Originally published in 1985. ‘Europe‘ and the EEC seemed to be virtually synonymous for the majority of our population and the ambivalent feelings many people have about the Community, together with the consistently bad press it received in the UK, seemed to engender a hostility in educational circles towards teaching about Europe as a whole. However, if one of the aims of education is to increase children’s awareness, tolerance and understanding of the world about them; to widen their experience and horizons; then teaching about the wider world must have a place in the curriculum. This book argues for education about Europe, not necessarily in favour of Europe, breaking down the national insularity of the UK curriculum and using Europe as one convenient ‘window on the wider world’.
An investigation of the reasons for male nonparticipation in education and training in Britain was based on findings of existing research, surveys of male participants and nonparticipants and the views and observations of practitioners. Although men participate in slightly greater numbers than women, they are significantly underrepresented in all forms of postsecondary education, especially early school leavers, manual workers, older men, and some minority groups. Men's primary motivations for participation are practical, employment-related reasons, and nonparticipants tend to be outside or on the margins of the labor market. The stress on employability in national and international policy discussions tends to blame individuals for their lack of qualifications and fails to recognize the localized lack of job opportunities. Suggesting that educational participation is the solution to unemployment thus lacks credibility and raises false hopes. Powerful deterrents for unemployed or underemployed men include the following: structural and institutional constraints, skepticism about the value of learning, and views about what constitutes appropriate male behavior. A change in the wider culture is necessary to promote learning as a normal and acceptable male activity from an early age. The success of appropriate targeted programs depends on the following factors: presentation and delivery, adequate resources, and financial assistance for learners. The clear social class differences in the profile of participants and nonparticipants make it imperative that inequalities in access be addressed to make learning opportunities available to all. (Contains 220 references.) (YLB)
In order to promote lifelong learning we need to give greater recognition and value to the huge variety of informal learning that is conducted in community settings. This report is based on a short DfEE-funded study designed to explore the role of community-based informal learning in widening participation and starting people on a learning pathway. The study involved an extensive literature search, consultation with relevant organisations and individuals, with visits to a small sample of organisations and locations providing community-based learning activities. The study show that informal learning plays a crucial role in starting people on a learning pathway. It also identifies the kinds of services, structures and conditions needed to develop learning pathways and encourage people to make the transition from informal to more formal, structured and accredited learning. However, it highlights the fact that educational progression, albeit a desirable outcome, is not necessarily the most important benefit of informal learning: the benefits to individuals, families and communities may be far more wide-ranging.The big question is how to demonstrate that value and convince policy-makers and funders that informal learning is something worthy of greater investment, not only in the interests of lifelong learning but also in the interests of community regeneration and helping excluded groups to develop their potential
Currently there is considerable interest in identifying and evaluating the learning outcomes of uncertified adult learning, in mapping progression routes from informal to formal education and in identifying ways of helping people to develop transferable skills. All of these are pertinent to the Pre-school Learning Alliance - a network which offers adults informal and formal opportunities to acquire new knowledge and skills at the same time as it offers children opportunities to learn and develop through informal play activities and interaction with others. Although the children's learning process is readily recognised, there is also anecdotal evidence that parents and carers who help in the running of Pre-schools derive considerable benefits from the experience. Parents can learn a considerable amount informally through their involvement in the running of a pre-school group. The principal aim of the study was to investigate the extent and nature of such gains. It was concerned with 'learning' in the broad sense of acquisition of transferable knowledge and skills, both personal and occupational, that may help people in any dimension of their lives. parents valued the opportunity to meet other parents, to gain insights into how children develop, to gain communication and organisational skills. In many instances the confidence they learned spurred them to seek further voluntary work or paid employment. Others took up other learning opportunities.
There is growing concern among education providers, organisers and tutors in England about the narrowing or closure of programmes for adults in some locations, institutions and curriculum areas in response to policy priorities and targets. As a consequence of actual or expected pressure from their local LSC, some further education colleges have dropped their ?other provision?, while some LEAs have narrowed the range of programmes they offer adults. This discussion paper considers these developments and their implications. Looking at specific government priorities, such as the Level 2 entitlement and Skills for Life provision, the paper scrutinises the implications on both the curriculum, being distorted and narrowed by pressures to meet particular targets, and the growing neglect of people with the lowest skills levels, as providers feel constrained to recruit learners most likely to reach the required level of qualification.The paper examines the potential additional impact of forthcoming changes in the planning and funding of adult provision, arguing that current developments could be detrimental not only to the overall spread and diversity of learning opportunities but also to the goal of widening participation. Probing the assumptions about ?usefulness? that underlie current priorities, McGivney suggests that the most effective way of achieving national priorities and targets would be to provide a broad and flexible curriculum that responds not to external requirements but to adult learners? own diverse interests and needs
Provides a useful synthesis of the understandings of terms such as achievement, outcomes and progression in adult learning. Drawing on policy documents, research and survey findings, this paper demonstrates that learners, educationalists and policy-makers can have different perceptions of what constitutes learning success and progression.
This document describes a study designed to identify: (1) typologies of nonparticipants in adult educational activities; (2) the attitudes, perceptions, and learning requirements of such groups and the factors that inhibit their participation; (3) effective methods of recruiting nonparticipants; (4) appropriate initial learning opportunities and support mechanisms for nonparticipants; (5) progression routes from introductory to other forms of learning; and (6) the processes of institutional change arising from work with nontraditional student groups. Section 1 contains a literature review. Section 2 discusses access to education for nonparticipant groups, reasons for increasing participation, potential participants, stages of access, and examples of first-stage learning opportunities. Section 3 describes nonparticipant groups, including unskilled and semiskilled manual workers, unemployed adults, women with dependent children, older adults, and ethnic minority groups. Section 4 addresses educational policy and institutional innovation, including those at universities and residential colleges, initiatives to widen access, institutional support for nontraditional students, and factors that have impeded and favored access for nontraditional students. Section 5 offers concluding observations. The document contains a 14-page bibliography and lists of respondents and survey questions. (CML)
This report presents results of a study in the United Kingdom to explore different understandings of outreach, its role in widening participation among people underrepresented in organized education, implications of doing outreach, and practical and ethical considerations involved. Chapter 1 addresses origins and meanings of outreach, including definitions, negative connotations, reasons for doing outreach, and outreach and disadvantaged communities. Chapter 2 identifies models of outreach approaches used in different education sectors. It outlines examples in further and higher education; local authorities; voluntary organizations; and public services. Chapter 3 focuses on implications of doing outreach, including its association with the concept of disadvantage, targeting, networking with other agencies, interagency partnerships, identifying community needs, responding to identified needs, changing institutional practice, and outreach settings. Chapter 4 examines skills staff need and these related issues: making the right contacts, working with community gatekeepers, staff recruitment, professional standing and status, staff development, and training local people. Chapter 5, on funding outreach, discusses investment of time, post-funding sustainability, and capacity-building. Chapter 6, on returns on investment, discusses evaluation of activities, evaluation methods, benefits in relation to costs, impact, and need for a broad view of outcomes. Chapter 7 draws conclusions. (Contains 86 references.) (YLB)
Are participation policies having a detrimental effect on retention and completion rates? This work explores the challenges of retention and non-completion rates in higher education and the implications of having an expanding and diverse student population. It investigates the nature of mature student withdrawal and explores the reasons behind it.
The case studies described in this book provide examples of initiatives illustrating the role of adult education in development and its contribution to the process of change in developing countries. The book is organized in five sections. Case studies in Part 1, "Health Education," illustrate the links between primary health care and adult education: use of traditional knowledge to develop confidence and initiate change (Peru); training without written texts (Nicaragua); working through peer-group methods and cascade teaching (Brazil, Ghana); use of drama and puppetry to mobilize debate and confront difficult issues (Malawi, India); and linking of school, home, and community education (India). Part 2, "Literacy," contains case studies that show ways in which literacy affects personal growth and contributes to social and economic change: an integrated social literacy program (Northern Bangladesh); role of post-literacy in irrigation (Senegal); popular education and literacy in a women's laundry workshop (Chile); literacy crash course with tribal women (India); and personal experiences (Zaire, Zimbabwe). Case studies in part 3 illustrate how rural development can be achieved: a coordinated education "intervention" system (Southeast Asia); a national initiative with hill tribes (Thailand); Association for the Orientation of Cooperatives (Brazil); drama workshops (Sierra Leone); nongovernmental development organizations (Bangladesh); and the Green Belt Movement (Kenya). Case studies in part 4, "The Role of Women in Development," show how women's education projects can have important development outcomes for communities in Kenya, Tanzania, and India. Part 5, "Concluding Observations," highlights factors that international agencies must take into account in development activities. Twenty-two references are listed. (YLB)
Drawing from reported experiences in the UK and other parts of Europe, this book shows how education and training programmes can attract and retain unqualified and unskilled people.
Guidance on Good Practice for Providers and Policy-makers in Working with Groups Under-represented in Adult Learning : Based on the Oxfordshire Widening Participation Project
Guidance on Good Practice for Providers and Policy-makers in Working with Groups Under-represented in Adult Learning : Based on the Oxfordshire Widening Participation Project
To create a lifelong learning society requires providers of education and training to attract and work with people who, for a wide range of reasons, do not consider learning a desirable or feasible option. This work is suitable for those who wish to make educational opportunities available to the people least represented in education and training.
Originally published in 1985. ‘Europe‘ and the EEC seemed to be virtually synonymous for the majority of our population and the ambivalent feelings many people have about the Community, together with the consistently bad press it received in the UK, seemed to engender a hostility in educational circles towards teaching about Europe as a whole. However, if one of the aims of education is to increase children’s awareness, tolerance and understanding of the world about them; to widen their experience and horizons; then teaching about the wider world must have a place in the curriculum. This book argues for education about Europe, not necessarily in favour of Europe, breaking down the national insularity of the UK curriculum and using Europe as one convenient ‘window on the wider world’.
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