Leisure Education in the Advanced Experience Economy

Abstract

The framework for the professional work of Johannes Fromme at the University of Bielefeld was the concept for leisure education in the post-industrial society (Nahrstedt). Therefore the analysis of social structures and dynamics as well as the development of appropriate educational strategies within these contexts were important for the leisure theory. It was the typical thinking we had at that time and it was productive in different fields of application: adventure playgrounds, media education projects or self-organized leisure networks in residential areas. The proposed article tries to update these referential social theories and takes into account, for instance, the theory of the sociologist Andreas Reckwitz (The Society of Singularities) about the individualization of popular culture. The aim is a critical analysis of new class structures in the «experience economy» (Pine and Gilmore) with upcoming creative elites, and the text will focus on experience-oriented lifestyles with new digital opportunities and the ongoing pluralization. Leisure education has to take into account these new developments and this way it will evolve appropriate new approaches for many leisure fields. The article will target the modernization of museums, adventure pools and theme parks. Data from explorative studies at the Hochschule Bremen will be presented and discussed. The development of leisure education towards an experience-oriented education within a broad spectrum of leisure settings is a possible outcome.