Ο ρόλος του εκπαιδευτή ενηλίκων

«Επειδή οι οικονομικές, τεχνολογικές αλλά και οι κοινωνικές δομές ασκούν βαθύτατη επίδραση στην εκπαίδευση, ειδικά στην παρούσα περίσταση της οικονομικής κρίσης και της διάρρηξης του κοινωνικού ιστού, ο ρόλος του εκπαιδευτή ενηλίκων διαγράφεται ιδιαίτερα σημαντικός. Ουσιαστικά οι εκπαιδευτές καλούνται να μεταδώσουν στους εκπαιδευόμενους τμήματα του ιδεολογικού και αξιολογικού συστήματος. Πρέπει  να  τους βοηθήσουν να αντιμετωπίσουν τα όποια εμπόδια και να παρακολουθήσουν την εκπαιδευτική διαδικασία, υπό το πρίσμα των κοινωνικοπολιτισμικών επιρροών που οι ίδιοι οι ενήλικοι εκπαιδευόμενοι  δέχτηκαν σε όλη τους την ζωή αλλά και  εκείνων που δέχονται τώρα από τους υπεύθυνους της εκπαίδευσης ενηλίκων.

Στην εκπαίδευση ενηλίκων σχηματίζονται μαθησιακές ομάδες, μη τυπικές, εθελοντικές και συμμετοχικές. Τα εμφανή και μη εμφανή στοιχεία χαρακτηρίζουν τις ομάδες αυτές. Στα  εμφανή-συμφωνημένα στοιχεία εκ των προτέρων ανήκει ο ρόλος του εκπαιδευτή.(Μ. Πολέμη- Τοδούλου,2005:94). 
Ο Rogers  διακρίνει για τον εκπαιδευτή ενηλίκων 4 ρόλους:  αρχηγός της ομάδας, εκπαιδευτής – φορέας της αλλαγής, μέλος της ομάδας, «κοινό», έξω από την ομάδα. Κοινό σημείο των περισσότερων μελετητών του εκπαιδευτή ενηλίκων είναι  ότι δεν πρόκειται απλά για έναν φορέα της γνώσης, όπως συνέβαινε στο παρελθόν αλλά για τον συντονιστή της διαδικασίας μάθησης .Ο ρόλος του εκπαιδευτή έχει πολλές όψεις:

*   Αυξάνει την προσωπική ανάπτυξη  του  εκπαιδευόμενου

*   λειτουργεί ως παράγοντας αλλαγής,

*   ως προγραµµατιστής-συντονιστής και

*   ως σύµβουλος.

Ο εκπαιδευτής των προγραμμάτων εκπαίδευσης ενηλίκων είναι ο σημαντικότερος συντελεστής της οργάνωσής τους.»

 ΚΑΠΕΛΛΟΥ  ΒΙΚΗ  ©
(BA Ελληνική Φιλολογία, MA Εκπαίδευση Ενηλίκων)


Βιβλιογραφικές Αναφορές

Πολέμη-Τοδούλου Μ., (2005), Μεθοδολογία Εκ-παίδευσης Ενηλίκων. Τόμος Γ: Η Αξιοποίηση της Ομάδας στην Εκπαίδευση Ενηλίκων. Πάτρα. Ελληνικό Ανοικτό Πανεπιστήμιο.

Rogers A., (1999), Η Εκπαίδευση Ενηλίκων.Αθήνα. Μεταίχμιο


EN

Today, I have the honour to host Vicky Kapellou, Philologist, Adult Educator, former Head of Schools for Parents , Mainland Greece. With her wide professional experience in teaching Greek but also as formal assessor of Greek, always eager, affable, committed and meticulous, Vicky shares with you her dynamic approach to the subject she has been supporting tirelessly. It is a great pleasure to have Vicky as the first-time guest on my website.


"The Role of the Adult Educator"

"As the economic, technological and social structures exert profound influences on education, especially in the current situation of economic crisis, the role of the adult educator is viewed as crucial. In essense, adult educators are invited to convey to learners messages about the ideological and evaluative social system. Educators need to help their adult learners cope with possible obstacles and watch their educational process in light of all the sociocultural influences these learners receive throughout their lives but also those present influences they are faced with in their contemporary educational set-up. 

In adult education, learning groups are shaped in different forms - nonformal, voluntary and participatory. 
These groups are characterised by obvious and non-obvious features. The role of the Educator has an obvious, pre-agreed element. (M. Polemi-Todoulou, 2005: 94)
Rogers distinguishes four roles for the adult educator: team leader, trainer - changemaker, group member, "audience", outsider.

Most scholars come to agree that Adult Educators are not simply carriers of knowledge, as in the past, but also coordinators of the learning process. The role of the Educator is multi-facetted:

* They contribute to their learners' personal development.

* They act as agents of change, 

* They contribute as programmers and coordinators

* They act as a consultant

* Adult educators are the most important factor of organisation."

Vicky Kapellou ©
(BA Greek Literature, MA in Adult Education)


- (Translated by H. Galani)

Dynamic learning, as contrasted with static learning is not mechanical, encourages personal involvement, language production, knowledge sharing and learner-directed authenticity. 

In the world we live in, almost everything is taken as a sign, with consequent meanings, leading to a wide range of interpretations. With the wide range of texts available, the adult instructor is spoilt for choice driven by the urge to engage the learner and stimulate areas of the mind, from imagination to emotion, and go from provision of information to involvement, affective learning and interaction. The use of representational texts, any type of Literature or literature, engage the learner's cognate function and imaginative faculties.
 
While representational and ideational materials make use of learners' capacities for self-awareness and self-actualisation, referential language informs and requires memory of vocabulary, syntax or of grammatical forms acting as a very basic framework for communicative survival.  Referential language also does matter but learners need to be encouraged not only to take words literally but also to reconstruct meanings and personalise text. 
 
The use of newspaper extracts or a video clip may shy away the more traditional teacher with clear-cut linguistic objectives but it stimulates those who wish to go beyond mechanical processes, to activate language in use or to develop skills integration and transversal competences.
Foreign language students deserve to have their teacher's awareness of the possibilities of an authentic text being studied while, at the same time, the aim of our teaching is reinforced; ie to activate the whole person towards self-realisation, self-empowerment, helping the learner bring out all their linguistic, social and philosophocal values. Change and development in learning attitudes, respect for the adult learner's limitations and pragmatic knowledge are essential considerations towards determining teaching processes and content.

Underhill it was who defined 'process' as the way in which the content of the lesson, syllabus and curriculum are taught and learnt from the point of view of the learner and how the content can become directly relevant to the lives of the learners. 

The personal context in which the learner interprets their educational experience determines assimilation and accommodation of the learning input. Learning ideally takes place through participation not only during class time but also through extended involvement outside class and even after the duration of the course. Rejection can happen during the given short period of time but should encourage reflexion on the student's part as to how best to amelioratie 'on' time to drive themselves to cognitive assimilation through strategies instilled by the educator or discovered by the learner personally and individually. 


From personal experience in Life-long learning and Adult Education in Greece, any observation takes the learning process a little further to promote longer-term learning benefits.  Adult learners tend to remain firmly attached to their coursebook and grammar books. However, they need to be given more chances to move from rigid contexts in order to experience language in its more creative aspects.



For further Reading

- Carter, R. “Response to special issue of applied linguistics devoted to Language creativity in everyday context,” Applied Linguistics, 2007, vol. 28, no. 4, pp. 597-609
- McRae, J. (1991) 'Literature with a small 'l', London: Macmillan
- Underhill, A. 'Process in humanistic education' in ELT Journal 1989, 43/4