This paper brings into focus the discourse on competences and reviews critically the potential of large-scale assessments. The measurement of competences in adulthood is a step towards a deeper understanding of the development of competences during the life course, although only domain specific and not general competences are taken into consideration. Based on the current research, the debate on competences will be reflected and the central points in the field of modeling the constructs of skil…
Werden Spiel und Freude in der Erwachsenenbildung ausreichend gewürdigt? Der Autor gibt ein erfahrungsgesättigtes und emphatisches Plädoyer für den durchdachten Einsatz von Spielen – für mehr Spaß und Freude in der Bildung.
Concept maps in the teaching-learning context Concept maps are understood to mean two-dimensional structural presentations of knowledge or information in the form of a network. This article explains the principle of the concept map, including in relation to the mind map, and sums up results of teaching-learning research for its use. Readers find out what purposes concept maps can be used for (e.g. knowledge diagnostics), how their learning efficacy is assessed and what factors can boost th…
The current paper deals with cooperation under the perspective of governance from an organizational view. According to the variety forms of cooperation in the field of adult education, cooperation can be seen as a medium that adult educational organizations can use for their reproduction and coordination in different institutional environment. Based on empirical findings from a case study it can be shown that organizations initiate cooperation for collecting resources and legitimation. In this …
The paper is based upon a qualitative-empirical study in the field of basic education for adults (literacy, numeracy, language, and computer skills). The study is located in the andragogical research on teaching and learning. A constitutive characteristic of the examined basic skills courses is the variety of the participants. The variety is both, didactical challenge and potential, for it enables teaching and learning interactions. With interpreting some data examples the paper aims to show ho…
This article sheds light on cooperation between different educational fields as seen from the point of view of experts in education. The authors present the initial findings from the group discussions of a DFG project which started recently. These findings cast doubt on whether cooperation can succeed when different occupational groups know so little about one another within and outside their educational sectors. It remains to be seen whether future data expected from the project confirms the c…
Normative Patterns of Biography and Contradictory Experiences as Resources in Women’s Educational Biographies As part of a research project on discontinuities in female educational and professional careers, this essay focusses on conflicting expectations women experience – conflicts between set normative social standards and biographies on the one hand, and the different individual plans and perspectives on the other hand. Group discussions among the participants of a Women’s Studies Program…
Gender mainstreaming is gaining relevance in gender and equality policy. But gender democracy means not only equal rights and chances of men and women but also the depart from hegemonial virility as a dominant social structural principle. This political target is far from being reached. Education under the perspective of gender democracy should be orientated at the “new man”. – The article is the answer of the (male) author to three questions for the understanding, the development and the most …
Within the framework of a four-year project (2015-2018) supported by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research and des ESF, among others, the competencies and the orientations guiding the practice of validation personnel in adult education are inquired. While most of the existing research concentrates on competency validation arrangements and instruments, the present research uses a qualitative research design to look at the actors and their practice from the perspective …
