The German Society for Promotion of Research at Old Age (Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Forschung im Alter – DGFFA) wants to give an impulse for the intensification of the discussion on those aspects of the demographic change, to which the universities/colleges would need to devote themselves to in due time, if they strive to consolidate their future viability in a society of lifelong learning. The presented suggestions in this contribution are components of a position paper that a wor…
Emotions in Adults’ Learning Neurophysiological research has shown the relevance of emotions in learning processes. Nevertheless, the exploration of learning processes and the development of competencies is rather characterised by a cognitive perspective. On the basis of systemic-constructivist concepts the authors show that sustainable learning only works when internal experiences are supplemented with external experiences. By that way the levels of emotional and cognitive learning can be c…
German universities have been compelled to live on a tight budget for years. Therefore, university financing is on the one hand concerned with more efficiency, on the other hand with the opening up new sources of income. Possible instruments for more efficiency are global budgets and the dividing-up of budgets according to indicators. New sources of income might be funded research and the provision of further education. But German universities are still a long way from being "entrepreneurial un…
Within the bounds of constitutional law, the Federal Government has educational-political powers concerning educational contents. These it exercises in manifold programmes and initiatives, among others in the area of further education. Veronika Pahl, head of the competent department in the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) gives a summar y of the most important initiatives along with the political considerations that form their background. Quality problems are grouped in categor…
While the calls to take more notice of the significance of migration for adult education are loud and clear, notably little attention is paid to them with regard to work on categories. In adult education, fundamental theoretical work on definitions of “migration” is still far from complete. Even though individual studies deal with the term, it seems that attempts to clarify categories remain scarce. If adult education research on migration has a genuine interest in examining the risks of the hi…
Following Piaget and recent research on psychodynamics, the author establishes theses on distinctively suitable adult learning. She recapitulates essential theses from her book »Zur Konstruktion des Erwachsenen« (On the Structure of Adults) and refines them with regard to autonomy as a learning incentive. The author believes that learning processes, which are characteristic for adults, occur mainly when old structures are overcome and learning procedures are modified. The learning incentive is…
This report from England is part of a research project entitled Literacy/Basic Education – State of the Art from a historical and systematic Perspective in terms of Transferability. It focuses on the way adult (il)literacy has been approached, dealt with, discussed and analysed both politically and scientifically in England. It provides a historical overview on government strategy papers and outlines central ideas in theoretical discussions regarding literacy and literacy practices. However, in…
Interest and Learning This article presents an overview of the so-called educational-psychological theory of interest and demonstrates its relevance for the processes and results of learning. Following this theoretical approach, interest behaviour can be described as a relation between person and object. It is accompanied by self-determination, positive emotions and a strong personal relation to certain objects or actions. Advantages of interest-motivated learning appear in improving cogniti…
Die im Aufbau befindliche Nationale Bildungsplattform ist eine Online-Vernetzungsinfrastruktur, die Lehr- und Lernformate anbieterübergreifend auffindbar und nutzbar machen soll. Was erwarten Lehrende von dieser Plattform? Auf Basis der Ergebnisse einer Online-Umfrage berichten der Autor und die Autorin über Chancen und Herausforderungen aus Perspektive der potenziellen zukünftigen Nutzenden.
In Switzerland, experienced teachers can validate their competencies which they have achieved in the field of adult education. By submitting a self-assessment which is oriented along a competency profile, to the Swiss Association for Continuing Education (SVEB), the teachers demonstrate in a comprehensible way that they possess the necessary competences to teach in adult education. Experts examine the submitted self-assessments and use the competency profile as a reference standard. The experts…
