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Mit einer Gastprofessur kam die Idee über den Atlantik: Paul Bélanger aus Montreal versammelte an der Universität Duisburg-Essen Fachleute der Weiterbildung zu einer Konferenz über die »Intimacy of learning – a social issue«. Einige der Beiträge bilden den diesmaligen Themenschwerpunkt. Eine vorsichtige Annäherung, denn die Übersetzung bleibt schwierig. Die deutsche Konnotation von Intimität als »Tabubereiche betreffend« schwingt im Englischen so nicht mit. Die DIE-Redaktion hat sich entschiede…
Exploring the inner aspect of learning. Methodological considerations for investigating life-long learning This article sets out research methods required for qualitative research aimed at understanding the inner aspect of learning. The aim is to make qualitative single case studies more relevant with regard to issues of education policy and social analysis. For this purpose, the following measures are proposed. (1) Close reading and reflexivity: Precisely studying the source texts sheds lig…
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…
Referred back to oneself. Reflexive modernisation and new learning requirements This article probes the relationship between our risk society, reflexive modernity and individual learning. First, social conditions are illuminated (with reference to Beck, Giddens and Lash) which force people to endure uncertainty (Mitscherlich and Marotzki) and gain critical ego strength. Next the author focuses attention on the reality of contemporary ways of dealing with demands, turning to findings from nar…
Diversity management is a popular management approach. It promises to allow diversity in organisations and thus to appreciate people for what they are. It undertakes to recognise different points of view, ideas, abilities and potentials; not to standardise cultural variety but to reinforce it. For adult education, this concept seems highly promising. After all, one claim of educational management is to promote personality development and personal progress in a business context. However, critica…
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,…
Learning at the workplace – an “intimate” event The author takes the example of two female employees with a background of migration to show how strongly adults’ motivation to learn and their learning decisions are influenced by personal, deeply private motivations, even when they are pushed into learning by an external influence, as is often the case in companies. The theoretical basis on which the author interprets the case examples in the light of the “intimacy of lifelong learning” is th…
Im Rahmen des BMBF-Projekts „EdAge – Bildungsverhalten und -interessen Älterer“ sind das Weiterbildungsverhalten und die Weiterbildungsinteressen der 45- bis 80-Jährigen in einem integrierten Forschungsansatz erhoben worden, der quantitativ-repräsentative und qualitativ-explorative Untersuchungsbausteine verbindet. Damit konnten zahlreiche bislang ungeklärte Fragen beantwortet werden: • Wie stark partizipieren Ältere an Weiterbildung und welche Variablen prägen ihr Bildungsverhalten? • Was …
