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Adult education centers (“Volkshochschulen”) realize their educational mission nationwide, in a wide range of educational topics and for all citizens. In order to foster equal participation opportunities for all population groups, they face the challenge of adapting their work to social developments. Organizational approaches such as diversity management and intercultural opening provide a framework that considers different levels of continuing education work and discusses their contribution to…
Aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of an extra-occupational graduate program. Hence it was of crucial importance, whether the alumni assessed the graduate program as effective. To investigate this research question a quantitative questionnaire was designed. Thus the graduate program was evaluated at the three levels reactions, learning and transfer. Overall 88 graduates were interviewed. Data analysis shows the efficacy of the program on all levels. Consequently (theoretical and pra…
The article deals with the concept of self-competence, the importance of which has been growing in andragogy in the course of the individualization of professional life. Thereby the theoretical and empirical analysis focuses on the ´explanation´ of the term and its effects on the individuum. After the description of fundamental developments which cause the emergence of the topica theorectical and empirical modelling of (self-)competences follows. As a conclusion, consequences for the theory and…
“Bildung” and Biography in Self-organized Learning If subjects of learning are related to the learners thinking and acting in past or future, learning gains a biographic dimension. The notion of “bildung” can be attributed to a learning process, when frames of interpretation get transformed and re-arranged. The councelling of learning in a learning environment opens spaces, where learning processes like this can come true. This interrelation is examined in the contribution with an analysis o…
Adult educators often have to work with a small budget; at the same time, they are committed to educational ideals. By examining the mission statements of German adult education centres (Volkshochschulen), the article shows how this tension between the ‘guiding institutions’ of education and cost-efficiency is reflected in the values of these education providers. The analysis shows that while adult education centres do refer to ‘education’ in their mission statements, they also mention, each in…
Adult education and its terminology This article focuses on the interaction between the history of ideas and adult education. The question of the disciplinary and the individual self-conception, which can be extended by an approach from the history of the understanding of concepts, is central to this consideration. After discribing the possible usage of general terminology it offers different perspectives and levels for adult educational analysis. As a conclusion it discusses to which extent…
Arnold, Rolf; Lermen, Markus: The systematic of the need: „It is actually about something quite different“ For professionals in the departments of adult education the question of the different starting points, strategies and methods of needs analysis, respectively of making information on needs accessible, has an important role on the way into a market orientated adult education. The question of need sometimes grows into a meaning of large dimension, which makes the impression that this emp…
This article aims at analyzing the consequences of using educational monitoring data for adult education research. Refering to the Statistics on German “Volkshochschulen” (Adult Education Centers) the advantages and challenges that the usage of educational monitoring data brings for research purposes are shown. This is made explicit by focussing on the research project “Governance structures and educational performance profiles in adult education organizations” (GLOW) and discussing the empiric…
The institution-economic analysis of problematic principal-agent relationships at off-the-job courses offered by the Bundesagentur für Arbeit (Federal Employment Services) shows: The introduction of education vouchers does not change anything about the weaknesses of the system because qualification still happens outside the market. What is rather needed is a redirection towards on-the-job qualification measures since only these can help unemployed persons to find a job. Thus, qualification vouc…
The author discusses the influence of the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) on the literacy education field in Canada. Methodology is holistic and centred around critical policy analysis. Finds Canada invested heavily in the surveys and has not yet changed policy or practice in response to the findings. Two reasons for lack of influence are suggested: the difficulty of comparing literacy survey results over time, and the lack of federal investment in the org…
