Agnieszka Bron
Dr. Agnieszka Bron, Professorin am Department
of Education der Stockholm University, übernimmt zum Sommersemester 1999
den Lehrstuhl für Internationale Erwachsenenbildung an der Ruhr-Universität
Bochum.
Wie läßt sich internationale Erwachsenenbildung lehren und lernen? Welche Ziele und Inhalte sind mit einem Studium internationaler Erwachsenenbildung verbunden, welche Bedeutung hat dieser Begriff als Wissenschaftsdisziplin? - Agnieszka Bron beschreibt Entwicklungsprozesse, unterschiedliche Definitionen und Aspekte von internationaler Erwachsenenbildung als Feld wissenschaftlicher Lehre und Forschung.
In order to understand the rationals behind teaching and studying international adult education its notion has to be clarified. The definition of adult education has been undergoing various changes: first being understood merely as a didactic discipline focusing on the teaching of adults, where methods and techniques were important for making adults change and grow in a direction prescribed by adult educators; later shifting towards the learner themselves, with an emphasis on learning processes, socialisation and the growth of an individual as consciously responsible for these processes. These changes are connected to adult education regarding both theory and practice, with the whole of educational reality as the object of study. This double edge character of the field has prompted some adult educationists to exchange the term „adult education" for „andragogy" in order to connect it with research and theory. But in the American context, andragogy means the practice of the education and learning of adults. Therefore to claim that andragogy would solve the problem to make our discipline more scientific does not work (see Malewski 1998). That said, it must be emphasised that for some, andragogy and adult education are used synonymously.
There are, however, several definitions of the study of adult education. The one proposed here focuses on the object of study (i.e. the adult learner). Thus, adult education as a scientific discipline or field of study examines adults' possibilities and conditions for learning, formation [Bildung] and development. Knowing research results individuals will hopefully be able to develop themselves, change their lives and influence each other consciously.
This learning process and its conditions for studying share broad similarities in different countries but may also vary when it comes to the specific details. Yet, many social problems continue to be parallel, thus making international and comparative research interesting and important.
The question is whether the proposed definition is inherently international since it includes international aspects, or whether a specific definition is needed just for these international aspects, differentiating international adult education from general adult education as a field of study. Such a demarcation would include only those aspects of adult learning, socialisation and development which are of international or comparative character, wherein problems on macro (educational policy and administration), meso (educational and other institutions) as well as micro levels (learners individually and collectively) are studied. Let us take now a brief look at the tradition to pinpoint the international character of the discipline. That means looking at the whole process of the development of adult education, connecting earlier traditions with the contemporary situation.
Taking a closer look at the development of the study of adult education we can see that the internationalisation of adult education courses or programmes is not a new phenomenon. Since the very beginning of adult education courses at universities, i.e. since the late 40`s and 50`s, an international character has always been implied. This was mostly connected with adult education practice. Practitioners were aware of what was going on in teaching and learning of adults in Europe and North America, and later in all other continents, long before the first university courses of adult education were provided. Therefore, when the research and theory of international adult education developed, the international aspects of the field became natural items to be taught at universities as well. Thus, adult education courses at European universities have long included an international substance. The teaching of the history of adult education, for instance, would have been incomplete without mentioning Grundtvig and folk high schools in Denmark, university extension in UK, or study circles in Sweden.
However, different development patterns can be observed. In the former communist Eastern Europe, where adult education was more centralised, time was reserved in the curriculum for some international aspects (cf. former Yugoslavia, Poland). By contrast, in particular centralised programmes of the Soviet Union and GDR, it was for many years almost impossible to present international topics, or anything else „imported" from the West.
Decentralisation of programmes and courses, on the other hand, was characteristic for Western countries, where content was often developed depending on a particular lecturer. If he/she had an international interest in research, the courses had such a character, but most often they focused on national issues. In the UK, adult education as a subject of study developed rather late due to the late advancement of adult education research.
The internationalisation of our discipline was dominated by two developments.
The first was the building up of national and international associations
of practitioners, administrators and politicians; the second being the establishing
of networks among researchers. The role of UNESCO was crucial in constituting
international co-operation and solidarity between different states and their
representatives. Especially UNESCO World Conferences for adult education,
with Helsingør being the
first in 1949 and Hamburg the latest in 1997, contributed not only to international
co-operation but also provided content for higher education courses.
We should mention also invisible college of scholars and practitioners, that have united adult educationists with other educators to exchange ideas about good practice and research with regards to the education of adults. In addition, while maintaining an invisible bound and solidarity with each other, many adult educators became members of international and national organisations, or started to work for them. Furthermore, hundreds of non-governmental organisations were established in different countries, associated under the International Council for Adult Education. There are also sectorial organisations (e.g. International Congress of University Adult Education), as well as regional associations (e.g. European Bureau of Adult Education, the first to be established) that deal with special issues or geographical regions.
In addition to development of international co-operations among practitioners and organisations, a far more important influence on adult education as a taught discipline has been the developments in adult education research - most importantly international and comparative research. Organising researchers into associations took quite a long time. The reason is that research developed later than practice. Although research into adult education started before 1960 - heavily influenced by the traditions of other social science disciplines, especially sociology, anthropology, history and psychology - the amount of research was not very impressive.
At that time, we might observe different styles and topics of research into the education of adults among which, especially in Europe, macro-systemic issues predominated, only slowly turning towards a micro perspective (see Bron 1998). We can also observe a noticeable expansion in research, together with a growing number of Chairs in adult education, as well as the establishment of specially designed courses covering the education of adults.
Before being organised in any association, researchers met regularly at international conferences and seminars on different topics and specialisations. But it is only since 1990's that we can talk about the organisation of invisible college into research societies. Two of them are worth mentioning here: ESREA and ISCAE. The main aim of the European Society for Research on the Education of Adults is to support a European-wide network for research on the education of adults. The secretariat of ESREA is placed at the University of Leiden, Netherlands, the current secretary being Barry Hake. Another organisation is the International Society for Comparative Adult Education which associates researchers of comparative adult education. The President of ISCAE is Prof. Dr. Jost Reischmann, University of Bamberg, Germany.
Researchers' associations contribute naturally to internationalisation
of teaching adult education. Europeisation, globalisation and involvement
in comparative and international research has strengthened during the 1990's.
The contribution of the EU by financing research and development has played
an important role in this process. Research in adult education is heavily
dependent on current social issues. Thus, lifelong learning, new social
movements, transition processes, exclusion and cohesion, access to education
and validation of experiences are the questions which are of great interest
to researchers internationally. There is, in fact, a connection be
tween research topics and social issues, and between research and teaching.
In addition, the process of globalisation both influences adult education
and is contributed to by adult educators (see Field 1998).
At the same time the current situation in the field is polarised by simultaneous tendencies towards preserving national and local achievements - effectively counterbalancing global unification. Globalisation, however, must be acknowledged as a contemporary contributing factor to the development of international adult education curricula. That is why engaging in international or European projects contributes to the internationalisation of teaching. The old Humboldt tradition to teach on scientific grounds, i.e. in connection with research results, is now considered and practised by numerous lecturers. And the realisation exists that to contribute to internationalisation of adult education courses at universities is first of all to engage in comparative studies. Adult education as a discipline is becoming more specialised with different sub-disciplines, with comparative adult education as a vital part.
Another direction within the field is to provide access to publications other than American or British. Americanisation of adult education courses, especially in small countries by using literature and relying on research results and theories, often leads to forgetting or ignoring other contributions. The English dominance within research language also makes the research output from the Anglo-Saxon world much better known in comparison with all other countries. The consequences of these two phenomena is that, as researchers and practitioners, we certainly miss important contributions from other cultures and languages by not having access to their publications. Research networks, like that of ESREA, and the EU projects involving several countries, may counterbalance American and British influence on the adult education research and theory. It follows that publishing as non-English speakers in English language journals in order to publish and to learn about research from different countries becomes an urgent need. A first step towards solving this problem is certainly the newly established Bochum Studies in International Adult Education which will be published at the Ruhr-University and which aims primarily at publishing articles written by non-English native researchers.
Finally, international adult education in the 1990s is characterised by the use of scientific articles and monographs in teaching, underlining the importance of international journals and handbooks. The logical consequence being, of course, seminars in adult education in the English language with the aim of preparing students to work within international community of adult educators, as well as to study abroad.
In terms of the actual benefits of these courses we can talk of at least
two different groups of students: the first are those who are going to be
administrators, educational planners and politicians, and who must obviously
learn from other countries in order to avoid the same mistakes, to be able
to co-ordinate the development of adult education in accordance with inter
national trends, and to address the mobility of adults within the EU and
globally.
The second group are those involved in teaching and research. For them to learn about opportunities of working in networks, being involved in collaborative projects, being able to participate in SOCRATES and other international programmes and/or study abroad is crucial if they want to become adult educators. Without such knowledge and experience it would be impossible to fulfil their functions in future.
When advocating international adult education we can choose between two stands. The first means creating international and comparative adult education as a special field of university study. The second position insinuates taking an international perspective to any examined problem within the general field of adult education, thus internationalising the overall content of adult education courses. Taking one of these positions means to choose between general or specific definitions of adult education.
The third possibility is, of course, to accept that both positions are necessary to develop adult education as a field of research and practice.
References
Bron, A. (1998): The Changing Agenda on Research
in the Education of Adults and the Issue of Citizenship. In: Adult Education
and Democratic Citizenship II, Eds. A. Bron, J. Field & E. Kurantowicz,
Krakow Impuls Pub.
Field, J. (1998): Globalisation, Social Capital and Lifelong Learning: Connections
for our Times? In: Adult Education and Democratic Citizenship II, Krakow
Malewski, M. (1998): Teorie andragogiczne [Theories of Andragogy], Wroclaw
Acta Universitatis Wratislaviensis No 2101
Zusammenfassung:
Internationale Erwachsenenbildung konzentriert sich in Forschung und Lehre
auf die Erforschung und Darstellung von international vergleichbaren und
von je verschiedenen Voraussetzungen und Problemen des Lernens von Erwachsenen.
Obwohl dabei heute generell die Lernenden im Mittelpunkt des Interesses
stehen, gibt es unterschiedliche Definitionen und Verständnisse. Erstens:
Internationale und vergleichende Erwachsenenbildung als eigene Wissenschaftsdisziplin
und eigenes Feld eines Universitätsstudiums. Zweitens: Internationalisierung
aller Forschungfragen, -ergebnisse und Untersuchungen im Rahmen des generellen
Studiums von Erwachsenenbildung an Universitäten. Eine dritte Position lautet:
Beide Definitionen sind für die Entwicklung von Erwachsenenbildung in Forschung
und Praxis notwendig und legitim.