Dorfzwockel – Infology

A positioning between practice, theory, and fragment

Simple Definition

Infology: counseling as a processual connection between individual, group, and environment. It is not a fixed method but a reflexive practice in adult education and personality development, where context is always a co-actor.

Dorfzwockel: a literary-epistemic counter-figure that ironizes definitions, fragments them, and unmasks their masks. It highlights ruptures in communication and cognition.

1. Primary Sources

Infology is a concept developed by Thomas Lüchow within adult education and counseling. It is publicly visible via infologie.eu and nimmermehr.rip. These sites combine practical and literary elements. To date, there are no peer-reviewed secondary sources addressing the term systematically.

2. Connectivity within the Field

Infology gains legitimacy by relating to existing discourse:

• Theory building: Siebert (2009) emphasizes that concepts in adult education must mediate between science and practice.
• Counseling processes: Schlüter & Kress (2017) show the complexity and methodological plurality of educational counseling.
• Fundamentals: Kossack (2010) situates counseling within adult education, stressing institutional and professional dimensions.
• Theory–practice dialogue: Niggemann (2025) illustrates how subjective theories arise in practice and stimulate new scientific categories.
• Lifelong learning: Dörner (n.d.) interprets counseling as a phenomenon of lifelong learning.

Through these connections, Infology is not an isolated invention but part of a practice science that is extended by literary counter-figures.

3. Dialectics: Definition ↔ Fragment

• Infology seeks conceptual clarity and methodological accountability.
• Dorfzwockel resists, exposing the cracks and ruptures behind clarity.

Together they prevent extremes: Infology avoids dogmatization, Dorfzwockel avoids descent into mere play. Both together model a productive tension.

4. Methodological Implications

1. Context cartographies: systematic recording of environmental and organizational factors.
2. Reflection logbooks: documenting self- and external perceptions by counselor and group.
3. Fragment vignettes: literary miniatures (“Dorfzwockel notes”) as data form to capture ruptures.
4. Triangulation: theory × practice data × fragment vignettes.
5. Ethos before toolkit: emphasizing responsibility and transparency instead of recipes.

5. Conclusion

Infology and Dorfzwockel mark a scientific-literary posture:

• Infology provides methodological grounding for adult education and counseling.
• Dorfzwockel destabilizes, fragmenting frames and showing cracks.

Together, they constitute a research practice that uses both definition and fragment as complementary modes of knowing — not contradiction, but living field of tension.

Annotated Bibliography (APA)

• Lüchow, T. (n.d.). Infologie. infologie.eu.
  – Primary source; conceptual description and practice framework.

• Lüchow, T. (2025). Impressum / Dorfzwockel. Nimmermehr.rip.
  – Literary-satirical complement to Infology, serving as counter-figure.

• Schlüter, A., & Kress, K. (Eds.). (2017). Methoden und Techniken der Bildungsberatung. Opladen/Berlin/Toronto: Barbara Budrich. https://doi.org/10.25656/01:15616
  – Handbook on methods and complexity in educational counseling.

• Kossack, P. (2010). Beratung in der Erwachsenenbildung. Weinheim: Juventa.
  – Overview situating counseling in adult education, stressing institutional/professional contexts.

• Siebert, H. (2009). Theorienansätze in der Erwachsenenbildung. Magazin erwachsenenbildung.at, 7/8. https://www.pedocs.de/volltexte/2013/7653/pdf/Erwachsenenbildung_7_8_2009_Siebert.pdf
  – Discusses theory formation and its tensions in adult education.

• Niggemann, J. (2025). Theorien bilden. Zusammenhangswissen als Dialog zwischen Erwachsenenbildung und Wissenschaft. Magazin erwachsenenbildung.at, 54, 28–35. https://doi.org/10.25656/01:32791
  – Example of participatory theory development in practice.

• Dörner, O. (n.d.). Beratung im Kontext des lebenslangen Lernens. OAPEN.
  – Analyzes counseling as a lifelong learning phenomenon.

Meta: This English version has been carefully edited to maintain academic style while reflecting the fragmentary counter-tone of the Dorfzwockel.