Social-diagnostic Perspectives on Adult Education
An Introduction to the topic
Volume 48 of the International Yearbook of Adult Education is dedicated to Social-diagnostic perspectives on adult education.
Since the so-called financial crisis in 2008, at the latest, society's problems and challenges have repeatedly been framed as crises. Since then, society has found itself in a variety of (supposed) crises, such as the climate crisis, the banking crisis, the refugee crisis, the Ukraine crisis, etc. The challenges facing society and the accompanying need for transformation are also increasingly reflected in sociologically based diagnoses of society and the times. In recent years, a large number of current diagnoses of society have been presented (for an overview, see Reese-Schäfer 2019).
Adult education and adult education research must address crises (and diagnoses of crises), if only because they regularly give rise to new tasks. Examples include the need for adult education in the context of refugee movements, the role of continuing education in the context of post-truth, and others (see also Wittpoth 2002). In this context, adult education research has repeatedly called for an explicitly critical approach to social diagnoses in order to counteract the tendency to derive unchecked demands on the education system from crisis diagnoses, which ultimately reduce it to the task of coping. Rather, it is the task of adult education research to critically examine current crises and to reflectively determine its role in them (Wittpoth 2002). This introductory article will start off by briefly focusing on the relationship of adult education and socialdiagnostic perspectives. Next, the concept of this year's volume and articles will be presented. The article will conclude with some remarks on our own account.
Since the so-called financial crisis in 2008, at the latest, society's problems and challenges have repeatedly been framed as crises. Since then, society has found itself in a variety of (supposed) crises, such as the climate crisis, the banking crisis, the refugee crisis, the Ukraine crisis, etc. The challenges facing society and the accompanying need for transformation are also increasingly reflected in sociologically based diagnoses of society and the times. In recent years, a large number of current diagnoses of society have been presented (for an overview, see Reese-Schäfer 2019).
Adult education and adult education research must address crises (and diagnoses of crises), if only because they regularly give rise to new tasks. Examples include the need for adult education in the context of refugee movements, the role of continuing education in the context of post-truth, and others (see also Wittpoth 2002). In this context, adult education research has repeatedly called for an explicitly critical approach to social diagnoses in order to counteract the tendency to derive unchecked demands on the education system from crisis diagnoses, which ultimately reduce it to the task of coping. Rather, it is the task of adult education research to critically examine current crises and to reflectively determine its role in them (Wittpoth 2002). This introductory article will start off by briefly focusing on the relationship of adult education and socialdiagnostic perspectives. Next, the concept of this year's volume and articles will be presented. The article will conclude with some remarks on our own account.
Beiträge
Open Access
Open Access
weitere Infos
Schemmann, Michael (2024). Social-diagnostic Perspectives on Adult Education. An Introduction to the topic. In: Internationales Jahrbuch der Erwachsenenbildung 2025. Social-diagnostic Perspectives on Adult Education, S. 7-10. Bielefeld: wbv Publikation. https://doi.org/10.3278/I78960W001
Bibliografische Angaben
- Reihe: Internationales Jahrbuch der Erwachsenenbildung
- Band: 48
- Auflage: 1
- Erscheinungsdatum: 12.09.2025
- Umfang: 4 Seiten
- Artikelnr: I78960W001
- ISBN (Print): 9783763978953
- ISBN E-Paper: 9783763978960
- DOI (E-Paper-Teilbeitrag): 10.3278/I78960W001
- Imprint: wbv Publikation
- Sprache: Englisch
- Lizenzhinweis: