Adult learning systems have come to be dominated by the view that the essential role of adult learning is to generate the high levels of skills deemed necessary for competitiveness and growth in the globalised economy. This 'education gospel' is underpinned by human capital theory (HCT) and its contemporary conceptualisation in terms of…

Much is expected of further education. It is central to meeting not only the needs of industry and wider society, but also the expectations and interests of individual learners--often but not exclusively linked to their career aspirations. In this article, the authors report on a two-year study of further education in Wales that set out to follow…

As with other sectors of education, further education seems to be locked in endless change with policy unable to resolve what have become to be regarded as intractable problems. In turn, much is expected of teachers who are left to resolve the competing pressures they are placed under. Evidence suggests that they expend much emotional labour and…

In the UK, there remains an economy of "outer Britain" which has a higher representation of low-pay, low-skill jobs, and correspondingly, lower levels of economic growth than other parts of the country. The author discusses how the distinctive ideological complexions of Scottish and Welsh politics open the possibility of different…

Explores the relationships between the patterns of participation in lifelong learning of parents and children within families. Based on a large-scale study of lifetime participation in industrial South Wales. Suggests that individual participation trajectories remain similar within families and illustrates the varied manifestations of family…

Questions the narrow definition of learning used in lifelong learning discourses. Uses evidence from a study of patterns of participation in adult learning in South Wales from 1900 to argue that if informal learning continues to be ignored, the result may be an exclusiveness in defining a learning society. (CMK)

This study is part of a regional study in industrial South Wales on the determinants of participation and non-participation in post-compulsory education and training, with special reference to processes of change in the patterns of these determinants over time and to variations between geographical areas. The study combines contextual analysis of…

This study is part of a regional study in industrial South Wales on the determinants of participation and non-participation in post-compulsory education and training, with special reference to processes of change in the patterns of these determinants over time and to variations between geographical areas. The study combines contextual analysis of…

This study is part of a regional study in industrial South Wales on the determinants of participation and non-participation in post-compulsory education and training, with special reference to processes of change in the patterns of these determinants over time and to variations between geographical areas. The study combines contextual analysis of…

This study is part of a regional study in industrial South Wales on the determinants of participation and non-participation in post-compulsory education and training, with special reference to processes of change in the patterns of these determinants over time and to variations between geographical areas. The study combines contextual analysis of…

This study is part of a regional study in industrial South Wales on the determinants of participation and non-participation in post-compulsory education and training, with special reference to processes of change in the patterns of these determinants over time and to variations between geographical areas. The study combines contextual analysis of…

This study is part of a regional study in industrial South Wales on the determinants of participation and non-participation in post-compulsory education and training, with special reference to processes of change in the patterns of these determinants over time and to variations between geographical areas. The study combines analysis of secondary…