Professionalitätsentwicklung in der allgemeinen, öffentlichen Erwachsenenbildung für Inklusion – ein Systematisierungsversuch der Fortbildungspraxis an Volkshochschulen

Die allgemeine, öffentliche Erwachsenenbildung folgt traditionell dem (inklusiven) Prinzip einer Bildung für Alle. Fragen der Bildungsbenachteiligung, Zielgruppendifferenzierung oder Heterogenität werden sowohl in der Wissenschaft als auch in der Praxis virulent. Diskussionen über eine Steigerung der Bildungsteilnahme von Menschen mit Behinderung finden hingegen eher zögerlich statt und werden vermehrt seit der Ratifizierung der UN-Behindertenrechtskonvention in Deutschland geführt. Die Qualifizierung des Personals – häufig konkretisiert in Fortbildungen – stellt dabei ein zentrales Element für eine inklusive Ausrichtung der allgemeinen, öffentlichen Erwachsenenbildung dar. Der Beitrag behandelt die Frage, wie sich die aktuelle Fortbildungspraxis zu Inklusion gestaltet. Auf der Grundlage empirischer Teilergebnisse eines Projekts zur inklusiven Erwachsenenbildung werden Umsetzungsrealitäten vorgestellt und Impulse für eine Professionalitätsentwicklung diskutiert. Die Befunde beziehen sich auf das institutionelle Feld von Volkshochschule und werden am Beispiel der Fortbildungspraxis von Kursleitungen eruiert. Aus einer Organisationsperspektive werden Möglichkeiten und Herausforderungen einer Professionalitätsentwicklung für eine inklusive Erwachsenenbildung – im Besonderen von Lehrpersonal an Volkshochschulen – erfasst.Abstract General public adult education traditionally follows the (inclusive) principle of education for all. Questions of educational disadvantage target group differentiation or heterogeneity are virulent in both science and practice. Discussions about increasing the participation of people with disabilities are rather hesitant and have been held more and more since the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Germany. The qualification of staff often specified in further training is a key element for the inclusive orientation of general public adult education. The article deals with the question of how the current training practice on inclusion is organised. On the basis of empirical partial results of a project on inclusive adult education implementation realities are presented and impulses for a professional development are discussed. The findings relate to the institutional field of adult education centres and are determined by using the example of the continuing training practice of course leaders. From an organisational perspective opportunities and challenges for professional development for inclusive adult education in particular teaching staff at adult education centres are covered.

100 Years of Volkshochschule – 50 Years of DVV International. Local and global perspectives on adult education and lifelong learning

Adult education has multiple histories in countries around the globe. In the case of Germany, the year 1919 is of high importance, as the Volkshochschulen (vhs)—literally translated as folk high schools, more broadly as adult education centres—became a constitutional matter. Today, they are the largest institutionalized form of adult education in Germany with millions of participants every year. In 1969, the ongoing international activities of the vhs were insti-tutionalized into what is known today as DVV International. This year’s celebrations are used for contextualizing the development of adult education and thus for remembering the past with a view to the future of our profession.

Models of adult education centres in Ukraine

Non-formal adult education is dynamically developing in different forms. The article represents them in the example of Ukraine. Non-formal education was acknowledged only in 2017 in the Law of Ukraine “On Education”, though it had been provided in several forms before. Currently, the most popular form of non-formal adult education in Ukraine is the Centers for Adult Education. They are created on the initiative of public organizations in partnership with foreign adult education organizations, in particular DVV International. To analyze their profiles there were identified several criteria: relation to formal or nonformal education, initiators and organizers, target audience, providers of methodical and financial assistance, thematic directions of their activity. As a result of the analysis according to the identified criteria, the information from Internet resources on the activity of adult educational centres was systemized; their similar and different features in their organization form were distinguished and defined their models: university- and college-based, school-based; museum and library-based. In addition, the directions for the further scientific research in this field were outlined.

“Brown eyes are not the same as blue eyes”

In Denmark, the Adult Education Centres have a “sweeper” function for young adults who need to recommence education. This study explores two L2 (Danish as Second Language) students and how their educational narratives confirm or counter the master narratives of adult education. Students at the centres are commonly identified as adults with social and personal challenges, but their educational narratives and experiences are far more complex. As the edifying institutional narratives of the Adult Centres encompass both professionalism and care, the vernacular narratives characterise the centres as hang-outs for problematic adults without the ability to make a persistent effort in their own life. Students at the centres have to navigate and position themselves in relation to these conflicting stories by giving voice to educational struggles, social relations and agency in their own educational narratives.