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 Author presents a shortened version of the report »The Social and Personal Benefits of Learning: A Summary of Key Research Findings« by the »Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits of Learning (WBL)«. The wider benefits of early childhood education as well as school, university and adult education are examined. The wide range of positive educational benefits contains crime prevention as well as a reduced nicotine consumption or increased tolerance.
During the last two decades, widening adult participation in higher education has become a central issue in international and especially European lifelong learning policy debates. At European level this is reflected in the Europe 2020 strategy set out by the European Commission. One headline target is to boost the share of the population aged 30–34 that has completed tertiary or equivalent education to 40 per cent by 2020. In the face of general trends such as the intensive use of ICT, the evol…
The article focuses on guidance in adult education as a type of institutional talk. Multiple data sources were collected through a comparative case study of two providers to examine how the institutional contexts influenced the guidance. On the one hand the providers define the subjects of their guidance service and their selection of consultants is based on the content knowledge. Also the providers pursue institutional goals with their guidances. On the other hand the guidance-seekers have the…
During the last decade, the configuration of international-comparative research in adult and continuing education has been interwoven with influences of stakeholders of (inter-)national educational policies and their agendas. This paper works with a broad understanding of international-comparative research in adult and continuing education. This understanding includes the interpretation of similarities and differences as well as studies which focus on the cultural interrelationship networks of …
The report includes a slightly revised version of a lecture held during the opening ceremony of the German Continuing Education Day in Berlin in 2012. The author focuses on the day’s central idea: surplus value of continuing education and pleads for the use of the benefit concept, which includes the individual’s perspective, as well as the concept of profit with regard to the social and organizational perspective.
For some time, recollection, identity and historical awareness have been frequently applied concepts of history. Ever since adult education came into being, it has also dealt with the topic. The research spectrum, conducted with various methods, reaches from the presentation of historical objectives, structures and figures to a critical reflection of individual interests and motivation. In making these efforts, a historical and continually re-forming self-awareness of the discipline can be cons…
Es ist nahezu ein Allgemeinplatz, von der Pluralität der Lernorte zu sprechen und mittlerweile Konsens, die Vielfalt der Orte des Lehrens und Lernens sowie deren Eingebundensein in gesellschaftliche Strukturen und Funktionen zu akzeptieren und wissenschaftlich zu verorten. Es gibt eine diszplinübergreifende Übereinstimmung darin, dass es neben den traditionellen Orten institutionalisierten und organisierten Lernens eine Vielzahl von „offenen“ und „freien“ Lernorten gibt. In jüngster Zeit gewinn…
