Search results

This chapter examines employer involvement in adult and continuing education which began in the 1980s. The author attempts to provide possible reasons for this involvement which, she says, is set to continue. The author further argues that the United Kingdom has still a long way to go in developing a truly inclusive learning society and questions the wisdom of the Government's desire to have employers at the heart of this development.

In this chapter, the contemporary role of adult education is examined and the key features of postmodernity and the accompanying contemporary socio-economic and cultural changes which are impacting on the educational scene are highlighted. The author argues that changing conceptions of knowledge and the need to understand knowledge in terms of its location in different social practices mean that lifelong learning also needs to be viewed differently. Lifelong learning, he argues, is not simply a structure of provision, but needs to be understood in terms of its significations i.e. the meanings it has and the meanings it gives. Consequently, practitioners of adult education need to rethink their conceptions of adult learning and their role as institutional providers of such learning.

The demands of the post-industrial society are leading to changes in European universities, forcing many to open their doors and establish partnerships at regional and national levels with industry and other organisations and agencies. This has raised questions about the purpose of universities and who universities are for as well as the nature of their role in relation to lifelong learning in a learning society. This chapter examines the concept of lifelong learning in European universities and uses examples from three European countries.

The author argues that the current context of adult education theory, policy and practice exacerbates the problem of continuing social polarisation with the discourse of lifelong learning becoming disconnected from the discourse of social purpose adult education. The author hopes that the New Labour government's professed interest in education may offer the opportunity to extend the discourse of lifelong learning and the learning society to reflect the values of traditional society where education was an integral part in the struggle for democracy and social justice.

Parenting is both a personal matter as well as a component of the government's lifelong learning agenda. This chapter explores the issue of parenting and is based on a study of parenting classes and how they affect the children and their performance in schools.