An essential task for educational research in times of change is to show how processes of change and discourses arise in specific contexts and how they change (expectations of) pedagogical practice. Research can reconstruct such shifts in ideas of normality and thus make developments and alternatives thematizable again. Research that reconstructs such shifts can open up the scope for action in politics and the practice of education.

In the 19^th century, such shifts of normalities of this kind emerged due to industrialisation. It brought profound economic and social changes to the countries of Europe (Pollard, 1973). Massification and standardization were important prerequisites and signs of an increasingly industrialized society, at least since the introduction of the assembly line (Womack et al., 1990). These developments were accompanied by an industrial clocking of time. Industrial time regimes were established that shaped social life far beyond the sphere of production. Starting with the standardized life course, orchestrating work and other areas of life (Kohli, 2007). The standardization of working hours acted as a social clock, for example, for the organization of schools. The introduction of standardized working hours and working days, vacation entitlement throughout the year and work-free Sundays led to a strict and standardized use of time (Deutschmann, 1985). Not only schools but also work-related education has aligned itself with this industrial time regime and conveyed them in its content and goals and in how it acted as a life course institution and institutionalised transitions in industrialised societies (Kraus, 2006a). The standardized time regime of industrial society changed with it at the end of the 20^th century, and with them, the demands placed on employees (Boltanski & Chiapello, 2005). Creativity and authenticity are increasingly valued as expressions of subjective commitment in gainful employment and indicative of a new approach to individual use of time (Bannwart et al., 2021).

Our presentation reconstructs this most recent shift in normality by focusing on the changing industrial time regime as it manifests itself in developments in work-related education. On one hand, the establishment of institutional foundations for vocational education and training (VET) in Switzerland and Germany demonstrates how the demand for flexibility, characterised by a willingness and ability to adapt at short notice, has been increasingly integrated there. While flexibility was a topic of discussion in the 1930s and prepared at the institutional level, it became a normal requirement for individuals and, thus, also a goal of pedagogical practice in VET with the most recent reform in 2002 (Jorns, im Erscheinen). Secondly, the field of continuing education is addressed in which the issue of work-life balance has gained prominence since the late 20^th century with public campaigns and an increase of courses and guides on this topic. The presentation analyses the way how it is addressed as a sign of the changing industrial society (with reference to England, Germany and Switzerland) and shows its ambivalence in the context of social change: While it is undoubtedly in the individual's interest to discover effective methods for coping with time-related problems that enhance personal well-being, it also reflects the prevailing "Zeitgeist", in which this balance has become increasingly problematic and its solution is framed as competence, thus placing the responsibility on individuals (and educational practices) (Kraus, 2006b, 2010, 2014).

Against this backdrop of ongoing transformation and its relation to work-related education, it is important to reassure ourselves of the prerequisites and possibilities for action in educational practice. Otherwise, in the context of societal change, there is a risk that educational practice will be forced into a difficult situation and its scope for action will be restricted.

On the one hand, this article adopts an analytical approach. According to this claim, the methodological orientation comprises a combination of theoretical positions on education in the context of industrial society's transformation, an interdisciplinary analysis of that transformation, and the positioning of work-related education within this process. On the other hand, the article is based on the empirical analysis of concrete phenomena in this context in the 20th century. The central point of reference for the analysis is the period at the end of the 20th century, in which the phenomena of the transformation of industrial society in the early industrialized countries became increasingly important. Two approaches are pursued: First, a critical analysis of sources is carried out within the framework of historical educational research, starting around 1930 with the adoption of the first VET law in Switzerland and extending to 2002, the most recent reform of this law. Thirteen sources relating to the reforms of VET in Switzerland were evaluated with regard to the thematization of flexibility. The source material for this analysis consisted of the legal texts themselves as well as documents that recorded the corresponding debates in parliament. A mode analysis of future-related verbs and nouns was used (Mische, 2014). The second approach focuses on the late 20th century in the transition to the 21st century in an investigation into the topic of work-life balance. The study examines adult education on this topic in different forms related to Germany, Switzerland, and Great Britain. These forms have different approaches and reach, such as website-supported campaigns aimed at a general, unspecific public and companies; guides on work-life balance as an individual learning medium and courses planned and advertised by further education providers. The content is evaluated using text and content analysis methods (Silverman, 2024). In the conclusion, the results of the investigation into the aforementioned phenomena are presented in line with the article's analytical approach. This facilitates a deeper understanding of social phenomena and the demands placed on individuals and educational practices VET during these processes of change.

The reconstruction of the discourses on flexibility and work-life balance in the course of the transformation of industrial society shows that, in the context of such far-reaching changes, processes of de- and re-institutionalization can be observed on the one hand, while subjectivation processes are indispensable on the other. In other words, processes in which individuals make social demands and normalized requirements of their own and thereby gain subjective agency in the social context (Traue & Pfahl, 2022). Vocational education and training institutions are involved in mediating these requirements between the sphere of employment and individuals. The emergence of temporal discourses on flexibility and work-life balance can be read as an expression of this process: While the handling of time in industrial society was suspended in socially institutionalized time regimes, the need to negotiate these relationships individually arose within this transformation. Standardized time regimes are giving way to individual time patterns. On the one hand, this increases individuals' scope for action and, on the other, the responsibilities of individuals. Individualization and post-industrial transformation are closely linked here. While the younger generations are already confronted with these requirements as they grow up and attend school, VET and higher education, adult education has the function of mediating between changing social requirements and adults in the context of social change (Kraus, 2022). Such a function is evident in both fields of study, as the increasing importance of flexibility within VET also increases the significance of continuing education, and work-life balance becomes a topic in various adult education formats. The renegotiation of social time regimes is, therefore, also an issue in the pedagogical practice of work-related education and is presented in these debates as a claim to which it must respond.

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