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Conference " Competencies and Capabil iti es in Education" Oradea 2009

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PROFESOR I ELEV N EDUCAIA ADULILOR

TEACHER AND STUDENT I N ADULT EDUCATION

Valentin Costinescu1

Abstract

This paper wants to be itself enlightenment on adult education. The text presentsaspects of the Education for Adults concept and characteristics, of teaching methods and areasin adult education, the study tourism and general features of adult educational servicesmarket. They are presented the particularities of adult as a student and, appropriately, theteachers necessary abilities in adult education.

1. Adults educationspecific aspects of actualityAdult education as a social and cultural field of preoccupation represent the assembly

of educative activities deployed for adult population benefiting. Those cover a vast area of

practices and methods. The adult education includes processes of education which continue orreplace the initial education. It pursue the compensation of insufficient initial education, thecompletion of general knowledge or the continue formation of the individual.

The adult education presents a series of particularities; Malcolm Shepherd Knowles(1970) exposes the fallowing theses regarding the adult education:

Adults must know why they have to learn a certain thing. The adult person mustconsider important the attainment of new competence, knowledge or attitude.

Adults want to be autodidacts and to take themselves decisions regarding theformation programs that they wish to attend.

Adults have experiences more numerous and valuable then the young, so that thecorrelation between the new learning process and past experience can enhance thesignification of the learning situations and can help the participant in acquiring the newknowledge.

Adults are prepared to learn again when are confronted with a life situation for whichthey need more information.

Adults are engaging in the learning process pursuing the solving of some duties in thelearning process.

Adults are motivated to learn extrinsic as intrinsic.Research still performed in the sixties of last century have show specific requires of

adult education processes. So, in adult case the student is totally involved the learning processand he feels he is in control over the learning type and direction. The learning process in adult

persons it is based principally on direct confrontation with practical, social, personal andresearch problems; self evaluation must be the principal method of evaluation of progress andsuccess.

C.R. Rogers underlines, also, that it is important to learn how to learn and to be opento change. He exposes a series of factors which lead to adult education success: learning issignificant when the studied discipline answers the personal interest of student, learningwhich represents threaten to himself( ex. New attitudes or perspectives) it is assimilated easierwhen extern threats are reduce to minimal, learning is realized faster when the self threat it isreduced, and self initiated learning is more durable and convincing.

Recent research (Mitrofan, N., 1969) indicates other conditions which must be takenin consideration in adult education processes:

1Universitatea Bucureti

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o The educational programs for adults must take into account theparticipants experience.o The educational programs for adults must adapt to the participants age limit.o Adults must be stimulated to progress in self developingo Adults must benefit of a lot of options regarding learning programs availability and

organization.

Modern psychology researches disprove the idea that entering the adult stage leads tostagnation and obsolesce of training and education capacities. Contra, investigation show eventhe presence of a legitimate in development, which can be so formulated: continue learningleads to continue developing until agedness. That underlies that the essential role in adulteducation is the learning capacities anterior realized, the learning type and reasons, and notthe age. Not until 70-75 years old, the age starts to have a decisive role. But even here aredifferences from individual to individual.

The principal methods that are suited in adult education, taking in account the requestparticularities presented anterior can be the fallowing: The expositive method, ( Presentation,Popularization Conference, The magisterial course), The interrogative method (Debate,Symposium, Colloquium, The Interview , The Round Table), Practical and demonstrative

methods( The Industrial Formation Method, Carrard Method, Projects Method, WorkgroupMethod, Exchange Experience Method).

The pedagogic dictionaries give, usually, the fallowing meaning to the expositivemethod: modality of oral presentation of a theme in a logical organization, characterizedthrough ideas density, fluent and pregnant presentation of them.

As the term reveals it, through expositive method it is aimed the supply of unknownideas, of explicative models, laws or fact of knowledge which can not be discovered orinternalized, usually, through personal intellectual experience.

The expositive method is provided under more forms, which can be one and the sameeducational situation. The analysis of concrete different ways to which it assures the oraltransmission of information or are internalized different knowledge, skills and habits inactivities cadre with adults, lead as to constitution of the logical and psychological structure ofthis method.

It is presented often under the form of presentation or lecture, with which a person A(specialist, well known of a field, possessor of a valuable experience in given field) transmitsto auditor B, interested in the idea content, that emitter A presents it.

The interrogative method it is not met in a pure form as the expositive method. Hername derives from the fact that the essential structure of the educative situation relies inquestion-response. Other wise said in an activity performed with the help of a modality wherewe can distinguish a problematic parte and a solving parte of that problem. The oldness of themethod is certain; it is met in all the debates which the Greek thinkers (Socrate, Platon) were

having in the intellectual circles of the time.In the context of adult education activities modernization, practical demonstrativemethod take a special importance, due to utilizing heuristic principal of discovering ideas,significations or major interest habits. The active participation constitute the principal seam ofthem, which explains so the powerful extension that have known in the last years as thespecialists paper remark, as the organization wish to know and to use preponderate thismethods.

As formation field methods in adult education we can meet accredited programs in theeducational politics cadre from our county a very diversification gamma of preoccupationsfrom Base Programs, Literacy and arithmetic calculations habits as far as Education,Literature and Arts, Social science, commerce and law, Sciences, Engineering,

transformation and production industry, Agriculture, Health and social protection orServices.

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The politic of bringing product and services to consumer oppose to the one expectingthe consumer to the supplier center is present more and more in developing politics adulteducation, regarding the comportment of state learning institution as in the manner ofapproach of educational marketing in the private learning institutions including the ones thatadministrate short term training programs.

Organizing courses even for a couple of days for two or three participant at thebeneficiary center or any other location agreed by him, it is not for a long time a problem forthe adult education suppliers.

Here until study tourism was just a step. Even in a country as Romania in whichpopulation revenues are far from the level of developed countries of the European union, wecan see that for some good years it is annually registered an important number of employs, sofrom the public sector as from the private sector, which are doing their holiday in touristlocation not really modest, in cadre of training sessions or other forms, incurred by theiremploys.

The phenomena of bringing adult education service to the beneficiaries center as theexplosion of study tourism phenomenon have given an enthusiasm without precedent to the

adult education developingThe structure of real demand for adult education services includes principally:

Literacy services; Services of obtaining certain scholar level according to the European qualification cadre; Complementary calcifications services; Professional perfection services in continuum training programs cadre; Human developing services in psychological and emotional plan with the aim of bettering

performance in career or extraprofessional performance;To such a request are demand to assure an adequate offer of services of adult

education the next categories of institution:o

The state learning system afferent to the eight levels of qualification provided in EuropeanQualification Cadre;o The private learning system afferent to the eight levels of qualification provided in

European Qualification Cadre;o Specialized institutions of central public administration destined for a continuous

preparing of personal;o Specialize institution of big international concierge with activity in our country which

develop self professional forming system;o Non governmental companies and organization specialized in personal training for

different levels approve by the National Counsel of Adult Professional Training and aftercase the Ministry of Education, Research and Innovation;

o Nongovernmental companies and organizations specialized in human developing servicesand in psychological and emotional plan with the aim to better performance in career orextraprofessional performance.

After a discussion about request and offer on the adult education services marketappears as inevitable the approach of these services cost.

Not long ago the burden of education services finance from our country was taken bythe state, in the base of a political philosophy which seem natural for any member of thesociety which have been taken into discussion such a problem. As in other activity fields the

practice demonstrate that the state it is not yet, in measure to administrate in an efficient waythe allocated founds, allocated directly from the state budget. On an other hand the privatesystem show that without state money, can be created a real educational service empire, and

the market not only that sustains the organizations, but assures them all the condition todevelop in a explosive way, even in competition conditions with the state learning system. In

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time, the state learning system was put in the situation to obtain co financing from privatesources. Now, we can find a very complex resources blending of all kinds, between the stateand private system learning at all levels but with difference of those levels where educationalservices are addressed par excellence to adults.

2. Teachercharacteristics in adult education.Adult training through teaching it is not necessarily as children teaching or adolescentin high schools, or student in universities. Where differences exist, must be kept undercontrol.

There are lots of differences between these two learning groups.- If we are referring only at the student category we can observe that student from a school

or university are in generally young and have little knowledge and short experience eventhough they say otherwise. Actually they have no professional experience, no referencethat can be compared with the one acquired by the professor. Even though the professorintent to apply methods and techniques of modern and attractive learning, this act lead toteaching restrains.

- On another hand, adult professionals in training or retraining context are much older, withlife experience and with more or less professional experience. When they think and trainfor their professional knowledge and skill, they have in automat way reminiscences thatcome to their mind. They can compare critically what they believe with what they know orhave experimented already in their professional life. When they are asked about theiranterior experience of training given in an academic context, executants or professionalsmanifest their disapproval. They say that the course was too much theoretical far from theiroccupation and day to day experience, and that it is not helping solving their problems thatthere are confronted with.

The adult learning process present particularities from the children learningThe differences, in which people learn, have been studied starting with 1920.

Although adult and children show certain similarities as student but there are differentin learning preferences and in necessities and have different answers at learning processes:- Adults want to know the concrete ways in which they benefit from what they learn. They

often request and wish to be told what is the added value and self results before they arepresented with concepts and ideas. They want to see how is found in the real world whatthey learn. On another hand children can accept Iwill need it someday as a reason tolisten.

- Adults expect to participate to learning. Often they can tie anterior knowledge andexperience to the program content and with references to what they already know.

Meanwhile, children have limited life experience, they depend more from the teacherknowledge and guidance.- Adults are motivated by intrinsic need or wishes. Generally adult students participate in

training program because they need or they will need the informational content in order toexert they profession or to personally develop. Children fallow because they are lead byothers.

- Adult training is in a normal way base on competence. Generally training program ofadult help them to exert better their professional. Children learning tends to be short,orientated on a immediate earning, orientate on a exam passing.

- The adult training environments are varied depending on the program content planedactivities, the trainer, and the hall configuration often differs. The children training

environments tent to be rows of offices faced to the teacher who lectures, with slightdifferences.

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In order to exceed such request teachers must present a series of professionalcapacities.

Bedsides the multiple classification and modalities of presentation of pedagogicalcapacities which we can meet in specialist literature, we consider that some have specialrelevance.

So, Nicolae Mitrofan (1988) shows the next component of pedagogical competencies:scientific competence, psycho and pedagogic competence and psycho and social competence.The three types of competence act integrated.The scientific competence involves good specialty training.The psycho and pedagogical competencies are assured by the assembly the necessity

capacities for building different component in student personality. It includes:- capability to determine the difficult grade of learning;- capacity of making the learning material accessible through adequate methods and means;- capability to understand student, to penetrate his interior world;- creativity in psycho and pedagogic work;- Capability to create new methods of instructive and educative influence, different from

every educational situation request.- The psycho and social component which is represented by the assembly of necessary

capacities for optimizing inter human relations, such as:- capability to adopt a different role;- capability to easy and adequate establish relations with others;- capability to influence students group, as isolated individuals;- capability to easily and efficiently communicate with students;- capability to use adequate power and authority;- Capability to adopting different styles of leading.

Pantelimon Golu (1974,1985) appreciates, referring to pedagogical aptitude that, itinvolves more aspects: erudition and specialty knowledge, practical knowledge of individualstudy psychology, skill to transmit knowledge but also the capacity to relationate withstudents or a group of students; spontaneous intelligence and moment inspiration in decisionmaking, consciousness handling of mechanisms capable to optimize the educational act.

In the pedagogical field it takes shape other ability classification systems amongwhich the one that hold account of other aspects: knowledge, attitudes and personalitycharacteristics.

A model of training program of teachers took place in U.S.A., operates with didacticcompetence in five specific categories (Gherghinescu, 1999):1. Cognitive competence- including intellectual ability and knowledge expected from a

teacher;

2.Affective competence- represented through expected attitudes from the teacher andconsiderate specific for didactic profession, because it is the hardest to obtain;

3. Exploratory competence- regarding the level of pedagogical practice offering the chance tothe future professors to exert didactic abilities;

4. Performance competence- through which teachers prove not only that they know, but canalso use that knowledge;

5. The competence to produce observable modifications of student in a pedagogic relation.Taking in account the intern psychic structure of pedagogical skills, it can be

appreciated the existence of special pedagogic skill, such as: The capacity to know and understand the psychic of the subject of educative action-intuitive capacity, the penetration and rapid observation of individual psychic particularities.

Permanent contact with students, compensated by a continuous training, develops and perfectsthis capacity;

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The empathic capacity offers the teacher the possibility to see all the influencesthrough the people that addresses, and to predict, not only the eventual problem, but also the

possible results; The organizational capacity it is manifested in the hole activity preformed by theteacher: planning of the his work, preparation and performing lections, leading the activities

of the student collectivity; The observational spirit capacity that permits to observe of the finest aspect andmanifestations educative action. With its help the teacher can detect and infers the state ofmind ofstudents intentions, by their face expression and certain moves (F. N. Gonblin, 1963) The pedagogic tact the capacity to find, at the proper time, the most adequate formof attitude and treat of the students (Gonoblin, 1963); we can appreciate that tact is theteachers capacity to maintain and consolidate the positive psychic states and to dominate andinhibit the negative ones, so offering prompt answers and solutions for all solicitation fromthe instructiveeducative process.

In the concerns aria regarding the determination of which qualities of the teacher caninfluence and modelate the student personality we find the research of Josef Stefanovic(1979). The author identifies positioning of the pedagogic tact in the educational process. Heconcludes, after doing research, the fact that pedagogic tact is the qualitative grade of socialinteraction between teacher and student. In this case the critters of this quality are:a. the adequate grade of teacher comportment toward student

b.positive motivation grade of study results and student comportmentc. the grade of personality development of the studentd. the compliance grade of psychic particularities of the student and the assures of a optimal

psychic climate of instructiveeducative activitiese. The results obtained in attaining the proposed objectives in instructive-educative activity

(Stefanovic, 1979).

- The pedagogical mastery the plenary developing of all personality components of theteacher, concomitant with the integration in a unitary. The pedagogic mastery it is confusedwith the didactic technique. A teacher that posses pedagogical mastery is more then a

professional, it is an artist in his profession.So, we consider necessary to show that significant for this, is the beliving of a great

man with vocation in pedagogic field: the pedagogic art, which is before all, the art to putyourself at the students disposal, to sympathize with them, to understand their universe, toobserve their interest, it is founder in a great measure on a gift, the pedagogical vocation(M.A.Bloch, 1973)

References:

Anghel, F. (coord) 1998,Educaia pentru toi n Romnia,Bucureti, Editura Alternative;Bloch, Marc-Andr, (1973),Philosophie de l'ducation nouvelle, Paris, PUF;Cross, K.P. (1981).Adults as Learners. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass;Dave, R. H. (coord) 1991, Fundamentele educaiei permanente, Bucureti, Editura Didactica siPedagogica R.A.;Gherghinescu R., (1999), Conceptul de competenta didactica, in: Marcus, S. (coord.), Competentadidactica: perspectiva psihologica, Bucureti, All, p. 11-24;Golu, P.(1974),Psihologie sociala, Bucureti, Ed. Didactic i Pedagogic;Golu, P. .(1985),nvare i dezvoltare, Bucureti, Editura Enciclopedic;Gonobolin F.N. (1963). Cu privire la aptitudinile pedagogice ale profesorului. n Probleme depsihologia personalitii., Bucureti, Ed. Didactic i Pedagogic,;Hubert, Ren, (1965), Trait de pdagogie gnrale, Paris, PUF;

Knowles, Malcolm Shepherd (1970). The Modern Practise of Adult Education: Andragogy Versuspedagogy, New York, Association Press;

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Lucas, Robert W. (1994), Training Skills for Supervisors, New.York, Irwin Professional Publishing ;Miroiu, Adrian (1998),nvmntul romnesc azi. Studiu de diagnoz, Iai, Ed.Polirom;Mitrofan, N.(1988),Aptitudinea pedagogica, Bucuresti, Ed.Academiei Romne;Newcomb, T.M. and Wilson, E.K. College Peer Groups, (1966), Problems and Prospects forResearch. Chicago, IL: Aldine;Rogers, C.R. (1969).Freedom to Learn. Columbus, OH: Merrill;Stefanovic,Jozef (1979). Psihologia tactului pedagogic a profesorului, Bucureti Ed. Didactic ipedagogic;

Stenhouse, L, (1973),Philosophy of Educational Research, New-York, Wilay;Stenhouse, L. (1975), An Introduction to Curriculum Research and Development, London,Heinemann;Vintanu, Nicolae, (1998),Educatia Adultilor, Bucuresti, Editura Didactica si Pedagogica R.A.;Woolfolk, Anita E. (1990),Educational Psychology, New York, BookSurge;Woolfolk, Anita E. (2007),Educational Psychology, Bucureti, Ed. Longman.

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