The formation of andragogy, the development of andragogy as a university programme and the training of adult education providers before and after Slovenian independence

Abstract

The author analyses the formation of andragogy, the development of andragogy as a university programme and the training of adult education providers in Slovenia when it was still a part of Yugoslavia and after it became an independent country. The article is based on available historical sources and the biographical method. The author has found that in former Yugoslavia, andragogy was formed primarily on the needs in practice. Both andragogy as a university programme and the education and training of adult education providers in Slovenia were formed based on what was needed because without generalising and discovering the basic principles and characteristics of phenomena, practice would begin to decline as well. When Slovenia was still part of Yugoslavia, the development of andragogy was influenced not only by local circumstances within the republic itself, but also by the newest findings on adult education worldwide, certain institutional models, as well as by (the most) significant actors (univeristy professors) in the field of adult education in global terms. Because education is phenotypic, the author finds that under the influence of globalisation, andragogy will have to adapt to new social circumstances dictated by the present.