Search results for ""Author Frank Coffield""

This report argues for a fundamental reassessment of the significance of informal learning. Formal education and training represent only a small part of all the learning done in schools, colleges, at work, at home and in the community. Yet it is formal learning which is at the heart of the government's unshakeable determination to drive up standards by means of qualifications, national targets and league tables. A hierarchy of different types of learning has emerged with 'learning for earning' at the top and informal learning at the bottom. This report concludes, however, that an unjustifiable reliance on certification may serve to alienate informal learners. These 'learning entrepreneurs' argue that the formal training they receive is often dispensable, whereas their own informal learning is necessary and is very much part of who they are and how they interact with the world. A love of informal learning which is not linked to certification or to work appears to be a key characteristic of lifelong learners. The five projects from the ESRC's The Learning Society Programme represented in this report do not claim to be the first (but just the latest) to have 'discovered' the importance of informal learning. There is a long-standing tradition in the UK whereby policy makers, researchers and practitioners readily admit the significance of informal learning and then proceed to develop policy, theory and practice without further reference to it. We need to break this sequence by acknowledging that informal learning is not an inferior form of learning whose main purpose is to act as the precursor of the main business of formal learning. It is fundamental, necessary and valuable in its own right, at times directly relevant to employment and at other times not relevant at all. The potential of informal learning will, however, only be realised if government, companies and educational institutions reassess its central role in the lives of all learners. The case for informal learning has still to be won; indeed, it has scarcely begun to be heard. The necessity of informal learning is essential reading for all politicians, policy makers, employers, trade unionists and educationalists keen to create a culture of lifelong learning within the UK.

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Lifelong learning has been an evidence-free zone for too long. It has been under-researched and under-theorised. This volume, the first of two, is the culmination of years of empirical work undertaken for the ESRC's Learning Society Programme, a major investment in lifelong learning research. It explores the ways lifelong learning can contribute to the development of knowledge and skills for employment, and other areas of adult life. In this first volume, the contributors address the challenges to social science researchers to study issues that are central and directly relevant to the political and policy debate, and to take into account the reality of people's lives. Each chapter gives an overview of one project, describing its objectives, methods, main findings and policy implications. Some of the main themes explored include the education market post-16, key skills in Higher Education, adult guidance services, and how knowledge can be developed at work. In the introduction, these topics are placed by the editor within the broad context of research and policy on different types of learning societies and lifelong learning. The evidence provided shows what policies are or are not working and provides the basis for structural reform. Some of the conclusions arrived at by the projects challenge fundamental assumptions of current policy. The contributions demonstrate the value of independent, critical research in an area which is awash with unsubstantiated generalities, armchair musings and banalities without bite. Differing visions of a Learning Society contributes to the public debate on lifelong learning, and is essential reading for politicians, policy makers, practitioners, academics and researchers concerned in any way with lifelong learning.

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The relationship between research and policy has recently become turbulent and contentious. Into this charged atmosphere, five of the projects form the ESRC's Learning Society Programme present the implications of their findings for policy, and constitute a powerful critique of current policy on lifelong learning in this collection. For the first time, findings are presented from a major new survey, commissioned by the Programme, which examined the skills of a representative sample of British workers and found, for example, an 'alarmingly high' mismatch between the demand and supply of qualifications. Other chapters heal with the fragmentation of provision for adult guidance, the financial and psychological casts of lifelong learning for learners with children, and the failure of the market principle in education to create a national culture of learning. The report also contains many practical recommendations. The new Labour government is committed to introducing evidence-based policy and practice, and so the present roles of researchers, policy makers and practitioners will be subjected to intensifying pressure to change in the next few years. These issues are debated in the first two chapters and concerns are expressed about how easy it will be in future to speak truth to power. The report is essential reading for all politicians, policy makers, employers, trade unionists and educationalists keen to create a culture of lifelong learning within the UK.

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How can opportunities for teaching and learning be improved to ensure that many more people participate, gain qualifications and obtain decent jobs? Will government policies enable us to achieve these goals? What new ideas do we need to ensure a more inclusive, equitable and efficient learning system? These are some of the main concerns which underlie this thought-provoking book coming from a major research project looking at how policies affect learners, tutors, managers and institutional leaders in Further Education Colleges, Adult and Community Learning centres and in Work Based Learning sites.Post compulsory education in the UK has been constantly restructured by the New Labour government and has been subject to considerable policy turbulence over the last few years. This book attempts to understand this important but poorly understood sector by both talking to students and front-line staff and by interviewing the officials responsible for managing post-compulsory education and lifelong learning.By examining the sector simultaneously from the ‘bottom up’ and from ‘top down’, the authors show how recent policy is affecting three disadvantaged groups - 16-19 year olds who have fared poorly in official tests at school; unemployed adults learning basic skills; and employees at work learning basic skills. The authors conclude that there are serious failings and suggest principles and features of a more equitable and effective learning system.

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