Research
We explore how adult education can be made inclusive, digital and effective.
Services
Digital tools, specialist portals and data – for teachers, researchers, students and interested parties.
Institute
We offer research, transfer and infrastructure for lifelong learning.
An Fallbeispielen zeigt der Autor auf, wie Wissenschaft die Praxis von Lehrkräften der Erwachsenen- und Weiterbildung unterstützen kann. Wissenschaft für Praxis zu nutzen, ist kein Wert an sich, sondern Ausdruck der Verantwortung von Lehrenden für das Lernen der Teilnehmenden.
The concept of self-optimisation is closely linked to discourses on lifelong learning and has been discussed in adult education research for some time. The talk about selfoptimisation is mostly articulated as a critique or critical analysis, appears as almost self-evident and thus gets caught up in the pull of normalisation. The established problematisation of self-optimisation is therefore also subjected to problematization in this paper in an attempt to reopen the thinking of the problem. Th…
This volume aims at the description, the analysis and the explanation of cultural/arts education for adults. It conveys insights into the field through the lens of interdisciplinary theoretical approaches to the arts, to culture and to transculturality and links them to reflections and empirical findings from the adult education discipline, in particular in the areas of programme analysis. Through this we attempt to inspire further research and theory-building on cultural/arts education for adu…
In a representative survey in 2012 the German edition of the Adult Education Survey (AES) collected data relating to the professional development behaviour and the structure of the professional development market in Germany. This final report analyses and comments on the collated data under the consideration of key questions: Who participates why, how often and how long in professional development and who does not? Which professional development provisions are popular? How is the target group o…
The study text points out relevant research criteria for an evaluation in the field of adult education. For that purpose, basic concepts and theories are discussed and objectives, tasks, and principles of evaluation are outlined. The author refers to classic targets of evaluation – teaching/learning processes, educational institutions, projects/programmes as well as the education system – to present the features of adult education evaluation. In this context, the issue of required object-relate…
Recent empirical data show that 7.5 million adults in Germany do not reach a minimum level of reading and writing skills and, therefore, are classified as functional illiterates. However, the social and educational background of this part of the population differs considerably from wide-spread perceptions of the target group as it is represented in courses for illiterates in adult education. While the latter normally showed heavy learning problems at school, the wider group normally passed scho…
Erik Haberzeth issues a plea to make teaching the central focus of didactic activity once again. The problem with achieving successful good teaching, in his view, is not necessarily related to teachers devoting too little attention to existing specialised didactical knowledge. It is more important, rather, to make sure that didactics do not become self-absorbed and thereby impede the way to content rather than paving it. This does not mean that specialised didactics can generally speaking be di…
In the usually clearly word- and text-oriented research field of adult education, for a while now, approaches have been observed, which understand visual presentations as data to be analyzed in a methodically controlled way. These data are used in order to generate and substantiate knowledge about adult education, whereby intensity, contexts, theoretical background and methods or methodology are different. This article presents these approaches in the research fields focusing on students, progr…
As part of a joint project a learning game is currently being developed for adults who are functionally illiterate. Following a generally positive experience with the role of the new media in teaching work with this target group, the partners in the project, including the German Institute for Adult Education (DIE), are now focussing specifically on game-based training. This article introduces the reader to the basic concept of the game and identifies the factors in its use which are critical to…
Changing the focus on Natural Sciences At present, public debates postulate more attention to natural sciences in the education sector. First, we will examine the precarious status of natural sciences in adult education and than argue that the traditional focus on natural sciences need to be readjusted. This change of focus aims at a general understanding of scientific developments by which both the individual and the society as a whole will gain and maintain its capacity to judge and act on…
