John Field

The Mental Wealth of Nations

Countries must learn how to capitalize on their citizens cognitive resources if they are to prosper, both economically and socially. Early interventions will be key.

Social capital and lifelong learning

Social capital and lifelong learning are central to current policy concerns both in the UK and internationally. The British government and influential international organisations, such as the World Bank, present investment in social capital as a way of promoting neighbourhood renewal, community health and educational achievement. This book confirms the significance of social capital as an analytical tool, while challenging the basis on which current policy is being developed. It provides a detailed empirical investigation of the relationship between social capital, knowledge creation and lifelong learning, relates the findings to wider policy debates, questions the dominant theoretical models of social capital, and challenges the assumption of many policymakers that the obvious solution to social problems is to ‘invest in social capital’. The chapters are: Social connections and lifelong learning; Networks, schooling and learning in adult life: interview evidence; Social connections and adult learning: survey evidence; Rethinking the relationship; What next?

Understanding Participation in Learning for Non-traditional Adult Learners: Learning careers and the construction of learning identities

Concepts of learner identities and learning careers have recently acquired popularity as ways of analysing participation in learning among young adults. This paper presents a conceptual challenge to unilinear approaches to the concept of learning careers. It draws on empirical data gathered during a study of new entrants to Scottish further education colleges, and illustrates the analysis through two biographical studies. It argues that learner identities can be fragile, contingent and vulnerable to external changes, and indeed can incorporate elements of hostility to education, as well as a degree of denial of responsibility even on the part of enthusiastic learners.

Learning careers and the social space: exploring the fragile identities of adult returners in the new further education

This paper examines the concept of ‘learning careers’ as a way of understanding the processes through which adults return to education. It particularly considers the ways in which adults from groups who are at risk of social exclusion develop identities that enable them to engage with learning. The concept of learning careers is derived from symbolic interactionist theory, with its origins in the work of the Chicago School. To illuminate the concept of learning career, the paper presents qualitative data produced in a research study set in Scotland in which the processes that underpinned participation and non-participation in further education (FE) colleges were explored. FE colleges constitute spaces that occupy a specific location in relation to the social milieux inhabited by many working-class adults, so that engaging in learning involves a degree of socio-cultural boundary-crossing. The paper draws on theories of the social space that derive ultimately from attempts to operationalize Bourdieus concept of ‘habitus’. Bourdieu used this term to denote systems of durable, transposable dispositions, internalized subjectively by actors as a consequence of their objective positions within the social space, which in turn constituted the underlying principle of generation and structuring of practices and representations. In Bourdieus own words: ‘To speak of habitus is to assert that the individual, and even the personal, the subjective, is social, collective. Habitus is socialized subjectivity’ (Bourdieu and Wacquant 1992: 126). We also draw on the concept of status passages, including personal factors and social relationships, as well as institutional responses to the needs of non-traditional adult learners in the formation of learning careers and the patterns that these careers assume. We also argue that learning identities should be seen as fluid or even fragile, rather than fixed and unidirectional.

Social Capital: An analytical tool for exploring lifelong learning and community development

In her recent contribution to the British Educational Research Journal, Pauline McClenaghan identified the link between social capital and community development, particularly community development education, as a core area where scholarly and policy interests overlap. She concluded that the concept of social capital is unable to grapple with the complex social divisions that characterise contemporary Europe. The authors of this article question her account on three main grounds: the definition of social capital, which they hold is overly narrow, and does not deal with what Woolcock calls the linking role of social networks; the presentation of the theoretical foundations of community development, which they believe is flawed in certain key respects; and a lack of clarity in the relationship between the research and the findings reported. The authors then present their own theoretically informed account of social capital as a means of understanding the role of community development, the challenges that it can face and the role of adult education for community development.

Lifelong learning : education across the lifespan

Introduction John Field and Mal Leicester THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES: Lifelong Learning, Lifelong Learning, Lifelong Learning - A Recurrent Education? Richard Evans Adult Cognition as a Dimension of Lifelong Learning Stephen Brookfield Learnign, Work and Community: vocational studies and social values in the learning age Terry Hyland The Evolution of the Learning Society: brain science, social science and lifelong learning Jack Cohen and Mal Leicester Rights and Obligations: values in lifelong learnign as a political programme Ken Lawson Learning for Living: opportunities and approaches within the school curriculum Val Millman INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES: Lifelong Learning for a New Society: the South African case Shirley Pendlebury and Penny Enslin Confucianism, Cultural Revolution adn Corporate Classrooms: Chinas attempts at a Learning Society John Morgan Lifelong Learning in Australia David Aspin, John Collard and Judith Chapman Lifelong Learning: a North American perspective Robin Barrow and Patrick Keeney Education, Training and Adult Refugees in the UK and Australia Janet Hannah Life Politics and Popular Learning Jane Thompson The Corporate University Peter Jarvis Lifelong Learning and Policy Formation in Europe John Field PERSPECTIVES ON INCLUSION: Lifelong Learnign and Voluntary Organisations Konrad Elsdon Reflections on Lifelong Learning and the Third Age Alex Withnall Black and Other Minority Communities Learning Needs Alyson Malach Inclusive Learning for Active Citizenship: disability, learning difficulties and lifelong learning Mary Stuart Community Education and Lifelong Learning: local spice for global fare? Rennie Johnston Ageing with Technology: adult viability in a Technological World Jane McKie Care or Control? Defining learners needs for lifelong learning Kathryn Ecclestone L

Governing the Ungovernable: Why Lifelong Learning Policies Promise so Much Yet Deliver so Little

Lifelong learning occupies a leading place in policy discourse, but specific measures of any substance are relatively rare. The article argues thatthis is not simply a product of political bad faith, a lack of resources, or the weak lobbying power of the relevant vested interests. It is also associated with the nature of lifelong learning as a policy issue, aggravated by changes in the nature of government. Lifelong learning is an amorphous phenomenon which relies upon the behaviour of a range of actors, and not solely or even primarily that of governments. In so far as it involves governments, unlike schools or higher education, it is diffused across a range of policy areas with different ministerial structures and interests. Shifts away from welfarist models of service provision particularly affect areas suchas lifelong learning, which are defined by the requirement for active engagement with and of citizens and other non-governmental actors. As a result, policy initiatives have usually been limited to prolongation of initial education or reform of vocational training. This has serious consequences for those involved in managing and delivering learning programmes.

Civic engagement and lifelong learning: Survey findings on social capital and attitudes towards learning

Abstract The concept of social capital commands considerable attention right across the social sciences and among the policy community. In recent years, it has also generated a lively debate among the research community in lifelong learning. There is some emerging evidence that social capital is associated with learning in adult life, but the nature of that relationship remains very unclear. The paper reports on findings from a recent social attitudes survey in Northern Ireland.

Promoting social capital in a 'risk society': A new approach to emancipatory learning or a new moral authoritarianism?

Social capital theory has been widely debated across the social sciences. Its core idea is that relationships and norms have a value, in that they enable individuals and groups to co-operate for mutual benefit. The role of social capital appears to be changing in the context of the self-aware reflexivity that characterises contemporary risk society. This paper takes the form of a dialogue between the two authors: the first defends the concepts analytical value while taking an agnostic view of its significance for policy, while the second author raises concerns over the normative implications of current interest in social capital and identifies its connection with authoritarian as well as liberal-humanistic policy responses. The paper concludes with reflections on the value of social capital in academic milieus, combined with an analysis of the implications of this discussion for future research.

Good for Your Soul? Adult Learning and Mental Well-Being.

Although there is a widely held view that adult learning has a positive impact on well‐being, only recently has this proposition been systematically tested. A review of recent research confirms that adult learning has a clear influence on earnings and employability, both of which may influence well‐being indirectly. These are more important for some groups than others: in economically advanced societies, additional earnings produce limited gains in well‐being for most groups except the poorest, while employability is most significant for groups that are most vulnerable in the labour market. Recent studies have also shown that participating in learning in adult life has a positive direct influence on well‐being. Quantitative studies suggest that the influence is comparatively small, but it is nevertheless significant. There has been less investigation into the negative consequences of learning for well‐being, and the paper draws on current qualitative data to illustrate some of these less desirable influences. It concludes by identifying areas for further research, and outlining a number of implications for policy and practice. These are particularly important in the current context, where environmental movements appear to be challenging the primacy of economic growth as the overarching goal of policy.