New forms of adult education in rural areas

in the USSR Victor Onushkin and Lyudmila Lesokhina

The organization of new forms of education in general and of adult education in particular reflects the general move towards restructuring, openness and democratization in the USSR today. This article is concerned with adult edu- cation centres, many-faceted establishments of- feting general, vocational and background cul- tural education for rural populations.

The centres were based on night schools and correspondence schools, a form of adult edu- cation which has been in grave crisis since the mid-I97OS. The fact that these centres comprise a variety of courses and functions and relate to the social situation can be seen to some extent as a continuing reaction against the extreme narrowness, introversion and inflexibility of the night school. The traditional night school is nevertheless still the rule, while the adult edu- cation centres, which have been ill existence a little over ten years, are rather the exception.

It is hardly surprising that the inadequacy of the traditional night school should have first been recognized in rural areas, where its general irrelevance to people's everyday problems and

Victor G. Ormshkin (USSR ). Member of the USSR Academy of Pedagogical Sciences and director of the Academy's Research Institute for Adult General Edu- cation in Leningrad. Author of many articles in his fields.

Lyudmila Lesokhina ( USSR ). Researcher and head of the Laboratory of the Research Institute for Adult General Education in Leningrad.

concerns and ways of life was most acutely perceived. So the organization of adult edu- cation centres was a kind of breach in the formal bureaucratic night-school system, still protected by tradition, official regulations and adminis- trative instruments. The centres are accepted solely as a pilot scheme, whose main feature is that their impetus comes from below--from urgent practical necessity--rather than from above--on the recommendation of adminis- trative bodies.

The self-regulation of education as a social institution is a new phenomenon. The stability and viability of the centres depends entirely on their competitive edge, their performance and their impact on the socio-economic and socio, cultural situation of the region, primarily in rural areas. Strictly speaking, the advent and operation of these centres should not be thought of exclusively in a rural context.

However, the general quest for new forms of education is as much a characteristic of the countryside as of urban areas (major cities, large and small towns), industrial settlements and regional and district centres, whether remote from or close to centres of cultural life. The first mention of such adult education centres dates back to 1976 in Riga (Latvian SSR), Minsk, Rechitsa (Byelornssian SSR), Ulan-Ude (Burya ASSR) and Nikolayev (Ukrai- nian SSR). At the same time, it should be noted that the initiators and organizers of the first centres were the principals of the rural schools in iXlovaya Odessa (Nikolayev region of the

Prospects, Vol. XVIII, No. 3, x988

4o6 Victor Onushkin and Lyudmila Lesokhina

Ukrainian SSR) and in Vetka (Gomel' region of the Byelorussian SSR). These and other aduk education centres were considerably ahead of their time, having anticipated the new national education restructuring programme now being promoted nationally with the participation of the general public.

The adult education centre is a social inno- vation. The standard model is unusual in that it is not geared to the specifics of any one terri- tory, region or locality. Its universality enables its basic principles to be reproduced in the different areas of lifelong education. At the same time, any, attempt to dissociate the basic model from a particular practical location and abstract it from real-life experience would fail, because it offers as many variations, ramifi- cations and specifications as there are circum- stances governing the lives of social groups, communities and individuals.

Viewing the emergence of aduk education centres as a single, albeit exceedingly instruc- tive, episode in the organization of lifelong education, we must emphasize that to reduce the functions of this educational institution to any narrow departmental assignment or to introduce artificial limitations for the sake of regulatory management and control, or of pre- serving the old methodological apparatus, would in fact result in a dismantling of this new approach.

The centres were able to adopt a new ap- proach precisely because they rose above de- pat~tmental distinctions. Having done so, how- ever, they proved irrelevant to the interests, as it were, of those departements which had originally contributed to their birth and devel- opment. The situation today is that these adult education centres are more necessary to the activities of production, leisure and daily life than to the domain of education proper. Where the centres successfully realize their educational potential, their work is as a rule actively sup- ported by local authorities, by Party and trade- union organizations, and by entreprises and the collective or state farms.

The centres have not yet achieved financial autonomy. Their funds come from three

sources, the national education budget, enter- prises and farms; and from individuals. This is fairly unusual of one is used to the traditional type of education system, but it is natural in an aduk education context in which formal and non-formal types of education make up a co- herent whole consciously directed towards teaching Ceverybody and everything'.

The adult education centre is notable for its high degree of social mobility and its readiness to meet any social demand, to restructure itself in response to changing socio-economic con- ditions and to become an integral part of any regional context. In order to understand bow this is achieved we shall first examine the general characteristics of the model and then see them applied in practice in individual rural adult education centres.

Adult education centres perform a variety of socio-educational functions. Coming under a unified teaching and education system in which requirements regarding the level of education and personality formation in schools for adults are uniform, these multifunctional educational institutions cater for a number of different groups: (a) people attending general secondary education; (b) young people combining general education and vocational training; (c) people preparing for admission to higher and secondary educational establishments; (d) adults com- bining study with upgrading or retraining; (e) people attending optional courses of study; (f) people attending particular educational ac- tivities, club-type activities, and so on.

Individual adult education centres develop different academic subdivisions, opting for vari- ous orientations. But it is not a case of different water-tight compartments co-existing for con- venience under one general educational roof. Each centre is a general educational and vo- cational establishment with its own organization and requirements, its own moral outlook, and its own traditions.

In the general context of expanding socio- educational functions, adult education is tending to combine: A general educational with vocational function

(it teaches a trade and at the same time pro-

New forms of adult education in rural areas in the USSR 407

vides secondary education, raises qualifi- cations on the basis of general educational knowledge, prepares pupils for admission to higher and secondary specialist institutions, and organizes counselling for correspondence students).

An educational with a general training function (it provides instruction for people who under- performed in general secondary education, adolescents who dropped out of general edu- cation and vocational and technical schools, and young people and adults still undecided as to their choice of a career).

General education with cultural activities for school pupils and the inhabitants of a region in general.

General training in educational work for pupils, workers in enterprises and farms, tutors, parents, society, etc.

The adult school is also developing new methods of adult education, involving training special- ists, teachers in general secondary education, cultural workers and retired workers, among others, to teach adults.

The main feature of the adult education centre is socio-professional mobility and a readiness to meet practically any social requirement in the region. The main lines laid down for its activities are pursued within a flexible organiza- ational structure. In a number of cases the adult education centres operate as many as twenty or more instructional subdivisions under one roof. There are: (a) production classes (in which ado- lescents receive a specialized training and gen- eral education); Co) further training classes (in a number of cases covering seventeen trades); (c) classes in rare trades that are understaffed in the region; (d) preparatory classes for higher and secondary specialist education geared to the requirements of enterprises and farms; (e) elec- tive courses with in-depth study of particular subjects, including foreign languages; and (f) elective courses extending the range of edu- cational and vocational attainment. Courses are also provided that respond to the modern day- to-<lay requirements of the population in such subjects as home economics, applied arts, sewing and dress-making, horticulture, market-

gardening and so on. The adoption of the model of the adult education centre thus entails: A change in the functions of adult education. A shift in public opinion (including scientific

and educational circles) towards the idea of establishing an institution to support lifelong education.

A response on the part of adult education to increased social and individual demand for education at the present stage of social development.

The utilization in adult education of instruc- tional content and methods for new academic courses and disciplines which meet the practical requirements of the population.

A restructuring of vocational guidance and of the activity of teachers in adult education schools as a symptom of their development.

Elaboration of new criteria for assessing the effectiveness of adult education.

These schematically represented features come to life in the actual centres themselves. The model version steps aside and allows the individual adult education centre, in a given locality, to take centre stage. The standard model itself goes down best in rural areas.

For example the adult education centre in Vetka, a town in the Gomel' region of the Byelorussian SSR, was based on the district correspondence school. The school centre de- cided to unify all the work done in the local ago-industrial context on the general edu- cational, vocational and educative training of working people. It maintains close contact with entreprises, collective and state farms in the district, which provide economic support.

The centre dispenses four types of vocational training: engineering, agronomy, lffestock man- agement and general economics. Over 900 per- sons have already received training here, includ- ing agricultural engineers working at animal- breeding complexes, poultry operatives and mechanics. Skill-upgrading classes were opened at the adult education centre and at all its branches. Pupils are enrolled on the recommen- dation of agricultural enterprises.

The adult education centre has of late been giving particular attention to the teaching of

408 Victor Onushkin and Lyudmila Lesokhina

cropping and livestock management. The centre tries to familiarize the rural population with the latest advances in agricultural science and practice and to improve their theoretical know- ledge of the technology, economics and organiz- ation of agricultural production and their ability to apply this knowledge.

The participation in the training of skilled personnel is an important feature. Depending on the general socio-economic situation of the rural area concerned, the centre decides on the main lines of its action for the medium term and for the immediate future. Specialists who are already working but have not attended higher education are prepared for admission to the five faculties of the agricultural academy and to technical institutes specializing in road- building, arts and education, librarianship, co- operative work and pre-school education. Adults attend these courses on a full-time basis for a month. They are accommodated and they continue to receive full pay. The questions of financial provision for the courses, teachers' pay and the facilities and equipment provided are decided on by the local authorities. Teachers' pay, for instance, is provided out of the resources of agricultural enterprises, collectives and state farms.

As a rule, it is the individual who expresses the wish to attend education in a higher or a secondary specialized institute. I f the local authorities consider the specialist in question to be capable and resourceful, they support his request to attend the adult education centre's courgcs .

The courses are conducted by teachers specializing in the subjects concerned in ac- cordance with university-level entrance cur- ricula. The centres are fairly well equipped. Students are provided with audio-visual aids and books and textbooks which are available in the lecture rooms or in the library. Cultural and educational activities enable students to meet with leaders of the district and its enterprises and with the teaching staff of higher and secondary specialist institutions.

The adult education centre makes for work- force stability since, as a rule, those attending

the courses stay on to work in their home rural area even after obtaining their higher or secondary qualifications.

The principal of the adult education centre in the town of Vetka is not only an initiator and organizer but also an advocate of the merits of experience. He is looked up to as an expert on adult education centres not only in his own rural district and region but throughout the Byelorussian SSR and even beyond. He is convinced of the need for general education to be indissolubly linked with vocational train- ing and with cultural activities. The adult edu- cation centre is more than a national education subsystem, it is an important and ultimately crucial part of the infrastructure of rural life.

The principal of the adult education centre at Vetka is in favour of more or less complete integration of all the centre's functions. In organizational terms, this means that the head- quarters of the adult education centre occupies a large building in the main town in the district--Vetka, for examplemand that the branches of the centre situated in the sphere of influence of the district town, that is, in the surrounding villages, are subordinated to it, gravitate towards it and are dependent on it. This method of organization is suited to densely populated areas with relatively simple comm~eat ions between the centre and its branches.

Where rural communities are scattered and a considerable distance (up to 4o km and more), separates them from the centre, this model seems much more urban than rural. Another variant therefore came into being, at Novaya Odessa.

Novaya Odessa is the administrative centre for a district in the Nikolayev region in the Ukrainian SSR. The principal of its adult edu- cation centre has a small office in town which provides management and logistics services for the various centres, which are located directly in surrounding villages and collective or state farms. The Novaya Odessa district is a large one, with some of the individual farms dozens of kilometres from the main base in Novaya Odessa. Over many years, however, the total number of

New forms of adult education in rural areas in the USSR 409

those attending courses here has topped 2,ooo. Fifteen major economic units (collective and state farms) work in conjunction with the adult education centre. Their interests, and those of the rural inhabitants, were a factor in the organization of the adult education centre of the Novaya Odessa district. For example, the courses of study are held during the least busy monthsmfrom November to February.

Collective and state farms have the task of strengthening the academic and material basis of the adult education centres for their district, especially those geared to the eight-year edu- cation system. They must also do everything possible to assist and themselves take part in broad-based explanatory work regarding the need for lifelong education, both in school and on special courses organized at academic con- sultation points. It was expected that fifteen such adult education centres would have been opened by 1986, enabling rural dwellers to acquire special knowledge connected with vari- ous spheres of activity. The study centres based on these consultation points (in special accom- modation, school annexes or clubs) organize upgrading courses for mechanics and middle- level cadres, as well as optional courses on domestic science and a photography circle. In other words, their work closely resembles that of the adult education centre at Vetka.

The establishment of adult education centres is taken into account in planning the economic and social development of individual farms and villages. Regulations have been issued govern- ing the activity and maintenance costs of adult education centres. Their leaders are teachers at schools that are in operation or representatives of collective or state farms, also former teachers or retired workers and experienced production specialists. The adult education centres use unified syllabuses and curricula drawn up by the headquarters with the participation of vari- ous suitably qualified production or scientific organizations. Despite a noticeable tendency to standardize the curriculum, each farm, depend- ing on its own circumstances and requirements, places more emphasis on some particular line of interest.

The Novaya Odessa headquarters of the adult education centre provides logistical sup- port for all the correspondence courses and the study centres. It is here that meetings and discussions are conducted, studies organized for specialists taking part in the educational process, and the strategy and tactics worked out for the centre's future development.

It is clear that the Novaya Odessa centre offers a relatively more dynamic structure, with more flexible links between the general~ pro- fessional and cultural aspects of the develop- ment of the personality. While the features of the formal education system are more marked in the model applied at Vetka, the non-formal element is preponderant in the Novaya Odessa model. The academic experts are trying to decide which model is better. In fact each provides a response to social demands arising from regional differences and the practical needs of the individual locality. Practitioners, who realize this, follow either the Vetka or the Novaya Odessa model, depe~ading on how they themselves assess their own particular situation. The question is whether these two models exhaust all the possibilities of organizing adult education in rural areas. Some general con- clusions have to be drawn before this question can be answered.

For example, what does an adult education centre in a rural area consist of? The rural adult education centre is a new type of institution in which different socio-edueational functions are combined. The adult education centre, along- side and on the basis of general educational training, offerts its students the chance to learn a trade, upgrade their skills, prepare for admission to higher or secondary level specialist institutions, improve their ability to cope with domestic and practical day-to-day matters, or their knowledge of psychology, teaching methods and so forth.

I f we consider the present educational situ- ation in rural areas in the light of the experience of adult education centres, we can draw a number of general conclusions regarding the education of country-dweUers.

First, the adult education centre represents

4I 0 Victor Onushkin and Lyudmila Lesokhina

the integration and centralization of the edu- cational and educative functions, since educa- tional and educative tasks are carried out in the countryside by exactly the same people, often working from exactly the same material and technical base (literally under one roof) with the active support of the local auth- orities.

Second, it is a flexible system of education governed by a number of factors connected with agricultural production, way of life, climatic conditions and so on. The effectiveness of edu- eational establishments in the countryside de- pends entirely on the extent to which they can adjust to the changing circumstances of rural life, and also make allowance for possible changes.

Third, adult education centres have close ties with the ordinary schools for children in rural areas. These are organic ties, since all general educational assignments are carried out practicaUy by a single teaching community. But such ties can be firmer and more significant if the adult education centres identify more closely with the population, and if the ordinary schools do not simply supply teachers to help the adult education centres out, but act as the initiators of the centres' action, working in the main from small primary, lower-secondary and full-range secondary schools. Even now, many rural schools operate in practice as centres for education of the population at large, working not only with children and adolescents but also with their parents and the community as a whole, as weU as providing guidance in teaching methods for specialists engaged in skill up- grading.

Fourth, the model of the adult education centre itself comprises self-development mech- anisms, to the extent that they are set in motion by ,~ndividual and community demands.

The capacity for restructuring as an internal property of this system is strengthened by the special position of adult education in the edu- cation system as a whole, and by the competitive relationship of its institutions.

The adult education centre as a social insti- tution is a factor for educational harmony to the

extent that it is able to translate social demands into appropriate educational activity--'to teach everybody everything'.

Education's role as a centralizing force and its co-operation with other sectors, and at the same time its 'subdivision' in rural areas are matters of the utmost importance. But these processes are complicated. They involve finding solutions at interministerial level, extending the formal education system's links with the com- munity, transforming teaching content and methods, training teachers of a fundamentally new kind, and utilizing the cultural potential of the village, as it is now, with special reference to the experience of retired workers and their active involvement in the overall education of the rural work-force.

All these tasks demand time. But whith the experience of the adult education centres as a guide, substantive corrections are now being made to the theory and practice of education for the rural population of the USSR. []