Študij andragogike in izobraževanje andragogov

Abstract

There were a number of reason for a shortage of educated people in the post-war time. The state planned and dictated acce- lerated development of industry. There was a lack of skilled workers. The war had interrupted education of many individuals and there the casualties among intellectuals were greater than in the rest of population. The demand for qualified workers, recorded by employment agencies, exceeded the supply. As a result, education of adults in practice expanded rapidly. Prac- titioners required professional support and suitable literature. In 1956 the first lectures in andragogy were delivered within the framework of pedadgogy studies at the Faculty of Philo- sophy in Zagreb. In the years to follow, Prof Mihajlo Ogrizovi9, founder of the study subject, published the first works on andragogy Metode obrazovanja odraslih (Adult Education Methodology) and Problemi andragogije (Problems of Andra- gogy). In 1960 the Chair of Andragogy was set up at the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade (Prof DuOan Savi9evi9, Borivoj Samolov:ev). My decision to get engaged in research into adult education was made while I was working at the Institute of Sociology (1967) and joined the first international comparative research study in this country, Education of Adults, Social Mobility and Social Participation. Lectures in General Andragogy and Andragogical Didactics began in Ljubljana in the Pedagogy Department of the Faculty of Philosophy in 1972. In 1976 the study of andragogy became o special course of study within the Department. In 1993/94 andragogy was introduced as an independent study. The Ministry of Education and Sport confirmed the new study programme within the framework of the European TEMPUS project. The new study programmes were devised under the influence of the best-known world institutes for adult education (The Andragogy Department of Montreal University, the European Bureau for Adult Education in London, Wellington College in Oxford, Institute for Andragology in Amsterdam, Andragogy Department of Charles University in Prague, etc.). This guaranteed international quality of the programme. My one-year post-doctoral specialization at the Institute in Toronto (1971) gave a final turn to the preparations of andragogy teaching. Professional and scientific literature augmented. An- dragogy gained a place in the national research programme. Simultaneously, a number of research studies were conducted within transnational research programmes, run by UNESCO, ICAE (International Council for Adult Education) and EU. In recent years, the study of andragogy underwent a new reform to meet higher education objectives as formulated by the Bologna Declaration.