The second pillar addresses education processes in various formal, nonformal, and informal as well as familial learning environments in which an individual is embedded both synchronically and across the life span. It conceives of learning environments as providers of learning opportunities that can or must be taken up by the learner, and thereby lead to an accumulation of learning experiences. To start with, a cross-sectional approach will be taken, and a general framework model will be used as a basis for a detailed individual assessment of each of the relevant learning environments from the perspective of different levels and different actors. Relations between the various synchronic learning environments (e.g., school and family) at each point in time will also be taken into account. From a longitudinal perspective, the significant aspects then become the sequence of formal education institutions and the transitions between each of these successive learning environments. This will enable NEPS Pillar 2 to contribute to placing education processes in formal, nonformal/informal, and familial learning environments in relation to the acquisition of competencies and to education decisions and returns to education.

In special cooperation with: