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We explore how adult education can be made inclusive, digital and effective.
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The present findings are based on a programme analysis of one fifth of all programmes provided by public adult education institutions in Low Saxony in 2012. The study focused on field classification as well as on the analysis of participation portals. Over all, eight portals were developed and identified for the analysis. The findings provide information on methods for addressing social requirements and thus differentiating the educational field – how intercultural education undergoes a delta-s…
Proceeding from the educational policy objective of achieving greater participation in continuing education, this article presents a set of instruments with which the learning and educational behaviour of adults can be measured statistically. Taking the example of data selected from the Continuing Education Reporting System (Berichtssystem Weiterbildung (BSW)) and the Adult Education Survey (AES), the potential for analysis and the generation of knowledge offered by statistics on continuing edu…
Non-Participation in Work-based Training in Europe. Results of a Field Study CVTS3 After a review of theories and empirical results concerning enterprise-based continuing training, results of the enterprise survey CVTS3 are discussed with a focus on training abstinence. It is shown that most non-training enterprises do not see a need for training. Public financing measures for the promotion of continuing training are likely to be less efficient for these enterprises, while awareness campaign…
Voluntary Commitment and Learning. Results of a Survey on Volunteers by the Federal Government The Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth’s (BMFSFJ) survey on volunteers, carried out in 1999 and 2004, shows that voluntary work is on the rise, especially in the area of work with young people and adult education. Learning motives play a major role in voluntary commitments. Technical expertise is also considered to be important, but more so by men than by women. O…
Lifelong learning on a high quality level is a condition for participation in further economical and social developments in society. But how are lifelong learning activities to be financed? Are projects of the European Union the key for solving financial problems of institutional and organized learning? The author describes his experiences made with the acquisition of EU-projects. The article points out difficulties and problems in the process of acquisition, searching partners and trying to co…
Particularly, disabled people belong to those being excluded from social participation. From these peoples’ point of view, the UN-Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities formulates specific challenges for the system of adult and continuing education. What results from these challenges with regard to the various social and individual functions given to adult education and lifelong learning? Answers from the field of adult education, from the pedagogy for the disabled and from socio…
Mathematics, natural science and engineering are not among the most favourite learning objectives of either pupils or adults. While they do enjoy a high esteem, they are also perceived as difficult. The authors discuss why this should be so, and give a summary over participation statistics of Volkshochschulen in the past decades, where courses in mathematics, science or technical matters have been on the decline for some time. Against this background, they present aims and methods of their proj…
Virtuality is not the essence of computer-based learning environments: any learning environment contains elements of virtuality in so far as it concerns itself with representations of reality. Even though the difference between computer-based and traditional settings in this respect is one of degree rather than of substance, conditions at the extreme end of the virtuality scale call for a change in learning arrangements. The authors explore the consequences for learners – self-direction, critic…
Demokratische Gesellschaften und auch die Demokratie selbst stehen zunehmend vor Herausforderungen. Die Autoren zeigen auf, warum der Arbeitsplatz als Sozialraum und Lernort für die politische Bildung an Bedeutung gewinnt, welche Chancen sich bieten und über welche Fragen diskutiert werden muss.
Während der Corona-Pandemie hat es auch in Kalifornien Einschränkungen bei Präsenzkursen der Erwachsenen- und Weiterbildung gegeben. Die Anbieter haben darauf mit einer starken Ausweitung von Online- und Hybridkursen reagiert. Auf Grundlage eines jährlichen Datenreports zum Fernunterricht zeigt der Autor Schwierigkeiten und Lösungsstrategien der Einrichtungen bei dieser Umstellung auf.
