Within the bounds of constitutional law, the Federal Government has educational-political powers concerning educational contents. These it exercises in manifold programmes and initiatives, among others in the area of further education. Veronika Pahl, head of the competent department in the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) gives a summar y of the most important initiatives along with the political considerations that form their background. Quality problems are grouped in categor…
Educational training frameworks constitute an intervention in the context of strategies of the European Space for Lifelong Learning. It poses critical questions regarding the consistency of initiatives seeking to create transparency of activities, skills and qualifications in different fields of policy independently of one another.
This paper deals with a new approach in the promotion of literacy, which focuses on social integration. This approach has been inspired by a concept of adult education aiming at integration and by social work oriented to the life world of the addressees. These concepts are being adapted to the work with functionally illiterate persons. The approach discussed here includes different forms of action promoting literacy: both learning and consulting, and also institutional cooperation in networks. …
Non-Participation in Work-based Training in Europe. Results of a Field Study CVTS3 After a review of theories and empirical results concerning enterprise-based continuing training, results of the enterprise survey CVTS3 are discussed with a focus on training abstinence. It is shown that most non-training enterprises do not see a need for training. Public financing measures for the promotion of continuing training are likely to be less efficient for these enterprises, while awareness campaign…
Facing todays technological development, one of the central issues further education has to deal with is how to support employees in handling the changes their work activities are subjected to and in shaping these changes. Six company case studies were conducted in logistics and in stationary retailing in order to understand how work activities change on the operative level and what effects might be observed regarding the employees’ competence development. Based on a subject-related approach th…
System reflexive evaluation of networks and network programmes A methodological perspective To contextualise and substantiate evaluation is a claim which the evaluation of the programme „Learning Regions – Providing Support for Networks” of the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) formulates. But which basic approaches and proceedings are suitable to consolidate the item `networks` with suitable theoretical complexity and methodologically reflective evaluation? In this contr…
The notion of lifelong learning is reshaping the structural principle according to which learning is organised in the time structures of society. Long periods of time spent in schools are becoming more flexible, with shorter sections of ordered learning times being distributed throughout people’s lives and more flexible transitions taking place between work and learning. The three-phase scheme for working life – training, work and retirement – is becoming more flexible. The LLL concept can be s…
The changes in further education supported under the provisions of SGB III (Social Code III) engender a reorientation towards demand orientation. The effects must be termed dramatic after a year. Monies decreased by around 25 percent between 2002 and 2003. Participation and entry numbers in courses were drastically reduced. These effects are not temporary phenomena, but rather mark a change of system which further education providers must prepare themselves for.
Recently, the acceptance of statistics in the education sector has grown. As a consequence of the publication of international comparative studies like TIMSS and PISA, more attention is paid to statistical surveys, as they have brought to light quite a number of hitherto unknown facts. Alexandra Ioannidou describes the present state of statistical activities in the further education sector and outlines what possible gains there are for institutions employing statistics.