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The demographic development in Germany will lead to the society servicing more older people than younger people. Against this background the contribution shows in which way institutions of communal adult education are called upon for developing specific offers that consider the different educational requirements and educational necessities of a very heterogeneous age group. By means of examples from the work at adult evening classes (Volkshochschulen) the author clarifies how contents, teaching…
Learning behaviour and milieu as central dimensions at the analysis of the life-long learning process Based on the empirical qualitative research project on "Biography and Learning Behaviour", in which the influence of the generation threshold established knowledge and the origin milieu of dockyard workers in Rostock with which the biographical processing of the societal transformation processes in the former DDR were examined, the following facets are made a subject of discussion. Prefacing…
It is a widely hold myth that face to face contacts are immediate. In this article the author argues that face to face situations are also mediated. Counceling and therapy always use different types of media, like body media, object media and electronic media, without consciously realizing it. The actual developments concerning the way electronic media change our social life are also considered in this article. Challenges and chances that grow out of these developments are presented. The concep…
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…
This article presents results of a national medical impact analysis of relaxation and stress-management courses. The impact on health was examined on 132 persons at 40 adult colleges (VHS) at the beginning and end of courses as well as three months thereafter. The courses attained high levels of satisfaction among the participants and significantly improved health-related quality of life, psychological and physical ailments, and this effect remained three months after the end of the course as w…
This paper deals with a new approach in the promotion of literacy, which focuses on social integration. This approach has been inspired by a concept of adult education aiming at integration and by social work oriented to the life world of the addressees. These concepts are being adapted to the work with functionally illiterate persons. The approach discussed here includes different forms of action promoting literacy: both learning and consulting, and also institutional cooperation in networks. …
Quo vadis graduate? First assessment of the BA/MA study location Bochum The contribution looks through experiences in relation to graduates of B.A. and M.A. courses of study in educational science in Bochum. Concerning the bachelor: The graduate quota with 60 per cent is much higher than previous quotas – like in the master course of study. While approximately half of the graduates continue their study in Bochum, others enter the employment market directly. They find employment in the wider s…
The contribution shows that, why, and in which way adult education in clerical sponsorship deals with joy. Though in the biblical tradition, ideas of a fulfilled life occur, they are always completed by the promise of the salvation to come. The present occupation with joy in educational practice consciously and vigorously distances itself from a tendency of fleeing from the world. Because “joy“, as brain research and philosophy emphasize, is not thinkable without sensual quality. The contributi…
From gender related education via the gender mainstreaming to the gender competence The different participation of women and men in adult education gives clues for their different circumstances in life and attributions that have a hierarchic impact concerning the gainful employment and securing of financial existence. These gender typical contexts are traditionally subject matter part of the women's movement or gender related educational work that took up a large space in the adult education…
The paper discusses learning as a way of obtaining recognition in adult life. Recognition is one of the basic categories of A. Honneth’s notion of justice. The opinions presented in this paper have been formulated on the basis of the research carried out among non-traditional students of OSW. Adult students who pursue education often express deep satisfaction they experience in the course of their studies, claiming that the process has helped them to boost their confidence and increase their ow…
