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Exclusion by precarious inclusion and the “new spirit” of adult education “The social question in Europe has a new name: Exclusion” (Kronauer 2002, p. 9). A growing number of groups of the society are in danger of being excluded from the support of the society: the shield against social risks, in the first place unemployment, illness and poverty is increasingly becoming weaker; compensation benefits against a missing justice and selectivity such as for example adult education training opport…
Theoretical references in professional adult education and vocational training To the extent that social sciences are dependent on the terms with which they are formulated also adult education underlies the impacts of terminological decisions, that can be encountered this way or another way. The usage of the term intervention is such a decision, it stands in the centre of this contribution. By interpreting the empirical results of research on self-learning competences as well as by theoretic…
Habit, social milieus and the quality of life, learning and teaching The contribution highlights the topic quality in adult education from the perspective of Bourdieu’s theory of the habit and the on this building concept of social milieus. Thereby attention is drawn to some aspects neglected in the discussion that are of special interest to the social actors and the ”theory of practice” which derives from them: the learners, the practical processes on the organisational level and the que…
This paper brings into focus the discourse on competences and reviews critically the potential of large-scale assessments. The measurement of competences in adulthood is a step towards a deeper understanding of the development of competences during the life course, although only domain specific and not general competences are taken into consideration. Based on the current research, the debate on competences will be reflected and the central points in the field of modeling the constructs of skil…
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…
This contribution focuses on the significance of analyzing learning processes in case-based learning in continuing education. These analyses play a crucial role in finding explanations for the lack of effective instructional interventions. Furthermore, they allow for the immediate review of assumptions on learning mechanisms. After a brief overview of data collection techniques and of the typical data structure underlying such analyses, the procedure for conducting the analysis is described. Af…
The paper is based upon a qualitative-empirical study in the field of basic education for adults (literacy, numeracy, language, and computer skills). The study is located in the andragogical research on teaching and learning. A constitutive characteristic of the examined basic skills courses is the variety of the participants. The variety is both, didactical challenge and potential, for it enables teaching and learning interactions. With interpreting some data examples the paper aims to show ho…
