The Politics of Adult Education:Adult Learning and Social Democracy?

Dr. Balázs NémethAssociate Professor - Observatory PASCAL Associate

Faculty of Adult Education and HRD – University of PécsRegional Lifelong Learning Research Centre

Definition of SOCIAL DEMOCRACY in Political Science:

1.) a political movement advocating a gradual and peaceful transition from capitalism to socialism by democratic means;

2.) a democratic welfare state that incorporates both capitalist and socialist practices

Source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/social%20democracy

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Balázs Németh - 05. 10. 2012.

Some inspiring minds:

Franz Pöggeler

Colin Griffin

Herman Baert

Peter Jarvis

Kjell Rubenson

. Balázs Németh - 05. 10. 2012.

What are the criteria for Social Democracy in adult learning and education:

- Access and Opportunities;

- Trust;

- Engagement/Commitment;

- Motivation/Goals;

- Environment;

- etc.

Balázs Németh – 05. 10. 2012.

What is the benefit of social democracy in adult learning and education:

- Effective and learner-centred provision;

- Better/developed methods and contents;

- Better learning and teaching performance;

- More transparent processes;

- More holistic approaches;

- More process-orientation and comparability;

Balázs Németh – 05. 10. 2012.

Active citizenship

Balázs Németh 05. 10. 2012

H. Baert: Reconstructing Active Citizenship. In: Schmidt-Lauff, S. (ed.) (2003)

Adult Education and Lifelong Learning. Verlag Kovac, Berlin. Pp. 55-69.

• Citizenship related to rights (civil, political and social) and participation;

• Active citizenship is about conscious practice of rights and recognition of status;

• Challenge: redefinition of democratic citizenship, social responsibility at risk;

• Having to ballance between individual freedom and collective interest – role of participatory competencies.

Active citizenship

Balázs Németh – 05. 10. 2012

T. Jansen: Citizenship, Identities and Adult Education. In: Schmidt-Lauff, S. (ed.) (2003) Adult Education and Lifelong Learning. Verlag Kovac, Berlin. Pp. 55-69.

„Citizenship education should focus on competencies of citizens to „negotiate” the cultural codes and symbols that inform them about their position in the global networks that mark their lives”

Three main objectives in citizenship education for adults:

- Education to facilitate the critical interrogation of dominant cultural codes and symbols in order to help finding connections between power and culture referring to interest and knowledge;- Education can encourage the exploration of cultural perspectives and codes embedded in different meanings, values and views (Finding alternatives, holistic meaning);- Personalizing the political. Deconstructing dominant codes of information by discovering personal experiences of learning citizenship.

Active citizenship

Balázs Németh – 05. 10. 2012

P. Jarvis (2004) Lifelong Learning and Active Citizenship in a Global Society. JACE, NIACE-Leicester. Vol 10., No1., Pp. 3-19.

„However, the key to the door of citizenship in contemporary society, according to EC policy documents, is employability that, paradoxically, can produce life, which might udermine the desire to participate in active citizenship.”„Citizenship is now a responsibility rather than a right and,… there is still a fundamental conceptual difference between citizenship and active citizenship – the one about rights and the other about the excercise of responsibility, although this need not occur only in traditional sphere of national citizenship. Territory and playing a role in the political/public domain are no longer the basis of active citizenship but being members of communities of interest – whether local, regional, national or international.” (p. 12.)

„Adult education will become an agency of progress if its short-term goal of self-improvement can be made compatible with a long-term, experimental but resolute policy of changing the social order.”

Eduard Lindeman, The Meaning of Adult Education (1926).

Source: http://fcis.oise.utoronto.ca/~daniel_schugurensky/quotes.html

Balázs Németh – 05. 10. 2012.

„While ... the case for lifelong education rests ultimately upon the nature and needs of human personality in such a way that no individual can rightly be regarded as outside its scope, the social reasons (i.e. democracy and responsibility) for fostering it are as powerful as the personal.”

Basil A. Yeaxlee, Lifelong Education (1929).

Source: http://fcis.oise.utoronto.ca/~daniel_schugurensky/quotes.html

Balázs Németh – 05. 10. 2012.

„Education is a collective asset that cannot be left only to market forces. Thus whatever the organisation or the degree of decentralisation or diversification of a system, the state must assume certain responsibilities to its citizens, including creating a national concensus on education, ensuring that the system forms a coherent whole and proposing a long term view for the future.”

The Delors Report - UNESCO (1996).

Source: Learning: The Tresure Within. Paris: UNESCO. P. 160.

Terms used:CompetitionCo-operation Solidarity

Balázs Németh – 05. 10. 2012.

„Government retains the primary responsibility for access to and equity in lifelong learning in all forms and at all stages, whether the opportunities are afforded through the market or provided directly by the government.”

Lifelong Learning for All - OECD (1996).

Source: Lifelong Learning for All . Paris: Organisation for economic Co-operation and Development, P. 185.

Balázs Németh – 05. 10. 2012.

Member States can no longer afford to be without an efficient adult learning system, integrated into their lifelong learning strategy, providing participants with increased labour market access, better social integration and preparing them for active ageing for the future.They should ensure that they have systems which enable them to define priorities and monitor their implementation.

Source: It is never too late to learn, EC: Brussels (2006) p.5.http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2006:0614:FIN:EN:PDF

Balázs Németh – 05. 10. 2012.

„This Action Plan focuses on those who are disadvantaged because of their low literacy levels, inadequate work skills and/or skills for successful integration into society. Depending on the Member State, these could include migrants, older people, women or persons with a disability.It starts from the premise that the need for a high quality and accessible adult learning system is no longer a point of discussion, given the challenges Europe has to meet in the coming years:

The Action Plan aims to help strengthening the adult learning sector in order to be able to use its full capacity. This a complex sector, with a wide variety of providers, reaching all kinds of target groups. The cross-sectoral nature of adult learning is recognised.”

Source: Action Plan on Adult learningIt is always a good time to learn EC: Brussels (2007) p.3.http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2007:0558:FIN:EN:PDF

Balázs Németh – 05. 10. 2012.

„We are convinced and inspired by the critical role of lifelong learning in addressing global and educational issues and challenges. It is furthermore our conviction that adult learning and education equip people with the necessary knowledge, capabilities, skills, competences and values to exercise and advance their rights and take control of their destinies. Adult learning and education are also an imperative for the achievement of equity and inclusion, for alleviating poverty and for building equitable, tolerant, sustainable and knowledge-based societies.”

Source: Belém Framework for Action – CONFINTEA VI, UNESCO UIL, P. 2. http://www.unesco.org/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/INSTITUTES/UIL/confintea/pdf/working_documents/Belém%20Framework_Final.pdf

Balázs Németh – 05. 10. 2012.

EUROPEAN AGENDA FOR ADULT LEARNINGPriority areas for the period 2012-2014:1. Making lifelong learning and mobility a reality;2. Improving the quality and efficiency of education and training;3. Promoting equity, social cohesion and active citizenship through adult learning;4. Enhancing the creativity and innovation of adults and their learning environments;5. Improving the knowledge base on adult learning and monitoring the adult learning sector

Source: Council Resolution on a renewed European agenda for adult learning. Council of the European Union. (20. 12. 2011.)http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2011:372:0001:0006:EN:PDF

Balázs Németh – 05. 10. 2012.

Some questions for further elaboration?

- How does the state estimate adult learning and education as an element of the political, social and scientific/cultural life?

- What do states do for the developmet of adult learning and education?Do they act as promotors of adult learning and education or do they concentrate their influence on an ideal or simply on financial sponsoring?

- Does the state behave as a partner for adult learning and education to function as a medium to activate the political responsibility and critical thinking of the citizens?

- Is there a better ‚learning climate’ for adult learning and education or states would shift its roles toward VET and HE?

Balázs Németh – 05. 10. 2012.

The paradox of solidarity

Source: http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/s/solidarity.asp

Balázs Németh – 05. 10. 2012.