Projects / Programmes
Pedagogic and adult education researches - quality and life-long education
January 1, 2004
- December 31, 2008
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 5.01.00 |
Social sciences |
Educational studies |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| S270 |
Social sciences |
Pedagogy and didactics |
learning, education, quality of knowledge, life-long, sustainable development, equal opportunities, broader education concepts, learning process, learning targets, targets of broader education, national identity, European dimension of education, interculturality, integration, adult education, formal and informal education, occasional learning, vocational and professional education, professional socialisation, education of teachers
Researchers (15)
Organisations (1)
Abstract
The research programme has two targets: development of the concepts and methods of identifying and providing quality in education, and development of the concept and operative solutions for implementing the principle of life-long learning. From these two points of view, the topical research units within the development of education are tackled, with priority being given to the basic research goals over the applicative ones.
The development of quality in education is approached at the level of stimulating the quality of working processes in education institutions: broader education, education, teaching and learning. In its quality research method, the research programme establishes new philosophy in the relation between school and the authorities, and thus also new dimensions in the responsibility of educational institutions for quality knowledge and development of all students. The starting point is that the quality of work is primarily the responsibility of the education institution and its employees themselves, meaning that greater attention is paid to internal initiatives and responsibilities than external supervision. The focus is thus on care for quality, connected with the processes of decentralisation and autonomy of education institutions. In the last 15 years, Slovenia has gradually reformed the entire education system from kindergartens to higher education. These changes were the consequence of the changes in school practice and in the society. Like in other countries, we try to provide as many young people and adults as possible with the opportunity of permanent education and growth, and create the conditions for their personal development and gaining of quality knowledge at a level comparable to the world. In the research project, the development of quality will be directed towards individual contents: analysis of broader education theory concepts of public school; influence of family on the development of aggressiveness, tolerance, formation of mental and emotional patterns; concept of active citizenship; concept of inclusive society; unified school - integration in education - interculturality - multiculturality; quality of different types of knowledge (declarative, procedural, strategic and meta-cognitive) and development of strategies and procedures for acquiring knowledge; influences of international comparisons of school effects on the targets, contents and realisation of classes in Slovenian schools, quality of external knowledge examination and its back effect on classes; development of motivation for quality knowledge; development of basic knowledge and competences in curricular planning; planning of education standards and control of their achievement; teacher's role in educational process and its changing through the development of new methods and strategies of planning and realising classes; professional autonomy of the school; operation of counselling services within school and their connection with external expert centres; conceptualisation of teacher training.
The principle of life-long education and learning is the answer of education policy and strategy to the harmonisation of the education system with the constant increase in knowledge, with life-long learning simultaneously being understood as a condition for anybody's permanent growth and his/her active involvement in society. On this basis, the following basic targets of the research project are set in terms of life-long learning: relations between general, vocational and professional education; development of various ways of education for the formation of education and professional career of an individual; criteria, procedures and methods of examining and recognising non-formal and informal learning, relation between certificate and education system.
Significance for science
The results of the research programme are directly relevant for the development of various disciplines in undergraduate and postgraduate pedagogy and andragogy courses, in undergraduate teacher training programmes and the programmes of their continuing training and education. The main advantages of the research include its interdisciplinary approach and a synthetic application of theoretical concepts of various disciplines and sciences (philosophy, ethics, psychology, sociology, law) within pedagogy. The research therefore contributes to a modern and integrated design of the educational concept, to a better understanding of quality, to the implementation of an inductive approach to moral education, to the implementation of synchronisation didactics, to the theory of essential learning and the concept of core reflection, to the use of the arts in the context of identity and moral development of the child and the adolescent, to increased theoretical knowledge of integration and inclusion from the intercultural point of view; and at the theoretical level, to a closer cooperation of general and special pedagogy. We obtained new knowledge of personal and national identity formation within a multi-state community and the ethnically heterogenous Slovenian society. We broadened our knowledge of the history of Slovenian school and modern trends, and accumulated high-quality information of foreign educational systems for Slovenian users. We broadened the knowledge of the needs and opportunities for education of the elderly to implement the concept of “active third age”, and developed a broader perspective of the possibilities for the implementation of the principle of lifelong learning as an integral part of the educational system organisation and operation. At the theoretical level, the research is expected to contribute to the explanation of knowledge conceptualisation and to the theoretical understanding and explanation of new phenomena related to the introduction of competence-based approaches. New knowledge on the role of education in the development of responsible citizenship.
Significance for the country
We expect the research programme results to contribute to the enrichment of school practice and educational practice in general, in particular: • To the strengthening of modern forms of educational work in the implementation of pre-primary curricula, particularly regarding the compensatory role of pre-primary education for children from underprivileged groups; • To further development of the system of elective subjects and differentiation in primary school; • To the development of modern forms of teaching and learning; • To the creation of operational educational concepts, which primary schools are required to prepare in accordance with the new school legislation; • To further development of vocational and professional education systems, by addressing problems at the levels of system organisation, modernisation of vocational profiles, curriculum, knowledge assessment, • To the development of school counselling and the preparation of programmes for continuing education of school counsellors. Different methods of evaluation and self-evaluation in the function of quality assurance in schools were assessed and developed. In the four-year period, the research of quality assurance and assessment in education was conducted in accordance with trends in European countries and in compatibility with the tools for quality assurance and assessment developed by the EU. The premise of the research was that school is an autonomous institution bearing the primary responsibility for its quality; the emphasis was therefore on self-evaluation supplemented with various methods of external evaluation. In the area of lifelong learning, the following objectives of the research project were achieved: a clearer definition of the relationship between general, vocational and professional education; the establishment of the concept of general education of adults based on international standards; the development of various education tracks in the educational and professional career; the development of criteria, procedures and methods for the verification and recognition of non-formal and informal learning outcomes; a clearer definition of the relationship between certification system and educational system. During the preparation of Bologna programmes for teacher education, we prepared a new outline of fundamental pedagogical study disciplines; undergraduate programmes for teachers were modernised, and plans were drawn up for their continuous further training with the aim of introducing a new culture of teaching and learning. Integration and inclusion models were developed, as well as various forms of assistance to the children and adolescents with special needs (preparation of individual programmes). We researched models of education for underprivileged social groups (ethnic and cultural minorities), paying particular attention to the development of these models to include the principle of inclusion in the education of the Roma. In our analysis of the quality of adult education, we focused on the current issues related to the reduced number of open universities and other adult education organisations and the related diminished participation of the population in education in general. The main observation in this area, particularly in comparison with the developed countries, is the poor participation of the state in the promotion of adult education, which results in its marked commercialisation. The main consequence is a poorly developed general education system for adults, although a considerable interest exists. The main finding is that the population between 35 and 55 years of age is poorly represented in adult education, which suggests that there are conceptual weaknesses in the development strategy of adult education in Slovenia. On the basis of the research, proposals were drawn up for improvement, including proposals for a different organisation of services responsible for adult education at the national level.
Most important scientific results
Final report,
complete report on dLib.si
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
Final report,
complete report on dLib.si
