Research
We explore how adult education can be made inclusive, digital and effective.
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We offer research, transfer and infrastructure for lifelong learning.
In the future it should be possible for educationally qualified applicants to be able to attend a university without university-entrance certificates acquired in a secondary school. This is meant to help ease the looming shortage of skilled labour in Germany. Facilities in the area of adult education are also to help facilitate the transition to a school of higher learning. The authors of this article report on a promising approach along these lines – the Lower Saxony model project »Open Univer…
Normative Patterns of Biography and Contradictory Experiences as Resources in Women’s Educational Biographies As part of a research project on discontinuities in female educational and professional careers, this essay focusses on conflicting expectations women experience – conflicts between set normative social standards and biographies on the one hand, and the different individual plans and perspectives on the other hand. Group discussions among the participants of a Women’s Studies Program…
Education or competence – a pseudo alternative? It is a platitude that the structural change of society also leads to structural problems of further education. Therefore this is discusses intensively for some time past and the practical transpositions are gross. The impression of the authors is that it is argued, latently or explicitly, dichothomic even though that in fact is not necessary. In this contribution the authors want to expand on two such contradiction theorems with the intention …
In view of the demographic change the investments in education for elderly population are becoming increasingly more important. At the same time the educational system’s endeavours of repair are rather targeted at the very young. How can the educational investments be divided usefully between the old and the young? By showing examples of Scandinavian countries, the author elucidates a double strategy of high educational investments for the phase of youth and in adult life. The countries have su…
Mathematics, natural science and engineering are not among the most favourite learning objectives of either pupils or adults. While they do enjoy a high esteem, they are also perceived as difficult. The authors discuss why this should be so, and give a summary over participation statistics of Volkshochschulen in the past decades, where courses in mathematics, science or technical matters have been on the decline for some time. Against this background, they present aims and methods of their proj…
Die veränderten Anforderungen der Arbeitswelt stellen Beschäftigte vor neue Herausforderungen: Neben den klassischen Grundkompetenzen Lesen, Schreiben und Rechnen werden zunehmend erweiterte administrative, technische und soziale Kompetenzen gefordert. Praxiserfahrungen aus NRW-Projekten wie MENTO pro, BasisKomNet und GrubiKomNRW können jedoch exemplarisch Wege aufzeigen, wie der Zugang in Unternehmen dennoch gelingen und Erfolge zeitigen kann.
Welche individuellen Wirkungen zeitigt Bildungsurlaub? Eine neue Studie zeigt, dass die Teilnehmenden vielfältige Wirkungen mit ihrer Teilnahme an Bildungsurlauben verbinden. Die Autorin, Mitverfasserin der Studie, stellt deren Kernergebnisse vor.
Mit dem Whole Institution Approach (WIA) wird die Umsetzung von Nachhaltigkeit auf allen Ebenen einer Organisation gefördert. Die Autorinnen erläutern das Konzept einer nachhaltigen Organisationsentwicklung und zeigen anhand des Projektes »Internationale BNE Allianzen« Erfahrungen zur Implementierung des WIA in Weiterbildungseinrichtungen.
Anstelle des alltäglichen Gebens und Nehmens als Teil pädagogischen Handelns sollte – so der Autor – das Lehren als Geben ohne Erwartung von Gegenleistung verstanden werden. Als Teil einer Ethik der Anerkennung führe eine solche Haltung dazu, utilitaristische Bildungsvorstellungen zu überwinden und Lernende wie Lehrende als eigenständige Subjekte anzuerkennen.
Adult education is a field that is strongly shaped by tensions between scientific and political demands. The development of competencies as well as the idea of continuing to learn throughout the whole life are topics that have been debated in science and policy for many years and are still of great importance today. This dissertation deals with the relationship between science and European education policy in adult education by analyzing scientific journal articles and political documents from …