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Searching for the third way. A statistical look at the practice of winning third-party funds over for further education institutions. The article provides empirical backgrounds for winning third-party funds over for further education institutions through the database of the German Institute of Adult Education. According to the database 17 % of the total financial backing for the Community Adult Education Centres came from third-party funds in 2005, after a maximum of 20 % in 2002. As a comparis…
During the last two decades widening adult participation in higher education has become a central issue in international and especially European lifelong learning policy debates. At European level this is reflected in the Europe 2020 strategy set out by the European Commission. One headline target is to boost the share of the population aged 30–34 that has completed tertiary or equivalent education to 40 per cent by 2020. In the face of general trends such as the intensive use of ICT, the evolu…
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 following article focuses the mostly neglected relation between identity and learning by reconstructing foreign learning efforts by adults. In spite of educational policy's proclamation of (continuous) lifelong learning real learning processes are characterized by various discontinuities. Adults deal with these discontinuities by perceiving, describing and structuring them dependent on their self-images as learners. Interpretations of interviews with adult language learners supply evidence …
This article presents didactic approaches to financial literacy using the example of the CurVe project (debt counselling as a starting point for basic education – curricular integration and transitions) which was launched at the German Institute for Adult Education (DIE) in March 2013. The project analyses the connection between excessive debt and basic educational needs. Its focus is on participative didactics and its goals include the strengthening of basic education through the conceptualisa…
Accessibility – A Didactic Challenge. Steps towards Inclusive Adult Education. Part III Based on the access rights to all public education, the author evaluates the dimensions of accessibility to be considered in planning and implementing inclusive adult educational programmes. Constructional prerequisites are brushed though the main focus is on the techniques of barrier-free communication which are micro-didactically described more critically as a “two sense approach”. The last paragraph re…
The report presents first results of a study dealing with the whereabouts of former participants of literacy classes. Assuming courses of adult education have a beginning and an end, the authors pursue the phenomena of participants sojourning permanently at adult education courses. Taken data material into account, the reconstruction of possible reasons for staying in the courses finally leads to the demand for an initial consulting – analogical to the starting and learning consultation in the …
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…
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 today’s societies literacy is regarded as the prerequisite for participating in the professional and private spheres of everyday life. It is regarded as a human right, a tool for personal empowerment and a tool to influence the behaviour of individuals, families and communities. Despite the international consensus that literacy skills determine opportunities and provide access to today’s information-based societies, many adults in both industrialized and developing countries find themselves …
