!!!Erwachsenenbildung

Adult Education, offers adults programmes designed to broaden their 
horizon; in Austria, it operates apart from the regular school system 
and institutions of higher education and coexists with the various 
institutions devoted to advanced vocational training; until the 1960s 
it was called "Volksbildung" (education for the people). The 
development of adult education was promoted by the  Enlightenment, but 
it was not until the 2%%sup nd/%  half of the 19%%sup th/% 
 century, when the right of association was granted, that it 
gained broad effect. At first, only the need for further education of 
certain groups was satisfied, and adult education was greatly 
influenced by political and denominational groups (liberal, 
Catholic-conservative or agricultural "casinos",  
Arbeiterbildungsvereine, Catholic Journeymen´s Societies), but 
after 1870 neutral institutions for all groups of the population were 
established (adult education centres in various provinces: in Styria 
the Steirischer Volksbildungsverein, founded in 1870; in Upper Austria 
the Oberoesterreichischer Volksbildungsverein, founded in 1872; in 
Lower Austria the Allgemeiner Niederoesterreichischer 
Volksbildungsverein, founded in 1885, its Vienna branch, "Wien und 
Umgebung", founded in1893, became independent under the name of Wiener 
Volksbildungsverein; university lectures open to the general public 
were organised in Vienna from 1895, in Innsbruck from 1897, in Graz 
from 1898; other institutions of this nature were the Vienna  Urania, 
founded in 1897 and the Volksheim, founded in 1901). Adult education 
still remained in the hands of political parties (e.g. "Zentralstelle 
fuer das Bildungswesen" - "Central Office for Education", run by the 
Social Democrats) and the Catholic church (e.g.  Leo-Gesellschaft, 
Volkslesehalle - public reading rooms, founded in 1899, Katholischer 
Volksbund, founded in 1908). In the First Republic, the state claimed 
the prerogative of administration and supervision ("Regulativ", 1919), 
but state financial assistance stayed within limits; the only kind of 
support was promotion and advice by adult education consultants. The 
unemployed became the main target group for adult education, courses 
were also organised by trade promotion institutions, the trade unions 
and the chambers of labour. Between 1934 and 1938 the authoritarian 
government tried to unify adult education and therefore the government 
assumed the burden of financing adult education. In 1934 the first 
Jewish adult evening school was founded in Vienna. It was not until 
1945 that the private sponsoring societies of adult education started 
co-operating, as had been vainly attempted in the First Republic. In 
1950 the Association of Austrian Adult Education Institutions was 
founded; in 1955 two religious educational associations (Catholic: 
Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Katholischen Bildungswerke Oesterreichs and 
Protestant: Arbeitsgemeinschaft evangelischer Bildungswerke) and one 
non-religious association (Verband der oesterreichischen 
Bildungswerke) united to create the "Ring oesterreichischer 
Bildungswerke"; in 1954 the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Bildungsheime 
Oesterreichs (Association of Austrian Education Homes) was founded. 
These umbrella organisations supported the planning and financing of 
adult education as well as the training of officials, who mainly 
worked on a honorary basis ("Riefer Zertifikatskurs"). In 1945/46 the 
state established a central office for adult education within the 
Ministry of Education. In 1972 the conference of adult education, 
"Konferenz der Erwachsenenbildung Oesterreichs (KEBOe)" was 
founded and charged with the duty of administrating state subsidies; 
this step was followed by the creation of further umbrella 
organisations (Berufsfoerderungsinstitut, Buechereiverband 
Oesterreichs, Institutionen Katholischer Erwachsenenbildung, 
Laendliches Fortbildungsinstitut, Oesterreichische 
Volkswirtschaftliche Gesellschaft, Verband Oesterreichischer 
Schulungs- und Bildungshaeuser, Wirtschaftsfoerderungsinstitut der 
Kammern der gewerblichen Wirtschaft). Since 1974 the Federal Institute 
for Adult Education (Bundesinstitut fuer Erwachsenenbildung) in Strobl 
(Upper Austria) has offered training and further training courses for 
teachers in adult education and librarians in public libraries; since 
1986, eight pedagogic institutions (Paedagogische Akademie) have been 
offering four-semester courses for adult education. 1981 saw the 
adoption of basic principles for the development of a co-operative 
adult education system in Austria, which aims at creating a 
comprehensive educational system for adults, meeting the requirements 
of all groups of the population (1991/92: 144,638 courses and 
individual events); however, the creation of new institutions and 
shifts in emphasis in course design (e.g. intensive use of the modern 
media) have not helped to achieve the declared objective, i.e. to 
raise adult education to the level maintained by the regular schools 
and universities.

!Literature
G. Bisovsky, Blockierte Bildungsreform, 1991; 
Erwachsenenbildung in Oesterreich, ed. by the Federal Ministry of 
Education and Art, %%sup 3/%1991; W. Filla, Volkshochschularbeit in 
Oesterreich, 1991.


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