Adult Education Through a Personal and Professional Lens

Modern society places ever-growing demands on our ability to learn and adapt. In this context, adult education is not just an opportunity—it is a necessity. Our trainers, who work closely with adult learners every day, witness firsthand how transformative education can be. Today, we share an inspiring statement from Svjetlana Tubić, a Master of Andragogy and adult education trainer. For over a decade, she has been delivering andragogical training for teachers and actively participating in key events in the field of adult education across the country and the region:

“Globalization and the rapid advancement of science and technology in the 21st century have completely changed the way the world functions. Humanity has never before experienced such profound changes at this pace.
The accelerated development of technology continuously affects all aspects of our lives—how we live, grow, and work. It has also dramatically transformed education, reshaping how we teach and learn. For today’s individual, this means a constant need for learning, improvement, and acquiring new knowledge and skills.
That is why, if we say we are living in a ‘new reality,’ we can confidently say that adult education is the ‘new reality’ in the world of education.
At the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century, the teaching process in Bosnia and Herzegovina was still largely shaped by traditional methods, characterized by rote and frontal instruction. As a result, adult education programs delivered in such a way had little to no chance of success from the outset.
In addition to requiring tailored curricula and teaching methods to meet the specific needs of adult learners—who come with diverse levels of knowledge, experience, and goals—adult education also demands highly qualified educators. The competence of teaching staff is one of the most important factors in learner satisfaction and the overall quality of the educational process.
An adult education teacher is not, and cannot be, merely a transmitter of knowledge. They are also a moderator, facilitator, instructor, and group leader—an educator with many new roles, each requiring a wide range of competencies essential for successful adult learning.
That is why andragogical training plays a key role in preparing qualified and competent educators for adult education in our country. Officially recognized andragogical training is an essential form of professional development, designed to strengthen existing and develop new generic and specific competencies needed for working with adult learners.
For me, encountering adult education truly marked a transition into a new reality. The shift in perspective that occurred—though I cannot pinpoint exactly when—led to a transformation both professionally and personally. New insights completely changed my view on the importance of education, especially adult education, and took me, a professor of English language and literature, into the field of andragogy. After completing my master’s studies, I am now a doctoral candidate at the Department of Pedagogy and Andragogy at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade.”