The dissertation deals with comparatively pedagogical aspects of the development of adult education in Slovakia (second half of XX – beginning of XXI century) in the European historical and cultural context against the background of global challenges of the present.
The results of the analysis of the key concepts of the study show that adult education in Slovakia is a holistic system of professional adult training in the conditions of a global, competitive labor market based on a qualification-competent approach, which determines the importance of the results of formal, non-formal and informal education and meets the requirements of the European educational paradigm training of specialists.
Conceptual bases of development of adult education in the Slovak Republic are grounded on the basis of the doctrines of American and English andragogical schools, philosophical and pedagogical ideas of humanistic-liberal, transformative and postmodern theories of adult education. Based on the analysis of structural and substantive characteristics of adult education, three forms of its functioning (formal, non-formal and informal) have been identified in the framework of further education (vocational, requalification, continuous personal education and civic education) through the system of multi-vector institutions of adult education, vocational training institutions, retraining centers, on-the-job training, etc.).
It has been proven that Slovakia’s integration into a single European educational space has led to the acceleration of the process of creation and dissemination of mass open online education courses, which has necessitated the validation of formal, non-formal and informal adult learning outcomes within the European Qualifications Framework. The mechanisms for recognizing adult learning outcomes in the Slovak Republic are the Single European Qualifications Framework (Europass) and the European Credit Transfer System for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET).
The system of training of specialists in the field of adult education in Slovakia is characterized, which is carried out on the basis of interdisciplinary andragogical, qualification and competence approaches. The content of the training consists of special and general educational subjects that form a special (andragogical), methodological, social-psychological, differential-psychological, reflective and individual-personal competence of a specialist in the field of adult education. The fundamental basis of the activities of the andragogue are three system-forming components: object-content, design-technological and organizational-diagnostic.
The perspectives of creative use in Ukraine of the positive Slovak experience of adult education in order to modernize the national education system are outlined. The necessity of adopting the bill «On Adult Education» and the Concept of Adult Education Development were proved; dissemination of experience of creation of innovative type institutions with provision of educational services to different categories of adult population; developing mechanisms for recognizing, evaluating and validating the results of non-formal and formal learning; the transition to a personalized model of professional development of teaching staff with the provision of individualized educational programs. An urgent public need for further professionalization of adult education by training specialists in the field of andragogy has been identified.
