The broadening use of the concepts of lifelong and lifewide learning has opened space for exploring learning processes beyond official educational institutions providing formal education. Environments where adults learn intensively in both informal and non-formal ways include businesses. The specific environment of family businesses is an attractive research topic in the context of intergenerational learning and consistent with the concept of workplace learning (Evans, Hodkinson, Rainbird, & Unwin, 2006; Novotný, 2009). A family business is a place where intergenerational learning is a necessary and desirable part of its everyday operation. One might even speculate that the success of the family business depends to a certain extent on intergenerational learning among the employees, who happen to be family members. This aspect of family businesses has not yet received research interest in the Czech Republic. This chapter presents findings concerning intergenerational learning interactions in family businesses, what initiates these learning interactions, and their form and content. The findings are then related to organizational culture, i.e. the culture of the family business.
Adult education as a part of lifelong learning is nowadays the topic emphasised in all documents concerning educational policy, employment policy, and human resources development in the Czech Republic. Older empirical data indicate, however, that the participation of the Czech adult population in programmes of adult learning is not very common. The aim of this article, which is based on a special representative survey, 'Adult Learning 2005', is to confront how far Czech reality is from the ideal concepts of 'lifelong learning' and a 'learning society'. The authors pursue three questions: 1) To what extent is it true that education in the Czech Republic is a lifelong affair? 2) Does education of this kind occur on both a formal and non-formal level? 3) Do the Czechs engage in lifelong education, regardless of age, attained level of education, gender, and occupational status? Empirical data reveal that, despite the fact that Czech educational authorities give formal support to adult education, reality 'in the field' is somewhat different. Education in the Czech Republic is still not lifelong; if it exists it occurs mainly within the framework of non-formal education, and only higher educated people and those with some experience in adult education participate in it.
Příspěvek navazuje na článek publikovaný v časopise Studia paedagogica 2009/2, kde byl ve stručnosti představen koncept mezigeneračního učení a dále byla zmapována nabídka kurzů a programů neformálního vzdělávání, které mohou představovat pro členy rodin různých generací příležitost vzájemně se učit. Vytvořený přehled je nyní odrazovým můstkem k dalšímu detailnějšímu zkoumání toho, co lidi do kurzů přivádí, co jim účast v kurzech přináší, jak hodnotí účast lidí z různých generací a jak vnímají mezigenerační učení. Tento detailnější vhled je založen na výsledcích dotazníkového šetření mezi účastníky kurzů neformálního vzdělávání, a to ze tří generací: rodičů, prarodičů a dospělých dětí, nikoli však z jedné rodiny. Jejich výpovědi jsou mezigeneračně srovnávány, případně konfrontovány s výsledky jiných výzkumů. and The contribution continues an article briefly introducing the concept of intergenerational learning, published in the 2009/2 issue of Studia Paedagogica. The article reviewed the offer of the courses and programmes of non-formal education as opportunities for family members of various generations to learn among each other. The review became the starting point of further exploration of what motivates people to take up the courses, what they gain in them, how they judge the participation of people of various generations, and how they perceive intergenerational learning. A more detailed view like this is based on a questionnaire survey among the participants of the courses of non-formal education, of three different generations: parents, grandparents and grown-up children, though not of one and the same family. Their responses are compared among each other and, in some case, confronted with the results of other surveys.
This article aims to identify, measure, and deeply understand the educational trajectories of non-traditional students (students over the age of 26 who are enrolled following a break in their formal educational trajectory) studying for education degrees in the Czech Republic. To fulfill the aims, we adapted previously identified types of educational trajectories that are traveled by non-traditional students to the circumstances of the Czech higher education system. We measured the distribution of three types (deferrers, returners, and recurrent learners) in a sample of 713 non-traditional students. We found that the types were nearly evenly distributed, with a slight prevalence of deferrers. For a deeper understanding of these types, we analyzed 30 narrative interviews. Qualitative data revealed each group's specific features, including their attitudes toward higher education studies, their academic enculturation, and their academic skills. We suggest that the returner type should be split into two categories for more specific quantitative analysis. On the basis of our research, we offer tailored recommendations for supporting particular groups of non-traditional students.
Příspěvek přináší některé z výsledků tříletého výzkumného projektu "Mezigenerační učení: děti, rodiče a prarodiče v neformálním vzdělávání a v informálním učení". Zaměřuje se na mezigenerační učení v rodině, a to v pohledu tří zúčastněných generací. Nejprve vyjasňuje argumenty, které stojí za zvýšenou pozorností věnovanou v posledních letech v mezinárodním kontextu mezigeneračnímu učení, jako jsou demografické okolnosti (stárnoucí společnost), proměny rodiny (variabilita ve struktuře a vztazích) a celoživotní učení (potřeba kontinuity na pozadí změny). Dále se zaměřuje na vybrané výsledky z empirického výzkumu metodologicky založeného na smíšeném designu, jimiž je identifikace rolí rodinných "edukátorů". and This paper presents another set of results of Intergenerational learning: children, parents and grandparents in non-formal education and informal learning, a three-year research project focusing on intergenerational learning in the family from the viewpoints of three participating generations. First, it clarifies the arguments behind the increased international attention that has recently been paid to intergenerational learning such as demographic factors (the ageing society), changes in the family (variability in family structures and relationships) and lifelong learning (need for change-based continuity). Then the study focuses on selected results of empirical research based on a mixed design methodology, identifying the roles of family educators.