The development of the professionalism of adult educators

Abstract

To investigate the development of the professionalism of adult educators, we compare individuals' narratives of their professional work at different times in their biographies.Using data from a qualitative longitudinal study, the paper includes two case studies through which we show phases of learning in the development of professionalism. We reconstruct forms and meanings of learning in this process. The study allows insights into differences in professional learning during the life course and the influence of institutional and social context in the development of professionalism.

Professional elementary teachers in the digital era: A systematic literature review

“…Because the development of these professional qualities is inextricably linked to personal growth [66], as a result of the learning process, the concept of professionalism is required. Referring to the learning approach also refers to the process of becoming a professional teacher during a teacher's career [32].…”

Professionalization of the Field of Adult Education in Former Yugoslavia

“…What can be seen though in many cases, is an intense debate on the competencies and skills needed by people working in certain jobs in the field of adult education. (Nuissl, 2009, p. 129) This insufficiency has recently been partially overcome by the research of a number of authors (Egetenmeyer and Käpplinger, 2018;Drakulić, 2010;Ovesni, 2009;Jütte, Nicoll and Olesen, 2011;Maier-Gutheil and Hof, 2011). Jütte et al (2011), who describe professionalism as the quality improvement of a profession during the process of professionalisation, have noticed the tendency of certain authors researching the professionalism of adult educators/andragogues to follow the way that the European Commission emphasises the functional markers of professionalism -increasing competence, quality and qualification, and disregarding other important markers, e.g.…”

“…the formal, university professional preparation of members of the profession, or professional autonomy. Studies centred around the professionalism of adult educators/andragogues that deal with the possibility of the elimination of under-prepared or inadequately prepared human resources in the field, that omitted to put (at least additional) focus on the development of professional ethical codes, regardless of the research paradigm they adopted, are still widely spread among researchers in the field of AEL (Bechtel, 2008;Hartig, 2008;Nittel, 2000;Peters, 2004, as cited in Maier-Gutheil andHof, 2011).…”

Developing Online Language Teaching

“…Large-scale quantitative studies have investigated the situation of teachers in adult education (Buiskool et al, 2009;Research voor Beleid & PLATO, 2008), a sector which is characterized by a high number of part-time staff. Small-scale qualitative studies have explored the professional development of teachers in a similar context (Maier-Gutheil & Hof, 2011). However, none of these studies is particularly concerned with language teaching, a gap that we attempt to fill with this chapter.…”