According to the conclusions of UNESCO Commission`s report from 1997, education in the 21st century should be based on the concept of “lifelong learning” with 4 main pillars:
(1) Learning to achieve knowledge – which implies a very broad general knowledge with the ability to connect a small number of disciplines that can later be studied in details during studies. Learning for knowledge is a combination of general education and specialization. This type of learning can take formal, informal and alternative forms;
(2) Learning with the aim of action – relating to the competence and ability to adapt to new situations and work in a team, and not only to the professional qualifications;
(3) Learning for the sake of living together – which enables the development of understanding of others and thus understanding the connection of people and familiarity of people for each other, and also enables increasing of global interdependence. This type of learning implies the ability to control certain conflicts;
(4) Learning for existence – is aimed at the development of personality and individual capabilities in general. This is the learning of true communication, self-reliance and self-initiative. This type of learning involves experimentation in all areas of social life (cultural, aesthetic, sports, etc.).
Permanent education (“learning for life”) – is learning to develop the characteristics of each person, with as much autonomy as possible, and also learning of evaluation and acceptance of responsibility.
Therefore, education should be adapted to changes in the social environment. The intensity and unpredictability of the changes have led to new paradigms of organization and new educational paradigm shift in sport, which are radically reflected in the area of education, and also affects the most important experts in the modern sport: coaches, managers and journalists.
The high level of knowledge, skills, abilities and personal characteristics of each coach, manager and journalist is a comparative advantage for various sports organizations.
A quick and rational response to turbulent changes in the environment, along with the intuition, and other working, social and personal skills: the ability to think; problem solving skills; inventiveness; skills of knowledge production; knowledge exchange skills; evaluation of science; the ability to evaluate technology; IT skills; social skills; ethical dimensions; personal management and emotions` control are expected from the modern generation of coaches, managers and journalists.
So, demanding professional characteristics could not be achieved at the level of vocational studies or through professional training programs, because they require the academic levels of education and training.
For this reason, education of coaches, managers and journalists must be based on modern and flexible teaching plans and programs which are consistent with the development trends of the sport on a global scale. Such education implies the principle of interdisciplinary at all three levels of academic education and training – basic academic, graduate and postgraduate studies. Study programs are primarily based on the contents of the social-humanistic, medical and natural sciences including mathematics.
The research of professional sport should include: position of top sport and athletes, their origin and social status, recognition of ways and style of life which are different from the ordinary life of their fans, the problem of evaluation (rewarding professional sport and sports creativity), legislation – resolving the status of top athletes.
All this suggests that all over the world people are working on finding different options for achieving even better results in sport, and for achievement of a number of other values of sport, which, as an important global activity, recruits highly educated coaches, managers and journalists.
Trends and tendencies in the development of sport and society must be followed by our state, sports and higher education institutions and organizations, if we wish to develop sport as a “Serbian brand” and to be “competitive” in the global sports market. With this in mind, Faculty of Sport has clearly recognized its place and importance.