Adult education and broadcasting in the two Germanies

Anderson, Daniel Flucker (1987). Adult education and broadcasting in the two Germanies. PhD thesis The Open University.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21954/ou.ro.0000fcd0

Abstract

The Central concern of this study is to shed light on the formation and operation of adult education broadcasting systems and in particular on the relative importance of cultural foundations and more dynamic ideological determinants in those processes, by comparing their working in the capitalist Federal Republic of Germany and the Communist German Democratic Republic. The thesis it sets out to test is that despite fundamental ideological divergences since 1945, common cultural influences in these countries are enduring and significant and may be discerned in their systems of adult education broadcasting as in other aspects of society. The interest and relevance of the thesis extends beyond the particular and peculiar situation of the two Germanies because of the general importance of distinguishing and evaluating these two strands in any study of adult education processes and systems. Because the method employed must necessarily be the comparative one, the study is also a test of this problematic but potentially useful tool for the study of adult education.