The object of research is the professional training of adults in technical institutions of higher education in the Italian Republic. The purpose of the study is to analyze the legal framework, content, forms, methods and pedagogical support of adult training in technical universities of the Italian Republic at the formal and informal levels, to identify constructive ideas of the Italian experience and justify their creative use in higher education in Ukraine.
Research methods: general scientific (analysis, synthesis, comparison, generalization), thanks to which on the basis of domestic and foreign sources on the researched problem the peculiarities of the organization of professional training of adults in Italy and in Ukraine were determined; specific-scientific: terminological analysis - for the formation of the conceptual apparatus of research; structural and functional analysis, which allowed to determine the structure, content, forms, methods of adult training; comparative analysis, which made it possible to identify similar and different features of the organization of adult training in technical institutions of higher education in Italy and Ukraine; method of scientific extrapolation, which made it possible to outline the possibilities of borrowing progressive ideas of the Italian experience in the Ukrainian pedagogical space; special approaches: andragogical approach, which allowed to define the basic concepts of research, to highlight the features of adult learning and to analyze the organizational and pedagogical principles of adult training from the standpoint of the basic provisions of andragogy; a systematic approach that made it possible to consider adult vocational training as part of the continuing vocational education system in Italy; prognostic approach, which allowed to outline the prospects of creative use of ideas and positive experience of technical universities in Italy for the training of adults in higher education institutions of Ukraine.
The scientific novelty of the study is that: - for the first time in the domestic pedagogical science the organizational and pedagogical principles (normative-legal and procedural components) of professional training of adults in technical institutions of higher education of Italy at formal and informal levels are analyzed; the comparative analysis of normative-legal maintenance, the maintenance, forms and methods of professional training of adults in the Italian and domestic technical establishments of higher education is carried out and similar and different are allocated; constructive ideas of the Italian experience are revealed and possibilities of their creative use in institutions of higher education of Ukraine are outlined; - the essence of the basic concepts of the research is specified, namely: "adult participating in vocational training", "vocational training", as well as related concepts "formal education", "non-formal education"; - further development of the specifics of the organization of vocational training of adults in lifelong perspective; innovative approaches to the organization of the process of adult learning at the formal and informal levels in higher education institutions.
Practical results - the main provisions of the dissertation were used in the development of scientific and methodological manual "Implementation of European pedagogical experience in the Ukrainian educational space", which substantiates the possibility of using constructive ideas of Italian experience of adult training in domestic technical institutions of higher education at formal and informal levels. The research materials are integrated into the content of academic disciplines "Andragogy", "Higher School Pedagogy", "Modern Teaching Technologies". The main results of scientific research can be used in the development of training programs for adult training and retraining; topics of research work for students and graduate students of pedagogical specialties, updating of educational and methodical complexes of professionally-oriented disciplines.
The conclusions obtained in the course of the research can be used by scientists to conduct comparative research, heads of structural units to create and update resource support for the process of vocational training of adults.
