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In the recent years, the effectiveness of training teacher has become a big subject in empirical educational research. In this paper, an exploratory interview study (N?= 3) will be presented, in which the graduates of a general educational teacher training report on the effectiveness of the program. The study examines the question about the impact of the teachers who participated in the General Education Teacher Training. The teaching action here is conceptualized as part of the field of teache…
A video-study of language courses in adult education analyses the transformation of a learning side into a pedagogical space. The definition of pedagogical space is linked to the theory of social space. Space is thus viewed as an arrangement and perception between human beings and social goods. This recasting of social space as a pedagogical space specifies social space to include two additional elements: the representation of knowledge and pedagogical media. For this study, the transformation …
Adult learning professionals are understood in the context of European Policy as key factor for the quality of adult education. In this paper a transnational European study programme, the European Master in Adult Education, is focussed on as an academic contribution to the professionalization of adult learning professionals: What core themes of European Adult Education can be identified? What didactic approaches are required for a transnational curriculum? How is the labour market taken into co…
The article focuses on the presentation and commentary of the PIAAC study in the German press. Whereas the interpretations varied in the journalistic and political area, the associations and interest groups agree on the increased necessity for investments in the field of adult education.
This paper brings into focus the discourse on competences and reviews critically the potential of large-scale assessments. The measurement of competences in adulthood is a step towards a deeper understanding of the development of competences during the life course, although only domain specific and not general competences are taken into consideration. Based on the current research, the debate on competences will be reflected and the central points in the field of modeling the constructs of skil…
The German Adult Education Centres (VHS) consider themselves as further learning institutions for all whose aim it is to address the population at large. However, the data basis on the extent to which socially disadvantaged groups are reached is restricted. The present contribution investigates to which extent persons with a low level of school education are represented among the participants of the Adult Education Centres in Berlin. The investigation is linked to previous results of the resear…
This contribution describes an approach for the assessment of the total expenditure for adult and continuing education and training (ACET) in Austria, broken down by public and private sources of financing. Variants of estimates of the expenditure are presented. Direct expenditure has been at 0.7% and the sum of direct and indirect expenditure at 1.2% of GDP in 2009. The largest share is born by the enterprises (40%), followed by the public (30-34%), and the individuals slightly below 30%. Amon…
Education and equity are certainly central issues of educational research as well as topics of controversial public debate. On the one hand, Social Justice and Inequality Research focus on adult education, on the other hand adult education addresses the subject itself. Through the re-analysis of organizational structural data gathered from adult education providers in the state of Hesse, Germany, this article takes a closer look at the field of adult education. It aims to examine participation …
Consulting as an empirical deficit? Evaluation of educational institutions’ programs The article discusses the empirical relevance of consulting in adult education institutions. By evaluating the programs of institutions, it will be shown that consulting only selectively is present and thus may help to document the programmatic and theoretical discourse on the matter in a less efficient way. This lack will be interpreted as a deficit in its implementation by the respective institutions and in …
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…
