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THE EXPERIENCE OF TRAINING ANDRAGOGISTS AT THE PREMISES OF THE INSTITUTION OF ADVANCED TRAINING AND RETRAINING OF PEDAGOGICAL PERSONNEL FOR THE SYSTEM OF SPECIALIZED SECONDARY EDUCATION
А. А. Zakirov
This paper discusses the experience of training andragogists, and practitioners of the teaching staff of professional colleges offering educational services to adults with the purpose of educating, training and retraining the unemployed, according to professions corresponding with the school profile.
Key words: andragogy, adult education, training programs, unemployed, multipliers.
At present, the system of specialized secondary education of the Republic of Uzbekistan offers a widespread network of educational institutions, modern facilities and resources, and human capacity. More than 1,400 professional colleges currently exist in the republic, the majority of which are equipped with modern training and production facilities. With the aid of the Institute of German Adult Education Association (DVV International), Adult Education Centres are created in Uzbekistan to train, to retrain and to upgrade the qualifications of the unemployed. These centres work according to the principle of “education near home”. They offer training and retraining courses in specializations corresponding with professional college profiles.
As it is known, adult education has got its own specific character, which differs from school and professional pedagogics, and specialists occupied in the field of adult education should have the skills of working with adult learners. Teachers of these centres need additional knowledge in the adult training and methodological support in the educational process. This undermines the quality of the educational process for the unemployed adult population. Within a framework of the project of the Institution of Advanced Training and Retraining of Pedagogical Personnel for the System of Specialized Secondary Education and of the Institute of German Adult Education Association, an “Andragogy Resource Centre” is created on the premises of the institution in Uzbekistan. The main tasks of the “Andragogy Resource Centre” include: (a) Providing the methodological support for basic professional college teachers in the organization of the educational process for the adults in order to train, to retrain and to upgrade the qualifications of the unemployed (people registered in Employment Centres); (b) Determining the needs in additional knowledge and skills for training adults in specialists of institutions of advanced training; (c) Studying and adaptation of the foreign experience in adults education and training; (d) Distribution of the project experience and modern knowledge in adult education when carrying out research and practice conferences, training seminars and workshops (e) Formation of the multipliers team and development of the methodological basis; (f) Monitoring and external evaluation of the process of running the courses of advanced training, preparation and distribution of education materials and information bulletins among institutions of advanced training; (g) Creation of an effective experience and
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education information exchange system between specialists of the SVES in current issues of adult education and training is one of the main tasks of the project. The Andragogy Resource Centre’s employees gave several short-term courses on the subject “Training of Professional College Teachers for Work with the Unemployed”, within the framework of the project in 2014. Two thirds of the entire course time was dedicated to practical exercises. Basic professional college teachers involved in the education of adults took part in the project. Course participants gained theoretical and practical knowledge in training adult people (andragogy), obtained information about preparing training materials, gained modern knowledge in characteristic special aspects and principles of adult education, gained knowledge and developed skills in training the unemployed and in using modern methods when training the unemployed.
The project has shown the effectiveness of the system of retraining of the unemployed population at the premises of professional colleges, and the need in education of professional college teachers to work with adults. Problems in the organization of education for adults have been found, as follows: (a) Insufficient experience of teachers in development of training programmes for short-term courses, taking into account the requirements of the labour market and employers for the knowledge and skills level of a course leaver; (b) Insufficient knowledge of the college administration and teachers in adult training and adult training management; (c) Weak social partnerships between professional schools, labour departments, local government authorities, industry representatives (potential employers) and the public; (d) Low popularity of ideas for adult training and of the concept of “lifelong learning”.
One of the most important tasks of the specialists working with the unemployed is to create a friendly successful atmosphere, which contributes to the stimulation of inner resources, recovery of self-confidence, and belief in one’s own capabilities. In doing so, adult teachers fulfil, in some sense, the function of a psychotherapist turning the training situation into a psychologically optimistic one. When organizing the training process, it is necessary to keep in mind that all unemployed people have different ages, education, professional skills, physical and psychological states, and different life experience. Several groups can therefore be distinguished, for which different courses, forms and methods of training can be offered: (1) People aged 16-25 with a good theoretical basis, specialized secondary or higher education, but with no work experience (school leavers who did not enter university, college/university graduates); (2) Unemployed and unoccupied people aged of above 25 with certain professional skills, which were sent by their employer, employment centre or came independently to be trained. (3) People who want to start their own business (owners of small and a medium-sized business, farmers) or to become self-employed; (4) People whose ill health prevents them from finding work on the open labour market.
When forming groups, earlier education and professional experiences are to be taken into account. Therefore, potential trainees are supposed to fill in a questionnaire, on issues reflecting their motivation, interest and willingness to learn as well as self-esteem issues. However, it is important to take into account that people older than 45-50 years of age sometimes have difficulties in gaining knowledge and developing some skills. People with reduced working capacity
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require not only special attention, but also an individual approach to training. Teachers have to spend part of their time intended for training on activities with such trainees, which at once has an impact on the training process of other participants. That is why it makes sense to have not more than one or two such participants, and if possible, it is better to organize individual courses for them.
The challenge and the result of professional training of the unemployed are not so much in gaining knowledge and developing skills, as developing the motivation to learn a new profession, in eliciting the ability to determine, and to choose their own way of professional growth, which corresponds with individual potential abilities and needs. Thus, the most important function of professional retraining of the unemployed is to create optimized conditions for developing the ability of the person to interact socially, to socialize, and to adapt actively in new social and economic conditions.
Translated from Russian by Znanije Central Translastions Bureas
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