The scope of literacy courses. Results of a representative survey among adult education centres As part of the EQUALS project, the German Adult Education Association (DVV) collected statistical data on literacy courses at adult education centres; this article presents the data and compares it with figures from 1994. The number of courses has risen, as has the number of participants, but fewer institutions than before provide this service. Compared with 1994, the participants are older and t…
Indivisible but Limited. Inclusion in View of Severe and Multiple Disabilities in the Light of the Danish Experiences “Indivisibility“ is given the upmost priority in the discussion about inclusion. Does “indivisible” also imply “unlimited”? The author sees limitations to the right of inclusive adult education. Acknowledging these limitations is a prerequisite for developing successful forms of inclusion. Not attracting a sufficient number of “non-disabled” participants is a limitation of p…
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…
People with low literacy skills are often experiencing difficulties to manage their everyday life. For example, filling out forms, correspondence or banking may pose huge challenges. But what about the political participation of functional illiterates in a society which is dominated by the use of literacy? The following article focuses on how participants of literacy classes use their possibilities of contribution. These assumptions are based on first results of the qualitative research project…
Die Studie „Benefits of Lifelong Learning“ (BeLL) wurde zwischen 2011 und 2014 in zehn Europäischen Ländern durchgeführt und am Deutschen Institut für Erwachsenenbildung – Leibniz-Zentrum für Lebenslanges Lernen e.V. (DIE) koordiniert. Sie wurde von der EU-Kommission im Lifelong-Learning-Programm („Studies and Comparative Research, KA1“) gefördert. Im Mai 2014 lagen die Ergebnisse vor. Sie zeigen: Allgemeine Erwachsenenbildung hat einen vielfältigen individuellen und sozialen Nutzen. Die Ergebn…
The German Adult Education Centres (VHS) consider themselves as further learning institutions for all whose aim it is to address the population at large. However, the data basis on the extent to which socially disadvantaged groups are reached is restricted. The present contribution investigates to which extent persons with a low level of school education are represented among the participants of the Adult Education Centres in Berlin. The investigation is linked to previous results of the resear…
A planned offer of further education organisations, orientated by the participant`s needs and interests, implies empirically confirmed data. The situation of data concerning further education behaviour and -interests of migrants in Germany referring to this is however moderate. This is on the one hand due to the definition problem of such constructs as “further education” and “people from migrant background” and adjunct to the difficulties with the operationalisation. On the other hand the data…
Programmes for persons who are not acquainted with learning can only be successful if teaching and learning is understood as a dialogical process between trainer and participant. One of the major abilities participants should achieve during this process is to take over the responsibility for their own learning. The author describes tools developed in her own practical work: a set of questions designed as a framework for the negotiation of the individual learning project.
"Adult education students" as subject of the participation research After a short introduction into the questions and methods of a research project of participation research at the further education Danube University Krems, a partial result for motivation structure is sketched.
The author discusses options for resolving conflicts based on the two most frequent types of conflict: aggression against seminar leaders and participants expressed by inappropriate conduct. He introduces constructive behaviour in conflicts and describes second order conflict solutions.
