Educology

91

Abstract

Spiritual values underlie the spread and development of

all manifestations of human existence. Positive attitude

towards spiritual values is of utmost significance as it

presupposes adequate value orientation, and it guarantees

successful realization of spiritual values. For these reasons,

attitudes towards spiritual values acquire the status of

universally acceptable seeking and, in this way, they properly

have a prominent place among the key educational issues.

While studying the attitudes towards spiritual values,

noticeable split in opinions can be observed due to

observable differences in the treatment of spiritual values as

such, as well as due to the issues of different approaches to

their genesis, classification and selection. In search of the

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possible answers to the above mentioned problematic issues,

the author, in the majority of cases, tends to rely on the key

ideas of the following philosophical theories:-- neotomism,

personalism, existentialism, humanism and phenomenology.

Consequently, the universally acknowledged

transcendental values – truth, goodness, beauty, and holiness

– are considered to be the most important spiritual values.

On the one hand, they all are closely inter-related with

one another, and only this kind of inter-related effect

enables the individual to establish adequate relationships

with different objects of the world that surround him

(natural and supernatural phenomena, as well as other

individuals and him/herself). It is the holistic system of

values that is acceptable, from the educological point of

view, as it is based on the spiritual centre of the individual

(A. Maceina) or on the centre of self axis of personality (R.

Assagioli, G. Colombero) or on the spiritual initials (K.

terms, that harmonizes the individuals’ relationship with the

outside world.

On the other hand, the subsystems of spiritual values

(religious, moral, cognitive, aesthetic) are not equally

significant. They differ in the form of existence of objects

that condition the relationships of the individual. These

forms of existence of objects referred to here are material

existence, spiritual existence and the Absolute Spirit. The

subsystems of spiritual values also differ in the degree of

impact that is exercised on individuals themselves. As early

as in the times of ancient Greece and Rome, it was known

that only moral values (that relate to the notion of goodness)

influence the human being as a personality that is capable of

establishing authentic relationships with the world; whereas

cognitive values (relating to truth) and aesthetic values

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(relating to beauty) direct the individual towards the objects

of creation, and those values primarily obey the rules and

norms of logics and aesthetics with somewhat weaker

impact on the individual him/herself. Religious values

(relating to the notion of holiness) manifest themselves

through the relationship of the individual as the product of

creation towards the Creator and towards other individuals

as creations of God. Religious values can only spread on

the basis of moral values. In this respect, moral values

become central ones among all spiritual values. The aspect

of holiness enables those values to realize relationships on

the highest level, i.e., “places them on the transcendental

(God-like) horizon where freedom is the outcome of the act

of grace” (A. Anzenbacher, 1995, p. 161), and where

Mention should be made of how higher values imply

lower ones in the holistic system. That accounts for the

necessity to regard the subordination of values adequately in

the processes of investigation of attitudes towards spiritual

values. This subordination is affected by many factors

(political, social, philosophical, psychological, educological

and others), the interface of which often results in the fates

of single individuals as well as the fates of whole states.

Thus, attitudes towards spiritual values are closely related to

the historical events of a certain nation. This fact allows us

to state the topicality of the issues under discussion and to

point out the importance of the pre-conditions in the formation

of values. It is appropriate to survey the processes in

After World War I, Lithuania became an independent

state with the possibilities of fostering the highest spiritual

values. At that time, the efforts of S.Šalkauskis, the famous

Lithuanian philosopher and educologist, to give the highest

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spiritual values the status of paramount educational objectives

were especially noteworthy. He urged educators and

educologists to encourage the learners’ positive and conscious

attitudes towards the essential forms of goodness

(theological view of the world, science, morality, art,

healthy body and the like). However, the realization of all

those ideas was aborted as Lithuania became incorporated

into the Soviet Union a year after the start of World War II.

In the fifth and sixth decades of the twentieth century the

repressive political system under the Soviets prevented all

educological processes from taking their natural course of

development; religious, national and moral values were

excluded from the context of social life. In the seventh to

ninth decades, with the totalitarian system gaining in power

and new generations growing up under its influence,

intensive efforts were made to declare the adherence to the

ideals of truth, goodness and beauty that carried a strong

political colouring. At the same time, the effect of those

politically-biased ideals was somewhat softened by the ideas

of humanistic and cognitive theories of psychology that

reached Lithuania in the works of J. Piaget, L. Kohlberg, A.

Maslow, C. Rogers and others, as well as by the mature

thought of Lithuanian authors (L. Jovaiša, B. Bitinas, J.

gaining experience, scope and maturity in general, with

greater emphasis on attitudes towards moral values in

particular, as deeper insights were identified and

investigated with reference to the issues of ethical ideals,

professional moral orientation, the individuals’ moral

position as well as the study of possibilities for the

development of certain component parts of values

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From the present-day perspective, all those instances of

educological research could be qualified as the partial

representation of the state of secondary school learners’

spiritual development. But the results of that educological

research cannot be overestimated as they often surpassed the

immediate needs of that time.

A new stage in the development of attitudes towards

spiritual values started in the last decade of the twentieth

century when Lithuania regained its independence. That

period has been marked by the following developments:--

(a) a swelling of a new wave of interest in spiritual values,

(b) a rediscovering of the key ideas which had begun in the

third and fourth decades of the 20th century (as it turned out,

the special funds of departments had been guarded much

better than the borders of the state) and (c) a pouring of

multiple ideas into Lithuana from the West. Spiritual

values, though, could not always find their way into the

hearts of the Lithuanian people, who had been long

suppressed by the totalitarian socio-political system.

Instead, many would rather embrace pragmatic and

hedonistic values and allow them to flourish.

Presently, complex changes in the socio-political system

of the country which are accompanied by steps in

educational reform make it urgent to study change in the

value orientation. Educological research becomes more

imperative than ever before. It involves many different

aspects of spiritual education, starting with its holistic

between spiritual values and different types of

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An investigation was made of a sample of thirteen-tofifteen-

year-old teenagers’ spiritual maturity-shaping from

an educological point of view. The process of maturityshaping

was treated as a continuous process. The focus of

this research report is on the analysis of the initial stage of

the process, viz. the teenagers’ attitudes towards key

spiritual values. The aim of this initial investigation has

been to determine the extent and character of the spread and

change of the attitudes towards values among the sample of

thirteen-to-fifteen-year-old teenagers. The intention of the

research has been to identify the peculiarities of attitudes

towards spiritual values as well as the socio-educational

preconditions for their development among thirteen-tofifteen-

year-old teenagers. The specific objectives of the

investigation were:-- (1) to identify the preferred values

among contemporary thirteen to fifteen-year-old teenagers,

(2) to compare differences in the attitudes towards spiritual

values of the teenagers twenty years ago, who lived under

the conditions of the totalitarian system, and those of present

day teenagers, (3) to identify the similarities and differences

in the attitudes towards spiritual values among teenagers

who presently study in different types of school.

A complex methodology of research was used in the

investigation. Firstly, the projection model method was

applied when the teenagers were asked to list qualities of a

spiritually rich personality that spread from a single centre,

like the rays of the sun. Then, the teenagers were asked to

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select two or three qualities from their own list and define

them in terms of the content they attached to those qualities.

Secondly, the methodology suggested by M. Rokeach

was used. This made it possible to determine the teenagers’

hierarchical grouping of both terminal and instrumental

values in relation to how important the teenagers found

them for a spiritually rich personality in general. There

were seven bands formed in the process of evaluation of the

teenagers answers. The highest-ranking band comprised the

values that the teenagers placed in the first and second

positions. The very high-ranked band, correspondingly,

included the values, placed as third and fourth. The

normally high-ranked band, then, included the values from

the fifth and sixth positions. The average band contained

positions seven to twelve, and the insufficiently high band

included positions thirteen to fourteen. The low-ranking

band included positions fifteen and sixteen, and the very

low-ranked band held positions seventeen and eighteen.

Further in the investigation, this methodology will be

referred to as the methodology of vertical ranking. It served

well to identify the highest and lowest-ranked values in the

study of attitudes towards values.

Thirdly, the method of horizontal research was used to

disclose the teenagers’ attitudes towards values on the basis

of the descriptions of spiritually rich personality offered to

the teenagers. In the process of analysis of the description,

the teenagers were asked to rank all the values into the

following bands:-- (1) very important, (2) important, (3) not

very important, (4) unimportant, -- according to its

respective significance to the spiritually rich personality in

general. This methodology served to disclose the scope of

attitudes towards spiritual values. The horizontal ranking is

marked in the text with the asterix sign [*] which helps to

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spot the averages of data; the highest average signals the

highest level in the attitudes respectively. In the vertical

ranking, on the other hand, the lowest averages signal the

highest level in the attitudes.

For the fourth method, the test of sentence completion

was used. With the help of that test, the relationships of the

teenagers to different objects of reality were investigated as

well as their relationships to spiritual values.

The sample included 1255 secondary school students.

There were 324 students of town secondary schools, 72

students of village secondary schools, 192 students of the

humanities stream, 162 students of the sciences stream, 205

students of Catholic orientation schools, 197 students of

arts, 70 students from sports schools, and 33 students from

youth schools. In addition, the data obtained in 1982-1983

from 218 teenagers were also used in the analysis.

Statistical analysis of the data was done with the help of the

software SPSS.

As noted earlier, the key spiritual values are comprised

of truth, goodness, beauty and holiness. These values were

investigated with the help of several methods, and the values

were presented in their concrete realizations which disclosed

the content of the values. In conformity with the logic of

educological research in general, the key parameters of the

investigation were the general concept of the content of

values and the dynamics process of expressing personal attitudes

towards certain values. With the help of M. Rokeach’s

methodology that is usually applied to studies with

the aim of identifying value orientation, it was established

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how thirteen-to-fifteen year-old teenagers ranked terminal

values according to their importance for the spiritually rich

personality. The data about the spread of values according to

the degree of their importance are given in Table 1.

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101

102

103

Self control 5.9 10.0 11.3 39.0 14.4 12.6 6.8 4.11

104

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were also asked to rank spiritual values in the concrete

description according to the importance of those values for

the spiritually rich personality in general. In that way, the

first procedure helped to reveal attitudes towards a concrete

spiritually rich personality, and the second procedure made

it possible to create a model of the ideal spiritually rich

personality (‘ideal’ here is used in the meaning ‘desirable’,

as a general type, and not a concrete personality description).

These procedures of investigation made it possible to

establish what values the teenagers could observe in their

micro-environment, what notions they chose to name them,

and which spiritual values they gave priority to and

qualified as the most important ones in the macroenvironment.

The data are presented in Table 4.

Seeking meaning 269 21.4 66 5.2

Responsiveness to beauty 291 23.2 253 20.2

A sense of humour 518 41.2 67 5.3

Openness to change and novelty 342 27.2 5 0.4

Inventiveness 382 30.4 32 2.5

Independence 571 45.5 28 2.2

Cheerfulness 383 30.4

Courage 520 41.4 52 4.1

An active life 360 28.7 25 1.9

Balanced interests 285 22.7 74 5.8

Tolerance 351 27.9 140 11.1

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A sense of duty 462 36.8 152 7.8

Intolerance of carelessness 271 21.6 247 19.0

Devotion to one’s job responsibilities 303 24.1 52 4.2

Self-sacrifice 408 32.5 32 2.5

Believing in God 269 21.4 236 18.7

The investigation revealed that the teenagers of that age

showed a good understanding of the importance of spiritual

values. As many as 86.5 per cent of the statements that were

independently shaped by the teenagers about the spiritually

rich personality corresponded to the content of description

of spiritual values. The dispersion of the spiritual values

was characterized by the following tendencies. Only the

value of responsiveness was ranked high by all the

teenagers. Especially in its form of sympathy, the value of

responsiveness permeated nearly all other attitudes towards

the concrete spiritually rich personality (as pointed out by

89.4 per cent of all the participants of the investigation); it

also exceeded by one fifth other value attitudes in respect to

the evaluation of the ideal personality. On the other hand,

the value of honesty (telling the truth, fidelity) was pointed

out as the most important one only in respect to the ideal

spiritually rich personality (79.4 and 61.9 per cent

respectively). As we could observe (in Table 3, for

instance) those values were ranked highest among

instrumental values as well, especially with reference to the

macro-environment.

On a somewhat lower level appeared dignity (respect,

authenticity in a way) and responsibility (responsibility for

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rankings. Out of four empirical manifestations that the

teenagers were asked to rank, only the generalized

responsiveness to beauty was ranked as very high by one

fifth of the teenagers. Again, the values like creative work

and a sense of humour appeared among the neglected ones

in the micro-environment of the teenagers.

The data of the investigation of the teenagers’ attitudes

towards instrumental values, in comparison with terminal

values, revealed that only the position of faith changed

when the latter got from the highest position to the last but

one position. Faith, however, was ranked higher than

beauty in the micro-environment. The teenagers’ attitudes

towards spiritual values are generally conditioned by many

factors. The questions arises as to how much of the change

can be attributed to the influence of the socio-political

system and to educational reform.

These preconditions are understood as a complex of

factors in the socio-pedagogical situation. The effects of the

situation are recorded in the change of attitudes that took

place in the last two decades. In this way, the attitudes of

contemporary teenagers were compared to those of the

teenagers of that time who studied under the conditions of

the totalitarian system in the same types of school. We had

218 respondents of the previous investigation (carried out in

the period of 1982-83) and 285 present-day teenagers who

met the requirements of the present research.

After 1990, when Lithuania regained its independence,

the socio-political situation in the country changed at all

levels and structures. It should also be noted here that in the

previous investigation the teenagers’ attitudes towards

spiritual values were studied only in their moral aspect. For

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this reason, the comparison was drawn between the

teenagers’ attitudes towards five moral values. The methods

of the two investigations were similar. In both cases the

goal was to find out the highest (the most positive) attitudes

towards the ideal spiritually rich and moral personality

(according to the value descriptions) and attitudes towards a

concrete spititually rich and moral personality (according to

the independently chosen and listed important values). The

data are presented in Diagrams 1 and 2.

It is evident that contemporary teenagers attach more

importance to moral values, with the exception of the value

of sensitivity, to the ideal personality. The teenagers’

attitudes towards honesty (35.6 per cent) and responsibility

(32.1) display the biggest difference. That could be

accounted for by the positive changes in the teenagers’

attitudes towards spiritual values that function in the macroenvironment.

The attitudes towards the micro-environment, though,

present a different picture. Contemporary teenagers, with

only slight exceptions, tend to downgrade the spiritual

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50

9

38

32

59,9

72,1

41,1

42,9

67,6

0 50 100 150

100

16,9

3,38

38,9

31,3

80

18,4

0

12

21,7

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

sensitivity

fairness

responsibility

a sense of duty

honesty / honourability

attitudes of teenagers at present

attitudes of teenagers in the soviet period

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values of their family members. A very clearly-marked

difference is observed in the evaluations of a sense of duty

(26.9 per cent). It should be noted that this value had the

highest factorial weighting (0.2383) among all other values

under discussion in the soviet school. On the other hand, in

the totalitarian system, the content of the value of a sense of

duty mainly consisted of obedient implementation of the

directions given from the position-holder above. In this

way, the observable regression in the teenagers’ attitudes

might be the outcome of the processes of deeper

conceptualization of the content of moral values in the

changed situation. We refer here to the explanations

provided by the teenagers as to why this value is important

for a spiritually rich personality. The data convincingly

show that 39.0 per cent of all teenagers evaluated all the

spiritual values on the basis of moral criteria, and another

35.0 per cent of teenagers applied the same criteria for more

than half of the values under discussion.

It is worth noting the differences in attitudes within the

same period. The gap between the attitudes towards a

concrete personality and the ideal spiritually rich personality

show which spiritual values find their immediate

actualization in the concrete lives of teenagers and to what

degree favourable conditions for their internalization are

created. The data can be seen in Table 5.

+ 2.0 Sensitivity + 20.1

- 33.1 Fairness - 53.7

- 5.7 Responsibility - 41.1

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- 0.9 A sense of duty - 30.9

- 0.7 Honesty - 45.9

The plus (+) before the number means that the concrete

personality is ranked higher than the ideal personality;

conclusion that teenagers in the soviet period felt lack of

fairness in the majority of cases whereas present-day

teenagers tend to feel lack of all the above mentioned

values, with the exception of sensitivity which has the

highest factorial weighting (0.661) in the teenagers’

attitudes towards spiritual values. Present-day teenagers

realize the importance of these values and have a desire for

them. Then, the micro-environment, which is devoid of

these values, has painful effects on the teenagers which, in

turn, makes the processes of internalization of values more

complicated. The situation can be characterized as a kind of

paradoxical one. There is no ‘directing’ in the value

functioning from above and the levels of the practical

realization of values in every-day relationships diminish.

This leads to the development of pedagogical problems.

One of the major objectives of the educational reform is

to establish a system of profiles with a certain subject

groups bias at the secondary education level. It seems

meaningful to study how varied content of learning that is

registered in the curriculum affects the learners’ attitudes

there was a selection of meaningful correlations made

between spiritual values and the school profiles with certain

subject groups bias. Then, the averages of the choice of

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values were calculated which speak for a particular level of

the teenagers’ chosen values (see Table 6).

The data in Table 6 display how the attitudes of

teenagers from different types of school towards spiritual

values differ. It is evident that knowing real life is the most

important value for learners of all types and profiles of

school, with a special emphasis on this value expressed by

the learners of art and sciences profiles of school. The

learners of Catholic schools and of the profiles of

humanities and sports profiles closely follow the first group

of learners in their attitudes. Positive attitudes towards

aesthetic values are more characteristic of learners of art,

catholic and town general education schools. But when the

attitudes of learners of those profiles schools are compared

to their attitudes towards cognition, a clearly-marked

regression in the attitudes of learners of sports, sciences and

humanities is evident.

The learners’ attitudes towards moral values as the

foundation for all human existence are favourable in all

types of school. The highest rankings for moral values are

given by learners of Catholic schools, followed by the

rankings of learners of sciences and youth schools. Both

groups of learners place self-respect and a happy family life

high, but their attitudes towards instrumental moral values

are among the lowest ones. The value of national security is

in general very low-ranked, with somewhat higher rankings

given to it by the learners of sport, Catholic and general

education schools. It is noticeable that the teenagers of the

same types of school express very favourable attitudes

towards instrumental moral values as well as towards faith

which might lead us to the conclusion that the teenagers are

able to establish links among those values.

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To summarize, the most favourable attitudes towards

spiritual values can be observed among the learners of

Catholic schools, with somewhat gradually lower in rank

attitudes expressed by the learners of art schools, town

general education schools, sport schools, sciences and

humanities, village general education schools and youth

schools respectively. We consider it very important to know

those tendencies in learners’ attitudes a priori before

planning other educational processes. It seems especially

important to be aware of the distinct differences in attitudes

towards instrumental moral values and aesthetic values.

1. The dispersion of the groups of spiritual values

according to the teenagers’ highest favourable rankings

looks like this:-- moral values, cognitive values,

aesthetic values. The values of religious faith get the

highest positive ranking on the existential level, and on

the instrumental level those values are placed only

somewhat higher than the aesthetic values.

2. Contemporary teenagers tend to give priority to:-- (a)

honesty, sensitivity, dignity and responsibility – among

the moral values; (b) wisdom, education/selfdevelopment,

intellectuality – among the cognitive

values; (c) faith – among the religious values; (d) a sense

of humour – among the aesthetic values.

3. There is a distinct change in teenagers’ attitudes towards

spiritual values observed as an outcome of the fall of the

totalitarian system. The teenagers tend to express more

favourable attitudes towards moral values that generally

function in the macro-environment, among which

honesty, responsibility and fairness are ranked highest.

But a more negative attitude is evident towards the

values that function in the micro-environment, like a

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sense of duty and sensitivity. Mention should be made

that especially sensitivity gets lower ranking among the

other values functioning in the macro-environment as

well. For that reason, the processes of the

internalization of spiritual values pose a number of

serious pedagogical problems.

4. Different types of school and profiles of general

education seem to affect the teenagers’ attitudes towards

spiritual values. The cognitive values are most

favourably ranked by the learners of sciences and art

profiles learners, with somewhat lower recognition

given to them by the learners of Catholic and the

humanities profile learners; the aesthetic values are most

favourably treated by the learners of art, as well as the

learners of Catholic and general education schools; the

moral and religious values are most valued by the

learners of Catholic, sport and general education schools

and the learners of Catholic schools seem to show the

broadest and deepest-conceived attitudes towards

spiritual values in general.

Nr.7. P.30-38.

pasaulis.

pp.14-28

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The author of the article has been investigating the issues

of teenager education in the last two decades. At the start,

the focus of the research was on moral education of

teenagers which resulted in the defence of a PhD

dissertation on the theme, “Fifth-to-seventh-form teenagers’

ability to evaluate behaviour manifestations as an important

condition for the development of moral position,” in 1985.

The author has the following published works:

“Peculiarities of teenagers’ moral attitudes” (1994) and

“The development of teenagers’ moral evaluations” (1997)

and a number of articles in collections of research

publications.

At present the author is doing research in the field of the

peculiarities of spiritual manifestations of the seventh-toninth-

form learners as well as investigating the preconditions

of personality development. The following

articles were published in this field: “Fostering the essentials

of human nature and the process of education” (1994),

“Pedagogical assistance to teenagers in their spiritual

growth “ (1997), “The concept and expression of

spirituality” (1998), “The activity of class head-teacher as

an important factor in the teenagers’ spiritual growth”

(1997), “On some specific peculiarities of senior teenagers’

spiritual growth in present-day school” (1998), “The

religious aspect of senior teengers’ spiritual growth”

(2000), “The attitudes of senior teenagers towards spiritual

values” (2001), “Emotional internalization of values in the

years of adolescence” (2001). The monograph “Spirituality

of teenagers as a pedagogical phenomenon” is now in the

process of preparation.

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The importance of the problem method in teaching

philosophy is evident. The very nature of philosophy as a

humanitarian science implies a dialogue between the object

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under study and the subject (student). What is it –

“philosophical training”, “philosophical teaching”? This is

not simply information on the history of ideas. It is rather

developing the individual’s thinking. Every opportunity of

developing our personal abilities to make decisions means

the attainment of a new level in our philosophical education.

Whenever we show more independence in our critical

thinking and decisions-making we have made progress in

our philosophical education.

There are two tendencies in applying the problem

method in teaching. First, in natural and exact sciences

solution of a problem means an instrumental conditioning

when the subject chooses from two or more alternatives,

himself raises questions and deals with them. In the second

tendency the problem is considered to be contained in the

matter of study itself, and the formulation of the problem

and the structure of its solution should be found in the

content of the matter. Thus, in this case the problem has no

instrumental limitations, the subject can not invent the

problem himself, the problem is partially “thrust on”. So, in

the humanities (philosophy) the problem method (teaching)

depends on the both parts of the “dialogue”: on the matter

of study and on the researcher. We shall consider only

some aspects of the problem method that are of significance

in teaching philosophy.

In teaching philosophy the peculiarities of the matter are

often neglected and automatically the routine “technical”

rules are preferred. This means that the scope of

philosophical themes, “problems”, tasks is strictly regulated

or even determined a priori (depending on the institution, its

teaching traditions).

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In a society in which the official and commonly

accepted truth is or should be predominant, the problem of

freedom of creation, of thinking never arises. Philosophers

in such a society encounter a clear and a single task – to

relate this single truth, “to hammer” its principles, rules and

definitions into the student’s head. There is not, and can not

be, a problem, because there can not be a different,

somebody’s own opinion (e. g., in the former philosophy of

Marxism). In a society guided by the ideology of

monologism, philosophy and its teaching can and must be

strictly regulated. Technical rules can be applied there, and

the problem method itself is perceived as a technique. This

means that the problems that should be answered by the

teacher can be strictly listed. A problem is understood as an

alien thing brought into philosophy from the outside. The

problems are “presented”.

In such a kind of philosophy, the object of study – or

rather “analysis” – is the sum total of knowledge or the

totality of fragments (citations), it is the knowledge which is

understood as something finite, a certain intellectual datum.

The philosophical truth is explained exclusively through the

meaning of a term, and the term is explained through its

usage and the affirmation of its application. The fact of the

presence of a term in a philosophical dictionary is

considered an adequate proof of its strictly limited sphere of

application. One should only learn it. On learning many

terms, those “basic” in particular, one can ostensibly

understand the general problems of philosophy.

The task is ostensibly fulfilled: the student has been

“acquainted” with philosophy.

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The specific nature of philosophy resists its regulation

by methods of technical sciences. Philosophy, being an

uninterrupted creative process, a continuous solution of

fundamental questions devoid of commonly accepted

technical rules, allows no regulation.

One of specific features of philosophy is its “working”

with the text which should be read and understood. The text

is the tool of philosophical thinking. The tool of philosophy

is concepts, language which develops in time. As M.

Bakhtin puts it, “text is the primary datum (reality) and

starting point of any humanitarian science” (2: 292). There

is everywhere a real or an implied text. An investigation

becomes asking and answering questions, i.e. a dialogue.

We ask no questions from nature, and it gives no answers.

A naturalist questions himself and in a certain way

organizes his observation or experiment, whereas in the

study of man and society (humanitarian and social sciences)

we constantly deal with the questions that are already there,

expressed in the form of signs, notions, metaphors, texts,

and we do our best to perceive them.

thought. Such a way of study means a dialogue, because we

ask the author (philosopher) questions and find answers in

the text. The text and its understanding (not a description or

explanation) is exactly the “axis” on which all

methodological problems of philosophy are centered.

To study a text of natural and technical sciences means

just obtaining information, whereas reading philosophical

texts is a dialogue, a discussion between the philosopher’s

text, author’s experience on the one hand and the student’s

knowledge on the other. However, this is not just an

individual interaction between the student and the text. The

student comes with all his store of knowledge gained from

his social medium. In this case, of significance is also the

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students’ specialty. “I find what I know.” First, he

understands the things that are already known to him.

However, the stock of knowledge (at least of a student) is

not large. Philosophical texts, both those belonging to the

past and present, in many cases are “alien” to the student,

because his knowledge and experience has been

accumulated even on a lower level of generalization, in

another “paradigm” of teaching. It is here that a conflict

appears first of all, i.e. a problem arises. How should I

understand a strange experience and of what use is it to me?

In general, is this strange text worth being understood by

me? Maybe I should only learn it (to pass the exam)? The

student encounters the dilemma: first, is the text worth

studying if it is not worth understanding? Second, if it is

worth understanding, how should I do it?

And here again approaches of natural sciences and

philosophy are at variance. The natural scientist sees an

objective fact or regularity behind the text.

The philosopher is interested in the meaning of a fact or

knowledge shapes itself and develops. A philosophical text

is a process that develops in time, reveals its meaning in

time, in the continuity and therefore is perceived

consistently, in time, and in development. An interrupted,

“broken” philosophical text or its fragment (excerpt)

“begrudges” information, it is devoid of argumentation and

lacks meaning.

Understanding while reading a text is not only a means,

but also the very matter of cognition. Thus, a philosophical

text has a dual meaning: it is both the matter of understanding

and the means of understanding. Philosophical

knowledge (cognition) is the awareness of what thinking

had done in the past. However, it is also relevant for the

74

present. Therefore philosophical knowledge is not just an

object (of study) on which a sum of data and facts must be

memorized. This is the very activity of thinking, which can

be cognized to the extent to which the cognizing mind

reproduces it, assimilates, and accepts it as a matter of

significance to him (subject) at present.

Therefore a philosophical text should be complete. The

studying mind works following the logic of thinking

imposed by the author, it begins to understand the

connections revealed by the author; even the style of

thinking is of importance. This is the way to acquire

knowledge, but at the same time the tool of thinking

undergoes training – habits are being formed in it. This is

why philosophical problems could be understood only

gradually, passing from one philosopher to another, and

with the growing complexity of the problems.

A problem arises when there is a conflict between the

present situation and the goal. The subject (student) tries to

attain the goal (to understand), but he does not know the

ways and means to attain it. Therefore he is in a difficulty,

and faces a conflicting situation: the problem of

understanding, memorizing, and assimilating the philosophical

text arises. (The situation as such is certainly created

by the teacher since he teaches a new and unknown subject.)

The conflict is removed when the problem is solved.

However, it is a long and tedious process.

While solving the problem, the student first of all goes

beyond the limits of the already known information. In the

initial stages of teaching, instructions and verbal confirmations

are essential. However, later, they lose their primary

75

function and become auxiliary (e. g., explanation of terms).

From teaching in the narrow sense of the word (explanation

of terms, verbal definitions) we pass on to the consolidation

of associations (the richer the knowledge, the more

associations), to the explanation of a conception, which

involves an active participation of the student. “Teaching

by solving problems is a combination of images, creation of

hypotheses and creation of strategies” (4: 586, 625). Thus,

time. We think that in philosophy the processes of solving

problems are essentially identical to the processes of

teaching.

According to the definition of R. L. Ackoff and F. E.

Emery, “the problem is a state of striving for a goal, which

does not satisfy the striving individual” (1: 115).

In the process of cognition the cognizing subject

encounters – a problem which he must resolve in one or

another way. Two alternatives of solution are possible: 1)

the individual facing a problem (and this implies

dissatisfaction, “discomfort” of thinking) can “change his

striving” (1: 115), i.e. reject the problem, refuse to solve it;

or 2) the individual can substitute the state of dissatisfaction

by a “state of managing” (1: 123), i.e. to face the problem

and to solve it (to attain the state of satisfaction). First, the

student realizes the problem and searches in his memory for

the elements of knowledge that could be helpful in solving

it. If he finds enough of them, the solution begins. If not

enough – two ways are open: either to reject the problem

(or merely to learn it in order to pass the exam) or to start

acting, to search, to acquire new knowledge in order to

76

solve it. The teacher’s task is to raise gradually the level of

the complexity of the problems according to the acquired

level of philosophical knowledge. Thus, to encourage the

subject (a student) to tackle the problem (to turn the

obtained however still dead information into his own) three

conditions are required: first – a sufficient context of

knowledge (information) to provide material for

considering, explaining and understanding the problem (in

this relation, it is very important to present as much of

systemic knowledge as possible); second – the subject’s

intention “to improve the situation” (M. Wertheimer, 7:

293) or desire to know, and third – the sufficiently trained

abstract thinking of the subject (this is also one of the tasks

of the delivered course of philosophy).

The level of the complexity and universality of the

problem, its open or reserved character propose the ways of

its solution. Usually two ways of solution are specified: 1)

solution through trial and error, i.e. a random, unfounded

and sometimes even useless series of actions; 2) solution

based on a consistent analysis, systematic and purposeful

investigation.

The disposition (one of the core individual features trained

through teaching philosophy) in the processes of cognition

acts as an organizing factor.

fixing factor, when there is a statement: “things are like

this.” In this case, the disposition acts as a factor impeding

a creative solution. (The student learns some series of facts,

statements and definitions, because he has to pass the

77

exam); 2) as a tendency to complete the cognitive activities.

In this case the disposition is also a precondition of search.

The process of solving the problem, depending on the

prevailing tendency, can proceed either stereotypically when

the facts, and notions presented by the teacher are accepted

passively, by “learning”, “cramming”, or in a creative way,

by searching for an independent, heuristic solution

important to the studying subject.

How can thinking be stimulated? In general terms, this

can be achieved by means of thinking of problems of the

most diverse levels by singling them out from a

philosophical text. However, only an active thinking

disposed to “change the situation in the direction of its

improvement” (M. Wertheimer) is capable of doing this.

stock of knowledge) how to organize his mental activities,

he usually fails to attain a high level of the development of

thinking, even within the context of the availability of best

preconditions and good conditions (“social niche”), and

even when the quality of teaching is high.

Creation of motivation is one of the most important

preconditions of the enhancement of thinking. While

studying a subject, the questions arise: What is it good for?

Why should I know this? Will I ever need it in my life?

78

The motive of studying can be a vital necessity (to pass the

exam) or intellectual satisfaction (“I’ve made a discovery”).

To encourage the second motive is the first and most

important task of the teacher. The second case implies

independent thinking, initiative, individuality. Even if the

student is “reinventing the wheel,” even if he makes

essential mistakes because of his poor stock of knowledge,

the problem under consideration becomes his own problem.

And even if he fails, he gains practice in independent

thinking and arrives to the next problem which he will

manage to solve. N. Blake calls it “an ideal speech

situation” or “an ideal speech conditions” (3: 357; 356),

when the participants can freely exchange opinions, desires

and views, when only a “stronger argument” is searched for.

However, he stresses that such a situation is always difficult

to attain, because it implies a certain knowledge of the

subject under discussion. Otherwise, on the basis of

“common knowledge” alone, a person can speak and say

whatever comes to his mind: “Yet unstructured speech

situation can kill rationality” (3: 357). To maintain optimal

motivation, of use are a gradual increase in the complexity

of the problems in accordance with the man’s abilities. The

student moves from success to success, his self-confidence

augments, thus increasing his potential to overcome greater

and greater obstacles.

Overly complicated tasks should be avoided. Therefore

teaching philosophy should start “from the beginning:”

without Socrates one cannot understand Plato, without Plato

one will fail to understand Aristotle, etc., but one should

never start with an insuperable problem.

How should the optimal motivation be encouraged?

Sometimes the student must be challenged to encourage him

to overcome difficulties, to check his strength. Sometimes

he must be praised to encourage his attempts to experience

79

the joy of discovery again, to plunge into work, to

experience this emotional state once more. Praise

(augmentation of one’s personal significance) raises the

creative potential of the individual. Sometimes the student’s

ambitions must be stimulated.

When the individual is solving a problem, he inevitably

makes a broader use of information and reaches far beyond

the limits of the problem (and compulsory literature). It has

been proven experimentally that when a problem is accepted

higher. However, a failure in solving the problem may

change the student’s attitude for the worse: he will tend to

consider it not interesting and useless. He may even reject

it. Therefore it is reasonable to define the sphere of his

interests in which he will realize his abilities and only in this

relation to turn his attention to the philosophical problem

(i.e. to elucidate in the course of philosophy the problems

that are of interest to the students of a concrete specialty or

urgent for our time; to relate the problems of cognition,

social problems to the practical problems of the present).

The process of thinking contains in itself the conscious

and unconscious components. It is a well-known fact that

the process of solving a problem is not interrupted when the

subject ceases to think about it consciously. If the process

of solution “fails” despite a keen desire to perceive, it is

useful to put the problem aside for some time and “to

switch” to another one. Such a “switch”, with the

introduction of a collateral information (in philosophy this is

an excursion into the history of philosophy) helps to

concentrate on the new aspects of the problem, which will

actually turn helpful in solving it. When after such an

“excursion” into the history of philosophy the subject

returns to the primary formulation of the problem, it

becomes easily understood and thus solved. This happens

80

because of the thinking activity which has been incessantly

going on in the sub-consciousness and the accumulated new

content of cognition.

An unsuccessful attempt to solve a difficult problem

should be postponed in due time, before the desire comes to

reject it for good, because in this way one can escape a

decline in the level of motivation and an appearance of a

constantly negative (repulsive) attitude to the problem (or

even to the whole discipline). Exactly here the role of the

teacher comes forth by regulating the direction of associations,

i.e. causing the students to take interest in the

problem.

The process of thinking is also stimulated by the ability

to raise the appropriate questions, since questions help to

concentrate attention and limit the “shaking up” of the

hypotheses in one’s memory.

Thinkers in Ancient Greece searched for the ways to

encourage the pupil’s attempts to solve a problem. They

(Socrates) did it by asking questions. Socrates called his

discourses-dialogues “the midwife’s art,” because he not

only raised interest in his pupil, but also created the illusion

that the pupil himself found the solution of the problem.

It is desirable to drive the student to the solution,

however, so as to force the student to make the last step

himself.

Questions provide guidelines for the process of thinking,

prevent the thought from distraction, for example, from

“slipping away” from the philosophical level of thinking to

the level of special sciences or common sense.

81

Which is the way to develop the ability of raising

necessary (right) questions? This is what the method of

problem teaching under discussion is intended for. It

renders the student the status of a discoverer.

However, if a man gets the answer to the question too

soon, i.e. when he knows only the statement but does not

know the history, argumentation, etc., the knowledge

contained in the answer is poorly assimilated, because there

is no goal, not even the urge to know the answer (the only

goal remains – to pass the exam).

The process of teaching with the use of problems provides a

discovery. Each stage of teaching offers a new stock of

information. However, it is not so much the information

itself that matters, but rather stressing going beyond its

boundaries, to relate it to the contemporary level of

cognition or to the contemporary social or other problems.

In problem teaching, hazards or barriers can be hardly

escaped. These are the specific obstacles of thinking. The

inertness and stereotypes of thinking are connected with the

former philosophical school, with the prevailing ideology of

society, philosophical fashion, with the “traditions” of a

higher school, the teacher’s competence. The atavism of

monological thinking manifests itself in worshiping the

“authorities,” depreciation of the non-authorities, rubberstamping

in the evaluation of philosophers. The taboos of

thinking are still practiced by higher schools or departments.

The student, even without noticing it, becomes involved in a

traditional way of thinking.

82

It should be emphasized that problem teaching means

the beginning of the assimilation of new material not from

“familiarity” with the conventional ways how to solve the

problem (what has been written on the subject by several

philosophers, often with no relations with their specific

epochs, without any historical or even theoretical context),

period.

These conditions imply assimilation of the entire

“phylogenesis” of philosophy, moving from epoch to epoch,

from philosopher to philosopher. And this means more than

merely learning some fragments. This is the only condition

for the student to assimilate knowledge not because it was

delivered, “reported” or dictated by the teacher, but because

arising problems which have already become of personal

importance to him, the student assimilates new material

deeper and sooner – because he cares!

1. Philosophical problems can be perceived only gradually,

passing from one philosopher to another, from one

epoch to another. Therefore fragmentary teaching of

principles, definitions, “general” questions does not

create a “problem field.”

2. The knowledge delivered while lecturing philosophy

should be systematized as much as possible. Therefore

it is impossible to offer a problem presentation of

knowledge in such a vast discipline as philosophy in a

short course.

3. It is necessary to provide a continuous tension of solving

the problems, an uninterrupted connection between

83

lectures and discussions, because discussions are the

place where the aroused “conflict” of cognition is

directed towards creative approach, the student is

inspired with the desire to know, “to discover.”

4. Discussions should ensure the atmosphere of “relaxed

mind” allowing any nonsense to be said, without

demanding immediately “the only correct” answer. The

student, as a self-regulating system, comes to see his

mistakes by himself, he himself “makes a discovery”

while trying to solve a problem that is of importance to

him, under the non-obtrusive guidance of the teacher,

who without force, but with a deep knowledge of the

matter, implants associations.

5. The whole method of problem teaching is based on

knowledge. Therefore studying the original sources (not

only descriptions or, even worse, questionable manuals),

should become an indispensable requirement.

York: Aldine; Atherton, 1972.

1979.

367.

Philosophy and a Study in Ideology. London: Gollancz; Boston:

Beacon, 1959.

Learning. British Journal of Educational Studies. 1996. Vol. 44, No.

1. P. 9-26.

Philosophy. May 1997. No 5. – P. 1.

84

Brothers, 1978.

1998. Vol. 29, No. 3. P. 145-158.

85

time in the history of Lithuanian discourse about the

86

conduct inquiry and research. For example, he did not

science of child education, i.e. pedagogy, or the

investigation of self-education, i.e. andragogy or to the

inquiry into effective coordination among educational

systems, i.e. studies of the management of education.

Jovaiša defined the term in a rather controversial way. He

stated there is no “… doubt [that] both words - educology

and pedagogy - have the right to exist. The Lithuanian

education” (L. Jovaiša, 1993, p. 9). According to S.

Šalkauskis, “pedagogy is the science of child education, or

theory” (S. Šalkauskis, 1992, p. 2). The question is whether

it is necessary to have two different terms with the same

book he stated that educology is not pedagogy because “the

concept of pedagogy is too constricted to express the reality

of education.” Jovaiša argued that the science of education

which encompasses the scientific study of the educational

process as it functions throughout the entire lifespan of

human beings needs a new term to refer to that science. A

p. 14). Having asserted the necessity of a new term, Jovaiša

paradoxically does not use the term in the main text of his

87

Nevertheless, Jovaiša inaugurated the use of the term

Despite the odd circumstances in which the term had

widely. Its wider usage was related to the fact that the term

the national register of sciences as one of the domains of

social sciences (such a domain does not exist in any other

country). And only the successive scientific discussion

started the search for its more precise definition and its place

in relation to inquiry and research about the set phenomena

which constitutes educational reality. However, different

different definitions. That is why there is no wonder the

answer as to what its research object is. The question

remains as to what specific set of phenomena is researched

by educology which is not studied by pedagogy, andragogy,

or studies of management of education or other educational

sciences.

set of research and inquiry, then to what kind of inquiry and

inquiry investigate? Equivocal definitions of the term

In order for fruitful, meaningful progress to be made in

scientific discourse, research and inquiry about educational

88

equivocally can not be tolerated. The strong implication is

that it is very important to identify the kind of inquiry and

educational phenomena which is inquired about and

researched by educology.

term educology refers to or can be made to refer to any

inquiry and research about any as yet unexplored

educational phenomena. If the answer is “yes,” then the

related question is which set? We set ourselves the

1. To conduct a brief review of the origin and uses of

2. To analyze the development of the meaning of the

Lithuanian authors.

3. To analyze the structure of the concept of the term

the concept.

literature resource analysis and comparative analysis.

terms, it is important to note it is not used widely in the

works by foreign authors. The more common and accepted

is widely used.

89

from the works of several scholars in Europe, North

America, and Australia almost 50 years ago. One of the

first to use the term was Professor Elizabeth Steiner Maccia,

who taught philosophy of education at Indiana University.

Earlier, in 1951, the term was used by Professor Lowry W.

Harding of Ohio State University. He treated the use of the

education.

Others who worked independently of E. Steiner Maccia

included Rachel Elder of the University of California,

Professor Diana Buell Hiatt of Pepperdine University (Los

Angeles, California), John B. Biggs of Newcastle University

(University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands, in his

1978, 1979).

Many other scholars have worked on the problem of the

Maccia, David Denton, James E. Fisher, James E.

Christensen, William E. Eaton, Gregory J. Pozovich, Jerome

A. Popp, Richard Snow and others. After 1980, the term

educational process, but also in the names of organizations.

In 1981 the publishing group, Educology Research

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Associates, was formed by James E. Christensen in

Australia. In 1989. Educology Research Associates/USA

was established in South Carolina by James E. Fisher. An

Australian National University in Canberra in 1986.

Educology Research Associates published the proceedings

Magnus University, Lithuania, and Stockholm University,

Sweden, have established Departments of Educology.

Especially noteworthy are the works of Professor J.

Fisher, one of the few overseas scientists of education who

depends on the context. The term has at least two common

referents: (1) the educational process as it functions in any

social and cultural setting for all ages and (2) knowledge

is ambiguous by equivocation, in that at one time the word has the

meaning to reference the scope of the process of education, as

conducted in some setting, and another time to name a domain of

knowledge that references the scope of the process of education. [J.

Fisher, 2001, p. 175]

To resolve the ambiguity, Fisher and other English

speaking scientists of education (Steiner Maccia,

used to name knowledge about the educational process and

process itself in all of its manifestations. In addition, E.

Steiner Maccia, G. Maccia, J. Fisher, and J. Christensen

scientific knowledge about the educational process, but also

historical, philosophical and praxiological knowledge about

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the educational process. Historical educology, in their

conception, describes and explains past educational

practices. Scientific educology describes and explains

current educational phenomena. Praxiological educology

describes effective practices within the educational process.

And philosophical educology addresses issues such as the

meaning of discourse about educational phenomena, the

ethics of conduct within educational processes and the

value and merit of educational outcomes, goals and aims.

These researchers refer to themselves as educologists,

knowledge about the educational process, including

philosophical, historical, scientific and praxiological

because they at times conduct research and inquiry about

education which is other than scientific. They argue, that

their inquiry about the educational process may be

historical, philosophical, scientific or praxiological,

depending on the kinds of questions being asked in the

research. But whatever the kind of inquiry, if it is about

educational phenomena, then in their conception, they are

The discussion about the proper use of the term

historians, philosophers and praxiologists of education) has

carried on since 1951. However, even today, after more

than 50 years, despite logical argumentation from the

semantic point of view academic society has not reached

educational scientists.

Here the diverse nature of scientific culture of

Lithuanian and Western scientists who conduct inquiry and

92

research about educational phenomena becomes important

to consider. It is also important to consider what scientific

discussion has occurred in Lithuania about the appearance

what new inquiry and research about phenomena within

set of educational phenomena which is not studied by

pedagogy, andragogy, studies of management of education,

and other categories of studies about educational

phenomena?

I. Kant has warned that the proliferation and delineation

of scientific boundaries “is not expansion of sciences, but

their deformation” (I. Kant, 1996, p. 36). This is a telling

point, and it should be heeded. In general, what are the

implications and what are the benefits or otherwise of

science of education?

defined and described more accurately when a few scientists

of education initiated the discussion typical for any

scientific discourse. They asked the obvious question as to

differences compared to child education (studied by

pedagogy), adult self-education (studied by andragogy),

studies of educational management and studies of other

phenomena which are researched by educational sciences?

Various scientists have tried to answer the question. The list

93

edukologijos mokslo vystymo klausimai”, 1996); P.

edukologijos studijas”, 1998) and other scientists of

education.

As mentioned above, L. Jovaiša in 1993 grounded the

phenomena which is included in the processes of children’s

does not include inquiry and research about adult education.

research about the set of phenomena included in the process

of adult education.

to refer to inquiry and study about the whole of the

educational process, in all social and cultural settings and

throughout the lifetime of all human beings.

It is Jovaiša conclusion that research and inquiry about

human education, including life-long education, needs a

for permanent human and group education. But in his

94

child education (“ugdymas”), and not in the broader sense

of education (“švietimas”).

To translate properly into English, the definition which

Educology is the science of permanent human and group

child education.

only about the period of childhood education and not the

whole of the educational process. In Diagram 1, a more

detailed explication is presented of the structure of the

educational process and the referents of the Lithuanian

terms within the educational process.

At first glance, it could seem educology is the science

which includes pedagogy and andragogy. However, a very

simple and important question to ask is whether it is correct

in a scientific context to speak only about adult education.

Is andragogy only research and inquiry about adult

education? Is it proper to research and inquire only about

adult education, or it is more proper to develop scientific

discourse about self-education? To what extent does the

process of education differ from that of self-education? In

other words, are education, child education, child selfeducation

and adult self-education identical to each other?

If they are different, what measures need to be taken to

conduct fruitful research and inquiry about the different sets

of phenomena within the educational process?

We take the position that child education (the referent of

the development of human maturation.

95

In the Lithuanian language, the etymological structure of

child’s autonomy because the child’s education is specific

and fully influenced by a teacher. The teacher’s proper role

is to manage the child’s educational process, to nominate

educational goals for the child, to choose teaching methods

and aids. The teacher must perform these tasks on behalf of

the child because the child is not able to do these tasks or to

conceive of what needs to be done. Education (the referent

1995, p. 31), but not conveyance of all the knowledge to a

child without consideration of the child’s age and the

content of teaching material. The child’s behavior in the

educational process takes on mainly the features of

reproductive activity.

“Ugdymas”

Child education

(pedagogy)

“Ugdymasis”

Child partial self-education

(on the boundary between

pedagogy and andragogy)

“Saviugda”

Adult full selfeducation

(andragogy)

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level of personal autonomy in education. Child selfeducation

in the educational process, but the leading role is reserved

for a teacher. A child chooses methods and aids for

achievement of a set of educational objectives, but the child

does not formulate educational and self-educational goals.

In this stage of child self-education, however, the child’s

behavior already has some features of limited creativity.

himself or herself nominates and clarifies self-education

goals, and a teacher assists the learner to attain the learnernominated

the beginning of the word. It points to the priority for adult

decisions with regard to the adult’s educational goals,

methods and learning outcomes. In this stage, an adult has

full freedom of educational creativity. It means it is not

correct in a scientific context to speak about permanent

impossible to educate an adult. Mentioning only the term

education, viz. its transformation into personalized full selfeducation.

It is the reason why the concept of educology

presented in the last work of Jovaiša is problematic.

Jovaiša writes: “The object of educology has been defined

as human education for a long time” (2001, p. 8).

It is telling that Jovaiša does not refer to any discussions

the scientific mission of educological research activity. The

activity relates to the research about all the educational

97

processes which are included within the set of educational

Jovaiša’s evasion of a clear definition of the term

be any sound and clear argumentation mounted to establish

what is the object about which educology might research

and inquire. Child partial self-education and adult full selfeducation

are not mentioned at all. If educology is a

“science of education,” what is pedagogy? Jovaiša treats

educology and pedagogy as the same science – science of

education. It seems as if Jovaiša tries to substitute the term

and adult self-education. B. Bitinas rightly notes

that a person develops continuously and that is why any

individual human being is both an object and subject at any

period of life, so “self-education exists in all the levels of

education” (1, p. 53). However it is odd B. Bitinas does not

distinguish child self-education and adult self-education as a

separate components of education. Are they not different

and independent phenomena of educational reality?

22). In her other work the author does not mention child

self-education, but presents adult self-education: “educology

is the science of human education and adult self-education,

1997, p. 11). This definition relates to the concept of

This conception of educology implies that educology has no

98

independent research object, but at the same time it studies

everything which belongs to pedagogy, andragogy and

withdraws this definition (especially the concept of adult

full self-education), and accepts L. Jovaiša’s ideas by the

definition: “educology is human education through all

his/her life, and the science of assuring such education by

formal and informal educational organization” (P.

disregard for child self-education and adult self-education,

which should be encompassed in permanent human

development.

to L. Jovaiša’s, is expressed in the title of the book –

“Human Education: Introduction to Educological Studies”.

On the other hand, the author introduces the concept of

process of educatio, and its components should be

1998, p. 83). It should be understood as if educology is the

science of child education (“pedagogy”), and process of

education is the process of child education (“pedagogy”).

Then it is not clear why it is necessary to have the two terms

for the same science and process. Besides, it means child

education (pedagogy) involves child education (pedagogy)

and adult self-education (andragogy). Is it logical to assert

One of the authors of this article, trying to clarify the

conception of educology, has not avoided mistakes either.

He identified educology with andragogy: “educology can be

99

the science of adult self-education analyzing preconditions,

goals, consistent patterns and educational assistance for

permanent physical and spiritual development of a mature

person in various periods of his/her life” (K. Pukelis, 1995,

p.48). Later, in 1998, the author suggested the two concepts

of educology for the discussion: 1) educology is equivalent

to andragogy, encompassing the science of full selfeducation

Pukelis, 1998, p. 68). However, the author stressed both the

versions could be criticized.

It has been mentioned that the concepts educology and

gives only the definition of pedagogy. It could be explained

by conditional novelty of the two concepts in the Lithuanian

language, though foreign authors have used the concept of

educology for several decades, and the concept of

different languages -- Latin and Greek. The Latin word

vocabularies. In K. Kuzavinas’ Latin-Lithuanian vocabulary

100

English-Russian vocabulary (1979, p. 429) the term

in the context of educational sciences. There is no wonder

since the compilers of the vocabularies had no striving to

deeply analyze educational phenomena.

however it does not mean “science” as many researchers

often declare. On the other hand, reasoning is certainly an

treated as science in a way. In Greek the word “science”

educational phenomena it is not the most exact translation,

Lithuanian the help of specialists would be important. –

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great scientist of pedagogy, and many Lithuanian authors

because a child is guided spiritually. But pedagogy cannot

be the science of education, which researches educational

process. Here we can make an important conclusion: the

education, and andragogy means science of adult self

education. Logical analysis of the concepts raises the

question of why the two terms are defined as a science when