Adult and Continuing Education

Transitions in lifelong learning: public issues, private troubles, liminal identities

by John Field

Published in special issue of Studies for the Learning Society, an open access journal. See: http://versita.metapress.com/content/l07478170466/?p=cfe4336e822e4b03aea50a8b297aadc4&pi=0

We need to reconceptualise the significance of transitions in adult learning. The paper starts by considering how... more We need to reconceptualise the significance of transitions in adult learning. The paper starts by considering how lifelong learning and mobilities of various kinds have become absorbed into, and expressed in, the policy mainstream. It then discusses the ways in which researchers are addressing this topic. While researchers are pursuing many lines of inquiry into transitions, and using a wide range of methods (including new statistical techniques), the analysis in this paper is primarily concerned with questions of identity, and particularly the idea of learner identity. and it concludes by proposing the idea of a liminal identity, understood as shaped through social and cultural processes which are formed and re-formed in dynamic relationships with others.

An Exploration of Athletic Trainers’ Perceptions of the Continuing Education Process

by Stacy Walker

Study Circles in Sweden: An Overview with a Bibliography of International Literature

by Henrik Nordvall

Co-authored with Staffan Larsson, published at Linköping University Electronic Press, 2010.

This text aims to give an overview of the study circles as a tradition and state of the art at present time. The point of departure is primarily the Swedish context, even though there are some comments about study circles elsewhere.

Life history approaches to access and retention of nontraditional students in higher education: A cross-European approach

by John Field

Co-authored with Barbara Merrill and Linden West

Higher education participation has become an important focus for policy debate as well as for scholarly research.... more Higher education participation has become an important focus for policy debate as well as for scholarly research. Partly this results from ongoing attempts to expand the higher education system in line with wider policies promoting a ‘knowledge economy’; and partly it results from widespread policy concerns for equity and inclusion. In both cases, researchers and policymakers alike have tended to focus on access and entry to the system, with much less attention being paid to the distribution of outcomes from the system. This paper reports on a multi-country study that was aimed at critically understanding the experiences of non-traditional students in higher education, and in particular on the factors that helped promote retention. In doing so, the study straddles the sociology of social reproduction and the psychosociology of learner transformations.

ESREA|ReNAdET Newsletter Issue nr. 4 (September/October 2011)

by George K. Zarifis

Newsletter Issue nr. 4 (September/October 2011)
This is the Newsletter of the ESREA Research Network on Adult Educators, Trainers and their Professional Development (ReNAdET). It is released in an electronic form twice a year (March and September) ISSN 1792‐538X

In preparation of the second ReNAdET meeting that will be jointly organized in Tallinn with the VET & Culture... more In preparation of the second ReNAdET meeting that will be jointly organized in Tallinn with the VET & Culture Network, our convener Larissa Jõgi and her colleagues in the University of Tallinn organize a very special event that will be close to no other in terms of paper presentations and plenary discussions. The idea is to organise three flow sessions. Each flow session will have 3 to 4 cafés and guests can visit all of them in one session. Presenters-hosts will share their ideas with all conference participants in this way. Café hosts will have 10-15 minutes for presenting and the same amount of time for discussion with their “guests”. And then they will get new guests in their café and hear their thoughts, and so on. Hosts may take notes from the discussions for later on conclusions. Café hosts may also use handouts or other presentation techniques in their cafés e.g. computers, posters, photos, iPads etc.
The idea of the learning café is not a new one in seminar and meeting organizing. It is a simple, effective, and flexible format for hosting immediate and participatory dialogue in large groups of people. Learning cafés can be modified to meet a wide variety of needs. Specifics of context, numbers, purpose, location, and other circumstances are factored into each event's unique invitation, design, and question choice, but the following five components comprise the basic model:
1) Setting: Create a “special” environment, most often modelled after a café, i.e. small round tables covered with a checkered tablecloth, butcher block paper, colored pens, etc.
2) Welcome and Introduction: The host begins with a warm welcome and an introduction to the learning café process, setting the context and putting participants at ease.
3) Small Group Rounds: The process begins with the first of three or more 15- minute rounds of conversation for the small group seated around a table. At the end of the 15-minutes, each member of the group moves to a different new table. The host will stay at the table to welcome the next group and briefly fills them in on what happened in the previous round.
4) Harvest: After the small groups, individuals are invited to share insights or other results from their conversations with the rest of the large group. This will take place in what Larissa and her team introduced as an ‘Open Space’.
Open space is one way to enable all kinds of people, in any kind of organization, to create inspired meetings and events. Over the last 20+ years, it has also become clear that opening space, as an intentional leadership practice, can create inspired organizations, where ordinary people work together to create extraordinary results with regularity.
Open Space works best when the work to be done is complex, the people and ideas involved are diverse, the passion for resolution (and potential for conflict) are high, and the time to get it done was yesterday. It's been called ‘passion bounded by responsibility’, the energy of a good coffee break, intentional self-organization, spirit at work, chaos and creativity, evolution in organization, and a simple, powerful way to get people and organizations moving -- when and where it's needed most.
This and another handful of small surprises (including a theatrical drama event as a group dynamics exercise ) is what we are promised by Tallinn. We look forward to it!

Researching the benefits of learning: the persuasive power of longitudinal studies

by John Field

Published in 'London Review of Education'

Recent years have witnessed considerable growth of research on the benefits of adult learning. Much of this draws on... more Recent years have witnessed considerable growth of research on the benefits of adult learning. Much of this draws on evidence from large scale longitudinal data sets. Overwhelmingly, these studies have found clear evidence of economic, social and individual benefits as a result of participating in adult learning. While these claims are important and influential ones, there has to date been little discussion of the nature of the data and analytical techniques being used. The paper explores the limitations of longitudinal research, but concludes that this body of work still represents an important new departure in the field.

Developing a Comprehensive Needs Assessment Model for Implementation in Continuing Education

by Texas State PA Applied Research Projects

Palacios, Kolette N., "Developing a Comprehensive Needs Assessment Model for Implementation in Continuing Education" (2003). Applied Research Projects, Texas State University-San Marcos. Paper 34.
http://ecommons.txstate.edu/arp/34

Continuing Education practitioners strive to meet the educational needs of their students, who are primarily adult... more Continuing Education practitioners strive to meet the educational needs of their students, who are primarily adult students whose educational needs are not met by traditional matriculation. It is the desire of Continuing Education to design, develop and implement educational activities that can be easily accessed and meet the needs of the adult student. As Continuing Education is motivated by a variety of goals, its successes range from providing educational programming that improves the adult learners knowledge to generating revenue. Recent literature reveals that needs assessment is a tool used to achieve these goals. It is therefore the purpose of this study to develop a needs assessment model for implementation in Continuing Education. Throughout the literature on adult education needs assessment, three key concepts are identified and discussed. These salient concepts comprise a practical ideal model for assessing continuing education activities and include planning purpose, data collection and analysis, and utilization.

In this research, the ideal model is used as a point of departure to validate and refine the model. Both survey questionnaires and interview questions are used to gauge the appropriateness and usefulness of the practical ideal model for needs assessment in Continuing Education, and to get feedback on the model from Continuing Education providers and professionals engaged in needs assessment. The table on the next page represents the practical ideal model for comprehensive needs assessment in Continuing Education.

The findings of the research indicate that the originally proposed needs assessment model derived from the literature was supported. As a matter of fact, responses to all but one of the sub-components indicated that those in Continuing Education that engage in needs assessment believe these components are important and comprise a comprehensive needs assessment model,

Tailoring information literacy instruction and library services for continuing education

by Megan Fitzgibbons

Co-authored with Jessica Lange and Robin Canuel. Journal of Information Literacy 5(2), 66-80, 2011.

As higher education diversifies worldwide, academic librarians must adapt their information literacy initiatives to... more As higher education diversifies worldwide, academic librarians must adapt their information literacy initiatives to meet the needs of new populations. This paper explores the implementation of information literacy instruction and library services for diverse adult learners, in response to Cooke’s (2010) call for case studies on the relationship between andragogy and information literacy. Based on librarians’ success in reaching a previously underserved continuing education department, a variety of practical techniques for working with diverse students and instructors are discussed, with a focus on how learners’ characteristics inform the approaches. Effective techniques from adult education theory and information literacy practice are discussed in the context of outreach to continuing education learners.

Librarians adapt instruction and communication strategies for students with varying levels of language, library, and technology skills; teach outside usual “business hours”; teach online; integrate information literacy outcomes in course curricula; tailor communication to students and instructors; and continually develop entirely new workshops based upon the content specific to continuing education programmes. Through these efforts, this unique group of students and instructors has been provided with previously unrealised access to information literacy training and library services.

Challenges in outreach and teaching remain; however, the groundwork has been laid for a sustained liaison relationship. Future work will include systematic evaluation of successes and changing needs so that structured information literacy efforts, tailored for continuing education students, can evolve over time.

THIRD MISSION OF UNIVERSITIES: COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND EXTENSION EDUCATION

by Pradeep Dwivedi

Published in UNIVERSITY NEWS 48 (49), NOV.29- DEC.5 2011

Co-authored with:

A.K. Rai
Principal
BRDPG College,
Deoria, UP, Pin code- 274001, India



Archana Kumari
Programme coordinator
TREx: Teaching, Research & Extension Watch
T- 1249-50, mangolpuri
New Delhi

The untapped energy of universities and other institutions of higher education to address regional issues seem... more The untapped energy of universities and other institutions of higher education to address regional issues seem endless. Policy-makers and analysts alike have begun to pay more attention to the ways in which university-based capabilities and activities can contribute to social and economic development. (Gassler et al. 2001). Since their inception, although universities have contributed directly and indirectly too much of the decision-making in wider society, this function has not been ‘core’ to their mission in the same way as the first two streams of university activity – research and teaching.

Journal of Education Culture & Society 2011 (1) ABSTRACTS

by Aleksander Kobylarek

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Institutions of higher education and the idea of lifelong learning
Author: Aleksandra Marcinkiewiczmore *
Institutions of higher education and the idea of lifelong learning
Author: Aleksandra Marcinkiewicz

Keywords: lifelong learning lifelong education continuing education higher education university adult education
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Personality, temperament, organizational climate and organizational citizenship behavior of volunteers
Author: Elżbieta Chwalibóg

Keywords: Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) personality temperament organizational climate correlation studies volunteers
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John Ruskin’s word paintings in the context of his principle of clear vision as well as the biblical and rhetorical tradition
Author: Aleksandra Piasecka

Keywords: John Ruskin Modern Painters ekphrasis word painting nature rhetoric
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A Debate on the Relationship between Poetry and Politics in W.H. Auden’s In Memory of W.B. Yeats and A. Ostriker’s Elegy before the War
Author: Mateusz Marecki

Keywords: politics poetry relationship Ostriker Auden elegy debate
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A Postmodern Thanatic Triad: Crisis, Pornography and Renaissance of Death
Author: Ilona Zakowicz

Keywords: postmodernism images of death crisis pornography renaissance of death cemetery virtual media
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Post-modern changes in marital and family life
Author: Agata Kozak

Keywords: post-modernity intimate relationships marriage cohabitation sexuality
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“Wildness” as a metaphor for self-definition of the colonised subject in the Positivist period in Poland
Author: Anna Kołos

Keywords: Poland Prussia Eastern Europe Ludwik Powidaj Cyprian Kamil Norwid Maria Konopnicka Eliza Orzeszkowa Henryk Sienkiewicz literature positivism postcolonial theory orientalisation otherness wildness civilisation
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Body, spirit and gender in Maria Komornicka’s poetry
Author: Katarzyna Lisowska

Keywords: androgyny anthropology body decadence movement spirit expressionism evolutionism cultural construct convention gender scientism identity
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A linguistic analysis of sexist statements by Janusz Korwin-Mikke
Author: Kamila Kuros

Keywords: the Polish language sex antifeminism a linguistic picture of the world
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National identity and stereotypes of Poles and Germans among rural youth in Opole Silesia
Author: Katarzyna Mazur
The paper includes analysis from earlier research on this topic.
Keywords: nationality stereotype identity Silesia Poles Germans social distance

The role of the teacher in higher education: exploring a learner-centred approach to teaching and learning with non-traditional HE students.

by Katy Vigurs

This reflective paper seeks to explore the role of the teacher in higher education in facilitating a learner-centred... more This reflective paper seeks to explore the role of the teacher in higher education in facilitating a learner-centred approach to teaching and learning with widening participation learners. This study will draw on relevant research and theory as well as the author’s own particular experience as an award leader for a new Foundation Degree in Community Learning (FDCL). This paper has identified ‘learner centred approaches’ as its key focus as this is an approach to teaching and learning (T&L) that the author has been striving to facilitate with the first cohort of FDCL learners. The FDCL is a modular programme that is studied part-time over three years and is delivered through a series of evening and Saturday sessions. The learners on the FDCL are invariably employed as education support practitioners (e.g. parent support workers, home-school link workers, learning mentors, extended schools support officers) by schools or local authorities. Much of the learning that takes place through the FDCL is work-based, which means that the learners must routinely evidence the application of theory in their practice. The learners are also encouraged to bring workplace issues and situations into the university classroom to stimulate and shape learning activities.

The FDCL aims to develop the learners both personally and professionally, by enhancing their knowledge, understanding and skills, so that they are more effective and valued members of the education workforce. For the purposes of this assignment it is also important to point out that the majority of these learners are white, working class women in their forties and fifties, and are considered to be non-traditional higher education students. These issues and their impact on learner-centred approaches will be analysed in this study.

Learners on Their Own Terms? Learning Brokerage, Mainstream Transformation and Social Exclusion

by Katy Vigurs

Lifelong learning has not succeeded in countering social exclusion. In the UK there remains a deep divide between... more Lifelong learning has not succeeded in countering social exclusion. In the UK there remains a deep divide between those formally involved in learning and those seen as positioned on the margins. Learning brokerage has been posited as one route out of this impasse, but the concept remains little understood or researched. This paper presents findings from a major new research project, drawing on a broad range of qualitative data. It develops a conceptual framework for learning brokerage, and analyses how it operates in different, inter-related contexts. Learning brokerage is analysed as a process involving a network of organisations and individuals mediat- ing between learners, potential learners and learning providers. Potentially, it allows for curricula, pedagogy and support that has proved successful with educa- tionally marginalised groups at a voluntary and community sector level to be transmitted to mainstream educational institutions. The paper argues that a key part of this process is recognising and working with exclusion, both as a manifestation of structural inequality and as a self-determining choice for some communities. It focuses on case studies conducted with young black men and homeless people, two groups seen as highly excluded, discussing how brokerage effectively handles this duality of exclusion. It argues that they should not be normalised to be ‘included’ in learning but, rather, they have a right to learning opportunities on their own terms. It concludes that brokerage can help deliver such learning in the mainstream, but it is a slow, painstaking process, often blocked by institutions themselves.

Learning brokerage: Building bridges between learners and providers. Report on phases 2 and 3 of the project

by Katy Vigurs

Learning brokerage offers a way to tackle the UK’s ‘learning divide’ by helping learning providers to reach adults... more Learning brokerage offers a way to tackle the UK’s ‘learning divide’ by helping learning providers to reach adults excluded from learning. This report presents findings from the final stages of a study of how brokerage works in communities and the workplace. Case studies reveal innovative partnerships that have succeeded in opening up learning opportunities. Six stages of brokerage are described, with questions to help readers review and improve practice. The authors argue that learning brokerage could flourish within existing systems, but changes are needed – new funding mechanisms, more responsive learning providers, training for brokers and effective ways to measure achievement.

Learning Brokerage: Building Bridges Between Learners and Providers

by Katy Vigurs

This project was commissioned to identify different forms of learning brokerage and effective strategies for good... more This project was commissioned to identify different forms of learning brokerage and effective strategies for good practice to engage ‘non-traditional’ adult learners. The interest in brokerage arises from its potential to stimulate new demand, both to tackle skills deficits and to improve social inclusion and equity. Brokers include a wide range of organisations and individuals who act as catalysts or agents of change, inspiring adults to take up learning and helping them to succeed. The research objectives are to:
- review the use and application of the term ‘learning broker’
- identify key characteristics of brokerage practice and the benefits for potential learners
- develop understanding of the patterns of interaction between (potential) learners, brokers and learning providers in different contexts
- explore effective approaches to brokerage in relation to specific communities and groups
- identify barriers to effective brokerage and areas for further support
- investigate the role of ICT and its impact on the relationship between learners, brokers and learning providers
- contextualise the development of more widespread and coherent networks of brokers within the contemporary policy environment
- assess the wider implications for learning providers.

Lifelong learning in Scotland: cohesion, equity and participation

by John Field

Scottish Educational Review, 2009, Volume 41, Issue 2, pp. 4 - 18

The paper reviews currently available evidence on participation, and concludes that while overall participation in... more The paper reviews currently available evidence on participation, and concludes that while overall participation in Scotland is high by international standards, there are some indications that it falls slightly below the UK average in some respects. Data for particular sub-groups suggest that participation levels vary considerably, and in particular, that older adults and the least well qualified are particularly disadvantaged in Scotland.

Challenging accepted wisdom about the place of conceptions of teaching in university teaching improvement

by Marcia Devlin

Revisiting the impact of formative assessment opportunities on student learning

by Marcia Devlin

Older and wiser?: A comparison of the learning and study strategies of mature age and younger teacher education students

by Marcia Devlin

Taking responsibility for learning isn't everything: a case for developing tertiary students' conceptions of learning

by Marcia Devlin

Directions for Australian higher education institutional policy and practice in supporting students from low socioeconomic backgrounds

by Marcia Devlin

Co-authored with Dr Helen O'Shea, published in the Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management

As the Australian higher education population further diversifies as a result of federal government policy directions,... more As the Australian higher education population further diversifies as a result of federal government policy directions, institutions will need to make policy and other changes to appropriately incorporate such shifts. The Australian Government’s response to the 2008 Bradley review of higher education has set clear targets for increased university participation of people from low socioeconomic status (low SES) backgrounds. Using a ‘success-focused’ (Devlin, 2009) methodological approach, this research documents the factors that a sample of 53 later-year, low SES background students at one Australian university report have assisted them to manage and overcome the challenges of remaining at, progressing through and succeeding at university. Thematic analyses of the data identified the most helpful factors as including the students’ own study behaviour around and attitude toward study; teacher characteristics; institutional support of particular kinds; and student-to-student connections. Directions for institutional policy and practice are outlined.