Heidi Behrens

Heidi Behrens (* 1946 in Lübeck ) is a German adult educator and specialist author.

Life

After completing commercial training, Behrens initially worked as a secretary for several years. Then she caught up with the Abitur and studied pedagogy at the Free University of Berlin and at the JW Goethe University in Frankfurt with a focus on adult education and graduated as a qualified pedagogue (1979). After completing her studies, she worked at the universities of Frankfurt / Main and Essen (there in further academic training) and from 1983 to 1985 she worked at the city's Old Synagogue Memorial in Essen , after which she did freelance work and research. From 1992 to 2008 she was a pedagogical and scientific assistant at the educational institute of the Humanist Union and has since been working as a freelancer again.

Act

Her work focuses on biographical learning, political education on contemporary historical topics, history of experience and the history of education. In 1994 she was awarded a PhD from the University of Essen with a thesis on educational advancement in the social democratic milieu. phil. PhD.

Behrens published numerous books and essays on questions of didactics in further education, the history of adult education and working-class culture, as well as dealing with National Socialism and other phases of contemporary history. From 2004 to 2010 she was an editorial member of the "DIE-Zeitschrift für Adultbildung". In the years 2005-2006 she participated in the preparation of a new exhibition concept for the Oberhausen Memorial Hall as a consultant and was a lecturer at the University of Dortmund .

In the scientific-pedagogical workstation of the Bildungswerk, Behrens supervised a large number of expertises as well as model and research projects. a. on memorial site education, biographical work and dealing with GDR history. In 2011/2012 she was a member of the advisory board of the practical research project “Working with contemporary witnesses on GDR history in extracurricular education”.

Publications (selection)

• Beyond the clichés. David Zytnicki and the Essen 'East Jews' expulsion, in: Kalonymos. Articles on German-Jewish history from the Salomon Ludwig Steinheim Institute at the University of Duisburg-Essen, 21 (2018), 4, pp. 1–5. (With Norbert Reichling ) online
• "I was a rare case". The German-Jewish-Polish story of Leni Zytnicka. Essen 2018 (with Norbert Reichling)
• "... and in retrospect you are surprised how many people are committed to this and say, I did it." Actors' perspectives on the establishment and work of memorials in North Rhine-Westphalia, in: GedenkstättenRundbrief No. 171 (2013) ( with Paul Ciupke and Norbert Reichling)
• GDR history as a learning area. A handbook for political youth and adult education. Schwalbach / Ts. 2009 (Ed. With Paul Ciupke and Norbert Reichling) - table of contents
• Political education in the immigration society, Schwalbach / Ts. 2006 (Ed. With Jan Motte)
• German division, repression and everyday life. Places of remembrance of GDR history; Concepts and offers for historical-political learning, Leipzig 2004 (Ed. With Andreas Wagner)
• New learning arrangements in cultural institutions, Essen 2002 (with Paul Ciupke and Norbert Reichling)
• Education and remembrance. Adult education in memorials and places of remembrance (Ed.), Essen 1998
• Biographical communication. Life stories in the repertoire of adult education, Neuwied 1997 (with Norbert Reichling)
• Farewell to the proletariat? Life situations and educational stories of former members of the Essen SAJ, Bonn 1996
• Biographical learning. Experiences and reflections (with Hermann Buschmeyer), Soest 1990
• Shared experiences. A German-German dialogue project on history after 1945 (with Anka Schaefer), Münster 1994
• Red youth in the black area. Pictures from the history of the Essen workers' youth movement (ed.), Essen 1989
• Free schools - a forgotten educational alternative. (With Frank Bajohr and Ernst Schmidt), Essen 1986.
• Educational work with older adults. A topic-oriented documentation (with the help of Monika Völker), Frankfurt / M. 1984
• Between alternative and protest. On sports and youth movements in Essen 1900–1933. (With Angela Genger and Ernst Schmidt), Essen 1983.

Web links

• "East West". Diversity or diversity (2014)
• How much culture can civic education tolerate? An interjection (2010) (PDF)
• Just a matter of form? Tactful Action in Political Adult Education (2006) (PDF)
• Dealing with GDR history in political adult education (2006, with Paul Ciupke and Norbert Reichling) (PDF)
• “Grandpa wasn't a Nazi” - and the consequences. Back to the beginning of memorial education? (2004, with Sabine Moller)
• Learning concepts from the 70s and 80s. On the continuity and transformation of political and educational impulses in adult education (with Paul Ciupke and Norbert Reichling)