The present paper investigates the power of personality to predict important life outcomes in the context of the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). On the most global level, personality can be described by the Big Five dimensions, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and…

The use of digital media in adult education is very heterogeneous. To date, there are no empirical studies that have examined the possibility that media-related differences in media usage of adult educators could be in part due to differential media pedagogical attitudes of adult educators. Moreover, there is a lack of empirical evidence to…

We use PIAAC data to study the relationship between parental education and educational success among adults from 23 advanced economies. We consider educational success in terms of both educational "attainment" (formal qualifications) and educational "achievement" (competencies) and in both "absolute" and…

According to the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), a large proportion of adults in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries have low literacy proficiency levels. There exist widespread stereotypes about adults who have difficulties with reading and writing, stereotypes which…

The present article connects a secondary analysis of quantitative data from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) with the theoretical approach of 'literacy practices' and related research results from the so-called New Literacy Studies (NLS) tradition, which follows a cultural practices paradigm. According…

Due to their increasing availability and prevalence, digital media allow for a relocation of learning to work processes and support work process oriented learning. This can be put into practice with the aid of different medial/technological and didactical settings. Some examples are the application of mobile terminals, interactive platforms, or…

Lifelong learning is becoming increasingly important in today's societies. Individuals need to develop their skills through training in order to be successfully integrated in the labor market. We use data from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies to investigate gender differences in training across 12 countries. We…

"Practice engagement theory" (PET) posits that individuals' literacy proficiencies develop as a by-product of their engagement in everyday reading and writing practices and, reciprocally, that literacy proficiencies affect levels of engagement in reading and writing practices. This suggests that literacy training which increases…

In this article, we address the issue of participation in adult education building on the cultural capital framework. This theoretical framework suggests that (educational) practices are affected by one's social background and, more precisely, by the cultural resources handed down in the family context. To examine the validity of this theoretical…

The European dimension is of salient importance for understanding and shaping politics especially, but not only, in Europe. The European Union by now has become a compulsory content of civics classes in secondary schools throughout Germany. For teachers, however, teaching this topic is connected with manifold difficulties, for example, due to the…

Historically, older and lower-skilled adults in the U.S. have participated in Adult Education and Training (AET) at lower rates than other groups, possibly because of perceived lack of return on investment due to the time required to recover training costs. Global, knowledge based economies have increased the importance of lifelong learning for…

The German experience in professional training of teaching staff in adult education has been analyzed; it has been clarified that modern educational programs of Bachelor and Master specialties are based on the basic educational program offered by Adult Education Sectional Commission of Pedagogical Sciences in Germany (DGfE); value-targeted and…

While the application of geoinformation (GI) in German schools is becoming increasingly important, a systematic integration in school curricula, arranged in a cumulative and competence-oriented manner, is still lacking. Here the authors discuss existing approaches to the problem and propose a learning strategy based on the stepwise gain of GI…

Based on a literature review from English language journals related to the field of human resource development (HRD), the conceptual framework for this study was derived from the models developed by American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) for HRD practice. This study compared and analyzed the similarities and differences in HRD roles,…

The "OECD Skills Studies" series aims to provide a strategic approach to skills policies. It presents OECD internationally comparable indicators and policy analysis covering issues such as: quality of education and curricula; transitions from school to work; vocational education and training (VET); employment and unemployment; innovative…