Vocational education and training for adults in UNESCO's CONFINTEA. A critical analysis of seven decades of policy discourse and governance (1949-2022).

Autor/inn/en	Koç, Ozan; Akin, Gülden
Titel	Vocational education and training for adults in UNESCO's CONFINTEA. A critical analysis of seven decades of policy discourse and governance (1949-2022).
Quelle	In: European journal for Research on the Education and Learning of Adults, 17 (2026) 2, S. 375-396Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei (1); PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei (2); PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei (3) Link als defekt meldenVerfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	2000-7426
DOI	10.25656/01:35728 10.3384/rela.2000-7426.6271
URN	urn:nbn:de:0111-pedocs-357282
Schlagwörter	Dokumentenanalyse; Berufsbildung; Weiterbildung; Erwachsenenbildung; UNESCO (Organisation der Vereinten Nationen für Bildung, Wissenschaft und Kultur)
Abstract	How should Continuing Vocational Education and Training (CVET) serve society - as a tool for economic adaptation or as a site of transformative adult learning and democratic participation? This article critically examines CVET discourse across seven UNESCO International Conferences on Adult Education (CONFINTEA) (1949-2022). Based on critical analysis of seventeen key texts and informed by Freirean pedagogy, Lima and Guimarães' policy framework, and Biesta's critique of 'learnification', three patterns are identified. First, economic priorities consistently overshadow humanistic aims despite periodic rhetorical reaffirmations. Second, the shift from 'adult education' to 'adult learning' individualises responsibility, transferring costs from states and employers to learners while obscuring structural inequalities. Third, comprehensive policy frameworks coexist with implementation gaps, exposing CONFINTEA's limited capacity to counter neoliberal restructuring. Governance has shifted from public responsibility (1949-1960) to normalised public-private partnerships (2022). Realising CVET's transformative potential requires binding mechanisms, political-economic engagement, and democratic mobilisation beyond declaratory commitments. (DIPF/Orig.).
Erfasst von	DIPF \| Leibniz-Institut für Bildungsforschung und Bildungsinformation, Frankfurt am Main
Update	2026/4