The concept of environment in andragogical literature and university education of andragogues

Abstract

This paper is based on the assumption that to facilitate the contribution of andragogy and adult education to the processes of "societal transformation", we as researchers and university teachers are required to question our own understanding and integration of the concept of the environment as one of the key dimensions of sustainable development in this area. The paper starts by asking the following questions: In what way are the environment and the relation of the human kind and environment conceptualized in andragogical literature? Does the integration of this concept contribute to the disappearance or the balance of knowledge about the environment within adult education, in a general sense and in university education, in particular, and in what way does it contribute? In our search for answers, we employed the qualitative trend analysis to conceptualize the environment in the works of authors in the field of environmental adult education, originating from the last decade of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century. We shall analyse terminological and conceptual relations among environmental and ecological constructs, as well as their relation to the concept of sustainable development.