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We explore how adult education can be made inclusive, digital and effective.
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At the present time those people are retiring who became the managers of adult evening classes institions during the education campaign around 1970. The author approaches the future alteration of generations in the top management positions by a comparison of the general conditions. These were better around twenty years ago: larger scopes for development, established role as a hub of culture and educational politics. Today the permanently solidifying work is distinct of innovation requirements a…
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 …
Striking the Balance between Competences – Backgrounds, Methods, Development Necessities The term competence entered the pedagogical/educational discussions of the German Education Council in the 1970s. However, it has recently become, once again, the objective of an intensive debate. It is always about the potential of the individuals which exceeds the certified level of knowledge and skills. This article introduces and analyses three different methodological approaches to the evaluation an…
In the current transition from industrial society towards an „information society“, the importance of access to and information about new information and communication technologies is ever growing. A „digital divide“ between competent users and nonusers, forming a new class of „information have-nots“, may be the consequence. – The author points to the increasing importance of the Internet as a provider of everyday information, as well as to the danger of excluding great numbers of individual…
Eero Pantzar presents the outlines of the development of adult education in Finland from the early beginning in the 19th century up to today. Popular education was seen as one of the necessary preconditions for the growth of general welfare, economic development and the individual’s personal growth. The first decades of the nation’s independence (1917 -) saw a strong boom in liberal adult education. This was most clearly indicated by the growing number of institutions and organisations providin…
The study text provides an introduction to the topic migration and further education with particular attention to the different educational needs of adults with a migrant background. As a starting point, central terms and events in the history of migration in Germany are discussed. Against this background, the current challenges for further education due to migration-related diversity are highlighted. Moreover, the training situation and participation of adults with a migrant background is disc…
Inter-organizational cooperation is understood as a possibility to react on the needs of low skilled adults through the conception of adequate offers. The conception and implementation of new second chance qualification offers that provide a vocational qualification for adults does not only require organizations in the educational system. Also further partners are needed to combine different services across system boundaries that correspond to the educational and to the economic system. The sys…
In this article the theory and practice of adult education are described as a system which sustains itself using certain rules of play. The author starts out with an introduction to the term »play/game« placing particular emphasis on the fact that this game sets off further acts of communication: further moves are made. Next, four dimensions are identified in which ways of playing games can be observed: the personal, the social, the organisational and the community dimension. Adult education is…
Continuing Education for the teaching Staff in adult Education in Europe – Situation, Strategies, Systems This article reviews the results of the efforts for establishing a frame for the measuring of competencies and skills for the teaching staff in adult education which has been implemented on the European level (EQF). It is shown that, due to the situation in various European countries, a rather open understanding of the term “adult education” is in use, including vocational training and n…
The notion of lifelong learning is reshaping the structural principle according to which learning is organised in the time structures of society. Long periods of time spent in schools are becoming more flexible, with shorter sections of ordered learning times being distributed throughout people’s lives and more flexible transitions taking place between work and learning. The three-phase scheme for working life – training, work and retirement – is becoming more flexible. The LLL concept can be s…