Four Patterns of individual participation in adult learning
-
Stephen Gorard
Abstract
In this chapter, we begin to present the empirical findings that our research has generated. In a sense, the cornerstone of these findings is the analysis of the patterns of individuals’ participation in adult learning; and this is where we begin here. It is ironic given the prominence attached to lifelong learning in policy debates that relatively little has been known hitherto about what patterns of participation are actually like. Moreover, even less systematic, empirical investigation has been directed at exploring what are the factors that shape these patterns of participation over individuals’ lifetimes. And we begin to address these determinants of participation patterns in the latter parts of this chapter.
It is necessary at the outset, however, to be clear about some of the limitations of the research we have carried out. Perhaps most fundamentally, it should be noted that in describing people’s patterns of participation, we encompass a wide diversity of forms of learning activity. There are the well-recognised differences between formal learning activities, such as taking courses in further or higher education, and informal practices, such as learning through leisure-time hobbies or participating in voluntary organisations. Equally, there are important distinctions between learning activities that people are required to undertake, at the behest of an employer or to qualify to undertake a pastime such as running a club, and those in which individuals take part voluntarily. In much of what follows, these important distinctions are not a central part of our discussion. However, the general theoretical points argued in Chapter Two apply across all these different categories of adult education and training.
Abstract
In this chapter, we begin to present the empirical findings that our research has generated. In a sense, the cornerstone of these findings is the analysis of the patterns of individuals’ participation in adult learning; and this is where we begin here. It is ironic given the prominence attached to lifelong learning in policy debates that relatively little has been known hitherto about what patterns of participation are actually like. Moreover, even less systematic, empirical investigation has been directed at exploring what are the factors that shape these patterns of participation over individuals’ lifetimes. And we begin to address these determinants of participation patterns in the latter parts of this chapter.
It is necessary at the outset, however, to be clear about some of the limitations of the research we have carried out. Perhaps most fundamentally, it should be noted that in describing people’s patterns of participation, we encompass a wide diversity of forms of learning activity. There are the well-recognised differences between formal learning activities, such as taking courses in further or higher education, and informal practices, such as learning through leisure-time hobbies or participating in voluntary organisations. Equally, there are important distinctions between learning activities that people are required to undertake, at the behest of an employer or to qualify to undertake a pastime such as running a club, and those in which individuals take part voluntarily. In much of what follows, these important distinctions are not a central part of our discussion. However, the general theoretical points argued in Chapter Two apply across all these different categories of adult education and training.
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
