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This issue focuses on continuing vocational education (CVE) in Germany. Articles are: "Lifelong Learning in the Knowledge Society;""The Foundations of CVE in Germany"; "Who Takes Part in Continuing Education?"; "Hail Maria! A Helping Hand for Female Academics Seeking Promotion"; "Sponsors and Forms of Continuing Education"; "The New Media the Current Issue for Continuing Education"; "An Instinctive Feel for Alternative Careers in Information Technology: Vocational Qualification by the Nuremberg University Team"; "Building Blocks for a New World: Multimedia 'Driving License'"; "Multimedia in Children's Rooms: Vocational Continuing Education for Teachers in Child Daycare Centers"; "Lifelong Learning As an Issue for Education Policy"; "'The Danger of Missing out' Interview with Matthias Berninger"; and "Quality Assurance in Continuing Education." (YLB)

This publication contains an overview of the school-organizational partnership programs created in Germany to fill the role of promoting the development and socialization of students beyond the measurable degree of school performance. The following five general articles are included: "Schools and Youth Welfare"; "Common Features and Differences: 10 Hypotheses"; "The Role of a Pupil--The Life of a Pupil"; "Between School and the Everyday World: Split Normality"; and "Is There Still Such a Thing as 'Youth'?" The following nine articles explain models and provide examples of programs in particular cities: (1) "Erfurt: New Routes in School Social Work"; (2) "Osnabruck: Youth Welfare Comes into Schools"; (3) "Leipzig: School in the Cultural Workshop"; (4) "Munich: Culture Gaining Acceptance"; (5) "Cologne: A Youth Club in Cologne-Nippes"; (6) "Tubingen: How To Become a Man"; (7) "Neu-Anspach: Computer Company Supports Education"; (8) "Schafflund: Learning Democracy"; and (9) "Bayreuth: Remedial Teachers at a Primary School." (Contains 15 references.) (KC)

This document presents the history of environmental education in Germany and reports on the diversions and solutions in the search for sustainable education. Five sections include: (1) "Environmental Education: Learning with All One's Senses"; (2) "Sustainability as the New Model: Knowledge of a New Quality"; (3) "Tomorrow's Education in Yesterday's School: Scope and Limits of Environmental Education in Schools"; (4) "Environmental Education Outside Schools When Nature Becomes a Teacher"; and (5) A Silent Revolution? Visions for a Sustainable Education System". (YDS)

Despite its high unemployment level, Germany is experiencing a shortage of specialists and managers. Germany's need for highly qualified information technology (IT) workers and engineers is particularly great. Approximately 10,000 posts for computer scientists and IT specialists remained vacant in 1998. Because of the shortage of such specialists, "side door" entrants who have studied related disciplines such as engineering and natural sciences and have some knowledge of computer science now also have good chances of a job in the IT sector. A total of 13,000 new jobs were reported in Germany's social care sector in 1998. Almost all of Germany's industrial branches are urgently seeking engineers. The job prospects for economists are questionable unless graduates can show that they have also completed a business training course. The job prospects for lawyers and legal advisers with first-class degrees are improving, and 2,600 more teachers were hired in 1998-1999 than in the previous school year. Employment opportunities for German mathematicians, physicists, chemists, and biologists have also improved considerably. Positions for language and culture scholars also increased. Individuals with the prerequisites for positions in the IT and engineering sectors should be able to secure jobs on the spot. (MN)

These three articles come from the series "Course 2010--A Decade in View" published in the Handelsblatt (Duesseldorf and Frankfurt/Main), an influential German business newspaper. "The Labor Market: With Flexibility into the Service Society" (Elga Lehari) states that the key to more employment in future is a service society with an industrial base. It foresees constant development in the size of the labor force up to 2010, followed by a shortage of labor across the labor market from 2010-2020, and a drop in the labor force almost to the present level by 2040. It recommends more flexible work instruments, globally oriented flexibility, and provision of services for working women. "Organization of Work: Supreme Authority Rests with the Team" (Christoph Stehr) focuses on the "Oticon system," named for a Danish hearing aid manufacturer. It discusses the manufacturer's innovative management style that proves business objectives can be achieved by "soft" changes, e.g. in the way work is organized. It describes the open-plan office that provides for no fixed workplace (no desk) and self-organized work. "Working Hours: Change Begins in the Mind" (Ruth Lemmer) addresses flexibility in the workplace. It discusses the Augel model of a construction firm where all workers receive a fixed monthly salary: they stipulate the number of hours they wish to be paid for each month, with extra hours booked into an account. Common models of flexible working hours are described: flexitime, part-time work, job sharing, and time accounts to save time for a sabbatical or early retirement. (YLB)

Life expectancies are rising all over the world, leading to higher proportions of older adults in the population. This is especially true in Japan and Germany. In Germany today, "old" no longer means necessarily "poor and frail." Through volunteer work, lifelong learning, study tours, and participation in sports, older Germans are changing the autumn of their lives into a long "summer." This phenomenon has come about because the senior citizens of today have more money and education and better health than seniors of earlier generations. Good government policy encourages seniors to lead active lives, because such lifestyles promote good health and relieve the tax burden of supporting frail old age. It is doubtful whether the next generation will have as much money and leisure time, with wider unemployment and fewer pensions, but they will be well educated and therefore should also be able to prolong the "summer" of their lives. (KC)

This theme issue of "Bildung und Wissenschaft" explains the importance of multilingualism in today's world, focusing on foreign language instruction in Germany. It examines the following issues: "Multilingualism in a Changing World"; "The Significance of Foreign Languages for Germany"; "Foreign Languages in Schools: The System--A Few Basic Facts"; "The Hamburg Agreement"; "Exchanges and Encounters"; "Foreign Languages and 'Bildung'"; "Guidelines: The Official and Secret Curriculum"; "New Approaches to Foreign Language Teaching"; "The Expectations of the Customers"; "Foreign Language Teaching in Vocational Schools"; "Bilingual Curricula and Bilingual Lessons"; "An Early Start"; "Teacher Training"; "Further Training for Teachers"; "Multilingualism and the Position of English"; "EU Programmes: Their Impact on Foreign Language Teaching"; "Correction and Assessment: Grades, Examinations, and Control of Standards"; and "In Conclusion." (SM)

In 1977, when women in West Germany (the Fedeal Republic of Germany) got the legal right to be employed outside the family against their husband's will, paragraph 1356 of the Civil Code, defining housework as the woman's duty, was abolished. Until then, heavy social pressure kept women close to home; in most cases, the choice of an outside occupation was limited to specific jobs and professions deemed suitable for women. In East Germany (the German Democratic Republic) during this time, an "equality paradise" ensured that women were equally literate, educated, and qualified. However, women were still expected to take care of children and household chores. With the collapse of East Germany, women's infrastructure disappeared, and the female employment rate plummeted. Today, while most women want to have an occupation outside the home and achieve some financial independence, relatively few women in Germany seem to want to have a meaningful lifetime career. Women generally accept that if they intend to pursue a career, they cannot have children; therefore, there is no effective lobby for an infrastructure that would make it easier to combine motherhood with professional life. Data clearly indicate that traditional roles have not significantly changed, except that employed women add an extra task to their domestic ones. Part 2 of this publication presents the stories of 11 contemporary women who have achieved high profile nationally or internationally, in academic or creative fields, in business, in sports, or in government. The document contains 25 references. (YLB)

Computer uses in the classroom is the theme topic of this journal issue. Contents include: "Emo Welzl: 1995 Leibniz Laureate" (Hartmut Wewetzer); "Learning to Read with the Aid of a Computer: Research Project with Children Starting School" (Horst Meermann); "The Multimedia School: The Comenius Pilot Project" (Tom Sperlich); "A Very Useful Piece of Equipment: Education Expert Alfons Rissberger On the Use of Computers in the Classroom"; "Farewell to Passiveness: Multimedia Project With Disadvantaged Young Persons" (Franz Piesche-Blumtritt); "Learning Via Satellite: New Paths in Inplant Training" (Hans-Christian Rofsler); "Surrounded by a Sea of Universal Knowledge: New Media Establishing Themselves in Higher Education" (Hilde Malcomess); "The Greenhouse Effect: Everybody's Talking About CO2--But What About CFCs, Methane and Near-Earth Ozone?" (Mojib Latif); "Research for the Next Millennium: Genetic Engineering and Environmental Conservation in Agriculture" (Christopher Maas & Jeff Schell); and "The Fulbright Idea." There are also six "News in Brief" articles. (MAS)

This special-issue volume examines music education in the two Germanies and how music has had a great influence in the culture of the nations. The presentation is a professional and objective portrayal of music training and cultivation in Germany in the last decade of the present century. The articles attempt to outline the problems and tasks that need to be addressed in order to preserve the traditional role and function of music in German society. Articles include: (1) "A Land of Music" (Richard Jakoby); (2) "Music Education and Training in Germany" (Eckart Rohlfs); (3) "Mutuality through Music" (Michael Jenne); (4) "Where Does Youth Encounter Classical Music or Vice-versa?" (Reinhard Schulz); (5) "Alternative Music Training: Opportunities for Children and Young Persons Outside Music Schools and Music Associations" (Brigitte Schafer); (6) "Jazz and Popular Music in Germany" (Markus Woele); (7) "Jazz in the Former GDR: A Chequered History" (Bernd Noglik); and (8) "From the German Music Council's Point of View: A Final Word" (Franz Muller-Heuser). (EH)

The German education system is the responsibility of the 16 federal states. The federal government plays the leading role in regularizing the on-the-job section of occupational training in the dual system. Other forms of occupational training are full-time vocational schools and further full-time vocational training schools. The on-the-job part of the dual system goes back to the medieval crafts guilds. With the introduction of compulsory attendance in vocational schools for apprentices in the 1920s, trade training became dual. The main location of vocational training within the dual system is the employing firm, which must have suitable instructors and comply with training regulations. Inplant training is supplemented by interplant instruction courses and an interlinked training system. Coordination between the vocational training school and the firm is one of the major problems in the dual training system. Career information is provided only at main schools. Most large cities now have Careers Information Centers. Recruitment efforts are aimed at both able and less able youth. Special training programs are available for disadvantaged and handicapped individuals, foreign youth, and women. State-financed vocational further training has been chiefly concentrated on interplant programs. Further development of vocational training is influenced by work force requirements and demographic development. (Appendixes include a glossary, addresses of 13 important ministries and other organizations, and 5 references in German.) (YLB)

Social market economy success in the Federal Republic of Germany is due to free competition, enterprise in the business community, and employees' social security. Craft industries play a major role in Germany's market economy. The craft industry is second only to the manufacturing industry, comprising 23 percent of German firms. There are seven craft trades: building and fitting-out; metalworking; woodworking; garment, textile, and leather; food processing; health and body care professions and chemical and cleaning; and glass, paper, ceramic, and others. The craft industry is organized into guilds, each represented by a district trades council; regional associations; federal guild associations; chambers of handicrafts; the German Trades Council; and the Central German Trades Association. A dual-track system permits apprentices to receive practical training from employers and attend a technical college for theoretical and administrative knowledge. Other major areas of operation are services and repairs. Since Germany's reunification, the craft industry has focused on five areas: (1) individual business consultancy and information services; (2) technological adaptation and research/development activities; (3) federal retraining courses and other educational and social measures; (4) industry promotion; and (5) using public funds for new ventures. Craft firms need information about the changing framework of economic conditions. (Four tables and four addresses for further information are included.) (NLA)

The further education of adults in Germany has its roots in the 19th century. In a unified Germany, further education and training enjoy a key position in the establishment of free market economy structures. Further education enjoys equal status with all other educational sectors. It is distinguished by the plurality of organizing bodies and diversity of programs offered. The federal government, Laender (States), and local authorities have their own rights and duties. Industry is the main sponsor and spends yearly an amount equal to that provided by all three governmental levels. Adult education centers, trade union education facilities, industry, ecclesiastical institutions, higher education and academic institutes, and the civil service offer further education. Overlapping commitments of further education are key qualifications, special groups, social and political responsibility, and technological change. Vocational further education enables the maintenance, extension, and adjustment of vocational skills as well as employee promotion. Anticipating the European internal market in 1993, employees regard acquisition of "European qualifications" as the objective of their further training. A large number of measures have been initiated in support of the European unification process. The political parties are concerning themselves with further education and training matters, although they have differing objectives. (Appendixes include a 10-item bibliography, glossary, and addresses of organizations.) (YLB)