Lifelong Learning Participation in a Changing Policy Context

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1 Lifelong Learning Participation in a Changing Policy Context

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3 Lifelong Learning Participation in a Changing Policy Context An Interdisciplinary Theory Ellen Boeren Chancellor s Fellow, Moray House School of Education, University of Edinburgh, UK

4 LIFELONG LEARNING PARTICIPATION IN A CHANGING POLICY CONTEXT: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY THEORY Copyright Ellen Boeren, 2016 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission. In accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6 10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. First published 2016 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number , of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of Nature America, Inc., One New York Plaza, Suite 4500 New York, NY Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. ISBN: E-PDF ISBN: DOI: / Distribution in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number , of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress A catalogue record for the book is available from the British Library Typeset by MPS Limited, Chennai, India.

5 Contents List of Figures and Tables Preface Acknowledgements viii ix x Introduction 1 Part I Background 1 Adult Lifelong Learning Participation: Definitions and Contexts 9 Why participation 9 The changing policy context 20 The problem of participation 23 The focus on benchmarks and indicators 26 Conclusions 37 2 Trends and Barriers in Adult Lifelong Learning Participation 38 Trends in the participation literature 38 Europe 42 North America 45 South America 48 Australia 50 Asia and the Pacific 51 Africa and the Middle East 52 General trends 54 Barriers preventing adult lifelong learning participation 54 Conclusions 57 Part II The Contribution of Disciplines to an Interdisciplinary Theory 3 Lifelong Learning Participation: The Behavioural Perspective 61 Participation as the result of an underlying decision-making process 61 The role of motivation 65 Participation persistence among current adult learners 74 v

6 vi Contents The role of the educator as facilitator of participation satisfaction 75 Changes across the life span 76 Conclusions 82 4 Lifelong Learning Participation: The Micro Sociological Perspective 83 Social class 83 Social mobility 86 Cost benefit analysis 87 Conclusions 95 5 Lifelong Learning Participation: Institutional Barriers 96 Lifelong learning offers 97 Lifelong learning course modes 98 Three levels of access indicators 100 Workplaces as institutional learning environments 101 The role of information 104 Conclusions Lifelong Learning Participation: Country Level Determinants 109 Macro level determinants of participation 110 The role of country typologies 119 Motivational differences across countries 128 Standardising adult lifelong learning 130 Participation outcomes differ by country 133 Conclusions Lifelong Learning Participation: The Need for Integration 135 Contribution of different disciplines to the understanding of adult lifelong learning participation 135 The interplay of structure and individual agency 137 Integrative lifelong learning participation theories 140 Revisiting participation theories 146 Part III Advancing Research and Practice 8 Measuring Adult Lifelong Learning Participation 151 UNESCO-OECD-EUROSTAT 151 Different surveys: different results? 157 Surveys as research representing the positivist paradigm 160 The vagueness of participation 161

7 Contents vii Alternative scenarios for measuring adult lifelong learning participation 163 Conclusions Implications for Policy, Practice and Research 166 Recommendations for policy 166 Recommendations for practice 170 Recommendations for future research 173 Final conclusions 176 References 178 Index 202

8 List of Figures and Tables Figures I.1 Overview of chapters Schematic representation of OECD Indicator C Percentage of adults (25 64) participating in adult lifelong learning activities by country (2014) Integrative lifelong learning participation model 147 Tables 1.1 Schematic overview of participation chances UNESCO indicators Elements at the workplace stimulating participation Research on macro level determinants of lifelong learning Quality indicators Europe Overview of three major surveys measuring adult lifelong learning participation 153 viii

9 Preface This book has been written at a time when adult lifelong learning is suffering. While leading international organisations recognise its importance, the system demonstrates major weaknesses in terms of social inequality and ineffectiveness. Previous research, extensively reported in Courtney s (1992) Why Adults Learn, shows that participation in lifelong learning seems to be strongly linked to learners motivations, attitudes and expectations. While current lifelong learning policies tend to focus on the individual responsibilities of adults to survive in the competitive knowledge-based economy, it is now time to devote an entire monograph to demonstrating that participation is in fact a shared responsibility between different players: the individuals, the learning providers and social policy approaches at the level of countries. It is important to publish a fresh approach that moves away from the narrow idea that participation revolves around individual motivation and psychological characteristics of adults. Therefore, it is necessary to consider how elements of sociological literature and the functioning of educational institutions, workplaces and countries contribute to our understanding of why adults learn. ix

10 Acknowledgements This book is the result of researching adult lifelong learning participation over the past ten years. My thanks go first and foremost to my PhD supervisors Ides Nicaise and Herman Baert of the University of Leuven, Belgium. Critical discussions with colleagues from the LLL2010 consortium helped to further improve my research skills. Special thanks needs to be given to my colleague John Holford at Nottingham. It was possible to work on this book as part of my Chancellor s Fellowship at the University of Edinburgh, UK. I therefore owe a big thank you to my colleagues at the Moray House School of Education. x