About DIE Zeitschrift für Erwachsenenbildung

DIE Zeitschrift für Erwachsenenbildung

DIE Zeitschrift für Erwachsenenbildung is a German-language quarterly journal for adult and continuing education, published in Bielefeld by wbv Media. It is the journal of the Deutsches Institut für Erwachsenenbildung (DIE), the German institute for adult education in Bonn, and it has served as the institute's periodical voice for more than three decades. Founded in 1994, it was renamed in 2018 to "weiter bilden. DIE Zeitschrift für Erwachsenenbildung", with a stronger focus on the practice field of adult and continuing education in the digital age. Since 2023 it has appeared in open access, and since October 2026 it has been offered digitally, reflecting the institute's openness strategy and the digital transformation of specialist publishing. Each issue addresses a thematic focus from the field of adult and continuing education, following a discursive concept that mediates between practice and the reference sciences, and that has made the journal a central forum for the German continuing-education debate.

Overview

The journal appears four times a year, each issue devoted to a thematic focus from the field of adult and continuing education. It follows a discursive concept and mediates between practice and the reference sciences, bringing the perspectives of practitioners, researchers, and policymakers into dialogue. Its target groups are full-time staff and planning personnel in continuing education, students of adult education, and decision-makers in education policy and administration. The journal is scientifically grounded but practice-oriented, describing itself as both a magazine and a reflection organ for the field, a dual identity that has defined it since its founding.

Recent issues illustrate the thematic breadth: issue 4/2025, titled "Zukünfte" (futures), examined perspectives of adult education in the digital transformation, between farewell, reorientation, and open access, showing how education can actively shape societal transformation. Issue 3/2025 addressed basic education and basic competencies, analyzing research data, funding strategies, and practice approaches for improving adults' basic skills for science, policy, and educational practice. These issues demonstrate the journal's attention to the structural challenges of the field, from the digitalization of learning to the persistent problem of low basic education among adults.

The journal's print ISSN was 0945-3164. The annual subscription covered four issues at 54 euros plus shipping, with a preferential student subscription at 40 euros available on presentation of a student certificate. Since 2023 the journal has appeared in open access and can be downloaded, read, and shared as a free PDF, while continuing to be available as a printed edition through issue 4/2025, giving readers the choice between the free digital edition and the paid print subscription during the transition period.

History

The journal was founded in 1994, with a pilot issue in late 1993, by the Deutsches Institut für Erwachsenenbildung, published by WBV Bertelsmann in Bielefeld. The founding editor was Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Ekkehard Nuissl von Rein, with editorial leadership by Dr. Peter Brandt and editorial assistance by Beate Beyer-Paulick. It was conceived as the institute's journal, informing readers four times a year about trends in adult education under a thematic focus, and addressing the full-time staff and planning personnel of continuing education, adult-education researchers and students, and the decision-makers of education policy and administration.

In 2018 the journal was renamed "weiter bilden. DIE Zeitschrift für Erwachsenenbildung", with the first issue under the new title appearing in March 2018 on the theme "Neustart. Kontinuität und Wandel" (new start: continuity and change). The relaunch focused the journal even more strongly on the practice field of adult and continuing education, sharpening its profile as a practice-oriented reflection organ while maintaining its scientific grounding.

In 2023 the journal moved to open access as part of the DIE's openness strategy, making each issue available as a free PDF while continuing the printed edition. The last printed issue was number 4/2025, titled "Zukünfte", and since October 2026 the journal has been offered digitally. Individual print issues through 4/2025 remained available on request through the end of 2026, marking the end of the journal's three-decade print history and its full transition to digital open-access publishing.

Coverage and Content

The journal covers the full field of adult and continuing education: basic education and literacy, digital transformation, green transformation, continuing-education policy, professionalism and competence development of teaching staff, and the societal role of adult education. Each issue's thematic focus is explored through contributions that combine scientific grounding with practical relevance, and the journal's coverage of societal-political themes, from green transformation to education policy, positions it as a voice of the field in the broader public debate, a voice that its open-access availability since 2023 has extended beyond the traditional subscriber base to students, practitioners, and interested readers across the German-speaking continuing-education landscape.

The journal's discursive concept brings together voices from practice, research, and policy, making it a forum for the debates that shape German continuing education. Its coverage of topics such as basic competencies addresses the persistent challenge of low basic education among adults, analyzing research data and funding strategies for science, policy, and educational practice, while its treatment of digital and green transformation examines how adult education can contribute to the major societal transitions of the present.

Organization and Ownership

The journal is the journal of the Deutsches Institut für Erwachsenenbildung – Leibniz-Zentrum für Lebenslanges Lernen (DIE), based in Bonn, one of the central research institutions for adult and continuing education in Germany. The DIE is a Leibniz Association research institute that conducts research on continuing education and supports the practice of adult education through knowledge transfer, and the journal serves as its primary periodical voice, complemented by the institute's other publication series and its open-access research journal. It is published by wbv Media GmbH & Co. KG in Bielefeld, formerly WBV Bertelsmann, a specialist publisher for education and the social sciences that has published the journal since its founding in 1994.

The founding editor was Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Ekkehard Nuissl von Rein, later succeeded by Prof. Dr. Josef Schrader, with editorial leadership by Dr. Peter Brandt and contributions from external collaborators in adult education research and practice. The journal appears four times a year, a rhythm it has maintained since its founding in 1994.

Digital Presence

The journal has a strong digital presence through the publisher's platforms. Since 2023 it has appeared in open access, with each issue available as a free PDF for download, reading, and sharing through the wbv shop and the journal's website weiter-bilden.de. Since October 2026 the journal has been offered digitally, completing its transition from a print-centered to a digital publication and making its full thematic archive accessible to the field without barriers and supporting the institute's mission of knowledge transfer between research and practice.

The wbv publication pages list the journal's issues from 2007 through 2026, with individual issues, e-papers, and open-access downloads available, documenting nearly two decades of the journal's thematic work. Whether the journal maintains dedicated social media channels is not publicly confirmed from the sources consulted, and its online presence remains centred on the publisher's platforms and the institute's digital channels, where readers can browse, download, and share the journal's open-access issues and explore the thematic archive of nearly two decades of the journal's work on the trends and debates of adult and continuing education.