‘You have to run it like a company’

The marketisation of adult learning and education in Germany and Slovenia

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21867005
AutoresTadej Košmerl (0000-0003-0293-1362, University of Ljubljana), Borut Mikulec (0000-0002-4500-3091, University of Ljubljana)
Año2021
Volumen12
Número1
Páginas47-63
Fecha de publicación2021-02-22
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaEuropean Journal for Research on the Education and Learning of Adults (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2000-7426 • E-ISSN: 2000-7426
EditorialLinköping University Electronic Press (PUBLISHER • SE)
DOI10.3384/rela.2000-7426.ojs3466
OpenAlexW3130014372
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas5
Referencias citadas29

This paper identifies some of the key characteristics of the marketisation of adult learning and education (ALE) and analyses the effects in the contexts of Germany (focusing on Bavaria) and Slovenia. ALE policies and institutional practices are analysed through the method of document analysis and interviews. Policy models of ALE proposed by Lima and Guimarães—the democratic–emancipatory model, the modernisation and state control model, and the human resources management model—are used as an analytical framework. Our findings indicate that the latter model prevails in the analysed policies, while the market forces are introduced on the organisational level of ALE from ‘below’ through the increased influence of the market demand coming from the learners/customers, and from ‘above’ through calls for tenders that shape the ‘quasi-market’ in which the ALE organisations compete for funding. However, signs of resistance to the marketisation of ALE practices are also identified

Adult education · Business · Call for bids · Democracy · Economic growth · Economics · Ethos · Human resources · Management · Modernization theory · Political science · Global Educational Policies and Reforms · Higher Education Governance and Development · Higher Education Learning Practices · Marketing