Research
We explore how adult education can be made inclusive, digital and effective.
Services
Digital tools, specialist portals and data – for teachers, researchers, students and interested parties.
Institute
We offer research, transfer and infrastructure for lifelong learning.
Most learning activities in continuing education are assigned to enterprise-provided continuing vocational training. There is wide-spread interest in this field and its development. But many researchers point out that the theoretical and conceptual foundations for researching and shaping this field are not adequately unfolded. The variety of enterprise-provided continuing vocational training requires approaches, which allow for differentiation between diverse realities and interests of actors. …
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…
This article focuses on the requirement for teachers and trainers in adult education to reflect on their professional actions and teaching experiences. After a short overview of the current debate on professionalism, a definition of the term didactical reflection is elaborated, differentiating between two levels of reflection: on one hand a direct didactical reflection on teaching actions or situations and on the other hand a self-including reflection. Subjective definitions of successful teach…
The article focuses on an empirical desideratum of research on teaching and learning in adult education – the planning of courses. The planning of courses is a complex decision-making process, which influences the teaching and learning behavior. Empirical findings of schoolteachers’ planning and results of interviews with trainers in adult education are used to identify elements and potential factors that influenced planning behavior. Based on this, the article develops research prospects and a…
The planning of teaching and learning is a key task for teachers of adult and continuing education. This recurrent challenge demands situational decisions regarding objectives, contents, media and activities of teaching and learning, taking into consideration both the learner as well as organisational and spatial factors. However, empirical research indicates that these complex and interdependent decisions are often tackled insufficiently. Digital planning tools can be used to reduce the comple…
This study explores the definition of „adult basic education“ from the perspective of public education administration of the German Laender. On the one hand, adult basic education is claimed as a public good that has to be made accessible by public funding. One the other hand, there is still no agreement on the definition of adult basic education. Based on a subject-scientific approach, qualitative interviews are conducted with administrative employees in order to explore dimensions and justifi…
