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We explore how adult education can be made inclusive, digital and effective.
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During the last two decades widening adult participation in higher education has become a central issue in international and especially European lifelong learning policy debates. At European level this is reflected in the Europe 2020 strategy set out by the European Commission. One headline target is to boost the share of the population aged 30–34 that has completed tertiary or equivalent education to 40 per cent by 2020. In the face of general trends such as the intensive use of ICT, the evolu…
Adult education is more and more affected by social change due to migration. This paper analyses the marginal adoption of the topic by research in the past and describes recent trends, also in practice. Perspectives for institutions of adult education such as widening access to adult education for migrants, organisational development and professionalisation are discussed. Furthermore the author names challenges for research. There should be more cooperation within the field of educational resea…
Inclusion – An Organisational Challenge. Steps towards Inclusive Adult Education. Part 1 The report evaluates the option of offering inclusive adult education at adult education centres on a larger scale. The compatibility of the new policy statement in adult education centres and the principle of inclusion are pointed out. Implications of the concept of inclusion are presented, which lead to the conclusion that inclusion can only be implemented with a comprehensive organisational developmen…
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…
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…
Keeping an eye on the practice of management in further education institutions, the observer will encounter a rich variety of changing management strategies. Johannes Hartkemeyer, himself director of a Volkshochschule, scrutinizes past crazes and sets up guidelines for dealing with ever-changing fashions on the one hand, and organisational development on the other hand. His advice is to be a »learning organisation«, watch out for »mental models« of the organisation in a permanent process of ref…
Das Schwerpunktthema des vorliegenden REPORT greift sowohl die bildungspolitische als auch die forschungspolitische und forschungsmethodische Seite des Themas PISA und Weiterbildung auf. Die Beiträge reichen von der Einschätzung der Weiterbildungs-relevanz von PISA bis hin zur methodenkritischen Diskussion eines zu konzipierenden PISA für Erwachsene.
The German Institute for Adult Education (DIE) works as a provider of scientific ser vices for both research and practical work in adult and fur ther education, supplying institutions and researchers with statistical data, documents and support. Its strategic position at the interface between theory and practice corresponds with the institutes specific understanding of its own supportive function and distinctive corporate identity: transmitting scientific knowledge to practice and vice versa, p…
Intergenerational learning can be considered as a chance for institutions of adult education. Besides explicitly planned courses for different generations, intergenerational learning opportunities also take place incidentally in the educational work in seminars and courses, when the participants belong to different age groups. In both cases, the question arises how to arrange those courses didactically in order to support intergenerational learning processes. Based on systematic considerations …
