Introduction to civic adult education

What is this episode about?
This contribution to the evening school is about taking a fundamental look at the development, structures and particular challenges of civic adult education. Both the addressees of civic adult education and those who take advantage of offers in this area are considered.

Before we get started:
The episode "Introduction to civic adult education" is - as the name suggests - introductory in nature. With this episode, we want to help newcomers to the profession gain an initial overview of the diverse areas of activity and, in this context, take a closer look at the development paths in this field.

The central question is:
What are the central questions, challenges and problems in the field of civic  adult education?

Who am I listening to?
We are very happy to have Prof. Dr. Klaus-Peter Hufer as the author and speaker of this piece, as he is one of the few proven academic experts in this field.

Further reading:

Klaus-Peter Hufer, Tonio Oeftering, Julia Oppermann (Hrsg.): Positionen und Perspektiven der politischen Bildung. Ein Interviewbuch zur außerschulischen Jugend- und Erwachsenenbildung 2., Frankfurt/Main 2021

Klaus-Peter Hufer, Tonio Oeftering, Julia Oppermann (Hrsg.) Wo steht die außerschulische politische Jugend- und Erwachsenenbildung? GPJE-Schiften zur politischen Jugendbildung, Schwalbach/Ts., Schwalbach/Ts. 2018

Klaus-Peter Hufer, Dirk Lange (Hrsg.): Handbuch politische Erwachsenenbildung (zusammen mit Dirk Lange), Schwalbach/Ts. 2016,  

Kaus-Peter Hufer: Politische Erwachsenenbildung. Plädoyer für eine vernachlässigte Disziplin, Bielefeld 2016, auch erschienen als Band 1787 der Schriftenreihe der Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, Bonn 2016

Christian Boeser-Schnebel, Klaus-Peter Hufer, Karin Schnebel, Florian Wenzel: Politik wagen – Ein Argumentationstraining, Schwalbach/Ts. 2016, 260 S.

Self-examination tasks:
1. Outline the field of work "civic adult education". What is this field? What are the central concepts underlying this field? What characterizes this field of work? What challenges does this field pose?

2. Think about your field of work, what starting points for civic adult education do you see here? Draft a short concept.

3. Name key challenges for educators working in adult civic education.

4. Describe the difference between a narrow and a broad understanding of politics.

5. Determine the relevance of adult civic education within a democracy.

A transcript of this episode can be found here.