The high mortality rate among Lesotho’s younger generation, caused by disruptions such as chronic illnesses and other socio-economic and cultural changes, has led older adults to become caregivers. This paper reports on the experiences of older adults regarding their caregiving role during times of disruption. It further reveals how older adults have learned about their role as caregivers. Adult learning theories were reviewed and used to interpret the results of the study. The interpretive par…
The IdA KompetenzCheck represents a scientifically developed test procedure for measuring non-formally and informally acquired competences and for evaluating competences in relation to German occupations. As part of the IdA KompetenzCheck, testees are confronted with an occupational profile’s typical fields of action. Multiple action-oriented questions concerning each field of action are presented in order to determine the corresponding level of competence. The IdA KompetenzCheck allows for tes…
Lifelong education for seniors is becoming a significant policy focus because of factors relating to the global aging society phenomenon. Yet the modern ‘educational demoralisation’ that can result from informal experiential learning not being sufficiently valued or encouraged, may also apply to later life learning—typically manifest as a ‘fear of ageing’ as well as ageism. This is especially so in contexts where policymakers tend to just mainly focus on the worrying economic, health and other …
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…
AiKomPass is a web-based tool to make informal and non-formal competences within the electrical and metal industries visible. It is based on an interview study with potential users and a task inventory, which covers tasks of work areas like process planning, production, maintenance and logistics within production processes. The tool itself was developed within a participative design process. It enables employees and people in search of employment to self-assess their ability to fulfil working t…
This article presents the results of a recent online survey of graduates of the Austrian Academy of Continuing Education. Methodically, the survey’s results on benefit items are interpreted and answers to open questions are analyzed by qualitative content analyses. Empirical findings are subject to an interpretation using concepts of professionalization and the political agenda of validation of informal and non-formal learning. An important finding is, that WBA enhances individual professionali…
Courses of scientific continuing education are diverse and heterogeneous. This impedes their comparability and their connectivity to existing qualification frameworks. This article provides a proposal for a systemization, which has been implemented in Baden-Württemberg, and shows possible connections to the German qualification framework (DQR).
Why do senior citizens stop taking part in continuing education? The author tries to find and explain reasons, drawing on a survey regarding courses of scientific continuing education of Ulm University. One key finding is that the biggest impediments are a lack of time and other obligations.
