University Teaching and Learning in Educational Sciences: The Case of Andragogy in the Czech Republic

Abstract

The de-ideologisation of Czech higher education was accompanied by many other changes after 1990 in the Czech Republic. In the context of local and global educational policy, this paper presents three periods of development of the educational sciences including andragogy in Czech higher education after 1990, showing how changes influenced university teaching quality. In the research part, the study concentrates on changes made by the actors – notably professors/associate professors – involved in the development of the educational sciences in the Czech Republic since the 1990s. The analysis of the semi-structured interviews shows that the change in educational sciences was framed by limited access to foreign literature and significant personnel changes, including the return of qualified academics. The promotion of andragogy in the Czech Republic demanded the development of methodology and a critical approach to adult learning. For individual academics, the new focus privileged research over teaching, though interaction with students remains central for the interviewees.

Keywords

• De-ideologization; teaching; university; andragogy; leaders of educational sciences