Stefan Hummelsheim OVERVIEW ABOUT SOCIAL DEVELOPMENTS AND CHALLENGES FOR ADULT EDUCATION

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Deutsches Institut für Erwachsenenbildung

Stefan Hummelsheim

OVERVIEW ABOUT SOCIAL DEVELOPMENTS AND CHALLENGES FOR ADULT EDUCATION

Workshop “Financing adult education for development “

UNESCO-CONFINTEA VI 1.-4. December in Belem, Brazil

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Overview

A. DEEFINITIONS

B. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENTS AND THE NECESSITY OF ADULT EDUCATION

I. Knowledge-based society

II. Economic growth

III. Changes in the working environment

1. Demand side

2. Supply side

3. Internal and external flexibility

IV. Changes in personal lifestyles

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Overview

C. CHALLENGES FOR ADULT EDUCATIONI. New orientation of initial and continuing education and trainingII. Increased role of continuing education and training III. Weak performance of the continuing education and training IV. Higher investment in Adult Education

D. PROSPECTS

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A. Definitions

- Adult Education is all formal, non-formal and informal learning throughout the entire lifecycle of a person

- Formal Learning: Learning in educational and training facilities which leads to recognised final exams and

qualifications - Non-formal learning: This takes place outside of the

main system of general and vocational training, can take place at the workplace and does not necessarily lead to the

acquisition of a formal qualification - Informal Learning: As opposed to formal and non-

formal learning, informal learning is not necessarily intentional, but rather more of a natural side effect of everyday life

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B. Social developments


- Germany and other European Countries are on the way to being a knowledge-based society- Main characteristics

- Stock of knowledge and the investments in human capital are increasingly more important than investments in stock capital

- Amount of knowledge-intensive products and processes is continually increasing

- Amount of qualified employees is growing

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- Necessity for independent and active gathering and processing of information by the

individual is also increasing - Lifelong Learning is vitally important for individual

participation in society- Better-qualified individual, who is prepared and able to

learn, has a competitive advantage over the less-qualified and unmotivated individual- As a result, the latter is in danger of economic and

also social exclusion. In a knowledge-based society, participation depends on individual knowledge and learning efforts

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II. Economic growth

- Especially in an export-oriented country, which has few raw materials, human capital is the most important production factor- Studies in educational economics since the 1960s

have confirmed the opinion that educational activities play a large role in encouraging economic growth- The more developed countries change into knowledge-

based societies, the more important the creation and use of new knowledge – in particular scientific knowledge - Foundation for this is set in the educational system. Its

efficiency has a vital role in economic growth, as well as the elimination of inequality

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1. Demand side - Internationalisation: Increasing pressure of

international competition creates a growing need for better qualifications. Germany – as a country with high

wage levels – has specialised in high-quality products and production processes, and must continue to do so.

This is why the demand for low-skilled work has decreased

- Sectoral change: Sectoral change is a shift of employment and net product from the industrial sector to the services. This leads to an increase in the

total level of qualification because the qualification level in the service sector is higher

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- Organisation of work: Work organisation is changed these days. Employees become more autonomous and have more responsibility, and at the same time they have to be more flexible in terms of time and function. The key to implementing such post-Taylor forms of work organisation is good initial training and continuous learning

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2. Supply side - Demographic change: As a result of the ageing of

society and the decreasing numbers of young people, as well as those taking early retirement, the qualification of older employees is becoming more and more important

- Immigration: immigration will continue in the coming years. Shortage of qualified workers can only be reduced if the future immigrants and also the second and third generations of present immigrants are well qualified

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3. Internal and external flexibility- Employees must not only be more flexible within the company, but also be prepared for a voluntary or involuntary change of company- Wide qualification as well as continuous refreshing

and further development are the most effective methods for improving employability and raising voluntary mobility

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IV. Changes in the personal lifestyles

- Learning in daily life: „Technologisation” of daily life, the growing flood of information and new lifestyles require growing abilities- Learning in the civil society: Voluntary work, behaviour

in a multicultural society as well as gender mainstreaming - central changes in a civilian society require new knowledge and skills

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C. Challenges

I. New orientation of initial and continuing education and training

- Growing stock of knowledge creates a big challenge for the educational system, as the necessity for learning time grows with the increase in knowledge/educational content- Necessary to distribute the acquisition of new

knowledge more on chronological (continuing) education phases, and less on the extension of the initial training phase- This changed time structure of learning in the course of

a lifetime means balancing the contents, which should be learnt in the different life phases

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C. Challenges

I. New orientation of initial and continuing education and training

- Initial education and training must be concentrated on the acquisition of skills for working, learning general and vocational basic knowledge, as well as key qualifications - Initial education and training will be a ticket for entry into

the workplace and Adult Education in future

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C. Challenges

II. Increased role of continuing education and training

- Initial education and training and Continuing education and training must be more closely structured and interlinked - Continuing education and training should be dedicated

to more specialised vocational knowledge- Continuing education and training must be a

cornerstone in a established Adult Education - System especially to fresh up the knowledge but also to give non-participants a second chance

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C. Challenges

III. Weak performance of the continuing education and training

- There is – in Germany – a serious conflict between the increased learning needs on the one hand and the decreased participation rates on the other hand- Structures of unequal opportunities of access to

education and social inequality are stable - Expectations that continuing education could have a compensatory effect on the inequality of the chances for

access, process and results experienced is empiracally wrong- Participation rates increases with the level of secondary

school qualifications, vocational education and training qualifications, professional status, as well as professional position and income

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C. Challenges

III. Weak performance of the continuing education and training

- Continuing education and training does not give in Germany a second chance to over-30s who have abandoned their training- Initial vocational training has been modernised, but no

adapted continuing training modules exist- Continuing education and training is not well equipped

to deal with the new challenges

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C. Challenges

IV. Higher investment

- According to the increased necessity of learning activities more resources (time and money) must be directed into Adult Education - Funding must come from the state as well as from companies and individuals- OECD has demonstrated that the best results are obtained through co-financing- Co-financing, long-term thinking and marketable

transparency of qualifications are therefore musts for avoiding underinvestment in Adult Education

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C. Challenges

IV. Higher investment

- All cost-sharing models must take income and financial situation into account. Only those people with disposable incomes can be expected to help finance training- But there are – in Germany - households with incomes

in the lowest 20% who are not able to save and to spend contributions for Adult Education - Main task is to find a well balanced structure of the co-financing approach: The co-financing mix is a specific

national question which will differ between countries: - No simple solution for all

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D. Prospects

- At first the social developments create a growing need of learning activities. Adult Education will be the „question of the next century“. - Then it is of enormous importance to built up a Adult Education friendly framework and learning conditions- In addition to that we do need a official debate

about public interest and the learning activities which must be financed from the state - Further it must be a major objective to achieve the

non- participants otherwise the society will lose them - Finally the dominate cost-argumentation in the debate

about financing Adult Education must be reduced and contrasted with an investment-argumentation. This is a MUST because in the very near future the competition between markets in globalisation will be more and more a competition between educational systems

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References

- Carnoy, M. (Hg.) (1995): The International Encyclopedia of Economics of Education. Oxford- de La Fuente, A.; Ciccone, A. (2003): Human Capital and

Growth in a Global and Knowledge-Based Economy. Luxembourg- Hummelsheim, S. (2008): Lifelong Learning – Social

developments and the consequences for labour and education. In: F. Becker; K. Duffek; T. Mörschel (Hg.): Social democracy an Education. The European Experience. Berlin, Vienna, Amsterdam, S. 240-266- Hummelsheim, S. (2009): Finanzierung der Weiterbildung

in Deutschland. Reihe Studientexte. Bielefeld- Hummelsheim, S.; Timmermann, D. (2009):

Bildungsökonomie: In: Tippelt, R.; Schmidt, B. (Hg.): Handbuch Bildungsforschung, 2., überarb. Aufl. Wiesbaden, S. 93-134- OECD (2009): Education at a Glance 2009. Paris- UNESCO (2008): EFA Global Monitoring Report 2009.

Paris

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Many thanks for your attention

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Stefan Hummelsheim OVERVIEW ABOUT SOCIAL DEVELOPMENTS AND CHALLENGES FOR ADULT EDUCATION