Teaching basic education in the context of business and work

Project description

The aim of the project, which is funded by the BMBF with around €500,000, is to minimize the risk potential that arises for an annually increasing number of young people during the transition to a training and/or employment relationship.

Often enough, these young people lack the basic education and literacy skills that are usually acquired as part of compulsory education. At least 20% of a birth cohort currently leaves the German education system with no or poor qualifications, is then "measured" in a wide variety of barely manageable projects and ultimately only has very limited opportunities on the training and/or employment market. The institutions of the education system do not reach this growing proportion of the next generation emotionally, socially or cognitively. This is where the Siegen project comes in, focusing on the young people and their motivational problems rather than - as is usually the case - their skill deficits.

The research group understands literacy in the sense of the German Social Code to mean the opportunity for cultural participation. This comprehensive understanding of literacy has a direct impact on the conceptualization of the research project: it cannot merely provide answers to functional literacy and it cannot only be about the acquisition of individual skills, abilities and knowledge. Rather, the aim is for young people to understand the meaning of learning processes and their significance for their own development. For this reason, the Siegen project will develop and test content for educational processes that tie in with the interests, experiences and ideas of young adults; these can be media projects, dance theater, exhibitions or even regionally specific specialist projects in different domains. The project is being carried out in a research alliance with the Learning Region - Network Cologne e.V., which is also receiving funding, and is initially scheduled to run for 3 years.

Literature

• Buchmann, Ulrike/Huisinga, Richard (2011): Teaching basic education in the context of business and work: literacy as networked education in the social space/conception, development, testing and evaluation of a prospectively oriented literacy and basic education concept for young adults. Final report/funding reference: 01AB073405. Bonn/Berlin: bmbf

The project was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).