Written specifically for Education Studies students, this accessible text offers a clear introduction to lifelong learning and the impact it has on all areas of society. Assuming no prior knowledge of the subject, it explores what lifelong learning is, where learning can and does take place and who is accessing it. Offering a clear overview of the different strands to lifelong learning, the book examines the concept of lifelong learning drawing on key policy initiatives and strategies. Each section outlines the types of individuals who are most likely to access lifelong learning within and across these strands including, for example, migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, unemployed adults, carers and guardians, older age-groups and returning learners. Chapters cover: adult and community learning; higher education; further education; work-based learning; prison and probation learning. Including supporting tasks and reflection activities, this textbook will give students a broad understanding of lifelong learning and its role in supporting adults throughout their life both socially and economically. Lifelong Learning in the UK is an essential introductory text for students on undergraduate courses in Education Studies.
This one volume reference book covers all the major issues in lifelong learning in four sections: Theoretical Perspectives; Curriculum; International Perspectives; and Widening Participation.
The A to Z of Lifelong Learning has been written for anyone involved in the lifelong learning sector, whether as an evening class tutor, trainee FE teacher or college manager. With its glossary format, this book allows students, tutors and practitioners to easily explore the many key themes, issues and debates that shape contemporary practice in the lifelong learning sector. Written in an accessible style the A to Z of Lifelong Learning combines ease of use with a critical perspective, covering a range of important topics relating to learning and teaching in lifelong learning, the people (staff, students and other stakeholders) and the organisation and management of the sector. Each entry provides a succinct and helpful overview for busy students and practitioners, and includes: Introduction: A brief definition of the term, including changes in emphasis/usage over time. Key concepts: An exploration of key concepts and debates within the topic, referenced to both recent literature and seminal works/writers. Practical application: Commentary relating to the application/manifestation of the concept in practice, drawing on real world examples where appropriate. Readable, critical and fully referenced to provide guidelines for further reading and research, the book is aimed at students who are taking a wide variety of lifelong learning qualifications. "This book is an excellent entry point for anyone who wants to know more about lifelong learning and the lifelong learning sector. Each entry provides a clear definition and an introduction to the topic with an overview of the key elements. This is followed by a concise critical review highlighting the key theorists and writers. Each section concludes with a comprehensive guide to further reading. Jonathan Tummons and Ewan Ingleby combine scholarship and experience of the sector with the outcomes of their own research to create a valuable addition to the literature on lifelong learning. If you are unfamiliar with the territory of lifelong learning, this book gives you the map." Pete Scales, Senior Lecturer in Education, University of Derby, UK "In their introduction, Tummons and Ingleby describe the breadth and complexity of the lifelong learning sector with its wide range of educational institutions, programmes of study, contexts and settings and diverse student and teacher populations. That it manages so comprehensively to encompass this sector, from 'Accreditation of Prior Learning' to 'Zone of Proximal Development', is one of the key achievements of this text. Each entry is economically written but any necessary brevity does not prevent the writers from dealing with topics in a critical and scholarly fashion and entries are usefully accompanied by references and further reading. The indices of most textbooks concerned with the sector will usually indicate where, through the text, individual topics are dealt with. A strong feature of A-Z of Lifelong Learning is that readers can go directly to topics which interest them for a clear, comprehensive treatment of them. This text will be invaluable to all those teaching or studying in the sector and will be particularly useful for those outside the sector baffled by the myriad topics, theories, policies, processes which are current within it - indeed, there is even an entry on 'Jargon'!" Andrew Armitage, Head of the Department of Post-Compulsory Education, Canterbury Christ Church University, UK "This is a welcome and timely text. Lifelong learning is characterised by continual revision and radical diversity. This simple A-Z of the sector provides a much needed overview of that complexity. For the novice unfamiliar with the pedagogies, philosophies and policies that define working with adults, this A-Z of Lifelong Learning is an accessible introduction. The seasoned professional familiar with a particular institutional setting will appreciate gaining depth and insight into the workings of an entirely different educational context. Those working in a further education college may know little and understand less about the distinctiveness of the Workers' Educational Association. Each alphabetically listed entry is sharply focussed and accessibly written. The writers somehow manage to stay true to the criticality and contention desired by those seeking depth. They do more than provide factual information; the reader is gently guided through the broad arguments surrounding that particular entry - audit, Ofsted and part-time tutors are three good examples of how contestation is introduced: there is enough here to appreciate the significance of the concept but too little to completely satisfy. The reader is left curious and inspired, wanting to follow up and find out more. Yet, each entry provides just enough detail to stimulate thought and discussion." Carol Azumah Dennis, PCET Programme Director, University of Hull, UK
This textbook gives a wide-ranging, research-informed introduction to issues in lifelong learning across a variety of educational settings and practices. Its very accessible approach is multi-disciplinary drawing on sociology and psychology in particular. In addition, issues are discussed within an international context. While there has been a proliferation of texts focussing on particular areas of practice such as higher education, there is little in the way of a broad overview. Chapters one to four introduce various conceptions of lifelong learning, the factors that impinge on learning through the life course, and the social and the economic rationale for lifelong learning. Chapters five-ten consider the varied sites of lifelong learning, from the micro to macro (from the home to the region to the virtual). Chapter eleven draws the strands together in the context of turbulence and continuing transition in personal and work roles, and against the background of future technological development. This timely overview will be relevant to education and training professionals, education studies students and the general reader.
This volume offers a comprehensive international response to the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE)’s inquiry into the future of lifelong learning in the UK. The book focuses upon some of the main themes of the inquiry, and analyses them from very broad perspectives undertaken by some of the world’s leading scholars. It provides an excellent introduction to significant debates about lifelong learning such as ecology, migration, morality, happiness and poverty. Each chapter raises issues of policy and practice, with clear areas of discussion, thus assisting readers in truly engaging with the issues. The final chapter contains a response by Tom Schuller, one of the NIACE’s inquiry authors. This book is essential reading for students of lifelong learning, especially educational policy makers. This book was originally published as a special issue of the International Journal of Lifelong Education.
This Handbook provides a comprehensive and up-to-date examination of lifelong learning. Across 38 chapters, including twelve that are brand new to this edition, the approach is interdisciplinary, spanning human resources development, adult learning (educational perspective), psychology, career and vocational learning, management and executive development, cultural anthropology, the humanities, and gerontology. This volume covers trends that contribute to the need for continuous learning, considers psychological characteristics that relate to the drive to learn, reviews existing theory and research on adult learning, describes training methods and learning technologies for instructional design, and explores current and future challenges to support continuous learning.
The Report of the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education chaired by Sir Ron Dearing was published in July 1997. It represents the first officially sponsored systematic examination of the United Kingdom's system of higher education since the Robbins Report over 25 years ago. This book is an authoritative evaluation of the cogency, relevance and prospects for success of the Dearing vision and recommendations. Like the members of the comittee, the authors have sought to take a holistic view; to consider the underlying implications of genuine lifelong learning for the university system, and how institutions and the system will need to adjust. The outcomes are threefold: a description of what a UK higher education system that is genuinely part of a national learning society might look like, as well as the impetus this provides for radical reform; identification of features of its historical (especially recent) development, as well as wider social forces, which might inhibit or encourage its performance in this way; and an assessment of the coherence, desirability and practicality of the Dearing proposals in bringing about this end.
In Britain and elsewhere there is an explosion of interest in lifelong learning. John Field explores the background to this sudden rise of interest amongst policy makers and assesses the chances of achieving a viable learning society.
This book provides an up-to-date, accessible and critical resource relating to contemporary issues and debates in the Lifelong Learning Sector (LSS). This comprehensive book is an essential read, intended to support the numerous modules that cover this theme and striving to encourage readers to become critical, questioning practitioners in the LLS. It offers reflective tasks which focus on key issues and debates in the lifelong learning sector today and each chapter is clearly linked to the Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) standards, so it will provide a practical, useful reader for trainees and staff working in the LLS. The themes that are covered are presented in an accessible yet scholarly and critical format, and are underpinned by recent research as well as policy analysis.
