Research
We explore how adult education can be made inclusive, digital and effective.
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Digital tools, specialist portals and data – for teachers, researchers, students and interested parties.
Institute
We offer research, transfer and infrastructure for lifelong learning.
Die Lehr-/Lernforschung in der Weiterbildung hat sich lange Zeit auf die sozialen und biografischen Voraussetzungen und Rahmungen Lebenslangen Lernens konzentriert. Demgegenüber fanden die Lehr- und Lernprozesse in Veranstaltungen der Erwachsenenbildung vergleichsweise wenig Aufmerksamkeit. Das Gleiche galt für deren Wirkungen, sowohl im Blick auf Lernzuwächse und Interessen als auch auf ihren Transfer in den Lebens- und Arbeitsalltag der Teilnehmenden. Dies änderte sich jedoch im Laufe der let…
This article explores „biography“ as a separate field of research within adult education. It focuses on analysing the outcome of alphabetization and basic education courses on biographies and coping mechanisms of functional illiterates. At the same time, the importance of biography research for practical work with illiterates is highlighted. The article also discusses a list of requirements that need to be met for an innovative adjustment of such practical work, and thus making better use of it…
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…
In international comparative analyses on further education the clustering of countries is widely established. Frequently, such typologies are derived heuristically, referring to theoretical approaches or single indicators, which make it difficult to obtain a systematic overview. This contribution presents the main arguments of two theoretical approaches (welfare state regimes Esping-Andersen 1990 and varieties of capitalism Hall/Soskice 2001) that refer to indicators on the macro level for expl…
People with low literacy skills are often experiencing difficulties to manage their everyday life. For example, filling out forms, correspondence or banking may pose huge challenges. But what about the political participation of functional illiterates in a society which is dominated by the use of literacy? The following article focuses on how participants of literacy classes use their possibilities of contribution. These assumptions are based on first results of the qualitative research project…
The report presents first results of a study dealing with the whereabouts of former participants of literacy classes. Assuming courses of adult education have a beginning and an end, the authors pursue the phenomena of participants sojourning permanently at adult education courses. Taken data material into account, the reconstruction of possible reasons for staying in the courses finally leads to the demand for an initial consulting – analogical to the starting and learning consultation in the …
Receptive or hostile to continuing education? Course tutors caught between the pressure to conform and resistance This article presents the results of a qualitative dissertation. The author has investigated the acceptance of adult education teacher training courses among part-time and freelance teachers based on the example of the initial adult education teacher training qualification offered by the North Rhine Westphalia VHS (adult education centre) regional association. For the issue of a…
Religion and adult education The combination of "Religion and adult education" has conspicuously various facets, especially in practice. Religious adult education will be presented by means of examples of Christian, Islamic and Jewish adult education. But Religion is also subject matter of secular adult education and for that reason it will be considered separately in this context. An additional focus will be on the inevitable reference to religious aspects of intercultural adult education b…
The scope of literacy courses. Results of a representative survey among adult education centres As part of the EQUALS project, the German Adult Education Association (DVV) collected statistical data on literacy courses at adult education centres; this article presents the data and compares it with figures from 1994. The number of courses has risen, as has the number of participants, but fewer institutions than before provide this service. Compared with 1994, the participants are older and t…
A planned offer of further education organisations, orientated by the participant`s needs and interests, implies empirically confirmed data. The situation of data concerning further education behaviour and -interests of migrants in Germany referring to this is however moderate. This is on the one hand due to the definition problem of such constructs as “further education” and “people from migrant background” and adjunct to the difficulties with the operationalisation. On the other hand the data…
