Projects / Programmes
Pedagogical and andragogical studies - Learning and education for a good-quality life in community
January 1, 2022
- December 31, 2027
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 5.01.00 |
Social sciences |
Educational studies |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 5.03 |
Social Sciences |
Educational sciences |
education for an inclusive society, community education, cohesive community, social justice, access to education, mutual learning, adult education, empowerment, cooperation with the environment, mentoring
Data for the last 5 years (citations for the last 10 years) on
April 17, 2024;
A3 for period
2018-2022
| Database |
Linked records |
Citations |
Pure citations |
Average pure citations |
| WoS |
79 |
275 |
241 |
3.05 |
| Scopus |
132 |
687 |
599 |
4.54 |
Researchers (20)
Organisations (1)
Abstract
The community is a concept with at least two basic meanings: it is either defined by the physical (geographical) space in which people live, or it is understood as a social network of people who share certain interests or characteristics. Community education is one of the key activities that significantly determines the community and maintains its cohesiveness. It includes a variety of perspectives and models that differ with regard to the context and environment: (i) it can be understood in a pragmatic, instrumental way when it attempts to include vulnerable groups in the mainstream community through employment, education or rehabilitation; (ii) it can be understood as the development of a community that seeks to empower individuals and groups by addressing their educational and social needs; and (iii) it can be understood as complementing civil society and the revitalization of the public sphere contributing to better and greater participation and active citizenship. Although the community cannot be defined unambiguously, existing research indicates that for educators the community is one of the key formative factors that significantly influence the individual's development. In the current circumstances, community and community education research is significantly determined by two global challenges: sustainable development and an equitable and inclusive society. The field of education, from preschool to adult education, both globally and locally, has not remained immune to the challenges posed by climate change and the global environmental crisis; moreover, it is these challenges that require further consideration of social justice and the role of community education in its provision. A full understanding of the importance of community education in this context requires a systematic study of the processes of community learning, education and training along the entire education vertical, that is, from preschool and compulsory education to higher and adult education. Community education faces challenges that are closely linked to the technologization and digitalization of society. Although these processes have been developing intensively since at least the middle of the 20th century, the current health and social crisis associated with the Covid-19 epidemic has significantly increased their social impact - and consequently the impact on all areas of education. This has reinforced the awareness that we are transitioning into the so-called post-digital state characterized by a complex and unpredictable intertwining of biological and information worlds, the digital and analogue aspects of the human condition and the human community.
Significance for science
The findings of the research programme will enable us to analyse and interpret the contemporary paradigms and concepts that address the role and importance of the community in the broader educational context in a more coherent and multifaceted perspective. The findings will be important for the evaluation and development of theories both at the horizontal level (e.g. various target groups, institutions, etc.) and at the vertical level (the educational vertical). The basic pedagogical and adult education concepts originated in the conceptualization of public and private spaces in the modern period, and this led to various theoretical dichotomies (e.g. individualism vs. communitarianism) in the following periods. There was a need for new "stable" concepts that would better reflect the situation in the late modern period, in information, digital and postdigital societies. Our research will establish criteria for the evaluation and potential development of these concepts in contemporary globalized society. The findings will help the science of education and adult education and other relevant scientific disciplines to contextualize the causes of the successes and failures of individual approaches in the field of learning and education in the community and for the community, and to better anticipate possible scenarios during the planning stage. Based on our findings, we will prepare theoretical and conceptual bases for strengthening interactions and learning among children in preschools and schools and between children and adults in them, with the participants respecting the rules that apply to everyone in the community and are based on respect for human rights and duties. Consequently, we will create foundations for understanding the importance of contemporary concepts (inclusion, interculturalism, restorative approaches, active forms of learning and teaching, sustainable development, etc.) for the work of the school counselling service from preschools to secondary schools and other educational institutions for children and adolescents. We will be guided by the understanding of postdigital society as a starting point for shaping the ethos of modern educational communities. We will emphasize the importance of the intertwining of the preventative and remedial levels of school counselling. Additionally, we will formulate proposals for the improvement of study programmes and continuing education and training programmes in the context of educators' professional development. The research programme will contribute to the further development of general didactics as one of the basic pedagogical disciplines, especially in understanding the effects of the increasingly intensive technologization and digitalization of society and schools. The latter raises expectations for an increased virtualization of didactic processes, and it significantly determines the educational outcomes that can be expected from institutional educations as one of the key factors of community cohesion in the future. The findings of the research will allow us to interpret the meaning and conception of the community from the perspective of the vulnerable individuals excluded from the labour market and the wider community because of the cultural, legal and spatial aspects of invisibility. The research programme will enable the further development of the concepts of invisible work and learning as work, which are crucial for the development of andragogy. They cover the increasingly intertwined spheres of work, social vulnerability/exclusion and education in national and EU contexts. They reveal the experiences and strategies of the excluded and vulnerable groups who find themselves in or alternately move between these spheres in the hope of achieving professional aspirations and/or economic and social security. The research findings will enable the evaluation of the modern contradictory role of adult education - on the one hand, it participates in the reproduction of structural inequality and, on the other hand, it plays an important role in its elimination. These aspects are crucial for the development of the sociology of adult education, as they can provide us with a critical insight into today's predominant functionalist theories on which modern deficit models of (re-)integration into the labour market and society in general are founded. Based on the findings, guidelines and recommendations for alternative models of integration and community building will be developed. Furthermore, the andragogical aspect of our research is related to the understanding of transition to old age and learning related to this transition. Both old age and transition to old age are culturally constructed processes that define the quality of life in old age.
Significance for the country
The findings of the research will contribute to the further development of vocational education, especially in terms of its integration in international trends. Vocational education should develop in line with international trends and experiences (the importance of social partnership and learning in the workplace) and the laws and characteristics of the local environment and its ability to absorb solutions from other environments. Well-organized mentoring for students' professional training is a way of establishing new networks and community development both in Slovenia and in the wider European area. On the one hand, it denotes the development of individuals and overcoming their narrow roles, because it brings a faster circulation of knowledge between educational and work spheres, better and faster employment, lifelong learning, thus increasing human skills and abilities. On the other hand, it influences the development of economy and services, benefiting the community/society, including during the Covid-19 epidemic. There is a need for a close association between the educational sphere and other social spheres (including the economy, especially with regard to vocational education and training). By exploring the role of education in the development of a sustainable society and economy, we can enable and strengthen this cooperation by disseminating our research findings and raising the awareness of the general public. "Bottom-up" strategies and new ways of the self-organization of invisible workers can lead to important findings for the reconstruction of social partnership institutions, especially workers' unions, which still do not include and organize precarious and invisible workers sufficiently. The self-organization strategies of precarious and invisible workers can reveal potential new ways of workers' co- or self-management. In addition to yielding scientific results, the research of the programme group is designed to make an important contribution to seeking, substantiating and critically evaluating the systemic and professional solutions that will emerge in the field of education and community education in the future. The consequences of the health and social crisis we are witnessing will require serious systemic and curricular attention. A comprehensive reform of key curricular documents for preschool, primary, secondary and higher education has been announced. It is intended to be focusing in particular on the digitalisation and further technologization of education: these are the social processes that we will support with our scientific research on the one hand, and, on the other hand, we will continue to monitor and evaluate them critically. Inclusive education and qualified educators at all levels and segments of the education system are important elements in the development of inclusive communities. The implementation of the principles of inclusion and sustainability is not possible without close cooperation between education and the wider society. Therefore, we will include our findings in teacher training programmes and expert consultations. Within the scope of our research, it is important to see the educational institution (and, within it, the school counselling service) as an important factor in shaping new communities as parallels to postdigital reality. Opening itself to the outside world, it can make an important contribution to the development of new forms of communities, directing the educational institution and others towards a more inclusive, intercultural, restorative and sustainable society. The connection between education and art is an important potential influence on the development of cultural activities. It also serves the interests of cultural and artistic institutions in seeking contact with new audiences and thus ensuring the vitality of culture as one of the vital elements of the quality of life. The formulation of proposals for new practices of intergenerational community education and the education of the elderly in cultural institutions and the development of new practices (age-friendly university) in tertiary education are similarly important. Our research will enable the formulation of guidelines and recommendations for the planning of educational social and active employment policies, as well as the education and training of the vocational groups that will implement these policies. The findings will have great potential for the development of higher education, especially in the fields of education, social work, social sciences and the humanities. In particular, our research findings will help include new critical content in the higher education programmes of the first and second Bologna levels relating to transition from education/unemployment to the labour market and to accompanying and increasingly intertwined educational, social and active employment policies, to the processes of the socialization of adults during various employment transitions and, in general, to a broader understanding of the social importance of work for the development of lasting relationships at work and in the community, and to the identification and evaluation of the deficient and inclusive practices of work-related education.
