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The author prefers the term of »sustainable learning« compared with »education for sustainable development«, because she sees the numerous non-institutionalised learning processes being included. The UN decade is a challenge for a variety of learning places, protagonists and target groups. She confronts the chances for the decade with several social, above all individual barriers, which complicate the learning of sustainability. Besides the value attitudes and emotions above all here the factor…
Organizations function as the central generators of complexity in modern society by regulating and constantly increasing the opportunities for simultaneous action. The paper conceives populism as a socially widespread form of criticism of this organized complexity and systematically differentiates it from fundamentalisms and conspiracy theories as important complexity reducing interpretations of modernity. The structural logic of organizations and their role in society is analyzed in relation t…
Awareness must be raised with respect to financial literacy. The publication provides information on the topic of financial literacy, explains the importance of raising awareness, outlines the function and role of multipliers as prime movers at the various interfaces and highlights the potential of cooperation and networking. In three steps – recognising, responding and taking action – it presents theoretical principles and case studies from a variety of vocational (everyday) situations for sel…
As a result of the current migration of several hundreds of thousands refugees in Germany alone, concepts for successful language training become increasingly important. The integration programme funded by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) plays a central role. This article refers to data collected by the author regarding success factors for language learning. In this qualitative study, 51 interviews were conducted with integration programme participants in a reception centre…
Successful communication – i.e. reaching an understanding between speaker and listener – depends on the content and its format, the personality of the speaker, but also on the form and presentation of the content. Especially in situations of learning and teaching, the voice of the speaker plays an important role in the presentation of the content of teaching and learning. Some ways of speaking may render unwanted effects and may be seen as distracting. It is important to note, however, that all…
Voluntary Commitment and Learning. Results of a Survey on Volunteers by the Federal Government The Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth’s (BMFSFJ) survey on volunteers, carried out in 1999 and 2004, shows that voluntary work is on the rise, especially in the area of work with young people and adult education. Learning motives play a major role in voluntary commitments. Technical expertise is also considered to be important, but more so by men than by women. O…
Due to special legal status, differences in social structure, and fewer chances on the labor market, people with migration background are less successful in initial schooling and vocational training programs. They are also under-represented in the area of adult education. The role of continuing education counseling, therefore, is to inform immigrants interested in education of the many individual educational opportunities that are available, to purposefully remove educational barriers, and to p…
Economic standard education is increasingly criticised for its unworldliness, imbalance and rashness. The article investigates possible effects and the social meaning of this condition: Does is support sightless market credibility, which is visible in the public opinion during the past decades? Which criteria play a role? The article pursues these issues by working out essential connections between strategies for influencing the public opinion from a historic perspective on the one hand, and sc…
Based on the background of selective access to further education institutions and the relevance of intercultural understanding and opening, the focus on transition processes within further education institutions will provide benefits for research and development in further education. Results from a qualitative study that was part of the LIQ project will be presented. The analysis of the interviews could be used to highlight diverse and complex aspects that influence the transition from target g…
The historiography of adult education has painted an almost entirely optimistic picture of enlightenment until today. The actors are defined as people who are willing to learn and capable of being educated. Thanks to the advances in the enlightenment process they mature into responsible citizens. Sources based on individual history, like the ones presented in the “Magazin zur Erfahrungsseelenkunde” (1783-1793), are not taken into consideration. In his role as editor of the periodical magazine, …
