Wissen – Potenzial und Macht

Since Francis Bacon, the concept of knowledge has been related to the question of power. In the beginning, this interrelation was applied to scientific knowledge, nature and its controllability. Since the era of enlightenment this problem has been applied to questions of social power. Marxist theoreticians then exposed the emergence and distributions of and the access to knowledge as related to the class struggle. Finally, it was Foucault who opens up for a new and experimental perspective.

Transformations in German adult and continuing education (ACE) are discussed in their relation to more far-reaching transformations in society concerning the ways in which knowledge and non-knowledge are processed. Some features of the discourse related to the notion of „knowledge society“ as well as empirical findings on the general spreading of knowledge transfer activities are pointed out, before three instances of change in ACE are discussed. While issues of transferring knowledge appear to become a ubiquitous phenomenon and no longer are a distinguished feature of ACE, ACE seems to specialize on the task of facilitating and assessing the acquisition of knowledge by differentiating, reinforcing and expanding its focus on this issue.

The understanding of a knowledge-based society that orientates itself alongside an economic paradigm, is enhanced by showing up the pluralism of different types of knowledge. Within these different types the specific criteria of scientific knowledge are identified. Concerning the teaching and learning of scientific knowledge the question arises, by which methods this kind of knowledge can be communicated. These methods are associated with the function of unfolding the specific structure of scientific knowledge within the mental structures of the learner. An empirical approach from an educational science perspective is proposed concerning the effectiveness of learning methods and the elements occurring within teaching and learning processes. First empirical approaches towards the research of these methods are introduced.

Knowledge and experience can be understood as pivotal didactic variables not only in age-based learning environments but also in intergenerational learning cultures. This article focuses these two concepts and analyses them with regard to their function and relevance in intergenerational learning cultures. The theoretical and empirical findings of a triangulative study will support the argument. By presenting a theoretical and practical dichotomy concerning the use of knowledge and experience in intergenerational learning cultures, the contradictions in this non professionalized area of adult education can be made visible.

Transnationalisation processes of enterprises lead to extended needs of qualification and knowledge. There are no corresponding concepts and learning culture designs. Knowledge as a category and as a realistic interpretation of demands is not well enough developed as part of these arrangements. Entrepreneurial interests hide learning needs, this becomes obvious in findings of working cooperation analysis in contexts of cultural diversity. This article explains one part of an analytical access to explore the constitution of knowledge and processes of knowledge transfer of expatriates within german enterprises in china. Research findings on working and cooperation contexts reveal hybridization processes, which are shaped by expatriates by using certain knowledge resources.

This article starts from the premise that an academic discipline directed at practice has to question, within which terms its research results become useful beyond science. For empirical research, the authors put forward the idea of use-inspired basic research. This approach might be a helpful orientation due to (further) educational science’s double challenge to simultaneously prove academic productivity and practical as well as societal usefulness. By reference to points of decision regularly made in empirical research processes, the article shows how exemplary further educational science / adult education research acts towards these aspirations.