Foreign languages à la mode. Trends in adult language acquisition based on the example of the VHS programme Learning foreign languages is a high-status activity in organised adult learning. Based on VHS (adult education centre) statistics, the author shows that foreign languages are an indispensable element of the VHS programme range; hardly any other area is in such constantly high demand, a demand which can also be seen in relation to income status. Now making up 30 percent of all courses,…
Professionelles Handeln ist auch in der Bildungsberatung wichtiger denn je. Voraussetzung dafür ist neben der Aneignung notwendiger Kompetenzen die Ausbildung eines individuellen wie öffentlichen Bewusstseins für die Spezifik der Beratungstätigkeit. Schließlich kommt es in der Beratungssituation vor allem auf die Fähigkeit zu wechselseitiger Wahrnehmung und angemessener Reaktion an. Basierend auf Modellen aus der Psychoanalyse und anhand von Fallbeispielen aus der Praxis stellt Jörg Knoll Metho…
Literacy as a social practice in a district. An ethnographic theory for basic education practice In German-speaking countries, the theoretical discussion on literacy work is characterised far more by a focus on deficits than is the Anglo-Saxon debate. This article narrows this theoretical gap by adopting Barton & Hamilton’s ethnographic research approach to local literacies for an empirical investigation into literacy practices. The project presented here studies how and why reading and wri…
Serving oneself. The new voluntary work and the role of full-time educationalists People’s own learning and development motives play a more important role in the “new voluntary work” than before. This article relates subjective descriptions by volunteers of the learning motives underlying their commitments and adopts a profession-oriented theoretical perspective to relate these to a strategy of support for volunteers by full-time educationalists, referred to as learning and development supp…
Personal and organisational educational counselling The need for support in the search for tailor-made educational programmes is growing along with the ongoing individualisation of educational pathways. Counselling of individuals and organisations is gaining importance in this context. This issue focuses both on new theories as well as educational policy developments, devoting attention to current challenges in various fields of action: the training of vocational counsellors, research of coun…
