In the form of a review, the author outlines the history of how cooperation has been achieved and imposed in the field of continuing education. He distinguishes between cooperation as an intervention and as an exchange, and between proclamatory, hierarchical and participative cooperation. The structure of the network is presented as way to boost cooperation, and is studied to identify risks and key success factors.
Justice and justice competence: Discourse and practice for a critical political education Most societies accept justice and social justice as principles. Their inherent norms and values are dependant on the historical context as well as on political and individual concepts, and are thus negotiable. Within the context of a European Grundtvig-Project, "Political Participation through Social Competence: Curricular Development for Courses on Democratic Citizenship" the article discusses the idea…
Scientific Education This issue combines empirical and conceptual access points to research of an area of education which has been for the most part neglected by continuing education: What role does natural science knowledge play in the context of informal and non-formal learning processes of adults? And what impetus can be derived for the structure and design of teaching-learning arrangements in other areas? This issue provides insight into specific issues, providing a contribution to inter…
Based on communication and body, the report points out modern cultural practices and focuses on options characterised by new technologies which have been established in everyday life and used in various designs. It also discusses the role of continuing education within this process of change. Here, the author refers to the reflection of shaping a cultural identity, the development of cultural competences and holistic approaches – integrating head, heart and body.
This article discusses the question how knowledge may be used for new or alternative learning decisions and in how far the post-modern understanding of “knowledge” is involved in this process. More precisely, it is discussed how organisations and individuals use knowledge as a result of learning in general and with respect to continuing learning decisions and how expectations and evaluations regarding the use of continuing education are placed in cultures of learning. The argument is based on l…
Serving oneself. The new voluntary work and the role of full-time educationalists People’s own learning and development motives play a more important role in the “new voluntary work” than before. This article relates subjective descriptions by volunteers of the learning motives underlying their commitments and adopts a profession-oriented theoretical perspective to relate these to a strategy of support for volunteers by full-time educationalists, referred to as learning and development supp…
This contribution deals with the definition of adult basic education and its entanglement with interests and power relations in the field of public education administration of the German Laender. As the New Literacy Studies view literacy as a social practice that is related to interests and power relations, guided interviews concerning the definition of adult basic education as well as legitimising rationales from the perspective of education administration were illustrated. The interviews are …
Nowadays, employees are part of a rather dynamic working environment, which is significantly marked by increasing digitalisation. As a result, qualification and competence requirements as well as job contents are changing. Findings by the qualification panel of the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) indicate that a company's higher digitalisation level requires higher skill profiles. More digitalised companies also have a larger number continuing education measures, …
The argument in this article is based on a concept that defines values as ‘big principles’. Although the work of education institutions is based on values in that sense, it cannot guarantee those values itself. That is why it is important to not only raise an awareness of values in internal debates among adult educators but also to speak about them explicitly in the classroom. The author believes that pursuing these two strategies makes more sense than formulating a specific ‘ethics of continui…
