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We explore how adult education can be made inclusive, digital and effective.
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We offer research, transfer and infrastructure for lifelong learning.
Institutionally organized adult education has traditionally seen the integration of social strata and groups as its most important task. However, in recent years an increasing disinterest of general adult education in integrative work is to be observed which goes along with the emergence of a specialised andragogical approach and institutional compartmentalization: people with disabilities are increasingly catered for by care facilities and financed by social welfare institutions. The emergence…
The book presents a variety of concepts and experiences on how the roots and past of organizations can be looked at by employing a number of methodological approaches as well as ways and means to celebrate jubilees of adult education and community learning centers and their associations. It is meant for professionals leading such centers and those who are responsible for public relations, information and communication, and event management. The book starts off by explaining the terminology and …
The article focuses the question whether workforce literacy strategies in research and policies may tend to exclude relevant fields of literacy, which have emancipatory chances for participants, but which regularly fail in including low qualified or literate adults, namely the area of basic civic education. The relevance of basic civic education will be discussed using contemporary theories, which point at a crisis of democracy and explain this by the spread of income and capital and its legiti…
Didactical shift of epoch? Needs for clarification for the further development of didactical thinking, with regard to a DFG-supported research This contribution deals with the question, what science should clarify, explore and do in order to tackle a possible stagnation of didactical thinking (and therewith also its practical possibilities of impact). In spite of the fruitful provocation with which the didactical discussion has been revived in the last decade, especially from sides of cons…
Adult education centers (“Volkshochschulen”) realize their educational mission nationwide, in a wide range of educational topics and for all citizens. In order to foster equal participation opportunities for all population groups, they face the challenge of adapting their work to social developments. Organizational approaches such as diversity management and intercultural opening provide a framework that considers different levels of continuing education work and discusses their contribution to…
In the present European context migrants and refugees are represented as a threat to security in the first place. Adult Education, especially when subsidised by the state, finds itself in a double-bind. On the one hand it has to offer a place for “Bildung” for all adults, where they can develop themselves according to their interests, capabilities and needs. Unequal chances are to be reduced and the humanistic ideal of development and expression of one’s personality shall be met. On the other h…
Education in the Economic Culture. An Analysis of Approaches in Educational Policy of the Council of Europe and the EU Considering the Discussion of Culture and Economic Orientation The European Union and the Council of Europe play an important role for educational policy in Europe. Education is meant to promote European identity as well as the European Economic Area. This text explores the priorities of the Council of Europe’s and the European Union’s educational concepts in the timeframe …
Zum siebten Mal nach 1973, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1983 und 1994 widmet die Sektion Erwachsenenbildung der DGfE ihre Jahrestagung der Diskussion theoretischer Grundlagen und Bezüge der Erwachsenenbildungswissenschaft. Der Plenumsvortrag von Klaus Prange hat den Titel: Die vielen Erziehungswissenschaften und die eine Pädagogik. Die fünf Arbeitsgruppen beschäftigen sich mit folgenden Themen: Arbeitsgruppe 1: Theoretische Bezüge der Erwachsenenbildung Arbeitsgruppe 2: Theoretische Grundlagen didakt…
The book provides an overview of the current situation in Adult and Continuing Education in Austria. At the beginning stands an introduction into the Austrian education system together with a delineation of the historical evolution of Adult and Continuing Education. The portrait thoroughly informs about the legal foundations, governance approaches as well as institutions, quality assurance, financing, provision and participation. Moreover, the occupational field and strategies for professionali…
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 …
