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Lifelong education for seniors is becoming a significant policy focus because of factors relating to the global aging society phenomenon. Yet the modern ‘educational demoralisation’ that can result from informal experiential learning not being sufficiently valued or encouraged, may also apply to later life learning—typically manifest as a ‘fear of ageing’ as well as ageism. This is especially so in contexts where policymakers tend to just mainly focus on the worrying economic, health and other …
This article examines the surplus value of CiLL as an accompanying study to PIAAC. Consequently, CiLL does not only point out the significance of acquiring competences for senior citizens but also provides a differential outlook on that phase of life. In addition, the study's methodological structure is examined critically.
First results from the PIAAC survey, which was conducted in 25 countries, will be published in October 2013 by OECD. PIAAC collected information about adult competencies through representative data from a background questionnaire and from assessments of three competence domains. In Germany exists an additional study called "Competencies in Later Life" (CiLL), which is designed for people (aged) between 66 and 80 years. This article presents the context of the study, the process of data collecti…
The study Competencies in Later Life (CiLL) provides, for the first time, information about central basic competencies of older adults. In doing so, two research approaches are combined. First, CiLL extends the OECD Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) to the age group 66 to 80 and analyses correlations between socio-demographic factors and basic competencies assessed with the PIAAC instrument. Second, a qualitative research part shows subjective opinions of …
The study Competencies in Later Life (CiLL) provides for the first time representative data regarding the competencies of older people between the age of 66 to 80 years in three different domains: literacy, numeracy, and problem solving in technology-rich environments. It is shown that there are significant differences between people with different qualification, but also between people of different birth cohorts. Despite major qualification differences between men and women, there are no signi…
The International PIAAC study has collected data on competencies of adults in three domains in 25 countries, in many of them for the first time ever. The article provides an overview of central terms, main aims and the methodological approach of this OECD study. It also discusses its potentials and limitations. One limitation is the focus on the labour force, excluding adults older than 65 years, a fast growing part of many populations in times of demographic change. To remedy this limitation,…
Mit PIAAC liegen repräsentative Daten zu den Kompetenzen der 16- bis 65-Jährigen vor. Dabei sind die Kompetenzbereiche „Lesekompetenz“, „Mathematische Kompetenz“ sowie „technologiebasiertes Problemlösen“ unabhängig voneinander zu betrachten. In diesem Themenheft sollen einerseits die in PIAAC erhobenen Mediennutzungskompetenzen in die deutsche und internationale Diskussion um Medienkompetenz und media literacy eingebettet werden. Andererseits kann und muss die Problemlösekompetenz Erwachsener a…
