Policy Press
Three History, place and the learning society: the case of South Wales
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Stephen Gorard
Abstract
As we argued in Chapter Two, an adequate theory of lifelong learning must take into account social and economic changes over both time and place. In the study that provides the principal empirical basis for the remainder of this book, we focus on one geographical region, which permits the in-depth analysis of changes over time and of the complex interplay of social, cultural and economic factors. This chapter briefly describes the region in question – industrial South Wales – and the long-term restructuring that it has undergone through the 20th century, which is the time period covered by our study1.
One of the consequences of this long-term restructuring is the marked differentiation of social and economic conditions between localities within the region. Accordingly, we also describe the three sites in industrial South Wales that provided the focus for the primary data collection for our study. Information from secondary sources, from literature review, and from our key informants provides the basis for these accounts.
It is important to emphasise that in providing these sociographic accounts of the places in which our research has been focused, we are doing more than providing ‘background information’. It is integral to the analytical approach that we have developed (and that we have set out in Chapter Two) that people’s decisions as to whether they participate or not in adult education and training are crucially shaped by the opportunities that are available to them; the ways in which they understand those opportunities and their relationships to them; and the resources (individual, familial and community) on which they can draw in accessing these learning opportunities.
Abstract
As we argued in Chapter Two, an adequate theory of lifelong learning must take into account social and economic changes over both time and place. In the study that provides the principal empirical basis for the remainder of this book, we focus on one geographical region, which permits the in-depth analysis of changes over time and of the complex interplay of social, cultural and economic factors. This chapter briefly describes the region in question – industrial South Wales – and the long-term restructuring that it has undergone through the 20th century, which is the time period covered by our study1.
One of the consequences of this long-term restructuring is the marked differentiation of social and economic conditions between localities within the region. Accordingly, we also describe the three sites in industrial South Wales that provided the focus for the primary data collection for our study. Information from secondary sources, from literature review, and from our key informants provides the basis for these accounts.
It is important to emphasise that in providing these sociographic accounts of the places in which our research has been focused, we are doing more than providing ‘background information’. It is integral to the analytical approach that we have developed (and that we have set out in Chapter Two) that people’s decisions as to whether they participate or not in adult education and training are crucially shaped by the opportunities that are available to them; the ways in which they understand those opportunities and their relationships to them; and the resources (individual, familial and community) on which they can draw in accessing these learning opportunities.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of tables and figures iv
- Acknowledgements vi
- Preface vii
- Contemporary policies for a learning society 1
- Lifelong learning trajectories 15
- History, place and the learning society: the case of South Wales 31
- Patterns of individual participation in adult learning 43
- Families and the formation of learner identities 65
- Lifelong learning trajectories and the two dimensions of change over time 87
- The role of informal learning 105
- The learning society and the economic imperative 121
- The impact of policies to widen participation 135
- The prospects for a learning society 145
- References 157
- The research sites 179
- Index 185
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of tables and figures iv
- Acknowledgements vi
- Preface vii
- Contemporary policies for a learning society 1
- Lifelong learning trajectories 15
- History, place and the learning society: the case of South Wales 31
- Patterns of individual participation in adult learning 43
- Families and the formation of learner identities 65
- Lifelong learning trajectories and the two dimensions of change over time 87
- The role of informal learning 105
- The learning society and the economic imperative 121
- The impact of policies to widen participation 135
- The prospects for a learning society 145
- References 157
- The research sites 179
- Index 185
