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In the last years the issue of adult literacy has gained international and national importance – not least due to the comparative surveys IALS, ALL, and PIAAC, conducted by the OECD. The result was a series of developments in education policy, in particular regarding the promotion and financing of adult literacy programmes. Based on country reports, the present article provides internationally comparative insight into the discussion regarding the promotion and financing of adult literacy progra…
Continuing education and justice The question as to the connection between education and justice has always been important, even before education was established as a functioning sub-system of society. This applies in a similar manner to the sub-field of “continuing education”. The REPORT examines different approaches to the difficult topic of justice and the required linkage between a discussion based on standards and norms and empirical data (which is too unreliable). The articles especially…
Stepped courses of studies and professionalization of adult education Reflections against the background of first experiences at the Ruhr-University Bochum The contribution takes the occasion of the dynamics of reform, with the transposition of the study into two cycles, to show policy-making decisions which need to be made for the study offers in the area of adult education. One important point of reference is the question, as to what extent the reform counteracts the efforts concerning pr…
"Further education for all" as a theory problem On pedagogy and its partial areas The policy metaphor "further education for all" poses a challenge for further education processes in adult education and the special education. It puts aspects of disability and disadvantage from the edge into the centre of the theory problems. The question is how further education and special education (can) deal with the altered public problem horizon. It is analysed how the two pedagogical partial areas cho…
Gender mainstreaming is gaining relevance in gender and equality policy. But gender democracy means not only equal rights and chances of men and women but also the depart from hegemonial virility as a dominant social structural principle. This political target is far from being reached. Education under the perspective of gender democracy should be orientated at the “new man”. – The article is the answer of the (male) author to three questions for the understanding, the development and the most …
Internationality is increasingly gaining in importance for the domain of further education. However, its tangible added value is of a size which has hitherto been difficult to define for adult-pedagogic practice. This tape presents the results of an evaluation of around 100 international cooperation projects which were promoted within the framework of the EU SOCRATES programme. Numerous examples reveal the possibilities which currently exist and limitations of European cooperation. Deductively,…
Lifelong education for seniors is becoming a significant policy focus because of factors relating to the global aging society phenomenon. Yet the modern ‘educational demoralisation’ that can result from informal experiential learning not being sufficiently valued or encouraged, may also apply to later life learning—typically manifest as a ‘fear of ageing’ as well as ageism. This is especially so in contexts where policymakers tend to just mainly focus on the worrying economic, health and other …
Scientific adult learning discussions refer to the concept of “region” mainly in policy contexts. Against this background, the author develops an approach to investigate regions from an organizational point of view. In a qualitative interview study using grounded theory within the framework of action-centered geography, he shows that adult education organizations and professionals construct regions in pedagogical practice. These practices need to be analyzed as a complex interplay between marke…
This article explores the inherent normative nature of what on the surface appears to be neutral empirical research. Direct and indirect normative influences exercised by empirical research are demonstrated using the example of the PISA studies: (1) their desire to provide knowledge which can help steer policy, (2) the normative nature of their didactical concepts and educational theory, (3) the idea derived from the sequence of studies of adapting classroom instruction to conform with the conc…
