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PHILOSOPHY OF LIFELONG EDUCATION OF PROSPECTIVE TEACHERS IN POST-CONFLICT SOCIETIES
T. Koshmanova
Social changes that take place in post-socialist nations since 1991, are supposed to transform them into democratic societies, with social structures and political institutions that are grounded in core democratic values. Educational reforming is one of the main factors for such transformation. The development of democratic dispositions of prospective teachers, their inquiry, their need in lifelong learning and sustainable development are considered to be primary goals of modern educational reforms conducted in post-conflict countries of the former socialist bloc (Mazurek & Majorek, 2004, p.280)
Globalization of education that takes place in todays Europe, promotes elaborating common standards of higher education on the principles of students' active learning, respect between them and instructors, their dialog, common trust, openness to the originality and uniqueness of every culture (Koshmanova 8c Ravchyna, 2005, p. 2-3) as defined by the Bologna Process (Koshmanova, 2006). The development of civil societies in Ukraine and other post-conflict countries promotes elaborating and introducing new philosophy of teacher education.
Teaching democracy on the principles of new philosophy is often understood as providing possibilities for the self-education of students, their developing professional enquiry, the need in lifelong learning and sustainable development (Mazurek & Majorek, 2004, p.280).
The article discusses the essence of contemporary philosophy of teacher learning within lifelong educational paradigm. It also offers practical recommendations of reforming teacher learning on the basis of this philosophy. The paper represents a combination of theoretical (document research) and qualitative study (analysis of interviews, generalization of personal experiences of educating teachers on the basis of lifelong learning philosophy).
Philosophy of education. Philosophy of education has been a "hot" topic in post conflict societies for at least a decade. Any philosophy always reflects school and society (Ornstein, 2003 p. 17). The opposite is also true: many scholars believe that reforming philosophy can promote social change (Zhuk & Medvedev, 2005). The issue of defining the essence of educational philosophy, however, became a mixed message in global dimension. Unlike their Eastern European counterparts, my personal experience of educating teachers at the American university makes me believe that contemporary American teacher educators are rather skeptical regarding providing strict definitions to philoso-
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phy of education, and insist on elaborating a personal teaching philosophy by every educator.
According to John Dewey (2003), philosophy can be defined as developing mental and moral skills of students in relation to modern social life. Trying to provide a definition and rationale for elaborating educational philosophy as a separate topic of research in Ukraine, Klepko (2005), argues that "Philosophy of education as a special research theme emerged in the 19,Jl century .. .in the United States. An inspiring scholarly activity of John Dewey resulted in recognizing the philosophy of education' as a required foundation for organizing a competent teaching practice and therefore as a separate topic for research by global educational community" (p. 70). According to Klepko (2005), the popularity of philosophy of education in Europe is connected with Dewey's persistence in explaining educational practice on the basis of philosophical principles; therefore global educational community perceives the entire educational legacy of Dewey as substantiating the idea of a necessity for educators to have educational philosophy as a potential foundation for the whole educational thought and practice.
During the last century, the United States of America turned out to be the country that dominated and continues to keep leadership in the market of educational ideas. There is a strong belief that the entire process of European integration was promoted by global competition with the United States (Koshmanova, 2007). European enlargement is promoted by the Bologna Process, a mechanism conducted outside the formal decision-making framework of the EU, though close in its make up and inspiration...and both build[ing] on and contributing] to EU policy objectives'. As the most significant and wide-ranging reform of higher education in Europe, this Process was launched officially in 1999 when Ministers from 29 European countries met in Bologna and signed a Declaration on Higher Education. This Declaration was aimed at the formation of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) by 2010, with a view to improving the attractiveness and competitiveness of European higher education in relation to that found in the United States. To do so, European universities are expected to introduce more market-driven strategies, putting student demand at the centre in order to compete more effectively for global consumers-lifelong learners.
The Bologna Process strengthened the interest of European experts tovyard the secret of the American educational success, its mysterious philosophy of education. Though the vector of Ukrainian educators is directed toward predominantly European region, however, according to their belief, "The American philosophy of education is a hidden parameter of Ukrainian discussions on the edge of the millennium. Even if this philosophy is not mentioned directly, we know that we are talking about it" (Klepko, 2005, p. 67).
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The mentioned above concerns educators' interest toward pragmatisms and it contemporary theories (neo-pragmatism, constructivism) that are aimed at creating learning conditions for gaining personal experiences of students-lifelong learners, their personal construction of knowledge for sustainable professional development.
N. Vyatkina (2005) argues that "The interest itself toward pragmatism that continues for a century proves that this choice was made by the majority of educators in the world. It is not a secret that the ideas of pragmatism were both admired and criticized during its history. At the same time the creators of contemporary educational strategies follow foremost pragmatism, even without recognizing the sources of these ideas" (p.9). According to Kovalyova (2005), the very criticism itself already signifies for the popularity of pragmatism among the Ukrainian community of teacher educators (p.76).
Educators believe that the American pragmatism is spreading not only in Ukraine, but also in post-socialist educational space which gradually joins the European community (Kerr, 2005). The change in educational mission of post-socialist schools is promoted by the influence of global market on educational organization that is rapidly growing in these countries, as well as by their desire to survive in the rigid conditions of social transformation and the so called "Bolonization" of educational standards. We are foremost talking about worshipping an individual freedom of choice, both political choice and the choice of educational consumers that has deep roots in Western history of culture and its philosophy. As Martin Trow (1988) argues, in the USA, the market came before the society, with the result that educational consumers were the "kings", the producers of relationships. This central characteristic of the American society continues to be the powerful force that greatly contributed and continues to contribute into the distinctiveness of the American philosophy of education that is shaped by the consuming nature of social relationships in a much higher degree than anywhere in the world.
Though the enthusiasm of contemporary teacher educators toward research on various philosophical "-isms" (realism, idealism, existentialism etc.) has greatly diminished today, however, in a hidden way, the philosophy of education continues influencing the minds of teacher educators in Europe and USA. Typically, universities and schools promote one general institutional mission; however, teachers and instructors who follow this mission are guided by individual philosophical and methodological preferences grounded in their personal perceptions, beliefs and values that, in their turn, are shaped by the needs of educational consumers. Strategies and materials that these instructors choose to use for teaching students reflect their professional judgments that are generally grounded in this general institutional philosophy or mission. And once again, this educational philosophy is mainly aimed at meeting the needs
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of educational consumers of this institution. Such a "prosaic" practical philosophy influences important issues of educational programs in global dimension, their teaching strategies and assessment. Current standardized movement toward rigid European standards and lifelong education for sustainable development that is promoted by the Bologna Process is an example of a contemporary philosophy of education that makes a powerful impact on educational reforming in post-Soviet world, often even without mentioning its name.
Main ideas of lifelong learning philosophy of teaching teachers. Todays vision of educational philosophy for lifelong learning is greatly enriched by the ideas of pragmatism which in combination with social constructivism creates a clear explanation of the essence of lifelong learning as professional knowledge transfer. According to Paul Farber (January, 2007, personal communication), teacher educators have to employ such an approach that includes a series of big questions which will navigate students' discussion and which they have to grasp and understand. Usually, questions that Farber wants students to answer promote their presenting and arguing for their own positions. It might be a question about, for instance, the issues of accountability. He may ask a question: "What are the most important considerations in the world that should cause thinking about that issue?"
The course he teaches provides various readings that give perspective and that can be related to the question that he asked. And over time, students are developing multi-level cooperation of values and arguments that involve coming from learning on different positions (Paul Farber, personal communication, January 24,2007). So there is a practical orientation that a professor should introduce not just many concepts, but also challenges, tools for thinking in many ways about the subject matter. The question is that they couldn't give an answer during the first day of class, will be profoundly answered at the end of course. Students need a richer context of the ideas to think about this question, and also to develop their answers according to their interests, political orientations, and moral virtues.
Conclusions and practical recommendations. Reflecting on possibilities of implementing overseas theories of educational philosophy in the conditions of post-conflict educational space, I want to share my personal experience of teaching on the basis of American educational philosophy that promote student inquiry and lifelong learning.
My pedagogy for teaching is based on the cultural-historical ideas of Lev Vygotskys developmental theory, activity approach; social constructivist theory and dialogical learning (Burbules, 1993). I believe that learners come to a new situation with powerfully held knowledge, skills, expectations, memories, and misconceptions, and their learning involves making sense of their experiences and fitting them into their mental model of the world. I also believe that
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my .students will understand and remember better if their learning is organized in more than one way within a supportive learning environment. I consider education as moral development; students' interpersonal relationships as a stimulus for learning, and dialog as the exchange of cultures, experiences, and visions of history and social life.
My pedagogical philosophy is grounded in my belief that the transformation of a community of students into a community of educators requires a supportive learning environment that will foster students' meaningful professional learning. If I can create this kind of environment in my classroom and treat students as teachers already—rather than as students only seeking grade approval—I can provide them with opportunities to become actively engaged with materials and ideas in the meaningful and critical ways of thinking they will need to practice throughout their professional careers. I use discussion, reflection, and modeling to achieve the environment of the supportive learning community that I desire for my students.
Concluding, there is a certain degree of uncertainly, if we want to define the essence of contemporary philosophy of American education for lifelong learning, if to look at it from the point of view of American researchers. The most important here is to personally define own philosophical approach (of course, without extra intellectualism) which will be consistent the mission of teacher education program and meet students' needs in the quality of educational prod-uct-Here one should always remember that philosophy of education is a very flexible, changeable, unstable phenomenon that should constantly be renewed according the social context and students' needs. The specificity of educational philosophy development is also defined by social-economic conditions, local and global trends, and educational systems' uniqueness.
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