Primary Education – Educational and Cultural Heart of Sustainable Behaviour for the Most Vulnerable

• Published in: Andragoška spoznanja
• Main Authors: Jamšek, Dušan, Javrh, Petra
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Slovenian
• Published: Ljubljana University Press, Faculty of Arts 2009
• Subjects: sustainability; adult education; vulnerable groups; trajnostni razvoj; izobraževanje odraslih; ranljive skupine; sami
• Online Access: https://revije.ff.uni-lj.si/AndragoskaSpoznanja/article/view/718; https://doi.org/10.4312/as.15.2.36-44

An important vision of sustainable development, encompassing the entire educational system, is the holistic development of the individual, which can be seen as three intertwining areas: growth of knowledge and abilities for work requirements, acquisition of skills and capabilities for quality life; and, acquisition of knowledge and skills for social life. This last area will be given special attention. Supported by formal and/or non-formal education, adults should become keener, or rather more “active and responsible”, citizens; they should be involved in joint decision-making about common matters. A precondition for establishment of a sustainability-oriented society is continuous learning and acquisition of knowledge and specific skills, which will enable each individual to in compliance with sustainability. This is why learning at all ages is an integral part of the vision and values in sustainable development. In the light of this, the question arises, to which degree educators – the ones dealing with youth as well as those dealing with adults – are presently aware of and familiar with the key assumptions of the sustainable development strategy, what particular knowledge and skills are required within this framework and to what degree they themselves are acting in the spirit of sustainability. Pomembna vizija trajnostnega razvoja (TR), ki velja za ves sistem izobraževanja, je celostni razvoj posameznika, ki bi ga lahko videli kot tri med seboj prepletena področja: razvoj znanja in spretnosti za potrebe dela; pridobivanje veščin, lastnosti in zmožnosti za kakovost življenja ter nabiranje znanja in spretnosti za življenje v družbi. Posebej se bomo ukvarjali z zadnjim področjem. Odrasli naj bi ob pomoči formalnega in/ali neformalnega izobraževanja postajali bolj zavzeti državljani, kar običajno opisujemo kot »biti dejaven in odgovoren«, sodelovati v soodločanju o skupnih zadevah. Pri tem je predpogoj za vzpostavljanje takšne, trajnostno naravnane družbe nenehno osebno izpopolnjevanje v znanjih in določenih spretnostih, ki bodo omogočale trajnostno ravnanje pri slehernem posamezniku. Prav zato je sestavni del vizije in vrednot trajnostnega razvoja tudi učenje v vseh življenjskih obdobjih. Ob tem idealu pa se že takoj zastavljajo vprašanja: koliko so izobraževalci, bodisi izobraževalci mladine bodisi izobraževalci odraslih, zdaj osveščeni in seznanjeni s ključnimi predvidevanji strategije trajnostnega razvoja? Katera znanja in veščine so v tem okviru predpogoj in koliko sami ravnajo v duhu trajnosti?