Współcześnie, dorośli z racji intensywnego życia zawodowego i niewielkiej ilości wolnego czasu większą uwagę przywiązują do tego, by czas wolny od pracy spędzać w sposób pozwalający im zdobyć nowe umiejętności czy kompetencje. Coraz częściej także dorośli chcą spędzać swój czas efektywnie i robić to, na co w trakcie edukacji formalnej nie miały czasu. Naprzeciw potrzebom edukacyjnym obywateli wychodzą lokalne instytucje kulturalne (m.in. biblioteki i domy kultury), które oferują szereg rozmaitych działań w ramach edukacji pozaformalnej. W obliczu kryzysu gospodarczego i niskich dochodów wybranych grup społecznych, nie bez znaczenia jest fakt, iż udział w aktywnościach oferowanych przez te instytucje bardzo często jest darmowy lub możliwy jest za niewielką opłatą. Dzięki niskim kosztom udziału, liczba osób uczestniczących w edukacji pozaformalnej sukcesywnie się zwiększa.

Celem artykułu jest zaprezentowanie istoty edukacji pozaformalnej dorosłych, a także form edukacji pozaformalnej dorosłych na przykładzie działalności Akademii Pięknego Czasu w Czechowicach-Dziedzicach. W artykule przyjęto hipotezę, iż biblioteki publiczne jako lokalne instytucje kulturalne odgrywają kluczową rolę w procesie edukacji pozaformalnej dorosłych.

Leading UNESCO activities in the field of lifelong learning.

Contemporary society is looking for solutions that will respond to the challenges and requirements of civilization. With the development of new technologies and the Internet it is necessary to acquire appropriate competences to be able to navigate the network and virtual world. The article presents selected activities of the international organization of UNESCO in the field of lifelong learning and media education. UNESCO has a rich tradition of reflections and actions for continuing education and media education. The subject of lifelong learning education appeared in the first years of the organization’s activity and continues to be one of the main challenges it faces. Education of the 21st century needs constant modifications that will be improved along with technological development. In the article, the Conferences in Montreal and Nairobi were compared, the views of J. Kidd and P. Lengrand, the Faure report and the Delaros report.

The learning to learn competence is becoming more and more important, as it enables efficient learning, is developing awareness and planning one‘s own process of learning. With empirical research, we wanted to study some of its aspects in the 4th year (undergraduate) and 1st year students (postgraduate) of the Faculties of Education in Slovenia. To establish the students‘ evaluation of their ways of learning and competence to teach we used a questionnaire. With the use of the research, we established the growth of evaluation of the majority of aspects, which shows that the learning to learn competence is related to a better evaluation of students’ own way of learning and better marks. Reported findings reveal that this competence and its aspects have a great impact on the effectiveness of learning and success of students.

This article aims to note the importance of non-formal education in the context of lifelong learning, especially in last phase. A secondary analysis of empirical research, conducted in Germany as part of a unique project “Competencies in Later Life” (CiLL), is the starting point for a reflection on the necessity of support of educational processes, enabling the development of qualifications after leaving formal education system. This study allowed to determine the level of competence of literacy, numeracy and problem solving in technology-rich environments of the population aged 66-80 years.The conclusions of the study are clear: in connection with a deficit of the core competencies of older people is needed educational offer. Participation in education can prevent exclusion from social life.

Information technology evolves in order to meet the needs of ageing society. Despite the life-long learning perspective and availability of ICT courses, studies indicate that only a limited number of seniors take full advantage of possibilities given by mobile technology and the Internet. The question arises if the old are part of the Information Society or they are excluded from it. This article provides evidence that seniors underutilise the ICT devices and e-services and indicates the main lines of the recent debates on the current need for ICT education among older adults. The analysis of seniors’ ICT competence is based on a literature survey.

The aim of the article is to present selected themes that form part of the contemporary discourse on informal learning, which since the 1970s has dominated the scientific debate on learning, especially in the area of adult education. The authors, using Polish and German-language literature, outline areas of scientific and research interest, as well as tendencies in the contemporary approach to the learning processes of adolescents and adults. Moreover, they present exemplary results of research on informal learning, conducted within various fields: adult education, social pedagogy, economics and others. They indicate that separate treatment of human learning (division into formal, non-formal, and informal learning) is not always justified, and is not conducive to the analysis of learning processes.

The aim of the article is to compare the situation of lifelong learning in Central European countries. Six countries were selected for the study: Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovenia, the Slovak Republic, and the Czech Republic. The research is based on data from the International Survey of Adult Skills (OECD PIAAC). Respondents 30 years old and over were selected for analysis because a significant proportion of younger people have not yet completed their formal studies. According to the analysis, Estonian adults are most often involved in lifelong learning activities, while representatives from the Slovak Republic are the least involved. In all countries, those with above high school education are the most likely to participate in lifelong learning activities compared to those with lower than high school education and with high school education. In different countries, different kinds of learning activities prevail.

Little is known about nurses’ viewpoints, experience, and opinions regarding this issue even though lifelong learning and distance education are of great importance in nursing. It is important to have knowledge about nurses’ lifelong-learning tendencies and attitudes toward distance education when structuring related education programmes. The aim of this study was to determine the correlation between nurses’ lifelong-learning tendencies and their attitudes toward distance education. This is a descriptive research design with a stratified random sample. The sample included 417 nurses. The Lifelong-Learning Tendencies Scale and the Distance Education Attitude Scale were used to collect data. SPSS for Windows 16.0 was used for statistical analysis. Our results show that nurses do not tend to engage in lifelong learning, and they experience uncertainty in their attitudes toward distance education. We found a weak negative correlation between lifelong-learning tendencies and attitudes toward distance education. Continuing education programmes should be designed to improve and support nurses’ attitudes toward lifelong learning and distance education. Distance education supports nurses’ lifelong learning by updating their post-graduation knowledge improving comprehension about developments that affect and consciously broaden their viewpoint and intellectual level. Continuing education programmes to enhance nurses’ personal and professional development should be designed to improve their attitudes toward lifelong learning and distance education.