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As a result of the current migration of several hundreds of thousands refugees in Germany alone, concepts for successful language training become increasingly important. The integration programme funded by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) plays a central role. This article refers to data collected by the author regarding success factors for language learning. In this qualitative study, 51 interviews were conducted with integration programme participants in a reception centre…
Dealing professionally with negative emotions Tolerance of frustration and ambiguity as a key competence of providers of continuing education Dealing with disruptions is a key challenge in educational activities. This article uses abusive, insulting or fault-finding statements by participants to analyse professional ways of dealing with negative emotions. Tolerance of frustration and ambiguity are developed theoretically, understood as an element of a broad “feelings-management” and propa…
A new profession for trainers of vocational education »Professional pedagogue for training and further education (by the chambers of commerce)« The contribution reports on the context, concept and perspectives of a pilot further education for »Professional pedagogue for training and further education (by the chambers of commerce)«, which is currently being tested in Bavaria. It ensures especially the pedagogical qualification of the trainers which is urgently required today and it supports t…
In the educational facilities of the State Sports Associations of the Bundesländer, open adult education is implemented which serves the goals of formation of personality and enlightenment, furthers maturity, and cultivates social competences, and which is - albeit decreasingly - publicly funded. More than 3.000 full-time and part-time pedagogical staff are employed in these facilities. Nearly 15.000 courses for about 300.000 participants are held. But this is not the only field within sports …
In this paper, the authors examine the setting of and working with boundaries between everyday work and innovation development, based on an empirical analysis of an innovation lab in the social economy. The lab allows intrapreneurs to learn and use entrepreneurial practices to foster social innovation. The process of boundaries setting can be made clear by the spatial structuring of performative practice, the constitution of symbolic spaces, the rhythm of divergence and convergence as well as a…
Intergenerational learning can be considered as a chance for institutions of adult education. Besides explicitly planned courses for different generations, intergenerational learning opportunities also take place incidentally in the educational work in seminars and courses, when the participants belong to different age groups. In both cases, the question arises how to arrange those courses didactically in order to support intergenerational learning processes. Based on systematic considerations …
The paper is based upon a qualitative-empirical study in the field of basic education for adults (literacy, numeracy, language, and computer skills). The study is located in the andragogical research on teaching and learning. A constitutive characteristic of the examined basic skills courses is the variety of the participants. The variety is both, didactical challenge and potential, for it enables teaching and learning interactions. With interpreting some data examples the paper aims to show ho…
Normative Patterns of Biography and Contradictory Experiences as Resources in Women’s Educational Biographies As part of a research project on discontinuities in female educational and professional careers, this essay focusses on conflicting expectations women experience – conflicts between set normative social standards and biographies on the one hand, and the different individual plans and perspectives on the other hand. Group discussions among the participants of a Women’s Studies Program…
For 30 years, the author has been director of the communal adult education institute “Volkshochschule” at a middle-size town in Southern Germany. In 1998, the costs of 3 million DM were financed jointly by the town (50%), the participants of the courses (40%) and the Land Baden-Württemberg (10%). In the next three years, the "Volkshochschule" has to reduce the communal subsidy by 12%. The article deals with the financial challenges the institute faces in its new situation of competition at the …
Reshaping the Relationship between Natural Sciences and Society – The implicite Learning in Contemporary Society How much does an average citizen need to know in the field of natural sciences in order to cope with the challenges of contemporary society? This question is being asked from various points of view. We will reconstruct current debates related to this question along three different lines: on the European level, within academia, and by means of a concrete case study. By relating the…
