Institutions designed exclusively for the training of adults, universities are undergoing an accentuated development process throughout the world. During its history, the Romanian higher education system has also benefitted from an ascending evolution, from both quantitative and qualitative standpoints. During the first years after 1990, the "Pedagogy" field of study went through a course of institutional growth; gradually, however, it has reached a stage characterised by difficulties and restraints. The present study evokes the Romanian experience regarding the training of specialists in pedagogy, from the perspective offered by the establishment of this activity at the "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University of Iasi prior to and after the 1990s. While identifying the features related to the development of the Pedagogy course of study, the paper also comprises conclusions regarding the contemporary existence of particular dysfunctional aspects in relation to the training of specialists in this field. The assumptions and demonstration included herein refer to the idea that in Romanian adult training, an unprecedented crisis is clearly visible in relation to training pedagogy specialists; this situation demands constant reevaluation, and, in the upcoming years, it will likely further need to be addressed as a matter of urgency. Finally, the study enumerates the arguments in favour of a political intervention targeted towards improving the quality of the Pedagogy course of study and it structures the identified sustaining elements by reference to multiple organising criteria: the school environment (students, teaching staff, parents, curriculum) - as direct beneficiary of the pedagogy specialists' work, the world of education, as a whole - as a reality with a fast dynamics, unique in the history of the socio-human existence, the professionalization in a definite direction, the pedagogy field itself. Creating the bases for an efficient and valuable educational intervention, pedagogy requires a constant reconfiguration of its own institutional ontology, as an extension and in complementarity with its comprehensive ontology. (C) 2014 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
