding natural and social conditions.

The content of the concept of "literacy" changes with the requirements of society. For millennia, when it came to literacy, it meant only the ability to read and write. The twentieth century spawned such concepts as "political literacy", "computer literacy", "media literacy", etc.

There are not only informative content of literacy, but also its levels. "Literacy level" is a concept denoting the degree of mastery of the sign systems of natural or artificial languages. The main ones are: elementary, or basic, literacy; functional literacy; basic general cultural literacy; superfunctional literacy.

Unfortunately, the modern problem of illiteracy in the adult population is much broader than the inability to read. (Although this problem has not yet been fully resolved by mankind. Thus, according to UNESCO, by the beginning of the XXI century, approximately 900 million adults in the world were illiterate. It is no coincidence that the resolution of this organization proclaimed International Day Against Illiteracy.)

In the 90s of the XX century, the concept of "functional illiteracy" came into use. It indicates the presence in the society of a category of people who do not have the knowledge and skills that are necessary for a full life and interaction with other members of society, corresponding to the civilization and cultural level of society. The inability to function in an informational, multicultural, open society in one way or another is revealed as new economic and sociocultural realities appear in many adults who have not undergone special training. Representatives of older generations often cannot become literate consumers, home appliances owners, Internet users, bank clients, partners of foreign organizations. The indicator of the scale of the phenomenon of functional illiteracy in the field of communication and information is the structure of educational services offered on the market, among which the preparation of a PC user, a foreign language, and psychological training1 came to the fore.

In determining the measure of human professionalism as one of the key today, the concept of competence is used. Competence is an integral personal characteristic reflecting a person’s readiness and ability to perform professional functions in accordance with currently accepted standards and standards. That is why the concept of competence is of a concrete historical nature. Fundamentals of professional competence provides basic vocational education. Being dynamic, competence is manifested and can be assessed only in the course of practical activity, and its level can be increased continuously (or go to no!) Throughout the entire professional life activity.

Competence levels are its qualitative states, characterized by a measure of the development of an employee’s ability to act competently in the performance of a set of official duties.

At the core of competence lies an understanding of the nature of the tasks performed and their connection with the tasks performed by other subjects. Therefore, its levels can be characterized on the basis of general ideas about the possibilities of developing knowledge and understanding the realities associated with the process of activity. Among them, it is customary to single out: a) a pre-professional (or amateurish), based on everyday common sense and everyday consciousness; b) empirical - an understanding of the case, formed in the course of everyday practical experience, usually in the face of primitive pragmatism and characterized by conservatism; c) theoretical - the understanding that has developed in the course of mastering knowledge from the relevant branches of science; d) methodological, allowing you to build your own conceptual path in the profession on the basis of its understanding, achieved as a result of the integration of theoretical knowledge and practical experience.

The development of modern production technologies, the active introduction of information technologies in all spheres of life impose new requirements on the professional competence of modern man. Lack of competence in this area leads to the process of marginalization of specialists, the emergence of a risk group among the employed population.

In the context of educational issues, the term "culture" is also used. This is a meaningful term that is most commonly used in two main senses: as an objectified social experience - a set of achievements of human society in various spheres of its life activity: technology, economics, politics, social relations, the spiritual field; as a level of personal development, characterized by the measure of an individual’s mastering of social experience accumulated by mankind and the degree of development of the ability to enrich it.

Culture reflecting the originality of integrity inherent in the inner world of a particular subject can be interpreted as a result of combining the professional experience of humanity in a particular area with the experience of an individual subject - a carrier of professional activity who has reached the level of understanding its meaning and mechanisms of action.

Culture is created by many people internally united on any basis. Individual professional culture is derived from the experience of a larger-scale subject and incorporates its specificity. Belonging to a particular culture is easily detected in the professional behavior of a specialist. The bearer of professional experience, becoming the creator of culture, brings into it the imprint of originality and level of professional and personal development.

Until recently, in the structure of continuing education, it was customary to clearly distinguish between its types: formal, non-formal, and informal. Formal education is called so because it is regulated, normalized (acquires the established forms) by the state and society. The methods of such regulation are standards, educational systems of a certain type, enshrined in law. People who have received a formal education acquire a set of legally established rights, the basis for the provision of which is a document (certificate, certificate, diploma, certificate) of the state sample. It opens access to the next level of education in the framework of existing legislation. Certain levels of formal education are approved by the state as mandatory for all citizens. Moreover, compulsory educational qualification, usually proclaimed and fixed by the constitution | To a certain extent, it becomes, to a certain extent, a prognostic indicator of the quality of life and education of the population of a country. g

The concept of non-formal education includes all types of educational programs and training courses that do not give the right to receive a certificate that provides a change in professional status. Non-formal education, if desired, allows for the implementation of a general cultural development of a person at all stages! groin of his life regardless of the initial educational level. Usually it is associated with the sphere of amateur hobbies and the realization of the creative potential of the individual. Sometimes non-formal education plays a compensating or adaptive role for people who, for one reason or another, have failed or did not want to get a formal education.

Informal education - such a concept is not quite organic for Russian perception. Being a direct linguistic transfer from Western andragogical practice, it is used only in special literature. Under the informal (ie, outside of any form) refers to learning, "built-in" during life: carried out in the course of communication, occurring under the influence of the media, educational campaigns, reading books, understanding their own experience and the experiences of others. Adult education has always been viewed in the context of a person’s life path, where "universities are not only academic audiences and libraries, but also colleagues, friends, children, the media" 1. No wonder many of the accomplished personalities "talk with an intelligent person" are perceived as a phenomenon that is directly related to education.

In the modern experience of education during the life of these three types are increasingly beginning to intersect each other, providing a real continuity of learning. The implementation of continuing education in the educational system is based on its “vertical integration”, i.e. the continuity of the levels of formal education - pre-school, primary, secondary, secondary vocational, higher, where each educational level implies the possibility of transition to the next. Movement along the line of "vertical integration" in many cases is associated with an orientation to career advancement and career growth.

An important informative sign of continuity is "horizontal integration", i.e. correlation of education received outside the formal educational system (including spontaneously acquired knowledge and life experience) with education within educational institutions and specially organized educational programs. Researchers of andragogical processes also identify the third vector of the educational movement, directed "inward", i.e. on conscious self-knowledge and spiritual development of man.

It is important to understand that the integration of the results of all types of educational and outreach activities can occur only "inside" an adult person, in his subjective world. This integration is to some extent based on synergistic processes, i.e. according to the principle of self-organization of information coming from outside that has a learning meaning. The more consciously an adult person builds a trajectory of his education, the more manageable his informational interaction with the world becomes. One of the tasks of the andragog is to help an adult in choosing educational guidelines in a vast array of information coming in through different channels.

For the andragogue, it is important to understand that the continuous education of a person is a more global phenomenon than just the inclusion of adults in organized forms of education or the creation of a system of continuing education for people in order to develop production, the economy, society. Not limited to specific periods of study, "walls" and the rules of the institution, continuing education acquires the features of life, and the very life of a person - features of a continuous educational process. It is the continuity of learning throughout life that contributes to the formation of the fullness of the human quality (in other words, the human image). From these positions, the combination of “non-educated person” acquires a much deeper existential meaning: a person who has not yet found his own image.

Such an understanding of the idea of ​​continuity presupposes a special position of the student person. He is seen as a full participant in the educational process, independently determining from whom, what and how to learn to fulfill his life tasks and plans. Against this background, “to lead” an adult student means to promote the development of continuity of the educational process at all levels of state and social structure.

The implementation of the principle of continuity of education in practice is associated with the definition and normative consolidation of its structure; ensuring social rights and guarantees to everyone who wants to continue their education; the creation of a state-public system for managing the development of this structure; the formation of a culture of continuous learning in the community; preparing a sufficient number of specialists capable of providing training for any categories and groups of the adult population at any stage of their life activity.

In socio-educational practice, the key to the implementation of the principle of continuity of education is the existence of continuity of the links of the educational system and the branching of non-formal education channels beyond basic education.

Thus, continuous education appears to us at the same time as a public-state system that ensures the implementation of the principle of continuity of education in society, and as an internal process that accompanies the formation of the subject on the basis of lifelong learning. At the same time in relation to human life, it performs two main functions: professional and personal development and adaptation to the changing situation.

Questions and tasks for self-control

1. Appendix 1 lists some of the terms most commonly used in works on the theory and practice of adult education. What concepts do you know? What is the first time you meet? What concepts are most relevant to you at this stage of education?

2. Check out excerpts from the Hamburg Declaration on Adult Education (Appendix 3). Highlight the main ideas of continuing education, embedded in this document, and the direction of their implementation in modern conditions.

3. Remember your friends over 30 who are studying. What kind of education (formal, non-formal, informal) would you consider their classes?

Recommended literature

Brennan J. and others. Lifelong Learning for Employment and Equality // Sociology of Education. - 2001. - Љ 7.

Weimar Declaration of Continuing Education // New Knowledge. - 1998.-Љ 1.

Gorokhov V. А., Kokhanova L. А. Fundamentals of Continuing Education in the USSR / Ed. VG Onushkina. - M., 1987.

Jarvis P. Global Trends in “Lifelong Learning” and Response to Universities // Sociology of Education. - 2000. - Љ 6.

ZaydaJ. Adult Education and "Lifetime Education": New Trends in Russia // Sociology of Education. - 2000. - Љ 4.

Integration processes in adult education: Materials nauch.-practical. conf.JOB RAO. - SPb., 1997.

Klimov, SM Informal Adult Education: Problems of Economics and Management. - SPb., 1998.

Klimov S. M. Organization of educational activities, models and forms. - SPb., 1995.

Lednev, V. S. Continuous Education: Structure and Content. - M., 1998.

Proceedings of the V Hamburg Adult Education Conference // Continuing Education. - Nizhny Novgorod, 1999.

Memorandum of Continuing Education of the European Union (summary) // New Knowledge. - 2001. - Љ 2.

Adult Education: Reality, Problems, Forecast, Ed. S.G. Vershlovsky. - SPb., 1998.

Theoretical Foundations of Continuing Education / Ed. W. G. Onush-kin. - M., 1987.

Shevelev V. V. Prospects for the Development of a Continuing Professional Education System // Specialist. - 1999. - Љ 4.

Russian pedagogical encyclopedia: 2 tons. / Ch. ed.VV Davydov. - M., 1993-1999. - T. 2.

The literature on the problems of adult education, andragogy, lifelong education, published in European languages, can be found:

- in the bibliographic index: Documentation Center and the UNESCO Institute for Education. List of New Acquisition (12 numbers per year);

- in journal: International journal of lifelong education (London);

- in thematic bibliography: Lifelong education bibliography.