BENEDEK András
The first issue of Opus et Educatio was published in November 2014. Thanks to electronic archiving, the process of publishing this summer issue alongside the 50th issue is fully documented. Although “only” 12 years have passed since the launch of the magazine, in our fast-paced world, the 50th issue can be considered significant without exaggeration in the era of epochal development in electronic publishing. So far, 596 publications have been published across the fifty issues.
Drawing some parallels with the much more complex events of human life, the past dozen years have brought many changes to our individual lives, including the work processes of the editorial staff. Although the personnel changes have affected not only our twice-renewed editorial board but also the editorial staff, I would like to thank Cz. János Horváth, one of the initiators of the launch of the journal and its continuous technical developer, and Anildo Vedovatti, our senior editor, with whom we have been taking care of and “raising” Opus et Educatio since the beginning. The history of the journal instructively reflects the changes that also vividly reflect domestic changes in the process of publishing scientific publications.
On the occasion of the anniversary, it is worth looking back at the original and current guiding goals in terms of our current aspirations. In fact, nothing has changed; we strive to publish articles analyzing problems that “…concern many, especially those who professionally deal with the human factor and its development in the world of work.” Continuing the idea formulated in 2012: “…the intention is not an end in itself, and especially not aimed at analyzing topics designated by fashion or specific communication goals.”
Well, a dozen years have passed; it is left to the reader to judge to what extent our original aspirations have been realized. The publication of research results related to vocational training is continuously carried out in the Studies section. Our effort to provide those in the first stage of their research careers − especially those coming from practice and those pursuing their doctoral studies − with publication opportunities and to support them in publishing their first demanding publications, which are also recognized by the evaluation process, has also met the needs of the authors. In the first years, the periodicals, still formed on the initiative of university departments, became members of the BME Journal family of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) within a decade. Thanks are also due to the leaders and staff of the BME OMIKK, who provide the most up-to-date library professional support to the editorial staff of Opus et Educatio.
The launch of the journal was a specific modernization initiative 12 years ago, driven by a commitment to electronic online publication culture. After some deliberation, we chose a name for our periodical in 2012. The sound of Opus et Educatio is a bit archaic, and, as we initially indicated, it may even seem conservative. Another thought from the opening issue that is still relevant today: “…Work and education, which is more than the traditional vocational training profile,… The active participation in the history of domestic vocational training, from József Stoczek, the first rector of the Technical University and director of the teacher training institute, through Sándor Imre, professor of pedagogy and psychology, to Professor Elemér Biszterszky, has proven with a series of scholars spanning significant eras how open the world of education is to the results of socio-economic and technical development.” In the spirit of traditions that have been forming for more than a century and a half, Opus et Educatio, as a university periodical dealing with the world of work and education from a multidisciplinary perspective, is closely connected to education, and within that, to teacher training. Due to this connection, one of the peculiarities of our magazine is that our issues are now published alternately in English and Hungarian.
The 50th issue is published in English. Its structure reflects the latest changes; after the usual, but festive, introduction, readers can find an article on a current, complex topic that is noticeable in publication trends in the Online-First section. Lili Sotovszky’s study, “Authentic Speech and Pedagogical Transformation: Rethinking the Language Teacher’s Role in the Technological Age”, clearly demonstrates the latest changes in their pedagogical thinking. The Studies section includes four publications that, in line with the journal's thematic focus, present research on development trends and comparative analyses in higher and adult education. Our Start-Up section also highlights an international group of authors through concrete research and comprehensive analyses. Since our magazine also functions as a forum, part of the professional information is about a major conference, which in this issue shows the growing international importance of Lifelong Learning in higher education. Finally, our issue also contains a review: the presentation of Vilmos Vass's book, "The Soul of Pedagogy − Stories from the World of Teaching", as well as Hungarian youth research. Analysis prepared in the framework of "Youth Beyond Generations: Inequalities, Post-Adolescence, and Hybrid Transition to Adulthood"; the descriptions show how lively and fresh research Opus et Educatio undertakes to present.
Dear Reader,
Thank you for honoring our page with your attention; we appreciate your comments and suggestions as we continue to develop Opus et Educatio. Special thanks go to the authors of Educatio and the reviewers who took an active role in the professional review. It is gratifying that a significant number now regularly publish and take a role in the evaluation process. Special thanks and gratitude to the members of our Editorial Board, who, as committed supporters of Open Access publishing practice, do their work conscientiously, selflessly, and without financial compensation. In our technologized world, one fact remains: Opus et Educatio is an up-to-dated "craft product" in which we put a lot of human work; AI does not write the announcements, and perhaps that makes us special.
Budapest, August 2026
András Benedek
Chief Editor of Opus et Educatio