Professional education in the context of knowledge based economy / ed. Renata Tomaszewska-Lipiec

Abstract

Education and economy seen as two separate areas of human activity are becoming a certain whole joined by knowledge that is all the information about the surrounding reality together with the ability to use it. Without any doubt this integration is favoured by shaping, since the beginning of the XXth and XXst centuries, a new model of economy referred to as knowledge based economy, in which knowledge – created, distributed and put into practice – becomes a certain product, independent entity being a base for the world’s development. Education is still important for its creation, especially vocational education, however in a changed form as opposed to the following words ‘a human being learns throughout his life, apart from school years’. Any phenomena and processes connected with the development of knowledge based economy can be analysed both from the perspective of school and out of school (extracurricular) system of education; they refer to both young people and adults. As P.F. Drucker writes, in the new economy: ‘People(…) will be forced to acquire: the ability of personal development, learn how to keep energy and activity of mind through the whole period of their lasting fifty years time of work. They will be forced to decide about what to change in their work and when to implement these changes to be able to act effectively in the changing work environment’. Education, especially vocational one should prepare for such a management of oneself in the conditions of civilization changes. It can be thus assumed that it has to adjust itself to the needs of the knowledge economy. The pointed above areas were the base for starting reflections in the environment of pedagogy which resulted in this publication. In the presented book initiated were problems of chances and threats of vocational education resulting from the development of knowledge based economy. The contents of the book presented to the reader involve both theoretical consid-erations, as well as some empirical research results conducted by the Authors, interested in these problems, from Poland, Bulgaria, Russia and Ukraine. The book was divided into three complementing parts: ‘Civilization challenges and vocational education’, ‘Directions of vocational education development in the conditions of the new economy’, ‘Adults’ vocational education a condition for building new economy’. All of the problems undertaken in the book make a set of interdisciplinary issues for which pedagogy of workremains a core discipline. It is pedagogy of work that refers to both theoretical considerations, as well as empirical research concerning the relationships between education, knowledge based economy and job market. Professional education seems to be the factor which connects all these issues.