TRANSFORMATIONS IN EDUCATION IN A KNOWLEDGE-BASED SOCIETY

In the current economic context, the generalization of a global economic crisis raises a number of issues and questions for both the academic environment concerned with the mission for which it is created, namely to prepare graduates able to integrate rapidly into the labour market and the economic environment, which needs specialists capable of mobility and continuous adaptation to change. The interest shown by society for education is extremely inconstant, as it culminates in final evaluation periods, followed by obtaining documents certifying the passing of a certain educational path, documents that theoretically offer higher chances of obtaining a place of well-paid work. Such an instrumentalist approach is acceptable (though not desirable) from the perspective of the beneficiaries, but not from the perspective of education providers who are defined as educators. Education is a vast, generous concept which, in most cases, is viewed by society, especially in terms of its concrete results. This attitude can be considered justified, since in all areas the major interest is manifested for the result rather than for the process. The study we propose is intended to be an interpretation from a predominantly humanistic but realistic perspective of a situation described synthetically and detached from statistical data to see to what extent the observance of the commitments assumed by Romania at the declarative level are found in the consciousness of the main actors in the field: students and teachers.