English Version

English Version

The Association of Polish Adult Educators (SOP for abbreviation in Polish) was established in Poland in 1981. It is, as its statute and declaration say, a voluntary organization of individuals and legal persons having as a target the public welfare through its educational, cultural and economic activities. The Association of Polish Adult Educators is the open to every unit irrespective of its race, nationality, confession or political views. Being an organization of universal character the SOP acknowledges the ethical values worked out in the European and World cultures.

The Association of Polish Adult Educators is the organization creating conditions for the development of each human being, especially of adult persons in maintaining their dignity and in achieving their goals set up in spiritual and material spheres. The SOP cooperates with the cultural, educational and scientific organizations on regional level and worldwide. It takes part in the works on development of theory and practice in education. It acknowledges the concept of lifelong education as an important foundation for forming the modern education systems. The SOP assures its activity through creating material basis and organization development.
As a public organization it cooperates with state institutions, churches and denominational groups, world organizations of the same or related character in order to resolve the education issues more efficiently.
The Association's Statute and Declaration voted on the Nation-wide SOP Delegates' Meeting make rules for programmatic activity which concentrates on the following social spheres:

- action for family's sake
- vocational continuation perfection and education ~ educational and up-bringing social actions
- activities for the sake of culture
- creation conditions for the development of regional cultures, their knitting roto national, European and world culture
- development of cultural traditions in urban and rural areas in order to keep pace with what is desirable and agreeable by individuals and social groups. Development of culture manners in accordance with the standards common to humanity, behavior at the table, language culture, participation in cultural activity - in general the development of the living style of the highest values.
o carrying out researches in adult education sphere
o economic activity to assure funds for Association's statutory actions
The educational forms in the Association are derivative from the purposes and contents, as well as from personnel abilities.

Forms proved many times predominate: lectures, scientific conferences, seminars (internal, nation-wide and International), courses and various forms of self-education.
There are conversatoria, discussion branch groups and club forms which are developing.
In the activity of the Association the International meetings are of special importance. They are organized in Poland because of their inspiring character in perfect forms and in developing of the content of own activity.
The activity of the Association is a result of the common work of the persons having satifaction from imparting their knowledge and abilities to other people.

The Association's targets are achieved by:

- organizing or initiating of home and International popular scientific sessions, eductional conferences, seminars, symposiums, as well as of lectures, courses, talk meetings and other. forms of education.
- conducting of non-public schools (especially vocational schools) and other educational places for raising knowledge and skills, as well as for education in the respective domain of interests.
- publication of all popularizing and informing periodicals and non-periodicals and instruction means
for educators and various educational establishments.
- conducting of researches in the field of andragogics.
- working out of analyses and expert opinions for education managerial units and for interested in it organizations and institutions.
- giving advice in adult education sphere.
- co-operation with akin in activity home and foreign associations.

The Association was taking part in organizing, programming and financing the conferences organized by the Institut of Pedagogics of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Wroc3aw and by the University of Lublin together with the Ministry of Education on dilemmas of the Polish culture.
The Association belongs to the European Adult Education Council and other educational organizations.
The activity of SOP is adapted in its content and forms to ever changing times. Elasticity of programs, full organizational mobility are a guarantee of success in fulfillment of the statutory articles. Seeking of such organizational solutions for activation of the education centres is the statutory devise about possibilities of creating member centres as independent units. These centres can be active, for example, at some bigger schools, lifelong education centres, higher schools, among profession groups.
Association's activity is based on the recommendation of UNESCO from which it understands that the adult education is an educational system for all adult society.
The consequences come from these: the need of development and extension of the scope of adult education through establishing and organizing of various educational processes and activities like: education, up-bringing, perfectioning, self-education, consulting, adaptation to new conditions. Nowadays. various educational organization, associations and private persons contribute to the cultural and educational activity in these numerous scopes and forms. Some of them organize within a very narrow sphere, for example, foreign language courses, others extend the scope of their activity conducting non-public schools, vocational courses, still others concentrate on schooling the employees of one branch.
The Association serves for the whole adult education in Poland, in all its aspects. With all force learned potential which our members represent, practice experience and material means, which we work out ourselves, we try to help out the adult education, to popularize androgogics knowledge, maintain the good traditions of the Polish adult education. We try to introduce new ideas, of which foreign ones too, to cooperate with the education authorities in maintaining and developing of the adult educational system. These measures will be carried out in cooperation with other education associations, organizations and institutions in Poland and abroad.