The Position and Perspectives of Adult Education in Croatia - Opinion of Students of the Teaching Module of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Rijeka

Obrazovanje odraslih važan je dio života svakog pojedinca i zajednice jer se stjecanjem znanja, vještina i kompetencija osigurava napredak društva. Svaka država koja teži razvitku i stvaranju društva znanja, svjesna je važnosti pružanja mogućnosti obrazovanja ljudima u svim razdobljima ljudskog života. Hrvatska polako ali sigurno prepoznaje važnost obrazovanja odraslih i koncepta cjeloživotog učenja te omogućuje da se pojedinac formalnim, neformalnim i informalnim programima školuje i usavršava. S obzirom na njegovu raširenost, osnovna zadaća ovog rada je kroz teorijski prikaz prikazati njegov razvoj, sadašnje stanje, ustanove u Hrvatskoj koje ga provode, programe koje postoje i izazove s kojima se susreće. Nadalje, provedenim kvalitativnim istraživanjem nastojalo se ispitati mišljenja studenata diplomskog studija nastavničkog modula o obrazovanju odraslih. Rezultati istraživanja ukazuju kako su ispitanici upoznati s konceptom obrazovanja odraslih, ali se polovica njih ne vidi budućnosti da se bave s odraslim osobama. Osim toga, većina ispitanika nije upoznata sa znanošću koja se bavi obrazovanjem odraslih, ali pokazuju dobru upoznatost sa ustanovama koje provode obrazovanje odraslih. Najčešću ustanovu za obrazovanje odraslih koju su ispitanici spomenuli jest Filozofski fakultet u Rijeci koji provodi program za treću dob. U procesu obrazovanja odraslih važnu ulogu imaju edukatori koji rade s odraslima te se zbog toga ispitanike pitalo koje osobine edukatori trebaju posjedovati. Ispitanici smatraju kako edukatori trebaju posjedovati sljedeće osobine: strpljivost, razumijevanje za polaznike, komunikacijske vještine, empatiju, smisao za humor, fleksibilnost i organizacijske sposobnosti. Ispitanici su također dali svoje mišljenje o trenutnom stanju obrazovanja odraslih u Hrvatskoj te svoje mišljenje o budućnosti istoga. Rezultati istraživanja pokazali su kako većina ispitanika ima negativno mišljenje o trenutnom stanju obrazovanja odraslih u Hrvatskoj. Manji dio ispitanika smatra da je obrazovanje odraslih trenutno u povoljnom položaju jer nudi velik broj programa i tečajeva. Budućnost obrazovanja odraslih u Hrvatskoj je prema mišljenju ispitanika pozitivna te će obrazovanje odraslih dobit na sve većoj važnosti. Može se zaključiti da obrazovanje odraslih postaje sve bitnija sastavnica u području obrazovanja te da se među mladima počinje afirmirati njegova važnost.Adult education is an important part of the life of every individual and community because the acquisition of knowledge, skills and competencies ensures the progress of society. Every state that strives for the development and creation of a knowledge society is aware of the importance of providing educational opportunities for people at all periods of human life. Croatia is slowly but surely recognizing the importance of adult education and the concept of lifelong learning, and enables individuals to be educated and trained through formal, non-formal and informal programs. Given its prevalence, the main task of this thesis is to present through a theoretical framework its development, current situation, institutions in Croatia that implement it, existing programs and challenges it faces. Furthermore, a qualitative research was conducted in order to examine opinions of students of the teacher's module on adult education. The results of the research indicate that the participants are familiar with the concept of adult education but half of them doesn’t seem them self working with adults. In addition, most of the participants are not familiar with the science that deals with adult education, but they show good familiarity with institutions that conduct adult education. The most common adult education institution mentioned by the participants is the Faculty of humanities and social sciences in Rijeka which implements a program for the third age. Important figures in the process of adult education are also educators (teachers) who work with the adults. The participants believe that educators need to possess the following qualities: patience, understanding for learners, communication skills, empathy, sense of humor, flexibility and organizational skills. Respondents also gave their opinion on the current state of adult education in Croatia and their opinion on its future. The results of the research showed that the majority of participants have a negative opinion about the current state of adult education in Croatia. A small number of participants believe that adult education is currently in a favorable position because it offers a large number of programs and courses. According to the respondents, the future of adult education in Croatia is positive and they think that adult education will become increasingly important. It can be concluded that adult education is becoming an increasingly important component in the field of education and that its importance is beginning to be affirmed among young people