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The following article focuses the mostly neglected relation between identity and learning by reconstructing foreign learning efforts by adults. In spite of educational policy's proclamation of (continuous) lifelong learning real learning processes are characterized by various discontinuities. Adults deal with these discontinuities by perceiving, describing and structuring them dependent on their self-images as learners. Interpretations of interviews with adult language learners supply evidence …
This article presents the findings of a research project on structure and change in continuing education in Bremen, set out as a longitudinal analysis of selected years between 1979 and 2006. At the level of the continuing education system as a whole, the author identifies a certain structural stability evident from the fact that despite a growth in the number of market-oriented providers from 1996 to 2006, their competition – providers under public law – retained its structural influence on th…
Main pillars of professionalisation. The “qualification framework for teachers“ and the “core curriculum adult education and continuing education” Here two initiatives are being compared, which want to contribute to the professionalisation of the continuing education area. The “qualification framework for teachers“ is a German derivate of the European Qualifications Framework. It creates a grid in which the manifold qualification possibilities for teachers of the continuing education area can …
The paper tackles the issue of procedures for the validation of competences, which are used in the tertiary education sector in order to evaluate an individual’s study ability on the basis of his/her vocational qualifications. This contested terrain will be explored by means of the University of Hamburg’s validation procedure (the so-called Eingangsprüfungsverfahren, §38 HmbHG). The focus of interest will be put on a qualitative reconstruction of individual decision-making processes during thes…
This contribution summarizes the most important trends in further education in Germany as they were elaborated in a secondary analytic research project of the DIE (Deutsches Institut für Erwachsenbildung – German Institute for Adult Education) in 2007. According to the study, participation in adult education in Germany is increasing after long years of decrease, even though, overall, financing of adult education has been further reduced. Cooperation as well as competition between adult educatio…
Ahnen Building bridges, supported by further education and continuing education Transitions between education areas from an education political view The contribution analyses from an education political view how the mastery of transitions between education areas can be guided. Hereunto the author, minister of education of the state Rhineland-Palatinate, reminds of measures which were decided on in the course of this state’s presidency of the German Federal Conference of the ministers of edu…
Zweifellos hat die Nutzung digitaler Medien in der Corona-Pandemie auch in der Erwachsenen- und Weiterbildung einen großen Schub erfahren, wenn dies die Einbrüche in Angebot und Teilnahme nicht vollständig ausgleichen konnte. Doch wie nachhaltig ist diese Entwicklung? Reichen die bisherigen Anstrengungen aus, um die Erwachsenen- und Weiterbildung im Allgemeinen und die Volkshochschulen im Besonderen zukunftssicher aufzustellen? Darüber sprachen Herausgeber Josef Schrader und Redakteur Jan Rohwe…
Mit der Befragung des Personals der öffentlichen Weiterbildung in Niedersachsen wurden Erkenntnisse über die drei erwachsenenpädagogischen Funktionsprofile Einrichtungsleitung, hauptamtliche pädagogische Mitarbeitende und Kursleitung im Hinblick auf deren sozioökonomische Merkmale, Aufgaben- und Tätigkeitsfelder, Weiterbildungsverhalten und Einstellung zu einer trägerunabhängigen Kompetenzzertifizierung gewonnen. Die Aufgabenprofile dieser drei Funktionsprofile verdeutlichen, dass neben pädagog…
There is growing interest in evidence-based interventions that can improve student teachers’ professional development. But how can these interventions be implemented into everyday teacher education practice by teacher educators themselves—without losing their initial, lab-tested effectiveness due to teacher educators’ practical educational autonomy? Through a quasi-experimental field study the following question is investigated: What is the impact of different degrees of educational autonomy…
Foreign languages à la mode. Trends in adult language acquisition based on the example of the VHS programme Learning foreign languages is a high-status activity in organised adult learning. Based on VHS (adult education centre) statistics, the author shows that foreign languages are an indispensable element of the VHS programme range; hardly any other area is in such constantly high demand, a demand which can also be seen in relation to income status. Now making up 30 percent of all courses,…
