Adult Education and Community Development

• Published in: Andragoška spoznanja
• Main Author: Krajnc, Ana
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Slovenian
• Published: Ljubljana University Press, Faculty of Arts 1996
• Subjects: Adult Education and Community Development; lzobraževanje odraslih in lokalni razvoj; Hove; Malo; sami; ren
• Online Access: https://revije.ff.uni-lj.si/AndragoskaSpoznanja/article/view/6614; https://doi.org/10.4312/as.2.3.23-26

Community education means a new way of connecting knowledge with what people create. It increases the applicability of knowledge and con­ nects education with the direct needs of people. There are quite few things one can do by him/her­ self. Mainly one is dependent on the things he/she can create together with others. In non-democratic societies people get used to being given solutions from above, which is why they can wait for some­ one else (especially institutions) to solve their problems while they remain passive. Socio-economic and political changes require from the people in Slovenia to redefine their attitude to the environment and life in general and to assume an active role. Community education means learning in groups of interested people in order to reach a certain goal or find a solution to a certain problem, e. g. establishing a local museum, publishing a tourist guide, constructing a bypass to decrease the traffic in town, erecting a monument, protecting green areas, introducing new forms of child care, solving problems of the disabled, unemployment and income maintenance, etc. People leam in order to be able to work. There are two goals which are always present: product and knowledge. People leam parallelly with the phases of work in order to achieve certain goal. It is typical of community education that it was developed in order to meet the needs of local people explicitly. It is therefore of great importance for adult educators facilitating problem-solving based on knowledge to get to know the real needs of people first. Generallack of knowledge is manifested in functional illiteracy. As long as people are unable to communicate orally or by writing with the others, their activities are blocked and they cannot help themselves. They can only live a dependent life, based on help expected from others, which nowadays is not possible any more. Each individual has to be responsible for his/her own survival. In the present transitional period the lack of knowledge and low personal development are the factors driving people into despair. When unqualified people are concemed, community education first attempts at solving problems regarding their functional illiteracy, the more educated people 's needs are more specific and are directed towards a certain aim. People in groups acquire knowledge on a complementary basis. Everybody leams the segment for which he/she is responsible. Since learning is divided among the members of the group, who mutually support each other, community education is much more effective. Skupnostno izobraževanje prinaša nov način povezovanja znanja s tem, kar ljudje ustvarjajo. Pospešuje uporabnost znanja in izobraževanje povezuje z neposrednimi potrebami ljudi. Zelo malo je stvari, ki jih lahko človek dela sam. Večinoma je odvisen od tega, kar lahko ustvari skupaj z drugimi ljudmi. Vendar se v nedemokratičnih družbah ljudje na vadijo na to, da rešitve prihajajo od zgoraj in predvsem čakajo, da nji­ hove potrebe rešuje nekdo drug, zlasti institucije, sami pa medtem pasivno čakajo. Družbeno-ekonomske in politične spremembe tudi pri nas zahtevajo od ljudi, da spremenijo svoj odnos do okolja in življenja ter se postavijo v aktivno vlogo. Skupnostno izobraževanje je učenje ljudi v skupinah, ljudi, ki so zainteresirani, da dosežejo določen cilj ali rešijo določen problem, kot so na primer ustanovitev lokalnega muzeja, izdaja turističnega priročnika, obvoznica, ki naj bi razbremenila mestni promet, postavitev spomenika, hortikultura in urejanje zelenic v kraju, uvajanje novih oblik otroškega varstva, reševanje problemov v zvezi z invalidi, brezposelnost in dohodki družine itd. Ljudje se izobražujejo, učijo se, da bi znali to, kar počno. Pred njimi sta vedno dva cilja: izdelek in znan je. Učijo se sproti, tako kot potekajo faze delovanja, dokler ne dosežejo cilja. Skupnostno izobraževanje ima tudi to posebnost, da se razvija in ravna predvsem glede na potrebe ljudi v kraju. Pri pospeševanju reševanja problemov na podlagi znanja je zato zelo pomembno, da andragogi najprej spoznajo prave potrebe ljudi in se po njih ravnajo. Ena od splošnih potreb po znanju je funkcionalna nepismenost. Dokler se ljudje niso sami sposobni primerno sporazumevati z drugimi, bodisi pisno ali ustno, je vse njihovo delovanje onemogočeno in si sami ne morejo pomagati. Živijo lahko le kot odvisneži, na račun tuje pomoči, kar pa v novem času več ni mogoče. Odgovornost za preživetje prehaja v roke vsakega posameznika. Zato se v sedanjem prehodnem obdobju pomanjkanje znanja in nizka stopnja osebnega razvoja še toliko bolj maščujeta ter spravljata ljudi v negotovost in tudi v obup. Pri nizko izobraženih ljudeh se skupnostno izobraževanje loteva najprej problemov funkcionalne nepismenosti, pri bolj izobraženih pa so potrebe po znanju že bolj specifične in naravnane k določenemu cilju. V skupini si ljudje pridobivajo znanje komplementarno. Vsak se nauči tisto, za kar je odgovo ren, zato je skupnostno izobraževanje tudi bolj učinkovito, ker se učenje porazdeli med člane skupine in eden drugega podpirajo.