DIE Zeitschrift für Erwachsenenbildung

At first sight, Ortfried Schäffter’s thesis
looks trivial: a »pedagogical« organisation
is an organisation that concentrates
on focussing the interplay of
all its energies on the success of its
specific – namely, pedagogical – work.
Examined more carefully, however,
this means that a pedagogical organisation
is one that furthers learning.
Its success cannot be measured in
terms of numbers of charges taken
care of, duration of care, or hours
spent in caregiving or counselling, nor
in terms of turnover. Its very structure
must ensure that »learning« is more
than an incidental by-product. This is
what a theory of pedagogical organisations
is all about.

The present discourse in further education is recurringly concerned with cultures, systems and networks. Karin Dollhausen aims at furthering this discussion by drawing a neat line of definition between these crucial terms under the aspect of the sociology of organisations. She goes on to explain what each of the terms does or should mean for public institutions of further education: »culture« – seen as the system of relationships within an organisation – sharpens the view of internal communication patterns. The perspective of »system« interprets the institutions’s relationship to its environment as »home-made«. Finally, »network« reflects the position of the institution relative to other cooperating and competing institutions.

Looking at persons and at those active in organisations has forever been in the focus of psychological research on organisations. Monika Kil draws attention to the fact that pedagogical psychology, cognitive psychology and social psychology can also contribute towards a structuring of further education institutions that is conducive to learning. Developing a »learning culture « is one aspect of this. A review of further developments and findings opens up new dimensions for a discourse on organisations in adult and further education.

Keeping an eye on the practice of management in further education institutions, the observer will encounter a rich variety of changing management strategies. Johannes Hartkemeyer, himself director of a Volkshochschule, scrutinizes past crazes and sets up guidelines for dealing with ever-changing fashions on the one hand, and organisational development on the other hand. His advice is to be a »learning organisation«, watch out for »mental models« of the organisation in a permanent process of reflection and stay tuned to the question of purpose – keeping in mind the biblical Book of Proverbs: »Where there is no vision, the people perish«.

The Greek educational system replicates the historical-cultural and regional segmentation of Greek society. In the past there was a gap between west-oriented Greeks with a high level of education on the one hand and uneducated natives on the other hand; nowadays we find well-off Greek students at western universities on the one hand and, on the other hand, the larger part of the national youth in the backward universities of their own country. In adult education, the traditional gap is perpetuated as well, and equality of opportunity has not been reached. Thus, Greece will lose its international competitiveness in the long run.

Recently, the acceptance of statistics in the education sector has grown. As a consequence of the publication of international comparative studies like TIMSS and PISA, more attention is paid to statistical surveys, as they have brought to light quite a number of hitherto unknown facts. Alexandra Ioannidou describes the present state of statistical activities in the further education sector and outlines what possible gains there are for institutions employing statistics.