Transformative learning in the perspective of experiencing changes in professional life by generation 30+ and 60+ in Warsaw

The term change currently plays a special role due to the prevalence of this phenomenon in life to -day. The contemporary world is full of tensions, and its characteristic features are variability, uncertainty, fragmentation and mosaicism. The everyday lives of ordinarymembers of western societies are now characterized by rapid changes in all areas. Changes relate both to the institutional dimensions of the functioning of individuals in communities and in society, and scientific knowledge - which has never been seen so critically and with such a lack of trust as at present - intimacy, personal relationships, everyday life, work and education.These postmodern times are called liquid (Bauman, 2007), uncertain (Beck, 2002) unpredictable (Giddens, 2002), and are sometimes called the culture of rush(Bauman, 2007; Kargul, 2013). The basic feature of the present is the acceptance of diversity and intensive changes, as well as a characteristic way of thinking, which can be described as partial and hypothetical. Intensive changes are also very characteristic in the professional field. Contemporary people experience many changes in their professional lives, because human work is changing intensively due to technological development and social transitions. In the midst of all of this, I developed an interest in issues connected with lifelong learning from the perspective of experiencing changes in professional life. I was also interested in the difference between two generations – young adults (30+), who are a relatively short time on the labour market, and generation 60+, people who have already experienced long years of work and are preparing for retirement. Especially interesting for me was also the subject of the functions which education can fulfil in this situation of experiencing changes in professional life and the process of transformative learning caused by the change.