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BUILDING A LIFELONG EDUCATION SYSTEM IN HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS FOR THE HUMANITIES
S. V. Vladimirova A. L. Malchukova
The concepts of “education throughout life” and “lifelong education” have recently become a top priority when considering of the development of the educational system in Russia. “Lifelong education” is regarded from various positions: as a process that covers the whole life of a person and implies a continuous purposeful learning via social and cultural experience by using all educational entities; as an organizational principle of education1; as a comprehensive educational process that is customized by time, pace and focus and provides possibilities for the accomplishment of a personal program; and as an integral set of means, methods, and forms for the acquisition and enhancement of a general education, professional competence, and culture1 2. The interpretations stated above underline the fact that “lifelong education” is a learning process that is comprised of various features and is focused on the establishment and development of professional and personal competences. This conception may be explained by various challenges: the development of science and technology’s pace; increasing volumes of information used by experts; rapid obsolescence of professional knowledge and competences; and increasing rates of professional burnout. Furthermore, society and employers are not only interested in diplomas of vocational education but also in versatile professional skills. There is a high demand for qualified experts with particular competencies in the labor market. Educated employees are essential for modern enterprises and institutions to improve their competitive positions.
Whereas higher vocational education is focused on the training of experts with generalized competencies in a range of occupations, the basic vocational education provides knowledge that is essential for any educated person but does not satisfy all if the employer’s needs. In our view, this inconsistency between the vocational education acquired by students in educational institutions and the needs of the labor market may lead to the harmonization of a lifelong education that is multi-leveled, multi-staged (basic education, further and advanced training, etc.) and multidisciplinary. Thus, further education is an important element of the lifelong education. Further education is meant to improve professional competencies and skills, update provided knowledge and adapt it to the professional activities. This education is an intense, continuous, interactive, elective and flexible process that is designed with regard to a range of student demands and individual needs. Thus, further education in the HEI educational environment shall become more significant. Further education allows for the completion of essential tasks at the
1 Российская педагогическая энциклопедия. Электронный ресурс: http://pedagogicheskaya.academic.ru/.
2 Словарь терминов по общей и социальной педагогике. Екатеринбург, 2006.
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university level: career guidance for the students and the acquisition of practical professional competencies for a successful career.
At the Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia (hereinafter - Herzen University), the further education system is actively developing and there are some positive results as well as issues to be resolved. Students of Herzen University are offered a wide range of additional programs, including further and advanced training as well as general development. Additional university programs are created as modules to satisfy the educational needs of the students and to ensure their career growth, e.g., a student of the undergraduate program in geography may additionally study at the further training program in ecology in geo-information technology. The latter is focused on the formation of professional competences in the sphere of environmental safety, required at such institutions as nature conservation agencies; exploratory, production and research and development laboratories, organizations and other bodies that solve environmental problems; and higher and vocational secondary education institutions. The education obtained simultaneously under at the undergraduate and further training programs allows a student to build an individual educational course and gain basic knowledge and a bachelor’s degree as well as practical skills required for particular professional activities. Such students will be in demand on the labor market and progress more quickly up the career ladder. In addition, additional elective courses with theoretical and practical studies allow for the development of effective job searching skills in graduates.
Herzen University provides workshops such as “How to Create a CV”, seminars, and courses for the students to become socially adapted to the job search. In addition, there are trainings on telephone conversations, job interviews, and self-presentation; lectures and practical classes including “How to Search for a Job”, “Being Ready to Work”, “It’s All about Communication”; as well as group and individual consultations on career guidance. In our work we use methods that enhance the adaptability of the behavior and motivation of our graduates, develop a pragmatic approach to the job search, and transform ineffective behavioral strategies into successful ones. Thus, students are able to manage their careers via staged career planning. At Herzen University, it is carried out in the form of individual consultations designed to create a clear career plan and the practical course “Planning Your Career”.
The use of information resources and the efficient organization of an information environment for the interaction between the labor market and educational services market as well as within the university environment is becoming essential. There are challenges for the development of the additional education system such as a vague regulatory framework; a lack of national and professional qualification standards; the low motivation of the academic teaching staff to develop and implement additional programs; the low motivation of students to study under the programs due to lack of time and monetary resources, or a lack of interest in the offered programs; the ineffective distribution of information within the university environment (students are often not aware of possibilities for additional professional competencies, job searching skills, and career development); and an insufficient involvement of employers in the educational process in order to train experts needed on the labor market.
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To resolve issues pertaining to the training of the competitive experts and the optimization of the additional education system, as well as general implementation of lifelong education, we must enact a set of measures (e. g. the development and implementation of the individualized additional programs that use modern training technology) which are attractive to the target audience, based on the competence approach and needed by the employers and labor market. The individualized additional programs must be focused on the personal and professional development of students and based on their educational and professional interests. These programs have a range of functions in the additional education system, including regulatory (regulates self-development of students); motivational (defines educational values and outcomes); organizational; and professional self-determination and guidance1.
By optimizing the additional education and job searching competencies for the graduates, Herzen University creates a lifelong education system and brings it to the next level. This system serves to encourage the formation of competitive experts at the level of basic professional education; coordinate the actions of all concerned parties (educational institutions, employers, government bodies, applicants, students, and graduates) with regard to relevant and prospective social needs; and support the ambitions of a person for self-education and their comprehensive development throughout life.
Translated from Russian by Znanije Central Translations Bureau
1 Возгова В. З. Индивидуализация образовательных программ в системе дополнительного профессионального образования в высшей школе // Сборник трудов по проблемам дополнительного профессионального образования. Вып. 23. М.: РУДН, 2013.
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