The Biennial Report presents a selection of UNESCO-UNEVOC's activities during 2014 and 2015. The activities contributed to UNESCO's sectoral priorities and programmatic objectives and assisted Member States to provide equitable, inclusive and quality education and promote lifelong learning for sustainable development. Importantly, the selected…

This paper describes the development of a course module on sustainability issues and Education for Sustainable Development in German pre-service chemistry teacher education. The module was inspired by empirical research findings about the knowledge base of student teachers. It was created and cyclically refined using Participatory Action Research.…

This article reports the development and results of a project within the Comenius program to promote teachers' occupational well-being, in which Finnish, Irish, Italian, and German school communities participated between 2003 and 2006. The project made use of participatory action research, in which the occupational well-being of staff was…

This paper describes the development and assessment of a learning environment to support the transition of students from lower to upper secondary chemistry education in Germany. The learning environment centers on reviewing and expanding learners' prior chemistry knowledge in heterogeneous learning groups upon entering upper secondary education.…

Sustainability as a concept, though well understood in general terms, is often politically captured by interest groups and as such expressed through issues like concern for global climate change or the need to develop more efficient energy sources, to address regional, national or international priorities. Education for sustainability as a concept…

This paper describes a three-year curriculum innovation project on teaching about climate change. The innovation for this study focused on a socio-critical approach towards teaching climate change in four different teaching domains (biology, chemistry, physics and politics). The teaching itself explicitly aimed at general educational objectives,…

This paper describes the potential of long-term co-operation between science educators and science teachers concerning the teachers' continuous professional development, based on Participatory Action Research in science education. The discussion is based on a six-year case study observing a group of about ten German chemistry teachers by chemistry…

For about two decades only marginal relevance was attributed to action research as a research strategy by large sections of the German social science community. The growing international debate on key concepts such as community participation, community-based participatory research and participatory action research were largely ignored. In this…

This study interviewed 29 women from various countries and spiritual backgrounds, between the ages of 16 and 67, seeking to better understand how dance/creative movement supports women during difficult life struggles such as trauma from abuse, relationship breakups, community violence and loss of self, and how it acts as a connection to the…

Since the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was ratified in 1991, children's right to have a voice, and to have their opinions heard, has led many providers and practitioners in the field of early years to seek ways to involve children's perspectives in the evaluation and development of practice. Those who value democracy understand that…

Objective: With the help of the "OPTIMAHL 60plus" counselling aid, it is intended to improve the nutritional and physical activity behaviour, the maintenance and enhancement of the quality of life, and the autonomy of people above 60 years of age. Due to their complexity, currently available didactical counselling aids are not considered…

This paper discusses a chemistry lesson plan on potato crisps for 10th grade (age range 15-16) chemistry classes in Germany. The lesson plan focuses on the discussion about low-fat and low-carb diets as they are presented in everyday media such as TV or newspapers in Germany. The discussion follows a socio-critical and problem-oriented approach to…

Several authors (e.g., Mcniff & Whitehead, 2006; Wallace, 1998) defend the idea that teachers' own involvement in research has the potential to encourage professional growth. Journal writing, teacher logs, written narratives and stimulated recall are some examples of methods that have been used by researchers to encourage and support teachers'…

This paper discusses a project of Participatory Action Research (PAR) on lower secondary chemistry education. In this ongoing project, practicing teachers and university researchers in chemical education jointly carry out projects for developing and evaluating new lesson plans. The focus of the PAR group is to develop teaching/learning activities…

These proceedings contain the following 12 papers on comparative adult education: "Adult Education as Concept and Structure: An Agenda for Research" (Colin Titmus); "Report on the Context and State of Comparative Adult Education and on Four Publications" (Alexander N. Charters); "Comparative Adult Education Research:…