Meeting abstract
SIGNIFICANCE OF KEY COMPETENCES FOR ADULT EDUCATION PROFESSIONALS
Igor Njegovan
orcid.org/0000-0001-5160-7695
; Pučko otvoreno učilište Zagreb
Abstract
Pressed by rationalization of all areas, educational programs are also reduced to be «as short as possible and as quick as possible» in order to promote only professional competences, while the key competencies are forgotten or taken for granted. The main gap is being created because of the lack of the key competencies. Adult education professionals recognize the needs of employers featured in various studies of the labour market, which can be summarized to four groups - computer skills, foreign languages, business and soft skills, but these competences are not acquired by adult education staff. Because the majority of adult education is VET, the emphasis is placed on the profession. The question is whether teachers are literate in their mother tongue as well as in foreign language and in computer skills. Do they possess and also encourage entrepreneurial and innovative ways of thinking? Do they know how to establish a teamwork atmosphere and quality group communication? Therefore, education of adult education professionals does not need to focus only on the professional competence of working with adult learners but it is also necessary to raise the level of key competencies. Of course, by taking into account the acceptance, verification and certification of the existing knowledge and skills it is necessary to draw a transparent catalogue of required core competencies, their levels, and methods of assessment which should be more internationally comparable. Education in the areas that are missing needs to be carried out in the form of modularized workshops or to be included in the regular educational groups (e.g. language courses) and based on objective evaluation of existing knowledge and skills. Within the project financed by the EU funds, whose aim is to strengthen the system of adult education, it is proposed to put the andragogical education of key competences as a priority.
Keywords
Adult education professionals; key competencies
Hrčak ID:
104275
URI
Publication date:
12.12.2011.
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