What is our professional journey, when are we truly satisfied, and do we feel that our work is meaningful?
The answers are presented through the following personal narratives of adult educators. In the organisations where they work, they perform and act in different roles in ALE:
- Mentor in the PLYA programme,
- Mentor for study circles,
- Counsellor in adult education,
- Quality counsellor in adult education and
- Organiser of adult education.
Their stories reveal that most of them have not received any or only a tiny amount of pedagogic and andragogic education during their studies. Their motives for entering the field of ALE are very different. Many of them started here by chance, but all of them had a sense of working with people and a desire to pass on their knowledge.
For a successful transfer of knowledge, acquaintance with andragogy is essential
It is necessary to consider professional principles and create a safe space based on values that provide a sense of acceptance. That is why at the SIAE, we not only put the competence and expertise of the providers who design and implement the programmes at the heart of development but also open up space for them and connect them. The adult educators in the videos have also acquired all the necessary skills to perform their roles in our training and development programmes for specific roles in ALE.
The different roles of adult educators are presented on the SIAE education website (in Slovenian). The five videos were produced with the financial support of the Ministry of Education. You are invited to watch them!
Dr Tanja Možina presented them for the first time at the Annual Adult Education Conference 2023 in her contribution titled Professional Development of Adult Educators.
Andragogy is a science based on humanism. As the narratives of the adult educators in the videos show, you have to love your work, do it with passion, and you have to put people at the centre of your actions. What is even more important is that you have to be brave enough to take on challenges.
Zdenka Birman Forjanič, MSc (zdenka.birman.forjanic@acs.si) and Jasmina Orešnik Cunja (jasmina.oresnik.cunja@acs.si), both SIAE
