25. July 2025
At this year’s 7th Annual Philosophy and Theory of Higher Education Conference in Dublin, held from June 10–12, 2025, Jan Schiller and Marie Rathmann presented findings from the DigiTaKS* project.
The contribution, titled “Transformative digital competences: Reclaiming creativity for critical thinking”, is largely documented and available via OpenHSU under the DOI 10.24405/20211
14. May 2024
Since January 2024, 150 people registered to the online Research Symposium Series titled “Spaces and Times of Transitions – Recalibrating the Multiple Scales of Change in Adult Education” organized by the ESREA STREAM Network (Spaces, Times and the Rhythms of the Education of Adults and its Movements) with the support of the Sunkhronos Institute.
Since then, nine guest speakers from Germany, Ireland, South Africa, Switzerland and the UK, have been gathering to reflect around the theme of “transition”, and the ways it relates to notions such as liminality, the life course, transgression, professional development, virtualization, or hybridity.
Whether or not you were able to attend the first 7 sessions, please note that you can now watch the video recordings on the STREAM Network’s YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/@ESREASTREAMNetwork
To support our efforts to gather scholars and practitioners interested in the spatial, temporal and rhythmic dimensions of adult education, we also invite you to subscribe to this channel and 👍 the videos, as it may contribute (through YouTube’s algorithms) to make them more broadly visible. And if you know colleagues or students who may be interested in this topic, feel free to share the news!
We are looking forward to pursuing the dialogue during our last session on June 4th (13:00-14:30 CEST) with Dr. Julia Elven and Dr. Jörg Schwarz on “Dissipation and Transitions » (if you are nor already registered – it’s free – you can register online at www.sunkhronos.org/stream2024)
8. April 2024
Research collaboration between the HSU (Professorship for Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning) and the Institute for Adult Learning, Singapore (Lead)
The International survey on artificial intelligence in higher education, training and adult learning led by the IAL (Institute for Adult Learning, Singapore) examines how technological innovations are changing our educational world globally. The aim is to analyze the integration of (generative) artificial intelligence (AI) as a pioneer for learning landscapes and future trends in higher education, training and adult education worldwide.
The global research project with currently over 23 countries, was initiated by the Research Network 3 of the ASEM Education and Research Hub for Lifelong Learning. Prof. Schmidt-Lauff (member of the ASEM network since 2022), together with the German Institute for Adult Education (DIE, Bonn), is responsible for Germany-wide data collection, data evaluation and dissemination of the results.
25. March 2024
The symposium chaired by Jörg Schwarz (HSU Hamburg) approached the conference topic of crisis and transformation systematically from a temporal perspective and bring together theoretical and empirical contributions to discuss processuality and rhythmicity as core aspects of a relational analysis of crisis and transformation, especially fruitful with regard to their pedagogical relevance.
Michel Alhadeff-Jones (Sunkhronos Institute, Genf / Université de Fribourg / Columbia University) provided a temporal-theoretical grounding of the core concepts of processuality and rhythmicity, contrast this perspective with the concepts of transformative learning and discuss the importance of rhythmic intelligence in educational processes.
Franziska Wyßuwa (Martin-Luther-Universität Halle) followed with a qualitative empirical investigation of the processing of crises in adult education courses, asking for how the marking and neogiating of crises in courses contribute to shaping transformational processes.
Hannah Hassinger und Sabine Schmidt-Lauff (HSU Hamburg) looked at biographical transformation processes based on qualitative interviews with adult learners and investigate how crises affect the temporal modalities of their learning.
Maja Maksimovic (University of Belgrade) examined crisis and transformation as deeply embodied processes; using the concept of Liminality, it investigated how a chronic pain condition produces spatiotemporal structures where learning processes emerge.
20. June 2023
Lisa Breitschwerdt, Jörg Schwarz, Sabine Schmidt-Lauff (Eds.): Comparative Research in Adult Education: Global Perspectives on Participation, Sustainability and Digitalisation. Bielefeld: wbv. https://doi.org/10.3278/9783763971336
The volume presents research that emerges from the 9th International Adult Education Academy (2022), which brings together researchers, students and practitioners from around the world to share perspectives comparatively. More than 80 participants from almost 20 different countries have exchanged, compared and expanded their individual knowledge and experience on adult learning and education.
This volume consisting of eight contributions (including one fundamental article beforehand) assumes that globalisation affects national, regional and local levels of adult learning and education. Transformational relations are observed and analysed through the lens of participation, sustainability and digitalisation.
All contributions apply an international comparative research approach to empirically investigate these areas with their upcoming needs. This approach takes place under consideration of comparison as a research method which not only grounds on a long tradition and relies on a set of rules and techniques, but also on an inner attitude and sensitivity with which we look at the world and its global needs while trying to understand.
Link to the book (open access): http://u.wbv.de/9783763971329
23. February 2023
Since January 2023, Dr. Emmanuel Jean-Francois, Associate Professor at the Gladys W. and David H. Patton College of Education at Ohio University (US), is spending a research sabbatical at the Professorship for Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning. During this time, he researches and teaches at Helmut Schmidt University on various topics such as globalisation, digitalisation and others.
In the Adult Education/Continuing Education major (Studienschwerpunkt Erwachsenenbildung/Weiterbildung), Prof. Jean-Francois is represented in FT23 with his own English-language seminar (title to follow).
In addition, Prof. Jean-Francois taught together with Prof. Schmidt-Lauff as part of a Comparative Group at this year’s international Adult Education Academy at JMU Würzburg.
During his research stay, Prof. Jean-Francois is conducting data collection in the form of an appreciative inquiry of digitalization in the field of adult education in Germany.
21. February 2022
Between Feb 7th and Feb 18th the team from the Professorship for Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning contributed again as teachers/moderators as well as participants to the Würzburg International Adult Education Academy (online). Over 80 master cycle and PhD students and practinioners from around the world studied and practiced comparative analysis in 10 thematic groups. As a documentation of results, a joint authorship from moderators and PhD students will be edited by Prof. Dr. Sabine Schmidt-Lauff, Dr. Jörg Schwarz (HSU) and Lisa Breitschwerdt (JMU Würzburg) in collarboration with WBV publishing house.
26. May 2021
With participation from the Professorshop for Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning / Prof. Sabine Schmidt-Lauff, the AEA2021 took place virtually in February. Evaluation results from this year’s participants prove again the excellent quality of the programme. With an overall mean rating of 4.68/5, the AEA 2021 received one of the highest scores in the programme history. The full report can be downloaded here:
12. May 2021
The team of the Professorship for Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning / Sabine Schmidt-Lauff grows further. We heartly welcome Marie Rathmann and Therese Rosemann, who will work primarily in the DigiTaKS* project.
29. April 2021
Titling “Beyond the Pandemic. Towards the INTALL Project Results”, the ERASMUS+ strategic partner Florence University holds an online conference on the future of adult education research in post-pandemic times on June 7th and 8th. With contribution of the Professorship for Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning/Sabine Schmidt-Lauff, international experts discuss different aspects of Covid-pandemic influences on adult education research, sustainability, digitalisation and many more. For registration and the complete programme please visit www.intalljune2021.org
