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The workshop on counselling and guidance within the International
Conference on ”Qualifying the actors in adult and continuing education”
is about one of the fields of work in which adult and continuing
education is situated. This field of work is not a traditional one and
is growing. Counselling means to help an individual or a group to solve
learning problems and find solutions and plans for a future. Usually
counselling was the sphere or domain of psychologists, but more and more
adult educationists are taking counselling for its own a programme.
Guidance is even more a pedagogical term than psychological. It denotes
a practical use of counselling, leading and directing, advising,
influencing, etc. thus is a very educational or pedagogical concept. In
practice it means to test people and give them advice where to go and
how to move within a market of education.
Often counselling is on a level of an individual seeking help to find
best solution for his/her learning. The diversity of forms, contents and
methods within adult and continuing education is enormous and the
systematisation of them is lacking. For adults it is a difficult task to
choose a proper ways or directions of learning. Counselling and guidance
are such fields, which are responsible for directing adults to specific
chances or occasions that they can fulfil learning goals or dreams. This
sphere of work is expanding, because adults are coming with diverse
experiences and knowledge and they have their individual needs to be
taken care of. In addition we speak within European Union of APEL –
Assessment of Prior Experiential Learning ort Validation of knowledge.
These measures are used both in vocational and general adult education,
and moreover in higher education. Flexibility of learning, free choice
and individual learning plan are contributing to the need of even more
guidance and counselling.
This workshop will address the issues mentioned here. And more
specific it will look at the following questions:
- What is the role of counselling and guidance within the field of
adult and continuing education?
- What are the practices across Europe in the field of counselling
and guidance in adult and continuing education and what are the
professional competences needed in this field?
- What kind of research is it done in this field and what is
needed to find out?
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