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Competence profiles for adult educators - European perspectives on the occasion of the EQF discussion One important piece of groundwork for the EQF debate in the adult education profession is to explore relevant competence profiles. In the run-up to a European conference, as part of an EU-funded project, profiles of this type in the countries of Europe were studied, compared and checked to discover whether they could be linked in to the Qualifications Framework. The article, originally publi…
Networks of citizens’ commitment – On the role of adult education within the scope of the network work with the older Introduced are the partial results of a research project in North-Rhine-Westphalia, in which networks of citizens’ commitment in Düsseldorf in the area of work with older people have been evaluated. At the beginning of the contribution the term of network is explained, then the personal pre-requisites for citizens’ commitment are sketched and concluding the model of self-orga…
In Germany numerous instruments exist for the documentation of individual activities of lifelong learning in formal, non-formal and informal educational contexts. Under the heading of »education passport« alone there are 48 different activities. A systematical and comprehensive approach to the recording, documentation and evaluation of knowledge, skills and competences is lacking up to now. The authors of the DIE project BIBER plumb the chances for a convergence process, which however faces pro…
The article describes the project „Deutscher Bildungsserver“ which is working as a meta-server to supply users with an information system of relevant data in the field of education, adult and further education. The internet is offering big quantities of information and the chance to build up complex documents. Both make it more difficult to select and evaluate information. The „Deutscher Bildungsserver“ incorporates information critically bringing it into an order making it easier for users to …
This article about European networks as support for lifelong learning starts with an attempt to define the differences between European projects and European networks. The European Association for the education of Adults (EAEA) is put forward as an example of a European network. It focuses on the association’s mission statement, its aims and activities and how it can support adult learning in Europe. In this way it also demonstrates how these networks can reinforce transnational cooperation and…
In modern society, the production of knowledge is multiplied and taken from the universities who were traditionally dedicated to this task, into the general public. The role of institutions of secondary education changes from diffusing to producing knowledge; teachers representing, in this context, the once-universal authority of science. Against this background, the authors present their DFGfunded project „Wissensgesellschaft. Umgang mit Wissen im Kontext sozialer Welten vor dem Hintergrund de…
The article focuses on reflexive competencies, their importance in the context of adult educational professionalization and professionalism, and their embedding in existing procedures for the validation of competencies. Reflexive competencies are a key component of adult educational professionalism. Their recognition and certification, however, is particularly challenging because it cannot be based on detailed descriptions of these competencies. Therefore, it will be examined how the recognitio…
This article aims at analyzing the consequences of using educational monitoring data for adult education research. Refering to the Statistics on German “Volkshochschulen” (Adult Education Centers) the advantages and challenges that the usage of educational monitoring data brings for research purposes are shown. This is made explicit by focussing on the research project “Governance structures and educational performance profiles in adult education organizations” (GLOW) and discussing the empiric…
People with low literacy skills are often experiencing difficulties to manage their everyday life. For example, filling out forms, correspondence or banking may pose huge challenges. But what about the political participation of functional illiterates in a society which is dominated by the use of literacy? The following article focuses on how participants of literacy classes use their possibilities of contribution. These assumptions are based on first results of the qualitative research project…
The author traces the change in paradigm in educational policy from the perspective of the Ministry in charge as a »fundamental empirical change«. It shows structures and framework conditions underlying pertinent major projects (National Educational Panel, technology-based testing, the Programme for Empirical Educational Research) and draws attention to the output and competence orientation as their “leitmotif”. By the same token it views educational policy and educational research as being dep…
