Biographical Learning as a Contribution to the Professionalization in Adult Education at University Level Biographical learning as a subject matter in the course of studies is a method to reflect upon and change individual learning strategies. One can describe such strategies both as an unconscious as well conscious reflection of biographies that strive for development. On the one hand, this is aiming at reflecting previous learning processes; on the other hand, this shall serve to develop a…
Data on adult education centres kept since 1962 shows interesting longitudinal historical results regarding time structures for adult education classes offered at adult education centres: (1) The increase in continuing education activities which can be observed on the whole is only accounted for by course-type classes, not by individual classes. (2) The average course time has decreased by about 20 percent over the last 20 years. (3) With respect to forms of time organisation, the evening cours…
This article explains what paths adults can opt for in order to acquire a reflexive understanding of time while not being content with a purely goal-oriented, “maximising” improvement in time management. Ms. Hribernik adopts Holzkamp’s approach to first of all describe what such “learning to understand time“ needs to involve before then identifying learning possibilities from an Austrian perspective – possibilities which she sees above all in books, but also in lecture events and the activities…
This article presents the results of an empirical research project in which participants in continuing education and employees were surveyed about their learning times. The survey indicated that (1) continuing education is co-financed on a large scale through the devotion of private time. (2) Individuals show flexibility and commitment in creating their own learning and continuing education times. (3) Times can no longer be clearly assigned to “learning” and “working” even from a subjective poi…
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 author diagnoses the dynamics of acceleration in our society in three parts: technological acceleration, which results in a “destruction of space”, accelerated social change, which leads to a “shrinkage of the present”, and – as a result of both of these trends – an acceleration in the subjective perception of time. The “society on the move” creates a pressure to make use of as many options in life as possible. The author shows that only deciding not to exploit all these options can help e…
Experience cannot be synthesised – it needs time. This aspect moves to the centre of attention when educational training time is not examined from the perspective of its exploitation, but rather in terms of its enablement. This article conceives of adults’ educational time as a qualitative factor whose content requires structuring. The structure of educational training time is at the same time viewed as a deceleration factor. Deceleration is not understood here to mean passive non-activity, but…
