Based on a comparative analysis of the adult
education systems characteristic features of Denmark
and Ukraine, the author has
substantiated suggestions for the construction of efficient adult training
models in higher educational institutions of Ukraine.
Keywords: Adult education; Lifelong learning; Danish dimension; Implementation; Tertiary
institutions; Comparative analysis
1.
INTRODUCTION
All
the knowledge-based countries in the contemporary world pay great attention to
the formation of suitable conditions for their nations' lifelong education at
the present stage of social development (BOHLINGER, et al. 2015). European
lifelong learning policy promotes education for all citizens of different ages,
empowering them to participate equally in the strengthening of democracy
(PUKHOVSKA, 2018). A significant role in this process is given to adults. They
are considered to be carriers of a developed society humanistic values and
without their active participation, progressive changes are impossible.
Moreover,
the economy of an information-oriented society can be improved and the
employment difficulties in the international labor market can be overcome, due
to adults' flexibility, strong professional competences, and abilities to make
reasonable decisions. That is why, in order to meet present challenges of
innovative production, it is so important to inspire and turn adults into the
education environment of the present-day society (EAEA, 2011).
The
subject matter of our study is adults as non-traditional students in the
tertiary education system of Denmark.
We consider this focus to be essential since Denmark has gained long-standing
positive experience in creating its own practice of adult learning (HOLM; NORDENTOFT; KNUDSEN,
2013). Moreover, this experience is based on the widespread
political will to develop and encourage high education of adult citizens,
engaging them into new sustainable and coherent ways of life (EAEA, 2014).
As
for the second, Ukrainian, dimension of our research, it should be emphasized
that from the point of view of adult education there are quite serious
contradictions (KREMEN, 2017). On the one hand, on a country-wide basis, there
is a clear tendency to reform the entire system of adult education. On the
other hand, limited access to information sources, lack of coordination,
internal resistance to innovations at local levels prevent educational
institutions from meeting their strategic goal to make high education equal,
open, and accessible for all (ROLIAK, 2020).
Therefore
many Ukrainian adult employees have no opportunities to renew their knowledge
or change their professional trajectories and finally find it difficult to
compete in the international labor market (OGIENKO; LYTOVCHENKO, 2010).
In
order to overcome such contradictions, it is necessary to make a substantial
upgrade of the entire education system in the country including formal and
non-formal systems of adult learning. We consider that a comparative study will
contribute to a better understanding of the educational situation with adults
in advanced European countries and will help to justify new approaches to the
training of adult citizens in Ukraine.
2.
LITERATURE REVIEW
In
order to judge adult education in a contemporary environment, we should examine
the main concepts, ideas, and principles our study is based on.
In
this context the research encloses the following:
·
humanistic
principles of education in a democratic society, researched by the following
scholars as DEWEY (1916), BRUNER
(1959), FREIRE (1970), LOVETT (1988), JARVIS (1995), KNOWLES (2015), etc.
The
Ukrainian comparativists: KREMEN (2017), CHUGAI (2017), TERENKO and PUKHOVSKA
(2018), subsatantiated the general trends in the development of humanistic
adult education in democratic states;
·
theory
of free personality development in the Danish education system, at first
formulated by NIKOLAJ FREDERIK SEVERIN GRUNDTVIG in the
middle of the XIX-th century.
Grundtvig's
ideas have had an everlasting impact on many areas of Danish culture, such as
education, social life, and politics. He developed the Folk High School
movement promoting principles of “education for all”, including adults (GRUNDTVIG, 1968). Grundtvig's philosophy was inherited by Hal
Koch and Alf Ross in the theory of “Democratization of Education and Society”,
and the concept of ”Folkeoplysning” as a specific Nordic tradition of
non-formal adult education (ROSS,
1949).
·
conceptual
provisions of the methodology of comparative pedagogy, grounded by KANDEL
(1955), HOLMES (1981), MEYER
(1977), ECKSTEIN and NOAH (1969), etc.
·
concepts
of modern philosophy and methodology of adult education, investigated in the
works of such Ukrainian scholars as LOKSHYNA, LUKINA and LIASHENKO (2004), OGIIENKO and LYTOVCHENKO (2010), LESHCHENKO (2014);
·
different
adult education practices in Ukraine during its transition into the European
environment were substantiated by Bykov, Bibik, Avsheniuk, et al (KREMEN,
2017).
Our
comparative study of modern European environment demonstrated that the number
of studies on the subject of adult education has increased significantly. The
results show that the subject matter of pedagogical practices with the training
of adult students are investigated by American and European scholars.
Thus
BERGEV²N, MILANA and MCBAIN (2015), JENKINS
(2017) research the issues relating to the philosophy, theory, and practice of
adult education. The role of adults in the context of social and economic
development in European dimension are discussed in the works of ELSBORG and PEDERSEN
(2010), ILLERIS (2013), TILLEY (2014), KNOWLES (2015), TREINIENE (2017).
Although
comparative research in education of adults is growing, investigations into the
subject of comparative analysis with an emphasis on the Ukrainian dimension are
still, with a few exceptions, rare (ROLIAK, 2020). Nevertheless, the content
analysis of the received data from pedagogical literature and dissertations has
demonstrated that the problem of adults as non-traditional students in Danish
and Ukrainian environments, was not the issue of a systematic study. So that is
why we think it requires a special inquiry.
More
specifically the following goals will be considered: to analyze why adults are
considered to be non-traditional students; to examine the peculiarities in the
structure of adult education in Denmark and Ukraine; to define and characterize
the basic adult education strategies and initiatives through their influence on
the adult learning process, and; to substantiate the innovative approaches,
technologies and methods used to motivate adult learners to receive tertiary
education.
3.
METHODOLOGY (DATA AND METHODOLOGY)
3.1.
Participants
Basic
information for this study was gathered from multiple sources of Ukrainian,
European, and Danish educational environments at various time points from 1997
to 2020.
Three social and cultural
generations of scientific articles that researched the topic of adults as
non-traditional students in education system were chosen in this study. The
following sources were analyzed: materials and theses of scientific conferences
conducted by national and international scientific organizations discussing the
problems of lifelong teaching and adult learning, Eurydice reports and monitoring on lifelong
education in Europe; documents of European Association for Education of Adults
(EAEA); European pedagogical periodicals, in particular: Special Issue in
European Journal of Education: Adult Learning, Adult Skills and Innovation,
Journal of Adult and Continuing Education, European Educational Research
Journal, Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, Pædagogik, Danish
Statistical Yearbook.
3.2.
Research Design
The systematic search of the
European documents was conducted in three stages. The first stage was “material
collection”. This stage included compellation of existing research data (in the
Internet base) according to the object of the conducted study. The second stage
was “selection and inclusion”. The information was selected for its inclusion
into the current study within the publication context, dates limits,
publication languages – English, Ukrainian and Danish. The third stage
“synthesis” was conducted through both writing up and live-discussions of the
research results and critical feedback from Danish and Ukrainian scholars.
3.3.
Qualitative analysis
The general data collection took
place through Internet resources, in a short-term research project within the
funds of the Royal Library of Denmark in Copenhagen
and during the author’s personal participation in European ECER Conferences,
seminars and round tables, arranged in Denmark and Nordic countries.
A case study has been used to
formulate structural characteristics of adult learning in its functional
connectivity with the Danish and Ukrainian educational systems (Hodge &
Sharp 2016). Using a case study approach that includes qualitative methods and
is based on analytical induction and generalization, a “contextualized
comparison” has been carried out to identify characteristic features of adult
training in institutions of higher learning of Denmark
and Ukraine
(NOAH and ECKSTEIN, 1969; HOLMES, 1981; STAKE, 2005).
4.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
4.1.
Adults as non-traditional students
within the humanistic approach: psychological and pedagogic context
Our
study testifies that adult education in Denmark was developed as a system
based primarily on democratic and humanistic principles. For centuries
prominent Danish educators and philosophers have referred to the main purpose
of education as the “disclosure of the potential of every human-being”, “human
development in harmony with the universe”, “moving from darkness to light” (ROSS, 1949; GRUNDTVIG, 1968; ZØLLNER, 2000).
As
our study is focused on adults in tertiary education, at first we want to
consider the existing definitions of adults as non-traditional students in
Danish and Ukrainian environments.
The
concept of adults as non-standard students is a relatively new phenomenon in
the contemporary Ukrainian dimension, as the adult education system was
completely destroyed after the crash of the Soviet Union
and unfortunately, until now the law on adult education does not exist in this
country (KREMEN, 2017). Though its Danish origin goes back to the XIX-th
century humanistic traditions of “folkeoplysning” and “bildung’. These terms
are difficult to translate into English but most frequently they are used in
the meaning of “free and equal adult training” for “enlightenment”
(ZØLLNER, 2000).
So
the abovementioned Danish notions combine three important and interrelated
components: adults, democracy, and education with an emphasis that every
citizen is of great value for Danish society and has equal rights to get high
education. Moreover, our study shows that in Danish democratic context adults
can hardly experience a sense of being the ‘other’, so they can hardly be
called untraditional (HOLM; NORDENTOFT; KNUDSEN, 2013). According to the
Consolidation Act on adult education, passed by the Danish Parliament in 2017,
they are equal with others, though they have some peculiarities (LBK nr.1038,
2017). In this part of our article, we discuss what features make adult
students differ from the rest.
Our
investigation demonstrates that in Ukrainian and European environments the term
‘non-traditional’ is applied as a general expression for groups of adult
students who have attained the age of maturity as specified by law (KREMEN,
2017; MILANA; NESBIT, 2015). We think that the existing psychological
definition of an adult as “someone who is self-sufficient and responsible for
her or his own decisions” may show such characteristic features thanks to which
we can include adults to the non-standard cohort of tertiary education
participants (TILLEY, 2014).
Most scholars recognize the fact
that psychologically a mature student differs a lot from a young learner
(KNOWLES, 2015; TREINIENE, 2017). Judging from humanistic theories what
distinguishes adults from younger students are the following:
·
responsibility
for others. Adults live not for themselves alone, but for those who depend on
them, these may be children, a partner, aging parents, friends, or co-workers
(SADDLER; SUNDIN,
2020);
·
awareness
of their duties and obligations. We assume that such kind of perception makes
their existence more stressful. But adults know how to change their emotional
and external expectations. And it is these abilities that empower meaning and
purpose for their further development and education (LOVELL, 1997);
·
self-consciousness.
Very often they know their goals which they are focused on, and have a
self-target which they want to rich with the help of education, so they are
usually very committed to learning (ELSBORG; PEDERSEN, 2010; GRIFFIN, 2019);
·
independence.
Adults can mobilize, organize and create their own learning environment,
combining their intellectual capabilities with decision-making in a more
general perspective, particularly in the professional context or future
projects (CRAWFORD, 2004)
·
experience
of previous learning or professional activity. Previous practice makes adults
more confident in choosing their own, usually non-standard, learning
trajectories, choosing the best suited educational programs, creating the
individual models of study (TREINIENE, 2017).
All
these positive features make mature students more motivated and forceful,
assure their faster integration into the university environment, and contribute
to much better achievements in the learning process.
But
Danish and Ukrainian scholars point out that the experience of an adult may
have both positive and negative influences on a lifelong perspective in
education (THOMSEN et al., 2013; CHUGAI, TERENKO; OGIENKO, 2017; OGIENKO;
TERENKO, 2018). Negative experiences such as: drop out from previous levels of
education, unemployment, some problems with socialization, family troubles may
throw adults away from continuing education in institutions of higher learning.
In fact, the Danish higher education system is targeting this category of
adults today. As for the Ukrainian environment, few studies recognize the
importance of work with the problem groups of adults with negative experience.
Since 2012 such Danish initiatives as 1) creation of Council for Adult and
Continuing Education (ACE); 2) formation of 13 ACE centers for high vocational
education; 3) establishment of Danish qualification framework for lifelong
learning (NQF) - have been launched with the aim of satisfying the needs in
tertiary education of as many adults as possible (KOF, 2017).
The
analysis offers evidence that today the system of Danish high education is
working towards consolidating and expanding the structural changes in such ways
as to focus on lifelong areas to give the opportunity to all non-standard
citizens to receive tertiary education.
4.2.
Adults in Tertiary education:
structural context
For
a detailed study of adults in the system of high education of Denmark and Ukraine, let us dwell on these
countries' general structural characteristics. Our research reveals that Danish
tertiary adult education consists of a broad non-formal component and formal
constituent. The non-formal branch in Denmark plays a twofold role: 1) to
enable self-fulfillment and empowerment of the participants, to provide
education in democracy and to ensure equal opportunities and social cohesion;
it is built on the traditions of the educationist Nikolai Frederik Severin
Grundtvig, focusing on an individual choice and characterized by lack of grades
and exams; 2) to support and prepare for formal education (EAEA, 2014; EACEA,
2019).
Moreover, non-formal education
provision in the Danish dimension may create a basis for exams, if an adult
learner chooses to finalize the education with a formal qualification and
scientific degree (OECD, 2019). Higher Preparatory Exam (HF) in the system of
non-formal adult education helps mature students to assess their knowledge and
to make the decision to enter the institution of high learning. In this aspect,
we observe significant differences between Danish and Ukrainian dimensions. The
matter is that admission to the Ukrainian universities is based on the results
of the national evaluation tests. Many adults due to their age can hardly pass
them. So the lack of a sector responsible for standardized
preparation for the entrance tests (as HF
in Denmark)
makes it difficult for adults to continue their education at a higher level.
Table
1 illustrates some of the major relationship chains in the structure of Danish
tertiary education.
Table 1: Structure of Tertiary
Education in Denmark
|
Years of
education
|
Mainstream high
education system
|
High adult
education
|
Non-formal adult
education
|
|
13th-17th
|
Master & Ph.D. (LVU)
|
Master Degree (LVU)
|
Universities Extension Service
|
|
13th-15th
|
Bachelor (MVU)
|
Professional Bachelor
(KVU)
|
Diploma (KVU)& (MVU)
|
Higher Preparatory Exam (HF)
|
|
13th-14th
|
Further adult educatiom (KVU)
|
Source: Table is prepared by the author based on the
source:
https://www.daea.dk/media/333725/education_stor.jpg
Judging from Table 1, the Danish
formal tertiary education for adults is parallel to the mainstream system. It
means that multilevel high education is provided to adults at all educational
degrees. So in the structure of Danish tertiary education adults can apply to
such programs as:
·
LVU
(langsigtet videregående uddannelse) Universities’ research-based
long-cycle programs, with the duration of 3-5 years;
·
MVU
(mellemfristet videregående uddannelse) University Colleges’ Bachelor’s
medium-cycle programs, usually continue for 3-4 years;
·
KVU
(kortvarig videregående uddannelse) Academies’ and Professional Colleges’
short-cycle programs, providing usually 1,5-3 years (THOMSEN et al., 2013;
OECD, 2019).
Our research has tended to focus on
the fact that approximately two-fourth of adults in Denmark complete medium-term
Bachelor’s programs (AGERSKOV, 2012). From the first of January 2008, Danish
university colleges provide specialized professional medium-term training
programs (MVU) for adult students that are equivalent to 240 European Credit
Transfer System (KOF, 2017). VIA University
College, University
College of South Denmark, University College Absalon, University College
Copenhagen are famous for their special, unique educational programs for mature
participants.
It
is essential to note that according to statistical data long-cycle Master’s
programs (LVU) in universities are not so accepted among adults in Denmark (in
Ukraine they are twice as popular). The problem is that Danish employers do not attach much
significance whether their graduates possess Bachelor or Master degrees and their employee pay is
relatively equal. In these circumstances, it is not unexpected that mature
students prefer the Bachelor’s degree as the final stage in their career path
and regard the Master’s degree as an unreal goal (UNESCO, 2012).
But
in 2014-2020 13.4 million euro (1 billion DKK) has been allocated for new
education opportunities and increased activity in adult education with the aim
of giving more skilled workers a chance to receive a higher education (EACEA,
2019). Furthermore, since 2014 with a growing tendency towards research-based
training in a knowledge-based society, Denmark has launched the
multifaceted strategies of flexibility for adults (OECD, 2019). According to
which any mature student, having completed a medium-term program, can apply for
a long-term one through the system of credit units enrollment. After the first
three years of professional education at the university, a Bachelor's degree is
awarded. In this way, a Bachelor's degree in an adult training program may be
both the final point or the starting part in the educational trajectory change.
Logically education of adults may continue to the Master's degree, as well as
the Doctor of Philosophy (Filosofisk Doktor - PhD) or the Doctor of Sciences
(læge i pædagogiske Videnskaber) (EACEA, 2019).
In
a result of the nationwide postmodern reforms, eight universities in Denmark embrace
both non-formal (through extramural departments) and formal branches of adult
education, possessing a high degree of autonomy and self-governance (EACEA,
2019). The first place in the regional structure of the formal tertiary education
for adults belongs to the University
of Copenhagen
(Københavns Universitet), the oldest university in the country with
almost twenty-six thousand students. Aarhus
University (Aarhus Universitet),
established in 1928 as a private institution, after the recent transformation,
is operating under the control of the Danish Ministry of Education; and is
almost twice as small as the University
of Copenhagen. Aalborg University (AAU, founded in 1974) offers
a wide range of programs in formal continuing adult education, ranging from
Master's programs to single courses within different academic fields. The
programs are targeted towards adults who have already completed education and
wish to follow the training at a higher level or in another field. The youngest
university in which adults are trained is located in Odense (Odense Universitet/SDU). It trains
5,500 students, one-third of which are nontraditional (ROLIAK, 2020).
Under the circumstances of contemporary transitional
changes in Danish education, the short-cycle programs (KVU), dedicated
especially for adults with previous professional experience, were launched as
an alternative pathway of obtaining a higher qualification or degree. As our
research shows, KVU programs in adult learning are dual, including the Diploma
course, equivalent to 60 ECTS points, or Professional Bachelor’s course,
comprising 150 ECTS (ROLIAK, 2020). Short-cycle courses allow adult students to
transfer credits from relevant educational or vocational experience into some
other specialties. Therefore, more adults in a shorter period may join
vocational teams satisfying labor market needs as well as the interests of
every particular Danish enterprise (CEDEFOP, 2020).
If
we now turn to the Ukrainian system of tertiary education for adults, we must
point out that it is much more homogenous, and the network of similar
educational institutions is much smaller, though just as in Denmark, it has
both formal and non-formal constituents.
Non-formal adult education in Ukraine is to
some extent compensatory. That is to say, it helps to compensate the deficiency
in previous education. Our analysis points out that Ukraine has no mechanisms for the
recognition and validation of non-formal results in the system of formal
tertiary education (LOKSHYNA; LUKINA; LIASHENKO, 2004). That is why the term
“non-formal adult learning” in Ukrainian environment is used only in the
context of further training and professional development.
In general, mature students in
Ukraine may be included in the following in-service programs both formal and
non-formal: 1) postgraduate formal programs (broadening or changing the
specialization, retraining, traineeship, internship); 2) vocational training of
employees; 3) advanced training courses; 3) continuous professional development
tied to needs of an industry or enterprise (OGIENKO; TERENKO, 2018; LAZORENKO;
KOLYSKO, 2019).
In order to obtain advanced degrees
of a Bachelor, Master, and PhD in the structure of Ukrainian formal tertiary
education adult students, among others, may join the medium-cycle (for Bachelor
degree) and long-cycle (for Master degree) programs in the universities
(KREMEN, 2017). The research signifies that there is no strong correlation
between non-formal and formal adult education in the Ukrainian dimension
(LAZORENKO; KOLYSKO, 2019). The disadvantage of the Ukrainian adult education
system lies in the fact that the non-formal component of adult education in
this country exists as a supplementary branch to the system of professional
development and can hardly be of assistance to the mature students in their
transition to a higher education degree.
The
results in this part of the study indicate that adults are included in all the
levels of tertiary education, both in Danish and Ukrainian environments. The
next part of the article, therefore, moves on to discuss the innovative
approaches and technologies used to motivate adult learners to receive tertiary
education.
5.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Our research reveals that the Danish
system of adult learning has such trends the use of which can lead to positive
changes in the Ukrainian educational environment. In our opinion these
tendencies that stimulate the mature students to apply to the institutions of
high learning, include:
5.1.
Creation of a flexible and permeable
academic approach
Our analysis shows that in the
system of Ukrainian adult education, flexibility is to some extent restricted
(KOHN, 2006). We see the reason for this in the historical fact, that being a
part of the Soviet education system, Ukrainian adult learning, has been
developing in the direction of centralization for a long time. And
centralization processes slow down the possibility of quick transition into
mobile and flexible technologies (DE
WITT, 1961). We must consider, that even today it is difficult for
mature people in modern Ukrainian high education to transform their learning
trajectories in a short period. Very often if adult learners want to change
their specialties or to increase their qualifications, they have to start a new
program from the beginning, duplicating the content of the previous training.
Repetition of learning is demotivating for adult people, leading to dropping
out a lot of them from the system of high education (CEDOFOP, 2020).
In this aspect, the experience of
Denmark may be instructive. Flexible education in the Danish context enables
adult learners to be in motion within and across education and employment
(TILLEY, 2014). Flexibility means that adults can adapt their learning
pathways, to suit their interests and abilities, having relative control over
where to study (in the university or college), when to attend classes
(part-time, full-time, extramural), and, in many cases, how to take their exams
(online or in a real-time) (LONG, 2018).
We have investigated that Denmark is
the country that has created a democratic and efficient adult learning system
in Europe due to the successful combination of flexibility and permeability in
the education of adults. And this experience is particularly acute for Ukraine now.
In the Danish environment,
permeability means that adult people can move to programs at a higher level,
regardless of their previous pathways (EAEA, 2014). For example, permeable VET
(Vocational Education and Training) routes in Danish tertiary education can be
passed in a variety of ways. Moreover, VET should not be a closed path. As we
have already mentioned in this study, Danish adult programs are broken down
into modules, which enable movement across the system, offering opportunities
for credit transfer or recognition of prior learning and professional
experience (ROLIAK, 2020). Thus after the diploma course, an adult student may
join the Bachelor’s program in the university college or Master’s in the
university.
We think that for Ukrainian context
new and innovative may be the Danish technology of identifying and recognizing
adult learners’ existing skills through the use of a portfolio or skills audit
approaches and construction on them personal learning plans, including individualized
teaching methods.
5.2.
Humanistic ideas about an 'equal
partnership' between an adult learner and a tutor
Danish humanistic approach in the education of adults concentrates on a
change of traditional roles of mature students and tutors into “one-to-one
support” through professional coaching or mentoring. In contemporary Danish
tertiary education, continuous coaching and mentoring can help to maintain
mature persons’ motivation to learn, making adult students to a larger extent
co-responsible for their own learning (ELSBORG; PEDERSEN, 2010). They tend to
get the most knowledge of their own life experience, from their research. They
are able to identify the learning goals and weak points themselves, as well as
to evaluate independently possible solutions for their problems (LOVETT, 1988).
So from the point of view of Danish free democratic philosophy, based on
Nicolai Grundtvig’s and Søren Kierkegaard’s theories, Danish adult
education is built on the students’ own wishes and Danish tutor plays to a
larger extent the role of an encourager of the students’ achievements, focusing
on the personal competences, individual needs and self-insight (OGIENKO;
ROLYAK, 2009). Therefore, quality adult education is based on the learners’
active involvement combined with the tutor’s ability to rely on the mature
learners' experiences (ELSBORG; PEDERSEN, 2010).
We should point out that
historically adult education in Ukraine,
similarly to Denmark,
has developed through the humanistic approach (remember prominent Ukrainian
scholars known all over the world Suhomlynskyi, Makarenko, Skovoroda) (OGIENKO;
LYTOVCHENKO, 2010). We consider that at the present stage Danish trends towards
the humanization of methods in adult training meet the needs of Ukrainian adult
education modernization. The gradual change of students-tutors roles (as in
Danish pattern) can improve the quality of educational services and can be a
serious means motivating adults to apply to higher educational institutions.
5.3.
Transition from traditional to
innovative learning technologies
It should be accepted that the
contemporary situation with the training of adults in Ukraine came to
a serious contradiction. The actual question lies in the fact that from the
point of view for the learning process organization, Ukrainian education moved
to the multilevel model rather quickly, but methodologically we observe
tendencies of exercising the traditional forms and methods in the process of
adult training (ROLIAK, 2019).
Ukrainian authorities and teachers
very often do not sufficiently understand and respect the fundamental
differences between the cognition processes of young and mature people, and
very often, especially in formal tertiary education, do not treat adults as
non-traditional students and apply the same methods and tools as for the young
students (LOKSHYNA; LUKINA and LIASHENKO, 2004; OGIENKO; LYTOVCHENKO, 2010; LESHCHENKO; YATSISHIN, 2014). So in
the Ukrainian dimension, there is a threat of the true inconsistencies in the
framework and goals of adult education with the means of outcome attainment.
Using Danish practice on those
technologies in training of adults, that will motivate them to continue their
education, we can confidently say that the main value of the learning process
in higher educational institutions should lie in adults’ needs and
opportunities to go beyond the program material in a selective (tied to their
previous experience) way, to search ways of constructing positive personal
identity and fulfill self-realization (ILLERIS,
2013). Generally speaking, adult learning in Denmark is transformative,
self-directed, based on “freedom of choice” (FREIRE, 1970) and aimed at helping
adult learners to manage their individual educational pathways (ILLERIS, 2013).
Taken together, these details suggest
that the new methodological model for training of adults in the system of
Ukrainian tertiary education should be based on:
·
the
concept of critical thinking, with the techniques of active cognitive
empowerment in the process of problem-solving;
·
prioritizing
of experienced-based, independent learning, developing responsible
decision-making, self-organization, self-esteem, and self-confidence;
·
introduction
of modern information and communication technologies with distance or blended
learning (the combination of online, Net-based learning and traditional
face-to-face instruction);
·
broad
implementation of part-time, self-teaching projects, similar to Danish
“Learning without a teacher”.
·
shifting
accents towards one-on-one or small group support and cooperative, peer
tutoring;
·
strengthening
the value of the interest-based, meaningful learning process, rather than
technical memorizing of the information;
·
alignment
of the acquired competences with relevant labor market skills (ILLERIS, 2004; HOLM; NORDENTOFT; KNUDSEN,
2013; MERCER; CLAY; ETHERIDGE, 2016;
ROLIAK, 2019).
5.4.
Participation in research-oriented
learning through career-based practical application
When adults make the decision to
continue their education, they would primarily choose more practical programs,
directed towards a specific profession or their planned changes in a career (HOWARD; DAVIES 2013). So they would expect that
acquired through these educational course skills and competences to be
up-to-date and relevant to the labor market. Danish researchers Moos et al.
(2005) judge that the XXI-st century professional knowledge increases three to
four times during two years of specialized employment and the terms
“evidence-based” and “research-oriented” are closely related to the
professional knowledge and competences in the post-modern educational
environments.
As our study demonstrates, adults in
Danish tertiary dimension, are educated within programs that have complex
curricula, combining theoretical content and academic research with the practical
application of the received results in the real spheres of their professional
activities. Furthermore, Danish colleges and universities have a flexible
system of connections between their research projects and the workplace through
close links and cooperation with real employers (THOMSEN et al., 2013). These
employers are involved in the design of adult training programs as well as
their continuous adaptation and implementation to meet the changing needs of
the labor market (FISCHER; BOREHAM; NYHAN, 2004).
Comparative analysis of Ukrainian
and Danish systems of tertiary education for adults has demonstrated, that from
the perspective of the practical application of evidence-based learning, these
two countries possess the same priorities. But it is important to mention that
Ukrainian programs in formal tertiary adult education are structured in such a
way that theoretical instruction and research-projects in a substantial amount
are done before the adult learner has the opportunity to experience it in
practical activity.
Most scholars press the point that
particularly for non-traditional students such tradition of theory and praxis
discrepancy can be demotivating (LOVETT, 1988; MERCER;
CLAY; ETHERIDGE,
2016; LONG, 2018). The investigation of Danish tertiary education has
demonstrated that continuous practical training, reinforced by research
projects and combined with theoretical instruction, can increase adults’
motivation and engagement with the program (ELSBORG; PEDERSEN, 2010).
So the Danish experience of building
the direct partnership between high education institutions and employers is
needed to ensure the Ukrainian adult education model. It can help to increase
the career-related relevance of a curriculum and make it more attractive to
mature people.
Our investigation proves that
post-modern Denmark
is constructing a highly efficient adult education system in which its
structure, content, and methodology correspond to the major goal: to give the
right for everybody in the knowledge-based society to improve competences to
meet the needs of the contemporary labor market.
The results of this study indicate
that:
·
adult
student education comprise the idea of autonomous and independent study;
·
adults
as non-traditional students require nonstandard approaches motivating them to
continue their education and to receive advanced degrees in institutions of
higher learning;
·
in
the structure of adult education formal and non-formal branches can effectively
cooperate, interrelating with each other through the system of credits and
certificates validation;
·
European
credit transfer system implies the possibilities for adult students to change
their educational trajectories, taking into account their previous experience
and according to their future plans;
·
co-existence
of long-term (broad) programs; medium-term and short-term (narrow) programs
make adult education flexible and adaptable to the mature students’ needs;
·
curricula
relevance to the labor market, innovative learning technologies, non-standard
and career-based approaches increase adults participation in tertiary education
programs and create better respond to the learners’ requirements.
The study has come a long way
towards enhancing our understanding of the fact that Ukraine
and Denmark
have both similar and different features in the adult education dimension. We
assume that in the process of Danish experience implementation in the Ukrainian
educational environment, the outcomes of this particular research may give a
clearer insight into the general prospects of adults promoting into the system
of higher learning
This research is not exhaustive. The
necessity of continuous study is determined by the importance of the discussed
problems. We see the prospects for further comparative investigation in the
design of the content and methods for the building motivation of adult students
to apply to various educational programs both in Nordic and Ukrainian
dimensions.
6.
CONFLICT OF INTERESTS
The author states that there is no
conflict of interest.
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