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STRATEGIES OF LIFELONG EDUCATION
IN THE CONDITIONS OF DEVELOPMENT OF A SOCIETY OF KNOWLEDGE
О. P. Kudrenkova
Modern society is constantly changing. E. Giddens wrote about what is happening today as follows, “Today we live in the era of staggering social changes marked by transformations that radically differ from transformations of previous periods” [2, p. 503]. Recently, in the scientific literature, in describing the modern society, authors started to use the term “a society of knowledge”. In the report published by UNESCO with the title “Towards Knowledge Societies” it is stated, “Today it is recognized that knowledge has become a subject of enormous economic, political and cultural interests, so that it can be used to determine the qualitative state of the society, the contours of which are only beginning to emerge in front of us” [1, p. 32]. The society of knowledge acquires the features of a new social ideal that determines the direction of policies and programs of regional, national and international structures.
The concept of a “society of knowledge” was first used in 1969 by Peter Drucker [4, p. 117]. It is not by chance that this term appeared almost simultaneously with the sharp increase of interest in the problems of lifelong education. A society of knowledge aims at ensuring social integration and promotion of social activity. Particular attention is paid to freedom of opinion, freedom of information, academic freedom, right to education, the right “... to participate freely in the cultural life, to enjoy the arts, to participate in the scientific progress and to use its benefits” [1, p. 68]. These aspects were highlighted in 2000 at the Lisbon summit dedicated to lifelong education: active civil position and competitiveness in the labor market -- factors which are essential for the purpose of successful realization and self-actualization in the contemporary society [7]. In this regard, the concept of lifelong education has become increasingly significant. In many leading European countries lifelong education has become a fundamental principle of the educational system. One of the key factors for successful implementation of the educational process, in our opinion, is a person's motivation. “Motivation is the entire set of motives to achieve a goal” [10].
A. Maslow is the author of the most comprehensive and expanded theory of the personality. The author suggested that all human needs were inborn or instinctive, and that they are organized in a hierarchical system of priority or dominance [5, p. 414]. According to Maslow, people are fully able to realize their talents only if their lower needs (physiological needs, the needs for security, stability and so on) are satisfied. However, not every society presently is able to fulfill these needs. This can explain low motivation for self-development and learning in many countries, particularly in Russia. Based on the above, we can make a conclusion that use of the concept of lifelong education only within the framework of individual educational institutions is not very efficient. It is necessary to construct a coherent educational policy that would implement the lifelong education strategies.
In a broad sense “strategies of lifelong education” at the national level are determined as follows, “Each country determines its most promising areas ... for example, employment issues, competitiveness issues or issues of individual development” [8, p. 6]. In a narrow sense - it is an individual educational trajectory.
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It becomes clear that the successful implementation of the strategies of lifelong education have an impact upon the “economic development of countries, their human resources, spread of democratic values and achievement of social wellbeing” [8, p. 6].
Key strategies of lifelong education are set out in Article 1 of Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 November 2006, “... to promote the development of the European Union; to contribute to building a society of knowledge. This society involves the provision of more jobs, cohesion and unity of all its members, as well as care for the environment” [13, p. 8].
Lifelong education has become the main principle of the educational system. A characteristic feature of the modern society is active integration and cooperation of higher education and the labor market. As a consequence, there are also changes in the key social institutions, such as universities. The main trends in the development of higher education include the increasing number of students over 29 years [8, p. 7], so higher education institutions are developing a more flexible educational system, designed for both the employed and for the unemployed. We should pay attention to another famous tendency -- emergence of higher educational institutions founded at the initiative of transnational corporations and large industrial enterprises. They can compete with the traditional institutions of higher education: “New universities tend to have sufficient materials and human resources, as well as a stock of unique professional practice-oriented knowledge accumulated in the process of activity of staff of enterprises and corporations” [8, p. 7].
Some scientists believe that the higher educational institutions play the key role in the implementation of the concept of lifelong education. Their tasks include: formation of flexible educational systems to meet the needs of students, employers and society as a whole, expanding access to higher education and formation of a stable motivation of the population to receive higher education. According to A. Y. Sogomonov, “ ... the doctrine of lifelong education emerges inside the university community, which made the doors of the universities practically open for everybody and made return of students back to the university possible for the purpose of retraining and advanced training, etc.” [11].
Higher educational institutions currently are in the process of changes influenced by the needs of the society and are offering a wide range of choices of individual education strategies. In the European Union educational policies are aimed at improving the quality and effectiveness of EU education, ensuring universal access through various opportunities created in this area. Among many options of building the individual educational strategy offered by the Western educational system, we can identify some of the most popular ones: Bachelor course - labor activity - advanced training; Bachelor-Master degree course (at any university of the EU educational space) - labor activity; Bachelor degree course -Doctorate course (at any university of EU educational space) - labor activity; Bachelor degree course - period of probation - labor activity; Bachelor degree course - period of probation - labor activity - professional retraining - labor activity - advanced training; and Bachelor degree course - period of probation -Master/Doctorate degree course - labor activity - advanced training.
With the entry of Russia into the Bologna Process universities in Russia are actively studying the foreign experience and create the conditions for its use. Some high schools students have an opportunity to practice directly at their future place
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of work for the purpose of deep immersion into the profession, to pass a period of probation abroad and to use the MBA programs. [6] Since Russia relatively recently signed the Bologna Declaration, the experience of building individual educational strategies is small. Nevertheless, one can imagine the most common ones: Bachelor degree course - labor activity; Bachelor degree course - Internship Abroad - labor activity; Bachelor degree course Master degree course (including abroad) - postgraduate studies - labor activity; Bachelor degree course - Master degree course - probation abroad - labor activity; and Bachelor degree course -Master degree course - labor activity - professional retraining.
Studies show that changes in the labor market are inevitable, and it is difficult to predict how soon new professions will appear. It may depend on a number of factors: desire of entrepreneurs to be engaged into development of technologies, ability of the educational system to meet the emerging demands for new professionals, or willingness of the federal government to promote changes [12]. But even today the majority of the Russian companies care about the level of education of their employees. The Research Service of Head-Hunter conducted a survey of 189 companies and found out that three-quarters of them provide their employees with an opportunity to study in various forms. Another 17% of companies and organizations are going to implement similar programs in the future [9]. Thus, there are grounds for the development of new options for individual education strategies.
References
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2. Гидденс Э. Социология. - М.: Едиториал УРСС, 2005.
3. Государственная программа Российской Федерации «Развитие образования» на 20132020 годы. - М., 2013.
4. Друкер П. Эра социальной трансформации. - М.: Изд. дом «Вильямс», 2004.
5. Маслоу А. Мотивация и личность. - СПб.: Питер, 2008.
6. МГИМО - Университет Практика. Электронный ресурс: Режим доступа: URL: http://www.mgimo.ru/hr/stgr/practice/. (Дата обращения: 15.02.2014)
7. Меморандум непрерывного образования Европейского Союза, Лиссабон 2000 г. Электронный ресурс: Режим доступа: URL: http://www.znanie.org/docs/memorandum.html. (дата обращения: 0з.12.2013).
8. Перфильева О. В. Международные стратегии непрерывного образования: роль и опыт вузов // Высшее образование сегодня. - 2008. - № 10.
9. Петрова Н. Бизнес заинтересован в обучении персонала // Metro. - 2014. - № 17. -17 февр.
10. Словарь психологических терминов. Электронный ресурс: Режим доступа: URL: http://www.psychologist.ru/dictionary_of_terms/index.htm?id=1218 (дата обращения:
03.02.2014).
11. Согомонов А. Ю. Меняющаяся прагматика и университетская идентичность в эпоху «высокой» современности // Отечественные записки. Электронный ресурс: Режим доступа: URL: http://old.strana-oz.ru/?numid=3&article=173 (дата обращения: 28.01.2014).
12. Терехова А. В. «Сколково» придумали список специальностей будущего // Независимая газета. - 2014. - № 33. - 19 февр.
13. Decision No 1720/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 November 2006 establishing an action programme in the field of lifelong learning // The Official Journal of the European Union. - 2006. - № L 327/45.
Translated from Russian by Znanije Central Translations Bureau
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