State working group for another further education in NRW
The State Working Group for Another Further Education in North Rhine-Westphalia (LAAW) is an amalgamation of 45 public further education institutions in North Rhine-Westphalia in non-profit sponsorship. All of these facilities are state-approved and funded in accordance with the NRW Further Education Act. They have different profiles of general, political, professional and cultural further education as well as family education , work partly locally, partly nationally and nationally. These educational institutions are based in all regions of North Rhine-Westphalia .
Origin and development
The LAAW emerged in September 1982 from the cooperation of younger educational institutions, most of which arose from the “new social movements” (see article new social movements , i.e. new peace movement , women's movement , eco-movement, etc.), from their attempts to organize self-organized learning and to do a broad educational work for these political concerns. Most of them saw themselves as self-organized with a special closeness to their participants and have retained parts of this self-image to this day. In their day-to-day work, many educational institutions are networked with socio-cultural centers , citizens' initiatives and self-help groups . These institutions received state recognition and minimal financial support; however, due to legal requirements and subsidy cuts, most of them have remained relatively small.
The content orientations have partly changed since the founding years: Because the sponsoring associations of these institutions (in contrast to the large associations, churches etc., which support other educational institutions) cannot make a significant financial contribution, the LAAW institutions have been heavily reliant on participation fees for some time . Although political education still has a high share (around 30%), its importance has decreased somewhat. LAAW institutions have also been providing educational work in the area of migration / integration for a long time. New and marketable offers such as health education and cultural education have grown, but LAAW educational institutions are also present in vocational and occupational further training and in teaching so-called key qualifications. Newer accents are in the cooperation with schools and preschool areas.
Goals and meaning
The LAAW organizes a relatively strong " alternative " current of adult and further education in North Rhine-Westphalia to this day . The association provides its members with technical and educational policy support: it formulates the interests of independent and professionally guided educational work, advocates predictable state funding and organizes advanced training, specialist conferences and the exchange of experiences for its members. The LAAW supports the individual facilities in particular in questions of organizational development and quality management . LAAW's concerns are according to its program
- to focus the educational process on the holistic nature of the human being
- target the learner's ability to act
- Realizing equal opportunities in access to continuing education
The member institutions of the LAAW hold around 140,000 teaching hours and 50,000 participation days each year and thus reach 60,000 people who want to learn. Many of these educational institutions were pioneers in discovering new subject areas for further education, in working with new target groups such as migrants and refugees, and in experimenting with creative, activating teaching and learning methods.
The association takes part in educational campaigns - e.g. B. for educational leave or for continuous public funding; He has made a significant contribution to the development of a new quality management system for further training (“Gütesiegelverbund Further Education”).
Together with the state associations of adult education centers , denominational further education and other "independent organizations", he provides critical support for state politics and organizes the public debate on the further development of further education (e.g. in the context of evaluations , changes to the further education law, further education conferences, regional Mergers).
The LAAW cooperates with similar associations in other federal states - e.g. B. the Association of Lower Saxony Educational Initiatives , the State Working Group for Another Further Education in Baden-Württemberg, the State Working Group on Other Learning in Rhineland-Palatinate and the State Working Group for Political-Cultural Education in Brandenburg as part of a "Federal Working Group for Another Further Education".
organization
The LAAW is a non-profit association, is managed by an honorary board and has an office with a managing director. Internal communication and decision-making takes place primarily through 4 regional groups in the regions of Bielefeld / East Westphalia, Münster, Ruhr area and Cologne / Bonn. 2 general meetings take place annually; the regional groups meet 4 to 6 times a year. Specialist conferences and training courses (e.g. on legal and organizational topics, pedagogical methods and educational policy challenges, individual fields of work such as health education or political education) are offered irregularly.
literature
- different - further - educate. 25 years of other further training in NRW . Bielefeld 2007
- different - further - educate. 30 years of other further training in North Rhine-Westphalia ( online ; PDF 36.7 MB)
- Ortfried Schäffter: To be “different” for a quarter of a century? Laudation on the survival of the “Institutional Form: Social Learning Movements” . In: Form of the "State Working Group for Another Further Education" (LAAW) NRW . On the occasion of the celebration of "25 years of LAAW" in November 2007. (PDF; 217 kB)
- Helmut Bremer: “Further Education 2022 - Adult Education as a Participatory Program”. Lecture on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the LAAW ( online , PDF)
- LAAW NRW (ed.): The other political education in NRW. Bielefeld 2005.
- LAAW NRW (Hrsg.): The other advanced training for the world of work and profession. Bielefeld 2004.
- Birgit Meyer-Ehlert: A cultural turning point? New social movements and new adult education institutions . In: Paul Ciupke u. a. (Ed.): Adult education and political culture in North Rhine-Westphalia . Essen 2003.
- LAAW NRW (ed.): Position of the other further education in NRW on socially relevant educational areas. Bielefeld 2002.
- Paul Ciupke and Norbert Reichling: Still crazy? Principles of Alternative Adult Education revisited . 2002 ( online )
- LAAW NRW (Ed.): Forming networks - coordination, cooperation, communication in culture and further education. Dortmund 1997
- Klaus-Peter Hufer and Ilse Unger: Between Dependence and Self-Determination. Institutionalized and self-organized political adult education since the 1970s . Düsseldorf 1989.