| An andragogue has to establish contact with a human being. This is of utmost priority. | | Print | |
| | 19.03.2010 | National Affairs - Interviews | ||||
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Among the most important personnel chains in the context of lifelong learning are andragogues (adult teachers), who are currently being trained in several universities of Lithuania: Vytautas Magnus University, Vilnius Pedagogical university and Klaipeda. The Centre for Educational Studies at Vytautas Magnus University has been among the most innovative and successfully functioning andragogue training institutions for quite a few years. An interview with Dr. Giedra Linkaitytė, Head of the Centre, is focused on such challenges, as adult teacher training in Lithuania, the activities of the Centre as well as future perspectives
Your Centre and you personally are regarded as pioneers of andragogue studies in Lithuania. Under what circumstances was andragogue training introduced in the curriculum of Vytautas Magnus University? The very beginning of activities is noteworthy. I am referring to the year 1992, when prof. Vytautas Černius (Temple University, USA) came to Lithuania. Upon arrival the professor came up with the idea to share his experience gained in the sphere of pedagogical psychology with the teachers of Lithuanian schools. HE was the first in Lithuania to spread the message that adults had to be taught differently from the way children are taught. Today we have sufficient proof that this wonderful initiative has brought its fruit and resulted in the establishment of the Department of Educology, representing an independent attitude towards the science of educology. The practical training of andragogues has been undertaken by the Centre for Educational Studies, therefore a consistent reflexion of andragogue training is being continued within the context of the Centre activities. How are andragogue studies organized by the Centre for Educational Studies? What makes these studies unique? The Centre for Educational Studies is targeted at teaching persons who have already been working with adults or plan to pursue this career in the future. Currently several forms of andragogue training can be identified, such as Andragogue Professional Studies and Master Studies. Content-wise, andragogue programmes in Lithuanian universities are similar. However, it is the form of programme provision that makes these programmes unique. The studies organized by Vytautas Magnus University are to a certain extent distance studies. Contact courses are commonly organized in the regional centre for pedagogue education, with the course materials placed in a virtual environment. Thus, students have to come to the Centre for Educational Studies once a month. Our students generally work in groups or pairs. Such a method of teaching is more acceptable for teachers involved in teaching practice. I am convinced that being open is both our strength and uniqueness. We invite teachers from other Lithuanian universities and foreign universities. Why is it important to develop andragogue training in Lithuania? What are the differences, in your opinion, between andragogics and pedagogics? Andragogues‘ training and upgrading andragogue competencies today is still insufficient in Lithuania, with certain training deficiences. For example, according to the data of the survey conducted in 2006 and targeted at heads of adult training/education centres, half of respondents claim that there is a lack of qualified specialists in the sphere of adult education and modern managers of adult education, particularly in rural municipalities. Thus, adults in Lithuania have so far been mostly taught by persons having pedagogical educational background. It is our firm conviction, however, that pedagogics is basically different from andragogics. A pedagogue‘s main concern is to introduce a human being into the world of culture, by making sure that this person can read, write, count and be able to learn... To a certain extent a pedagogue is the master of the situation, which an andragogue will never be. An andragogue‘s primary task is to seek and establish contact with another human being, so that this person could give the following message: I want to accomplish certain things in life but cannot achieve them on my own. In such a situation an andragogue‘s task is to help overcome the barrier. Applying the principles of andragogy in one‘s work means helping the learning person understand and decide what he/she wants to pursue and what kind of knowledge still has to be acquired to move forward, rather than „feeding“ the learning person with information. Are you in the process of developing new methodologies for adult teaching? Do you share your experience with others? The Centre for Educational Studies is currently taking part in several national and international projects which open new opportunities of introducing innovations into the process of adult teaching. Among the major projects is The Development of Adult Educational Institutions in Providing Modern Competencies on the Regional Level, implemented in conjunction with the Lithuanian Adult Education and Information Centre in 2006-2008. During the project implementation six innovative methodologies of teaching non-formal adult education for adult teachers were developed. Moreover, in the course of carrying out the project, about 100 andragogues took part in an innovative professional and managerial training conducted at regional adult training centres, established in ten Lithuanian districts. A series of 19 books on Adult Education, published upon the initiative of the Ministry of Education and Science, should also be regarded as a significant contribution towards the development of andragogue training system. The series abounds both in theoretical andragogue literature, aimed at persons studying the disciplines of andragogy, and in methodological-practical publications for teachers. The Centre for Educational Studies was also involved in the above mentioned project. What are the future plans of your Centre? How is the profession of an andragogue legalised in Lithuania? Training and education of andragogues having university degrees is encumbered by the imperfections of the current Lithuanian classifier of professions – professional qualification, related to teaching adults, is not listed in this classifier. We seek to legalise andragogics as a separate sphere in the classifier, side by side with pedagogics, since the fields of competencies of the above mentioned professions are different. Via our participation in international projects we aim to highlight andragogue competencies. We also hope that the qualification of an andragogue will be legalised not as an integral part of pedagogics but as parrallel to it. Our ambitions are substantiated by the provisions embedded in the new Lifelong Strategy, adopted by the Ministry of Education and Science in 2008. Strengthening andragogue training at the university level and legalizing the qualification of an andragogue is identified as one of the most important challenges of today. |
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