Chapter 4. ADULT PERSON AS A SUBJECT OF TRAINING

Lecture

Andragogy deals with the general laws of adult education, with the scientific, methodological and staffing of this activity. Starting a conversation about educating adults, you must answer the question of who can be considered an adult. Assessing the current state of andragogy as a tool of scientific reflection, it can be argued that the phenomenon of adult education is quite clearly marked and fully described as a specific object of research in domestic and foreign literature. However, in terms of technology, adult education needs serious theoretical substantiation.

A broad approach to education leads to the idea of the inalienability of this concept from a person’s vital activity, the accompanying nature of education supporting those functions that a person realizes throughout his life - from birth to physical death. It is clear that the lion's share of time "from" and "to" on the conventional scale of chrono-life is not the life of a child or adolescent, but an adult.

Let us try to understand what this phenomenon is - “maturity” - and who is such an adult as the root of an ana-dragic concept. Unfortunately, for the post-school stage of life, a single scientific basis for the age classification practically does not exist. Usually, cumulative age differences are set either conditionally by highlighting a quantitative framework (up to 30, from 30 to 45, 65, after 75 years, etc.), or traditionally: youth, youth, maturity, old age. There are also metaphorical designations of age limits, such as “tender age”, “balzac age”, “age of elegance”, retirement age, “third age”. It is obvious that socially normalized age stratification does not always coincide with genetically determined features of development. In psychophysiology, for example, chronological age and biological age are distinguished. The chronological age is the amount of time (years) lived from the appearance, birth, or from the moment of appearance, of a human or other creature into the world. Biological age is a period, step in growth, development, of a person. Some scientists understand the age of a person as a form of its development. At the same time, the concept of age acquires a regulatory meaning and is constructed within the framework of a certain social practice, in which education plays an important role. "From a psychological and pedagogical point of view, it is age that is the initial unit of design in the field of education" (V.I. Slobodchikov).

According to the well-known sociologist I. S. Kohn, age categories have three reference systems, which include:

patterns of individual development (human capabilities, due to his psychobiological parameters);

the specifics of the age stratification of society (sociocultural standards for generations and the public perception of what should be for each age);

accepted age symbolism of culture (set of social expectations in the sphere of behavioral acts, appearance, forms of relationships, etc.).

The concept of "adult person" makes sense to consider in the context of its species multidimensionality. The essence of man (human quality) is described in science by such generally accepted terms as "individual", "person", "subject", "individuality".

Individual (from the Latin. Individuum - indivisible) - the characteristic of each of us as a representative of the human race, one of many.

Personality is a product of a sociocultural context, a special quality of a person, a carrier of social roles, acquired in an ensemble of social relations in the process of joint activity and communication.

The subject (from the Latin. Subjectus - located at the base) - the carrier of the subject-practical activity and knowledge, "active worker", a source of conscious, targeted activity.

Individuality is a reflection of the uniqueness, uniqueness of a particular person in combination, connecting his individual, personal, subject manifestations in a specific way.

Being a multidimensional being, an adult person in the physiological, socio-psychological and meaningful terms is able to carry out his individual contribution to the development of society in various ways:

- natural (procreation, reproduction of oneself in children);

- historical and social (participation in social production and social activities);

- cultural (preservation, reproduction of cultural experience and culture creation);

- spiritual (conscious movement "beyond its limits" in spiritual quest, introduction to the spiritual experience of the development of mankind).

There are scientists who believe that the characteristics of an adult should be determined not by the age or chronobiological age (i.e., quantitatively), but by the state of awareness of one’s being. It is this awareness of a full-blooded life, not torn by vain events, that should perhaps be considered as the central criterion of a person’s adulthood. Adulthood can also manifest itself through the understanding of its place and role in the natural and social world, through the diverse ability to live diverse experiences. Through the identification of the meaning of life as the goal of its own existence. Through the acquisition of integrity as a transcendence, carried out by going beyond the limits of their own "I", beyond the borders of the social and natural environment. Through the creation of the state of root (generic) stability in one's own movement, development, self-realization. Through the desire to be responsible for the fact that "I" as a person is, was or will be. For the fact that "I" as an individual of the human species think, do, feel, feel.

Thus, adulthood can be defined as the quality of life, embodying the ability to reproduce the fullness of life. This is not just a certain period in life, but also a special state, the essential features of which are meaningfulness and responsibility for their actions. Education plays a significant role in finding such a state. This statement remains valid both for the moment of growing up (farewell to the period of childhood and adolescence), and for “going out” in the period of adulthood, called old age, and further - death. In this sense, the international term "life-long education" (lifelong learning, or lifelong learning) is extremely accurate.

Let us try to understand the prerequisites that form the social andragogical specificity of learning as an activity of an adult person. The need to update information is a basic human need and largely determines the behavior of each of us.

The need for constant updating of knowledge and skills, the acquisition of additional educational experience is due to:

- the constant appearance in the life of an adult of problems, the solution of which requires him to additionally acquire knowledge, skills, experience, change attitudes, objectively becoming a source of motivation to learn;

- the presence of people of any age of their information requests;

- the ability of a person to learn, regardless of his age, due to the natural dynamics of the structures responsible in the body for the process of updating information and allowing to compensate for the effects of age-related weakening, attenuation is glad of cognitive functions;

- the accumulation of experience by each of us in the course of life activity, which can become the substantive basis of education for others and for ourselves (provided that it is comprehended).

Unfortunately, in our society there still exists a social stereotype of perception of education as something for others, for external presentation. In fact, the very origin of the word suggests that first of all this is the way to create your own unique image. And this path extends through the whole space of vital activity of each of us. Continuing the analysis of the specifics of adult education, we will try to figure out how to set a modern adult to learn; find out what he can learn, from whom, where and how.

The modern understanding of learning as a directional information interaction of a person with the world, surrounding people, by himself makes it obvious that it is necessary to continue throughout the whole period of life. However, in terms of content and activity at each of the stages, this happens differently. Educational information can carry a different meaning for an adult. It depends on what the person needs to continue to learn at this moment “through life”.

At different stages of life, different people face the same tasks: self-preservation and development as a natural being (life expectancy, health, parenting); realizations as being social (adaptation and mobility in the labor market), cultural (corresponding to the level of development of culture and civilization, modern view of the world), spiritually active (existential perspective, self-realization, spiritual development). The ability to realize and preserve one's essence in a changing world appears as one of the main tasks of life, which cannot be solved outside the context of lifelong education. What should be the universal content of such education?

The range of topics intended for compulsory learning in the course of life, due to the commonality for all people:

age issues (age crises, hormonal epochs);

consistent change of the educational situation (kindergarten pupil, schoolchild, student, etc.);

adopting and changing similar family roles (children, grandchildren - spouses - parents - mother-in-law, father-in-law, father-in-law, mother-in-law - (great) grandfather, (great) grandmother, etc.);

existential crises (search for the meaning of life);

typical social and socio-psychological, stressful situations (job change, relocation, migration, departure from the lives of loved ones, retirement, etc.);

accomplishment of a public mission of symbolic nature (military service, work in power structures); solutions of moral problems of eternal nature (Good and Evil, Good, Debt, etc.).

In addition, against the background of the diversity of information needs and inquiries that distinguish adults and people from each other today, the common for all (invariant) learning content is formed depending on the needs of the time.

For example, currently the structure of the content of education includes:

- formation of a picture of the world, adequate to the level of development of modern knowledge;

- ability to work with information flows in a changing society;

- culture of communication in the systems "person-person", "person-computer", "person-computer-person";

- development of project activities as a way to change reality;

- the development of new socio-economic realities;

- preservation of health;

- the study and development of their own human development potential;

- spiritual development in the noosphere era.

Being equally new and necessary for all, this content should be developed in parallel in the system of school, university and all types of adult education.

If we evaluate the acquired knowledge according to the degree of importance for the life of the subject, then we can distinguish the following quality characteristics:

fundamental (world defining for a rather long period, for they are the result of integrating information that forms a picture of the world); applied (necessary "here and now", helping to carry out certain actions);

anticipating (knowledge in store, anticipating the problems and situations that actually arise in life);

accompanying (knowledge arising from or offered from outside, parallel to the emergence of those or other typical educational needs arising from patterns in the development of life problems);

compensating (compensating for the lack of educational or general cultural information necessary for the productive passage of this period of life);

corrective (causing changes in personality, behavioral, communicative and other manifestations that do not coincide with socially accepted);

developmental (serving as an incentive for individual and personal development);

supporting (necessary to solve individual problems, successfully passing difficult periods in life, helping to overcome crisis situations); complementary (serving as a content addition to the existing knowledge and due to the constant development of the external information context). Once we have argued that it makes sense for an Adult person to study at different periods of his life, we will try to find out what makes his training as a process Different from the child’s education. Adulthood is divided into several meaningful semantic stages.

The first of them (18-30 years old) is youth, characterized by the exit to the potential fullness of the essential capabilities of a person: he is already able to have a family

children to participate in social labor and

social and political life of society. Almost before it opens the space of all-round activity.

This creates a very difficult and fundamentally new situation of strategic life choices. It is no coincidence that in German philosophical literature the period from 22 to 27 years old received a figurative definition of “years of wandering.” Moreover, this phrase hides a deep meaning: traveling not only in a geographical, physical space, but above all spiritual quest, determining the future fate of a person. No less, this period usually becomes the time of trial and

mistakes, learning from the experience of the first life lessons. The second stage is maturity. In the traditional, domestic interpretation of the concept of "mature" is usually correlated with the achievement of a certain age. Maturity is also defined through experience, time, level of development, activity, compliance with certain requirements, etc. (The meaning of the word "mature" is deliberate, indicating experience; fully developed, fully developed, etc.) Temporally, maturity most often considered as the gap between youth and old age - from 30 to 55 - 60 years.

The concept of maturity, according to many researchers, is not only and not so much the physiological mark of the state of human resources. There are different types of maturity - physiological, mental, social. The age of maturity is marked above all by the moral quality, therefore mature years can take place in a person only under the condition of previous many years of intellectual and spiritual labor. This is a kind of result of the efforts to become a man, to prove oneself as a person. It is a time to present to the outside, to society, to other people the fruits of their life creativity.

The measure of social responsibility as one of the important indicators of human maturity is set out in the Basic Law of our country - the Constitution, which fixes the right of 18-year-olds to “independently fully exercise their rights and obligations” (Article 60), including “elect and be elected to state and local government bodies "(Article 32); "take care of disabled parents" while in working condition (art. 38). Upon reaching 21 years of age, citizens may be elected deputies of the State Duma.

The next stage of adulthood is old age. The formation of a person in old age is significantly different from the previous stages of his life (elderly, that is, lived, who knows a lot about life). This is the time to "collect stones", to sum up the life path, evaluate the experience gained, pass it on to others. Each person, entering the so-called third age, chooses his own life strategy. After retirement, some organize and manage the household, actively participate in raising their grandchildren, and work in the dacha plots. Others begin a stormy social activity; still others, on the contrary, become isolated in solitude.

The problem of education of older people every year in the world acquires an ever-increasing social significance due to the effect of the aging population of many developed countries1. As practice shows, with the appropriate motivation, an elderly person is able to successfully master unexplored areas of activity, form new or correct life orientations that have developed over the years, master new forms and social circle, often finding new meanings of life. The centuries-old experience shows that only at the age that is now called the third one, a person has the opportunity to master the fullness of the ways and forms of understanding the world. This may be philosophical, scientific, religious knowledge, artistic or technical creativity, penetration into the depths of the national culture and traditions. In many respects, the meaningful content of life in old age is determined by the previous educational and cultural experience accumulated by man.

The transition of an elderly person to the state of old age is very individual. Despite the irreversible physiological changes to present to the outside, to society, to other people, the fruits of their life creativity.

The problem of education of older people every year in the world acquires an increasing social significance due to the effect of the aging population of many developed countries. As practice shows, with the appropriate motivation, an elderly person is able to successfully master unexplored areas of activity, form new or correct life orientations that have developed over the years, master new forms and social circle, often finding new meanings of life. The centuries-old experience shows that only at the age that is now called the third one, a person has the opportunity to master the fullness of the ways and forms of understanding the world. This may be philosophical, scientific, religious knowledge, artistic or technical creativity, penetration into the depths of the national culture and traditions.In many respects, the meaningful content of life in old age is determined by the previous educational and cultural experience accumulated by man.

The transition of an elderly person to the state of old age is very individual. Despite the irreversible physiological changes of the organism, which occur in each one in their own way, the period of old age can be marked by true wisdom, which becomes the source of life experience and knowledge for others. People who have managed by this time to make a significant contribution to the development of science, technology, culture, education, regardless of age, serve as a moral guideline for the younger generation and for those who are at the initial levels of education that can last a lifetime.

In many countries, the education of the elderly is carried out by specialized institutions: academies for the elderly, universities for pensioners, third age universities, courses for workers retiring, and others. Searches are being conducted in the field of providing this category of the population with special educational texts. For example, in China, several editions have already been sustained by the world's only one-volume encyclopedia for pensioners. It covers more than 2,000 topics, especially important for the elderly. Fourteen sections of the encyclopedia contain basic data and practical advice on gerontology, personal hygiene, diet, cosmetology, as well as specific recommendations on the participation of retirees in public life.

The statement about the possibility of lifelong movement in the educational space can be supported by scientific information about the age-related psycho-physiological dynamics of the characteristics of cognitive activity. From a psychophysiological point of view, an extremely important question of andragogy is the question: does the ability to learn disappear with age in a person? Does he lose the property of learning as a translation of new information from the content of education into individual structures in the required volume and pace? It turns out that nature has created all the necessary biological and neurophysiological prerequisites for information and learning interaction with the world, the environment, and other people throughout our lives. Long-term studies of the age characteristics of thinking1 have shown that it remains active during any of the periods,however, there are changes in its structure that are helpful to know.

It is customary to distinguish three main types of thinking: imaginative, verbal-logical and visual-effective (practical).

At the age of 18-25 years, a person is dominated by figurative and verbal thinking. Practical thinking begins to “catch up” with them after 21 years and is ahead from 27 to 38 years old. On this background, after approximately 30 and up to 40 years, the capacity for figurative thinking begins to exceed the capacity for verbal. At the same time, by the age of 40, the adaptation of intellectual structures to the characteristics and nature of labor activity (a peculiar assimilation to them) occurs.

После 40 и вплоть до 55 лет обычно наблюдаются снижение доли практического мышления и выравнивание активности его образных и вербально-логических форм. Причем после 50 лет вербальное мышление начинает превалировать над образным. По меньшей мере, дважды за это время у человека снижаются возможности памяти. Обычно это происходит в 34-35 и 45 - 50 лет. Однако за счет компенсаторных возможностей организма, перегруппировки мыслительных функций, сильной мотивации и осознания возрастной динамики своих способностей взрослый человек способен справиться с указанными изменениями.

С возрастом содержание информационных запросов претерпевает изменения в содержательном отношении, причем у мужчин и женщин динамика этих изменений различна. В качестве примера рассмотрим данные исследований, проведенных в 90-е годы XX столетия учеными Института образования РАО1.

В период 18 - 25 лет, характеризующийся необходимостью профессионального выбора, адаптации к трудовой деятельности, выработки индивидуальных форм ее реализации, мужчины преимущественно хотят получать дополнительные сведения, связанные со сферой труда, а также областями, сопутствующими успешности их карьеры (иностранный язык, компьютер, экономика, организация труда, взаимодействие с коллегами).

Вопросы здоровья, культуры, семьи (вплоть до 40 лет) играют в системе их образовательных запросов второстепенную роль. У женщин этого возраста помимо желания получить образование в сфере профессиональной деятельности значительно более высокий ранг, нежели у мужчин, занимают проблемы здоровья и семьи. Такое положение сохраняется для них и в последующий период - 35 - 40 лет, что свидетельствует о четко выраженной в образовательных потребностях функциональной специализации.

Начиная с 40 лет и до конца жизни как у мужчин, так и у женщин на первый план выдвигается потребность в получении дополнительной информации о сохранении и укреплении здоровья. Это вполне естественно. На втором месте для мужчин продолжает оставаться познавательный интерес в области профессиональной деятельности, в то время как для женщин потребность в обучении в данном направлении резко отступает на дальний план (4-е место - в период 41 - 55 лет и предпоследнее - после 56 лет).

Some differences are also observed in the motivation of the educational needs of men and women. For example, for the field of postgraduate education, following the general motive of the possibility of improving the material situation for men are the desire for professional achievement, public respect and recognition (external orientation), and for women - the desire for self-expression, self-development, high creative cognitive activity (internal orientation) 1 . The situation of embedded education in the content of the vital activity of an adult person with the necessity puts him in an active position of the subject of education. The category "subject" is one of the central philosophical categories from the time of Aristotle to the present day. Having received a new impetus to development in the domestic psychological science of the 20th century. (S.L. Rubinstein, K.A. Abulkhanova-Slavskaya, A. V.Brushlinsky, V.A. Lektorsky, and others) along with the categories "individual", "personality", "individuality", it acts as one of the qualitative characteristics of the manifestation of human essence.

In the philosophical sense, the subject is the carrier of conscious activity, knowing and transforming the outer and inner world in the ideal and the subject-practical activity (S.L. Rubinstein, B.G. Ananyev). The true subject has full control over the structure of the activity in which he participates, ranging from the awareness of its motives and goals to obtaining a result and the ability to evaluate it and correct the entire course of its actions based on reflection. An adult acts as a subject with his own self-awareness and autonomy insofar as he masters the volume of culture, ways of professional activity, forms of cultural interaction with people, is aware of his human essence. And this is impossible without education. In pedagogy the category "subject"penetrated in the 70s of the XX century through the system of philosophical and psychological knowledge (GI Shchukin, V.V. Gorshkova) and was perceived by both theorists and practitioners is not easy. This is not surprising if we recall that in classical didactics in relation to the participants of the pedagogical process for centuries the opposition "subject-object" was firmly legalized. It was always about the need to transfer (broadcast) knowledge, experience, activities and relationships, culture from teacher to student. However, it is for the adult education system that the concept of "subject" could not be more relevant.subject-object ". It was always about the need to transfer (broadcast) knowledge, experience and relationships, culture from teacher to student. However, for the adult education system, the concept of" subject "could not be more relevant.subject-object ". It was always about the need to transfer (broadcast) knowledge, experience and relationships, culture from teacher to student. However, for the adult education system, the concept of" subject "could not be more relevant.

In the European educational tradition, the movement towards independence, subjectivity, ability to self-development and self-determination has always been considered a special value.

Being an "active worker", the subject contains the bases of his activity inside - in the meanings, values, needs. They act as the main incentive and guide to learning. The most important property, reflecting the specificity of the subject, is his ability to master the variety of forms of his own life activity. She received the name of subjectivity. No less important for the organization of learning is such a property as subjectivity - a derivative of the specifics of the cognitive abilities and abilities of a particular subject. The manifestation of subjectivity in cognitive activity is organically inherent in the human being, since the need for updating information and information retrieval is for it one of the basic ones.

With regard to education, the property of subjectivity in an adult is expressed in the following indicators:

- the ability to independently form an information request;

- the possibility of choosing a learning model;

- conscious acceptance of a particular position in the learning process;

- reliance on the ability for emotional-volitional, physiological, motivational-need self-regulation in the field of education;

- the desire and ability to bring the content of their life experience into the content of training.

When organizing adult education, it is necessary to represent the typical external and internal difficulties that an adult faces in a modern educational situation.

In a world where an avalanche-like increase in information is observed, what was learned ten or even five years ago is irrelevant today. The modern schoolchild and, of course, the student on a number of issues are more informed, more “advanced” than their parents, and even more so than their grandparents. An adult turns out to be unarmed in the face of the fact of his incompetence, functional illiteracy, most often without realizing that this is a natural situation that requires a conscious, constant educational movement.

However, here too, a person is waiting for obstacles. The skills of learning and self-education in an adult were formed in a completely different than today's situation. The arrival of the new century is accompanied by a change in information management strategies. A person over the age of 40 is perplexed by the multiplicity, variability, discreteness, clipiness of information that comes to him from the outside world. He is confused by the inability to cover the entire body of knowledge, even in its industry. In fact, he again faces a familiar school task - to learn to learn. First of all, work in information environments using computer technology. This dictates the need to master a new type of information communication - remote, interactive as part of network actors.

The older a person is, the more difficult it is for him to engage in educational processes due to the many internal barriers that have developed over the years. Briefly consider the most common of them.

Psychophysiological. Some adults have an internal barrier to their learning ability. It is to some extent based on the myth of a reduced ability to perceive, memorize, and reproduce educational information with age. However, scientists have proven that you can successfully study at any age. Just in different periods of life, various functions of memory, other types of attention come to the fore, motivation changes, but in general an adult is always capable of developing appropriate individual ways of optimally working with information. This becomes possible if he has knowledge of his features as a subject of learning and formed a stable motivation to learn.

Socio-psychological. Many adults are uncomfortable, sometimes it is just scary to be in the position of a student. This is especially true of persons occupying a certain social position on the administrative ladder. Psychologically, they are not ready to turn around a situation and voluntarily turn into an "object" of pedagogical influence.

Social. The lack of demand for a new level of education on the part of society or its redundancy for professional status often makes it meaningless for an adult to continue (increase) their education.

Psychological and pedagogical. Failure to install on the need for a modern person lifelong education. The continuity of learning can also be hampered by the lack of the necessary knowledge about oneself as a cognitive being, about one’s abilities, peculiarities of perception and assimilation of educational material, information needs. Finally, a person may simply not be aware of existing forms of adult education.

Since for an adult of any age, learning becomes one of the ways of self-realization in the profession or in life in general, he always wants to know why he should teach this particular material. Thus, unlike a child, his sense of mind and the motivation of learning are much more conscious and distinct in clarity and manifestation.

Being involved in the educational process, an adult person seeks to take an active position in it. On the one hand, he always internally responds to the proposed content of training (and sometimes quite negatively, up to the complete rejection of the information provided). Unlike a child, an adult is usually not inclined to imitate interest and involvement in a lesson, if there are none. On the contrary, he often seeks to publicly express his disagreement or protest to the teacher and the audience. On the other hand, speaking today in the role of a consumer of educational services, i.e., simply “buying” the work of a teacher and educational institution, an adult is more than anyone else interested in the quality of the “goods” received and takes the position of a demanding and critical student .

Possessing a certain experience and a subjective position in education, a modern adult is able to evaluate and choose the method and forms of training, therefore the andragogu needs an orientation to the perception and self-perception of an adult in a situation of his training. Usually, an adult is quite cautious about finding the position of the one being taught. He prefers an organization of the educational process in which other people will demand his experience and relationships. Not less than educational information, teachers and fellow practitioners are personally interested in an adult and an individual. Therefore, adult education involves creating an atmosphere of partnership, mutual assistance and support.

At any age, an adult, more than a child, is accompanied by a fear of failure to learn, so the educational process is more productive to build with a focus on achievement. At the same time, the developing potential of "ignorance" and "inability" should be opened up to adults.

The content of education in the system of adult education is always open, developing through the introduction of personal experience and individual information requests. In an adult, special links are established with sources of educational information. It needs to provide a free choice from a wide range of literature, software products, focusing on independent information retrieval using modern databases. It seems that when teaching adults, you should abandon the "secondary" sources such as reading books. The principle of authenticity (authenticity) in education in this case is very important, since an adult is capable of interpreting his own primary sources. Perhaps it is this interpretation that becomes the main result of the training. However, it is impossible not to take into account that usually the training of an adult is carried out in a situation of lack of personal time, therefore very precise regulation is necessary here, taking into account individual wishes and possibilities.

A truly subjective position in education at any age must be supported by the presence of the ability to learn, which does not arise by itself. The main features of the subject that distinguish the position of adulthood in modern learning are:

awareness of the information request, expressed in the understanding of the meaning and purpose of referring to this or that educational content and its sources;

commitment, providing for voluntary creative inclusion in the educational process;

the ability to (self) reflect on the content, process, learning outcomes;

critical thinking that allows you to adequately assess and adjust the course of training;

openness and decentralized thinking as the ability to take a plurality of views on the world, the surrounding reality, to see other points of view;

an interpretive culture that allows one to find and present to others one’s own meanings that are born as one masters the educational content;

independence in achieving positive educational results;

ability to learn in the system of intersubjective relations. The preparation of an adult person as a "person of knowledge" includes:

diagnosing and mastering his own natural informational and cognitive abilities and capabilities (such as thinking, memory, attention, perception modality, hemispheric dominance, productive time mode, priority educational strategies, comfortable forms of work; mastered ways of fixing educational information and extracting it from memory, learning stereotypes, etc.);

organization of reflection on the ownership of self-education technologies:

- ability to work with information flows;

- skills of taking notes, summarizing, accumulating and organizing information (compiling data files, databases, keeping a diary, video library, record library);

- possession of speed reading, stenography, mnemotechnical techniques;

development and expansion of a range of sources of educational information (libraries - home and public, lectures, the Internet, club associations, etc.);

analysis of resources and the dynamics of the development of their own information needs and requests, themselves as a subject of learning.

The property of subjectivity can have both an individual and a set of people united by common semantic and target aspirations. Being a social being consisting of "other people", an individual can periodically enter into communities of different scale, focused on educational activities. At the same time, within the aggregate subject of cognition and learning, the cognitive capabilities of each of us vary considerably.

In modern educational practice, there are various "scale" subjects:

group (as a special kind of it - doubles); corporate (as a type - collective), for example: a learning organization, company personnel;

frontal - a situationally formed, specially unstructured mass of participants at the same time, in one place included in an educational (educational) action, for example, in a lecture hall or museum;

integrative - all sorts of communities (professional, scientific, spiritual) as a specific community of people, discrete in time and space, connected by similar socio-cultural goals, the nature of relationships, traditional forms of exchanging necessary information, the ability to receive an aggregate, accumulating in time educational result; national diasporas;

network - formed on the basis of information and communication processes in global information networks such as the Internet.

The features of each of the subjects are described in sufficient detail in social psychology1 and must necessarily be taken into account when organizing educational activities.

Introduction to the andragogical context of the concept of "cumulative subject" suggests that a community of adults gathered in one place for educational purposes has a common property of subjectivity. It is obvious that they should form a common value-sense field, experience gained in joint activities, and similar emotional states. A necessary condition for this is the unity or coherence of the goal, as well as the conscious combining of the efforts of people, each of whom has a unique amount of knowledge, skills, experiences, which allows to obtain an integrated educational result.

When a trainee enters the composition of an aggregate subject, the corresponding types of connections with other people are activated, new ways of thinking and behavior are revealed. For an adult, even more than for a child, communication with their fellow practitioners, public recognition of their success in learning, and the opportunity to share their own experiences turn out to be important.

An adult usually gives preference to one or another form of study. There are those who like to choose individual routes, sometimes in virtual mode. Others, on the contrary, are more likely to study in a group with their colleagues, actively sharing their life experience and learning outcomes. The third is more comfortable frontal educational forms such as lectures.

From the theoretical and practical points of view for andragogy, the interest in adult learning extends to all kinds of subjects of the educational process. This is also an adult as a special phenomenon in the educational space with the most typical characteristics that distinguish it from a pupil-child. These are also separate groups of adults united by common educational issues and cognitive mechanisms by age, sex (men, women, elderly); on cultural and ethnic affiliation (representatives of diasporas, national minorities); on social status or life situation (unemployed, disabled, immigrant, prisoner); on the level of education (people with higher education, academic degree, adults who have not received secondary education); by functional and job responsibilities (top managers, technical staff, methodologists); on social and role characteristics (parents, students, readers, tourists, museum visitors); on socio-historical grounds (war veterans, blockade, participants in wars in peacetime). These are adults with various socio-educational characteristics, but situationally forming the aggregate subject of training in the framework of courses, educational programs, learning organization, communication in the global Internet.

For an andragogue - a person whose professional duty is to train an adult - the main task is to help his wards to form the prerequisites for self-determination and choosing their own route in the educational space, organizing their “educational journey”. Helping adults in learning, he should simultaneously consider several factors at once:

- existential problematics of a person of a certain age category;

- psychophysiological features of age with regard to gender;

- content-semantic orientation of educational activities (training, retraining, advanced training);

- the content of previous socio-cultural experience;

- established stereotypes of learning and communication;

- status (social, economic, service);

- specificity of individual information needs;

- educational time requests.

Tasks and questions for self-control

1. Appendix 4 provides a fragment of the developmentalization periodization scheme in ontogenesis, presented in the article by the well-known Russian psychologist V. I. Slobodchikov "Age category in psychology and development pedagogy" (Psychological questions. - 1991. - 2. - P. 44-49 ). Having studied the scheme, answer the following questions:

a) What educational tasks, in your opinion, are confronted by a modern adult on the steps of personalization, individualization, universalization?

b) which of these tasks are relevant to you personally?

2. Appendix 5 gives a fragment of the periodization of personality development (according to Andre Gendru). If you rely on this approach, what educational problems would you suggest to solve at each of the selected stages, from 18 to 70 years?

3. Choose from the circle of your acquaintances an adult who is currently studying somewhere and ask him to answer the following questions:

a) What caused him to continue his studies as an adult?

b) Does he feel comfortable in the “student” position?

c) What forms of education (lectures, seminars, workshops, discussions, etc.) does he like most of all?

d) Does he plan to continue his studies afterwards and why?

d) Does he know what is andragogy?

After analyzing the answers, make a "Portrait of an adult student."

Recommended literature

Antsiferova L.I. Psychological patterns in the development of the personality of an adult and the problems of continuing education // Psychological Journal. - 1980. - V. 1. - Љ 2.

Kulyutkin Yu.N. Psychology of adult learning. - M., 1985.

Kulyutkin Yu.N., Sukhobskaya G.S. Individual differences in the mental activity of adult students. - M., 1971.

Lesokhina L. N. To the society of educated people. - SPb., 1998.

Logunova L. B. Corporation as a type of social integration // Social Studies. - 1996. - Љ 12.

Maslow A. Psychology of Being: Trans. from English - M., 1997.

Osnitsky A.K. Problems of research of subject activity // Questions of psychology. - 1984. - Љ 1.

Polani M. Personal knowledge: Trans. from English / Ed. V.A. Lektorsky, V.I.Arshinova. - M., 1985.

Andragog workbook / Ed. S. G. Vershlovsky. - SPb., 1998.

Rudestam K. Group psychotherapy. - M., 1990.

Slobodchikov V.I., Isaev E.I. Human psychology: Introduction to the psychology of subjectivity: Proc. manual for universities. - M., 1995.

Shadrykov V.D. Activity and ability. - M., 1994.

Let us try to understand what this phenomenon is - “maturity” - and who is such an adult as the root of an ana-dragic concept. Unfortunately, for the post-school stage of life, a single scientific basis for the age classification practically does not exist. Обычно совокупные возрастные отличия задаются либо условно с помощью выделения количественных рамок (до 30, от 30 до 45, 65, после 75 лет и др.), либо традиционно: молодость, юность, зрелость, старость. Существуют также метафорические обозначения возрастных границ, такие, как "нежный возраст", "бальзаковский возраст", "возраст элегантности", пенсионный возраст, "третий возраст". Очевидно, что общественно-нормированная возрастная стратификация далеко не всегда совпадает с генетически обусловленными особенностями развития. В психофизиологии, например, различают хронологический возраст и биологический возраст. Хронологический возраст - количество времени (лет), прожитого от возникновения, рождения, или с момента появления, человеческого или иного существа на свет. Биологический возраст - период, ступень в росте, развитии, человека. Некоторыми учеными возраст человека понимается как форма его развития. При этом понятие о возрасте приобретает регулятивный смысл и конструируется в рамках определенной общественной практики, в которой немаловажное место занимает образование. "С психолого-педагогической точки зрения именно возраст является исходной единицей проектирования в сфере образования" (В.И.Слободчиков).

По мнению известного социолога И. С. Кона, возрастные категории имеют три системы отсчета, куда входят:

закономерности индивидуального развития (возможности человека, обусловленные его психобиологическими параметрами);

специфика возрастной стратификации общества (социокультурные нормативы для поколений и общественное представление о должном для каждого возраста);

принятая возрастная символика культуры (совокупность социальных ожиданий в сфере поведенческих актов, внешнего облика, форм отношений и др.).

Понятие "взрослый человек" имеет смысл рассмотреть в контексте его видовой многомерности. Сущность человека (человеческое качество) описывается в науке такими общепринятыми терминами, как "индивид", "личность", "субъект", "индивидуальность".

Индивид (от лат. individuum - неделимое) - характеристика каждого из нас как представителя человеческого рода, одного из многих.

Личность - порождение социокультурного контекста, особое качество человека, носителя социальных ролей, приобретаемое в ансамбле общественных отношений в процессе совместной деятельности и общения.

Субъект (от лат. subjectus - находящийся у основания) - носитель предметно-практической деятельности и познания, "активный делатель", источник осознанной, целенаправленной активности.

Индивидуальность - отражение уникальности, неповторимости конкретного человека в сочетании, соединении специфическим образом его индивидных, личностных, субъектных проявлений.

Будучи многомерным существом, взрослый человек в физиологическом, социально-психологическом и содержательном плане способен осуществлять свой индивидуальный вклад в развитие общества в самых различных направлениях:

- природном (продолжение рода, воспроизведение себя в детях);

- историко-социальном (участие в социальном производстве и общественной деятельности);

- культурном (сохранение, воспроизведение культурного опыта и культуротворчество);

- духовном (осознанное движение "за свои пределы" в духовных исканиях, приобщение к духовному опыту развития человечества).

Есть ученые, которые считают, что характеристика взрослого человека должна определяться не возрастным периодом или хронобиологическим возрастом (т.е. количественно), а состоянием осознанности своего бытия. Именно эту осознанность полнокровно-целостной, не разорванной суетными событиями жизни следует, пожалуй, рассматривать в качестве центрального критерия взрослости человека. Взрослость может проявляться также через осмысление своего места и роли в природном и социальном мире, через многообразную способность к проживанию разнородного опыта. Через выявление смысла жизни как цели собственного существования. Через приобретение целостности как трансцендентности, осуществляемой путем выхода за пределы собственного "Я", за границы социального и природного окружения. Через со- здание состояния корневой (родовой) остойчивости в собственном движении, развитии, самореализации. Через желание нести ответственность за то, что "Я" как человек есть, был или будет. За то, что "Я" как особь рода человеческого думаю, делаю, чувствую, ощущаю.

Таким образом, взрослость можно определить как качество жизнедеятельности, воплощающее способность к воспроизводству всей полноты бытия. Это не просто определенный период в жизни, но и особое состояние, сущностными признаками которого выступают осмысленность и ответственность за свои деяния. Существенную роль в обретении такого состояния играет образование. Это утверждение остается справедливым как для момента взросления (прощания с периодом детства и юношества), так и для "выхода" в период взрослости, называемый старостью, и да- лее - ухода из жизни. В этом смысле международный термин "life- long education" (обучение в течение жизни, или пожизненное обучение) является предельно точным.

Попытаемся разобраться в предпосылках, которые формируют социально-андрагогическую специфику обучения как деятельности взрослого человека. Потребность в обновлении информации является базовой человеческой потребностью и во многом определяет поведение каждого из нас.

Необходимость постоянного обновления знаний, умений, навыков, приобретения дополнительного образовательного опыта обусловлена:

- постоянным появлением в жизни взрослого человека проблем, решение которых требует от него дополнительного приобретения знаний, умений, навыков, опыта деятельности, смены установок, объективно становящихся источником мотивации к обучению;

- наличием у людей любого возраста своих информационных запросов;

- способностью человека к обучению независимо от его возраста, в силу природной динамики структур, отвечающих в организме за процессы обновления информации и позволяющих компенсировать последствия возрастного ослабевания, затухания рада познавательных функций;

- накоплением каждым из нас в ходе жизнедеятельности опыта, способного становиться содержательной основой образования для других и для себя (при условии его осмысления).

На разных этапах жизнедеятельности перед разными людьми /встают аналогичные задачи: самосохранения и развития как природного существа (продолжительность жизни, здоровье, воспитание потомства); реализации как существа социального (адаптация и мобильность на рынке труда), культурного (соответствие уровню развития культуры и цивилизации, современное представление о мире), духовно активного (экзистенциальная проблематика, самореализация, духовное развитие). Способность осознания и сохранения своей сущности в изменяющемся мире предстают как одна из главных задач жизни, которую невозможно решить вне контекста пожизненного образования. Что же должно стать универсальным содержанием такого образования?

Круг тем, предназначенных для обязательного освоения в ходе жизнедеятельности, обусловлен общностью для всех людей:

возрастной проблематики (кризисы возраста, гормональные эпохи);

последовательной смены образовательной ситуации (воспитанник детского сада, школьник, студент и т.д.);

принятия и смены аналогичных семейных ролей (дети, внуки - супруги - родители - теща, тесть, свёкр, свекровь - (пра) дедушка, (пра) бабушка и др.);

экзистенциональных кризисов (поиски смысла жизни);

типичных социальных и социально-психологических, стрессовых ситуаций (смена работы, переезд, миграция, уход из жизни близких, выход на пенсию и др.);

выполнения общественной миссии, носящей знаковый характер (служба в армии, работа в структурах власти); решения нравственных проблем, имеющих вечный характер (Добро и Зло, Благо, Долг и т.д.).

Кроме того, на фоне разнообразия информационных потребностей и запросов, отличающих сегодня взрослых и взрослеющих людей друг от друга, общее для всех (инвариантное) содержание обучения формируется в зависимости от потребностей времени.

Например, в настоящее время в структуру содержания обучения входят:

- формирование картины мира, адекватной уровню развития современного знания;

- умение работать с информационными потоками в условиях изменяющегося общества;

- культура коммуникации в системах "человек-человек", "человек-компьютер", "человек-компьютер- человек";

- освоение проектной деятельности как способа изменения действительности;

- освоение новых социально-экономических реалий;

- сохранение здоровья;

- изучение и освоение собственного человеческого потенциала развития;

- spiritual development in the noosphere era.

Being equally new and necessary for all, this content should be developed in parallel in the system of school, university and all types of adult education.

If we evaluate the acquired knowledge according to the degree of importance for the life of the subject, then we can distinguish the following quality characteristics:

anticipating (knowledge in store, anticipating the problems and situations that actually arise in life);

сопровождающие (знания, возникающие или предлагаемые извне параллельно появлению тех или иных типичных образовательных потребностей, обусловленных закономерностями в развитии жизненной проблематики);

компенсирующие (восполняющие нехватку образовательной либо общекультурной информации, необходимой для продуктивного прохождения данного периода жизнедеятельности);

корректирующие (обусловливающие изменения в личностных, поведенческих, коммуникативных и других проявлениях, не совпадающих с социально принятыми);

развивающие (служащие стимулом к индивидуально-личностному развитию);

поддерживающие (необходимые для решения отдельных проблем, успешного прохождения сложных периодов в жизни, помогающие преодолеть кризисные состояния); дополняющие (служащие содержательной прибавкой к имеющимся знаниям и обусловленные постоянным развитием внешнего информационного контекста). После того как мы аргументировали положение о том, что Взрослому человеку имеет смысл учиться в разные периоды своей жизни, попробуем выяснить, чем же его обучение как процесс Отличается от обучения ребенка. Взрослость распадается на несколько содержательно-смысловых этапов.

Первым из них (18 -30 лет) является молодость, характеризующаяся выходом в потенциальную полноту сущностных возможностей человека: он уже способен иметь семью

детей, участвовать в социально-трудовой и

социально-политической жизни общества. Практически перед ним открывается пространство всесторонней активности.

Это создает очень непростую и принципиально новую ситуацию стратегического выбора жизненного пути. Неслучайно в немецкой философской литературе период с 22 до 27 лет получил образное определение - "годы странствий". Причем за этим словосочетанием скрывается глубокий смысл: странствия не только в географическом, физическом пространстве, но прежде всего духовные искания, определяющие дальнейшую судьбу человека. В не меньшей степени этот период обычно становится временем проб и

ошибок, извлечения из опыта первых жизненных уроков. Второй этап - зрелость. В традиционном, бытовом толковании Понятие "зрелый" обычно соотносят с достижением определенного возраста. Зрелость также определяется через опыт, время, уровень развития, деятельность, соответствие определенным требованиям и др. (Значение слова "зрелый" - обдуманный, свидетельствующий об опытности; вполне сложившийся, достигший полного развития и т.п.) Во временном отношении зрелость чаще всего рассматривается как промежуток между молодостью и старостью - от 30 до 55 - 60 лет.

Понятие зрелости, по мнению многих исследователей, это не только и не столько физиологическая отметка состояния ресурсов человека. Различают разные виды зрелости - физиологическую, .психическую, социальную. Возраст зрелости отмечен прежде всего нравственным качеством, поэтому зрелые годы могут состояться у человека только при условии предшествующего многолетнего интеллектуального и духовного труда. Это своеобразный итог усилий стать человеком, проявить себя как личность. Это время предъявлять вовне, обществу, другим людям плоды своего жизненного творчества.

Мера социальной ответственности как один из важных показателей зрелости человека обозначена в Основном законе нашей страны - Конституции, где зафиксированы право 18-летних "самостоятельно осуществлять в полном объеме свои права и обязанности" (ст. 60), в том числе "избирать и быть избранным в органы государственной власти и органы местного самоуправления" (ст. 32); "заботиться о нетрудоспособных родителях", находясь в трудоспособном состоянии (ст. 38). По достижении 21 года граждане могут быть избраны депутатами Государственной Думы.

Следующий этап взрослости - пожилой возраст. Становление человека в пожилом возрасте значительно отличается от предыдущих этапов его жизни (пожилой, т. е. поживший, знающий толк в жизни). Это время "собирать камни", подводить итоги жизненного пути, оценивать приобретенный опыт, передавать его другим. Каждый человек, вступая в так называемый третий возраст, выбирает свою стратегию жизнедеятельности. Выйдя на пенсию, одни организуют и ведут домашнее хозяйство, активно участвуют в воспитании внуков, трудятся на дачных участках. Другие начинают бурную общественную деятельность, третьи, напротив, замыкаются в одиночестве.

Проблема образования пожилых людей с каждым годом приобретает в мире все большую социальную значимость в связи с эффектом старения населения многих развитых стран1. Как показывает практика, при наличии соответствующей мотивации пожилой человек способен успешно осваивать не изведанные ранее сферы деятельности, формировать новые или корректировать складывающиеся годами жизненные ориентации, овладевать новыми формами и кругом общения, нередко обретая при этом новые смыслы жизни. Вековой опыт показывает, что лишь в возрасте, который теперь принято называть третьим, перед человеком открывается возможность осваивать всю полноту способов и форм постижения мира. Это может быть философское, научное, религиозное познание, художественное или техническое творчество, проникновение в глубину национальной культуры и традиций. Во многом содержательное наполнение жизни в пожилом возрасте определено предыдущим образовательным и культурным опытом, накопленным человеком.

Переход пожилого человека к состоянию старости очень индивидуален. Несмотря на необратимые физиологические изменения предъявлять вовне, обществу, другим людям плоды своего жизненного творчества.

Проблема образования пожилых людей с каждым годом приобретает в мире все большую социальную значимость в связи с эффектом старения населения многих развитых стран. Как показывает практика, при наличии соответствующей мотивации пожилой человек способен успешно осваивать не изведанные ранее сферы деятельности, формировать новые или корректировать складывающиеся годами жизненные ориентации, овладевать новыми формами и кругом общения, нередко обретая при этом новые смыслы жизни. Вековой опыт показывает, что лишь в возрасте, который теперь принято называть третьим, перед человеком открывается возможность осваивать всю полноту способов и форм постижения мира. Это может быть философское, научное, религиозное познание, художественное или техническое творчество, проникновение в глубину национальной культуры и традиций. Во многом содержательное наполнение жизни в пожилом возрасте определено предыдущим образовательным и культурным опытом, накопленным человеком.

Переход пожилого человека к состоянию старости очень индивидуален. Несмотря на необратимые физиологические изменения организма, происходящие у каждого по-своему, период старости может быть отмечен подлинной мудростью, становящейся источником жизненного опыта и знаний для окружающих. Люди, сумевшие к этому времени сделать существенный вклад в развитие науки, техники, культуры, образования, независимо от возраста служат нравственным ориентиром для молодого поколения и для тех, кто находится на начальных ступенях образования, способного длиться всю жизнь.

Во многих странах образованием пожилых занимаются специализированные учреждения: академии для пожилых, университеты для пенсионеров, университеты третьего возраста, курсы для работников, собирающихся на пенсию, и др. Ведутся поиски в области обеспечения этой категории населения специальными образовательными текстами. Так, в Китае уже несколько изданий выдержала единственная в мире однотомная энциклопедия для пенсионеров. В ней рассматривается свыше 2000 тем, особенно важных для пожилых людей. Четырнадцать разделов энциклопедии содержат основные данные и практические советы по вопросам геронтологии, личной гигиены, диеты, косметологии, а также конкретные рекомендации по участию пенсионеров в общественной жизни.

It is customary to distinguish three main types of thinking: imaginative, verbal-logical and visual-effective (practical).

With age, the content of information requests undergoes changes in content, and the dynamics of these changes are different for men and women. As an example, consider the data of studies conducted in the 90s of the XX century by scientists of the Institute of Education of the Russian Academy of Education1.

In the period of 18-25 years, characterized by the need for professional choice, adaptation to work, development of individual forms of its implementation, men mostly want to get additional information related to the sphere of work, as well as areas related to the success of their career (foreign language, computer, economics organization of work, interaction with colleagues).

Questions of health, culture, family (up to 40 years) play a secondary role in the system of their educational needs. In women of this age, in addition to the desire to get an education in the field of professional activity, health and family problems occupy a much higher rank than men. This situation is preserved for them in the subsequent period - 35 - 40 years, which indicates the functional specialization clearly expressed in educational needs.

Since 40 years and until the end of life in both men and women, the need to obtain additional information about the preservation and strengthening of health comes to the fore. This is quite natural. In the second place for men, there remains a cognitive interest in the field of professional activity, while for women the need for training in this area abruptly retreats to the distant plan (4th place - in the period 41 - 55 years and the penultimate - after 56 years) .

Some differences are also observed in the motivation of the educational needs of men and women. For example, for the field of postgraduate education, following the general motive of the possibility of improving the material situation for men are the desire for professional achievement, public respect and recognition (external orientation), and for women - the desire for self-expression, self-development, high creative cognitive activity (internal orientation) 1 . The situation of embedded education in the content of the vital activity of an adult person with the necessity puts him in an active position of the subject of education. The category "subject" is one of the central philosophical categories from the time of Aristotle to the present day. Having received a new impetus to development in the domestic psychological science of the 20th century. (S.L. Rubinshtein, K.A. Abulkhanova-Slavskaya, A. V. Brushlinsky, V. A. Lektorsky, etc.) along with the categories “individual”, “personality”, “individuality”, it is one of the qualitative characteristics of the manifestation of human nature.

In the philosophical sense, the subject is the carrier of conscious activity, knowing and transforming the outer and inner world in the ideal and the subject-practical activity (S.L. Rubinstein, B.G. Ananyev). The true subject has full control over the structure of the activity in which he participates, ranging from the awareness of its motives and goals to obtaining a result and the ability to evaluate it and correct the entire course of its actions based on reflection. An adult acts as a subject with his own self-awareness and autonomy insofar as he masters the volume of culture, ways of professional activity, forms of cultural interaction with people, is aware of his human essence. And this is impossible without education. In the 1970s, the “subject” category of pedagogy penetrated through the system of philosophical and psychological knowledge (GI Shchukin, V.V. Gorshkova) and was perceived by both theorists and practitioners uneasy. This is not surprising if we recall that in classical didactics in relation to the participants of the pedagogical process for centuries the opposition "subject-object" was firmly legalized. It was always about the need to transfer (broadcast) knowledge, experience, activities and relationships, culture from teacher to student. However, it is for the adult education system that the concept of "subject" could not be more relevant.

In the European educational tradition, the movement towards independence, subjectivity, ability to self-development and self-determination has always been considered a special value.

Being an "active worker", the subject contains the bases of his activity inside - in the meanings, values, needs. They act as the main incentive and guide to learning. The most important property, reflecting the specificity of the subject, is his ability to master the variety of forms of his own life activity. She received the name of subjectivity. No less important for the organization of training is such a property as subjectivity - a derivative of the specifics of the cognitive capabilities and abilities of a particular subject. The manifestation of subjectivity in cognitive activity is organically inherent in the human being, since the need for updating information and information retrieval is for it one of the basic ones.