Diversity management is a popular management approach. It promises to allow diversity in organisations and thus to appreciate people for what they are. It undertakes to recognise different points of view, ideas, abilities and potentials; not to standardise cultural variety but to reinforce it. For adult education, this concept seems highly promising. After all, one claim of educational management is to promote personality development and personal progress in a business context. However, critica…
Gieseke, Wiltrud; Robak, Steffi: Programme planning and management from the perspective of educational research Empirical results and conceptional changes The text reflects the correlations between new learning cultures and organistional structures with a view on appropriate institutional concepts. As a result of the reflections the authors declare themselves in favour of a change of educational theories by taking the concept of education as a basis for conceptional and organisational devel…
Dohmen berichtet über neue Entwicklungstrends und Zukunftsperspektiven der Erwachsenenbildung in der USA.
This REPORT analyzes the changing conditions and expectations with regard to the management of the continuing educational system, predominantly the frames of education economy, reporting, quality assurance and monitoring. The interactions of the various stakeholders characterize the development and implementation of continuing educational programs as well as a multitude of decision-making processes in educational institutions, but also relevant local, regional and national processes. The libera…
Exploring the inner aspect of learning. Methodological considerations for investigating life-long learning This article sets out research methods required for qualitative research aimed at understanding the inner aspect of learning. The aim is to make qualitative single case studies more relevant with regard to issues of education policy and social analysis. For this purpose, the following measures are proposed. (1) Close reading and reflexivity: Precisely studying the source texts sheds lig…
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,…
Learning along biographical and career changes Based on a biographical sample from adult education centres (VHS), this article discusses the concept of research on learning environments. The factors for success will be evaluated together with reflections on how to prepare for an executive position in such institutions. This will allow for extracting conditions for learning in certain biographical settings. The challenge for learning is seen as a result of the individual’s changing reception…
Theories of Adult Education On the basis of three selected contributions, the adult pedagogical theory discussion which began in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s will be explored. The issues handled here concern the subject-matter relatedness and conceptuality used, the empirical binding and historical localisation, as well as the influence through the so called sister disciplines. The stages of the theory discussion which are addressed convey an ambivalent picture which moves between confidence, …
