The report outlines the 50-year history of the statistics on adult education centres published by the German Institute of Adult Education and its predecessors since 1962. The chronology of events is depicted in a chart, whereas the tool‘s various characteristics, which generated key problems since the beginning and still do until today, are discussed in the text. The author fathoms future chances and challenges of input-oriented institutional statistics in a time with a tendency towards output …
In this report, three different methods to approach Howard Gardner‘s »Five Minds for the Future« are revealed, which are each a connecting factor to adult education. As a popular scientific article to psychology and education in the context of a general educational debate, »Five Minds« indicates that the concept of independent adult education is not generally acknowledged. As educational theory, it serves as a useful tool for determining educational objectives. As a scientific creation, which c…
Within the process of socio-political transition adult education is an important tool for Eastern Europeans to orientate themselves in their rapidly changing social environment and to find new professional perspectives. Nevertheless, there are many obstacles blocking the way to the participation of all ethnic groups of the former Soviet Union in adult education courses. The article intends to show that besides various objective reasons, e.g. the disastrous economical situation, there are sever…
In zehn Thesen lotet der Autor das Verhältnis von Wissenschaft und Praxis der Erwachsenenbildung aus. Beide Bereiche sind an vielen Stellen eng miteinander verwoben, ihr Verhältnis aber ist komplex und nicht friktionsfrei. Gleichwohl bleibt es, so das Fazit des Autors, im Sinne einer gegenseitigen Perspektivenanreicherung gestaltbar.
Grundlage des Buches ist eine Bestandsaufnahme der professionstheoretischen Diskussion der letzten 35 Jahre, fokussiert auf die Begriffe 'Profession', 'Professionalisierung' und 'Professionalität'. Es werden Ansätze und Schulen integriert, die weder in der deutschen Soziologie noch in den deutschen Erziehungswissenschaften bisher angemessen gewürdigt wurden. Neben der Theorie liefert der Band aber auch eine realistische Einschätzung der Verberuflichungschancen und deckt Begrenzungen der Profess…
For various reasons adult participation in lifelong learning does not measure up to expectations tied to the agenda of lifelong learning. The article suggests that adults relate learning activities to their conceptions of life stages. Therefore, participation in institutionalized continuing education must rather be linked to life-stage-dependant decisions based on sociocultural patterns than to the acceptance of lifelong learning in general. Specifically in the stage of professional life, these…
An essential task for administrative staff in adult education is to develop and offer courses. In the field of economic education (basic education), there exist only very few offers and didactic material. Hence, there is a great demand to describe requirements concerning competencies to be taught in this area. Such requirements for competencies may serve as a base for the development of courses in adult education. This article explores the questions on which requirements concerning competencies…
The argument in this article is based on a concept that defines values as ‘big principles’. Although the work of education institutions is based on values in that sense, it cannot guarantee those values itself. That is why it is important to not only raise an awareness of values in internal debates among adult educators but also to speak about them explicitly in the classroom. The author believes that pursuing these two strategies makes more sense than formulating a specific ‘ethics of continui…
