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Literacy as a social practice in a district. An ethnographic theory for basic education practice In German-speaking countries, the theoretical discussion on literacy work is characterised far more by a focus on deficits than is the Anglo-Saxon debate. This article narrows this theoretical gap by adopting Barton & Hamilton’s ethnographic research approach to local literacies for an empirical investigation into literacy practices. The project presented here studies how and why reading and wri…
Serving oneself. The new voluntary work and the role of full-time educationalists People’s own learning and development motives play a more important role in the “new voluntary work” than before. This article relates subjective descriptions by volunteers of the learning motives underlying their commitments and adopts a profession-oriented theoretical perspective to relate these to a strategy of support for volunteers by full-time educationalists, referred to as learning and development supp…
The pretentions on professionalization of further education in the area of tension between managerism, evidence based practice and obligation of participants The transformation of the welfare state also leads to a change in professional profiles in further education. This shows among others in the tendencies of de-professionalization, such as in the form of a (re-) subordination of adult pedagogical professional roles and activities under the logics of administration, market and law or other…
The author has collected self-reports of functional illiterates and questioned them on their “joy potential“. Three qualitatively set up analyses of the 1990s serve as sources. The contribution shows that the participation in literacy courses can cause a significant increase of self-confidence by overcoming experiences of deficit. The experience of attention and support is seen as encouraging and it contributes considerably to take over responsibility for one’s own life.
Im Oktober 2005 jährt sich die Wiedervereinigung zum fünfzehnten Mal. "Mancher Abschied ist schön" betitelte die Deutsche Evangelische Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Erwachsenenbildung (DEAE) im Jahre 1994 ein Buch, das "Perspektiven für politische Bildung nach dem Ende der Blockkonfrontation" entworfen hat. DIE hat das halbrunde Jubiläum zum Anlass genommen, bei den Autorinnen des Buches nachzufragen, wie die damals entwickelten Ideen heute wirken - im doppelten Sinne. Ein Gespräch mit Astrid Messers…