Changing Configurations of Adult Education in Transitional Times - Conference Proceedings

At the end of the UN Literacy Decade literacy has reached stronger public and scientific attention. Several European studies on functional illiteracy offered striking results (France 2012: 7%, England 2011: 16%, Germany 2011: 14.5%). Studies inform us that the cliches of functional illiterate people do not fit reality. In the working place and in their private life, people affected often have strong networks of support. Despite recognizing the crucial role of networks for continuing education, research rarely focuses on those people and on their role in the learning process. The study introduced here shifts its focus from the functional illiterates to their supporters. As the project is at an early stage, in this paper we will concentrate on the development of our research questions instead of presenting own empirical results. We will hence focus on two crucial topics of the study: nonparticipation in adult basic education and networks of support.