Longitudinal studies have shown that (academic) education over the life course has measurable and protective functions with regard to health, social inclusion and economic status (see Amaducci et.al. 1998; Fries, 2003; Winters, 2015). In aging research (additionally) “softer” factors such as the development of a broad range of interests as well as the conscious and responsible discussion of development tasks, stress and conflicts at the various stages of the life course, which are some of the key prerequisites of a personally satisfying and meaningful life form, have been identified as well (see Kruse 2008). In general continuing education, achievable values can not be mapped to economical outcomes. Thus it becomes difficult to implement traditional quantitative designs of “outcome resarch” and the abovementioned findings brings about the question: What values are created thorugh the participation in general continuing education that is open to “all”, even to those without classic formal education (such as maturation exams, Abitur/Matura or classic diplomas). The EU project “Benefits of Lifelong Learning” (Bell, http://www.bell-project.eu), funded within the Lifelong Learning program “Comparative Studies,” addressed this challenge and aimed at capturing the “Wider Benefits” of participation in continuing education (Manninen et al 2014). First, “Benefit Research” was operationalized and made accessible for a European exploratory study (Kil et al., 2012). In the present proposal, the purpose is to further elaborate on the value which is gained by voluntary adult education, i.e. the “educational attainments” of adults that are “valuable” for the respective individuals. The presentations draws on the following data sources: • a questionnaire survey (n = 8646) with participants of adult education courses in the languages of partner countries: Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, German-speaking Switzerland, Italian-speaking Switzerland, Italy, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain and UK • qualitative interviews (n = 82), and • taking into account total “graduates” of continuing education courses from institutions such as public education centers, family education centers, training centers with denominational support, political foundations, etc. and their European equivalents.
