Research
We explore how adult education can be made inclusive, digital and effective.
Services
Digital tools, specialist portals and data – for teachers, researchers, students and interested parties.
Institute
We offer research, transfer and infrastructure for lifelong learning.
The inheritance of Paul Röhrig as a subject for historical research in adult education The article presents the types of sources and texts found in the estate of Paul Röhrig (1922–2007) and after an introduction to his biography and work, outlines positions on topics of art historical research that can be elaborated on this basis. The approaches to a systematized history of the study of adult education in the West German post-war years which arise from this will be outlined in an account wit…
While belief research has become an integral part of the educational research agenda, it has been uneven. One neglected area is the beliefs of adult education teachers. Focusing on five such teachers working in adult basic education and teaching numeracy in Switzerland, this exploratory study uses different data to describe their beliefs about numeracy and its teaching. It is shown that this group holds clearly different views from other groups of adult teachers and it is argued that extending …
Awareness must be raised with respect to financial literacy. The publication provides information on the topic of financial literacy, explains the importance of raising awareness, outlines the function and role of multipliers as prime movers at the various interfaces and highlights the potential of cooperation and networking. In three steps – recognising, responding and taking action – it presents theoretical principles and case studies from a variety of vocational (everyday) situations for sel…
The staff in adult and continuing education is the most important factor for a high quality and demand-oriented development of training courses and their effective implementation. However, there existed only insufficient data and information on these persons. For the first time, the wb-personalmonitor now provides data on demographics, employment situation, living conditions, job profiles, qualifications as well as job related attitudes for the staff in adult and continuing education. Thus, the…
Family is a learning space with special features. Learning processes do not only involve children but also adult family members. Taking the example of the acquisition of media competences, the older generation’s learning processes are analysed based on the qualitative IgelMedia study. With regard to adult education, the author concludes that intra-family learning processes attract attention. The focus should not only be on transferring new knowledge but also on the classification of acquired sk…
Adult education increasingly occupies the center of education policy and hence the corresponding governance aspirations on the national, supra- and international level. Large-scale-assessment studies, like PIAAC, further raised public attention for adult education with a focus on the low educated. This study analyzes overall and spatial participation in adult education in the national context using multi-level modeling. Using data from the European Labour Force Survey 2013 it shows that (1) the…
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…
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…
The aim of the paper is to give an overview of key issues involved in recognising non-formal and informal learning, ranging from the legitimacy of the learning activities in terms of the outcomes to be recognised, through the cost of the necessary assessment, and essential elements such as quality assurance, the standards used, the potential benefits and the real obstacles. The findings summarised here are based on a report that describes and analyses practices in the 22 countries that particip…
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…