Research
We explore how adult education can be made inclusive, digital and effective.
Services
Digital tools, specialist portals and data – for teachers, researchers, students and interested parties.
Institute
We offer research, transfer and infrastructure for lifelong learning.
The social milieus and the slowed down expansion of education Going out from the fact that the expansion of education in the last decades has not enabled an equality of educational opportunity, the contribution explores the development of the social mileus and their specific educational behaviour on the basis of the theory approach of Bourdieu.
The research memorandum for adult and continuing education (2000) focuses systematically on main research areas and contributes significantly to the systematization of the research landscape, the enhancement of possible collaborations and the provision of an overview of research achievements in the discipline for research sponsors as well as the public. Since 2007, adult educational research projects can be entered in a data base in accordance with the memorandum systematic. Acknowledging that …
Temporalized “Bildungsgestalten” (educational formations) – The formation of the subject in the context of Lifelong Learning The article outlines the reference framework of an ongoing DFG-financed research project. Based on theoretical assumptions which rest upon German Bildungstheorie the project analyses Lifelong Learning as a special mode of the formation of subjects. The projects’ core research concept, which brings into focus the importance of education for the formation of the subjec…
Justice and justice competence: Discourse and practice for a critical political education Most societies accept justice and social justice as principles. Their inherent norms and values are dependant on the historical context as well as on political and individual concepts, and are thus negotiable. Within the context of a European Grundtvig-Project, "Political Participation through Social Competence: Curricular Development for Courses on Democratic Citizenship" the article discusses the idea…
Justice in/of continuing vocational training? Is there a correlation between continuing training and justice, or put differently; can continuing training contribute to improving opportunities for social participation? The authors pose this question in a broader societal context and approach it against the background of the social capital approach. They refer to empirical findings from Northern Ireland which put into perspective the wide-spread idea of the positive correlation of social capit…
Striking the Balance between Competences – Backgrounds, Methods, Development Necessities The term competence entered the pedagogical/educational discussions of the German Education Council in the 1970s. However, it has recently become, once again, the objective of an intensive debate. It is always about the potential of the individuals which exceeds the certified level of knowledge and skills. This article introduces and analyses three different methodological approaches to the evaluation an…
Counselling: Changes for a Sustainable Development If counselling should survive as a generally accepted human service at the beginning of the 21st century, a fundamental shift in paradigms and the therewith connected development of sustainable offers for counselling becomes necessary. Permanent co-evolution of needs from clients, economy and society calls for specific skills and knowledge for analysis and coping with multiple subjective realities, ecological contexts, non-linear causalities…
Differentiating ageing and old age it is argued that a separate life stage “old age” is to be understood as a social construction. Ageing must not be conceptualized as a uniform and unidirectional process. Instead, physiological-biological, psychological, and social ageing are somehow independent processes following different developmental curves. Focussing on old age as a whole makes clear that gains as well as losses are characteristic for this life stage. Both aspects should be incorporated …
Theoretical basics of a gender equal didactics Substantiations and consequences The contribution makes a subject of discussion the significance of the category gender for theoretical basics of didactical approaches in adult education. Structural gender characterize the adult education research, the institutions, the educational situations, the educational apprehension as well as the people participating with the educational actions and the worlds of their lives. These conditions for outco…