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Theoretical references in professional adult education and vocational training To the extent that social sciences are dependent on the terms with which they are formulated also adult education underlies the impacts of terminological decisions, that can be encountered this way or another way. The usage of the term intervention is such a decision, it stands in the centre of this contribution. By interpreting the empirical results of research on self-learning competences as well as by theoretic…
Im Mai 2025 wurde Karin Prien (CDU ) zur Bundesministerin für das neu gegründete Ministerium für Bildung, Forschung, Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend ernannt. Erstmals vereint ein Bundesministerium alle Bildungsetappen von der frühen Kindheit bis ins Alter und ermöglicht so eine durchgängige Perspektive auf lebenslanges Lernen. Über ihre Pläne und deren Bedeutung für die Erwachsenen- und Weiterbildung sprachen mit ihr die Herausgeber Prof. Dr. Josef Schrader und Dr. Peter Brandt.
The article presents the results of the author’s study on the views of pedagogy students on politics and education. The research has been undertaken subsequently to the 2015 parliamentary elections won by the party “Prawo i Sprawiedliwosc” (“Law and Justice”, PiS). During the election campaign, this party’s program offered radical changes, also in the Polish educational system. The aim of the study was the recognition of the level of interest in politics, the approach to democracy and education…
This article investigates the internationally-comparative question how basic education policy is understood at the national level of policy formulation (policy), and how this basic education policy is – taking into account the institutional rules and responsibilities of the multi-level-system (polity) – implemented by a constellation of actors into national education policy (politics). On the basis of empirical data from the project “EU-Alpha”, the interplay of policy, polity and politics in ba…
This article presents the findings of a research project on structure and change in continuing education in Bremen, set out as a longitudinal analysis of selected years between 1979 and 2006. At the level of the continuing education system as a whole, the author identifies a certain structural stability evident from the fact that despite a growth in the number of market-oriented providers from 1996 to 2006, their competition – providers under public law – retained its structural influence on th…
Working at companies in old age – problem or opportunity? Company strategies for dealing with demographic change Demographic change usually confronts companies with a double challenge. Enterprises have to work with ageing staffs, while a veritable “war for talent” is underway to attract young skilled staff. This article explores the different strategies German enterprises are adopting to meet this challenge. At the same time, it distinguishes between tried-and-proven staff strategies whic…
PISA and adult education – temptations and open questions “The PISA results are an invitation for the debate and for developing the research rather than conclusive judgeements on the miracle recipe to improve the educational performance” (Heller 2003, p. 30). Earmarking for the discussion of policies of adult education after PISA is that the results are taken to express most different positions in little differentiated way. To this also the typical reception problems contribute, such as t…
The paper tackles the issue of procedures for the validation of competences, which are used in the tertiary education sector in order to evaluate an individual’s study ability on the basis of his/her vocational qualifications. This contested terrain will be explored by means of the University of Hamburg’s validation procedure (the so-called Eingangsprüfungsverfahren, §38 HmbHG). The focus of interest will be put on a qualitative reconstruction of individual decision-making processes during thes…
