Going on from the report year 1 (http://www.die-bonn.de/esprid/dokumente/doc-2000/gnahs00_01.pdf) which offered a compilation of data accessible in internet, a discussion of case studies Finland and Switzerland and a suggestion of a ‘minimal’ data collection plan, in the report year 2 an overview of official (governmental) and institutional (providers) surveys on adult education is given. The design of a survey on experts from the national statistical offices is explained and the unexpected sma…
The "Red Series" provides quick access and initial orientation regarding the characteristics and features of continuing education in the individual countries. The volumes combine country-specific data and information on a scientific basis. A comprehensive service section facilitates further enquiries. On this base, continuing educators from research, practice and administration are able to prepare coopertion activities.
Despite a relatively similar education system, the way how people can get a qualification for adult and continuing education is different in Germany and Switzerland. Germany has established an academic track within educational sciences with the focus on planning and management. Switzerland follows a vocational track with a basic qualification for teaching adults that could be extended by qualifications within the vocational system for positions in planning and management. This paper analyses th…
Learning from other countries? International perspectives on participation in continuing education at schools of higher learning This article adopts an international comparative perspective to identify the conditions favouring or impeding participation in university continuing education and seeks to answer the question of what we can learn from other countries. To this end, data selected from seven countries through secondary statistical analyses is presented and systematically compared to t…
The article provides an insight into supranational and international continuing education monitoring. The author identifies three particularly relevant tools for adult learning: the Adult Education Survey conducted by the EU, the OECD Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) and the European Lifelong Learning Index. The findings of the author’s dissertation substantiate the effects of monitoring and educational reporting in available data, evaluation practice and…
This article aims at analyzing the consequences of using educational monitoring data for adult education research. Refering to the Statistics on German “Volkshochschulen” (Adult Education Centers) the advantages and challenges that the usage of educational monitoring data brings for research purposes are shown. This is made explicit by focussing on the research project “Governance structures and educational performance profiles in adult education organizations” (GLOW) and discussing the empiric…
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,…
