This article -- the first part of a two-part contribution -- considers the current and past state of research on the history of adult education in Britain. Although there has been a broadening of interest among historians of adult education, the field remains to an extent in the shadow of the "Great Tradition" of liberal education…

Adult Learners' Week has whirled round again, but the author has been looking backwards. An invitation to speak at an event to mark the retirement of Richard Bolsin as General Secretary of the Workers' Educational Association prompted him at last to get hold of Jonathan Rose's "Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes." Rose's concern is…

Social class is a major determining factor of people's life chances. Much sociology-based research shows that socio-economic position is still one of the best predictors of who will achieve success, prosperity and social status and, in particular, who will enjoy the highest levels of educational outcomes. Survey data and qualitative studies alike…

Since the government enacted the "Lifelong Learning Act" in 2002, Taiwanese working adults consider lifelong learning as a better route to increase their employability or competitiveness at work. This study analyzed the survey on adults administered by the Ministry of Education in Taiwan in 2008, and statistics analysis showed a close…

Undertaken in the context of an ageing population and under-representation of older adults in formal education in Scotland, this paper reports on selected findings from research funded by the West of Scotland Wider Access Forum. Using a longitudinal design, the project sought, over a two-year period, to track the experiences of 85 working class…

A key factor motivating the organisation of tutorial classes for adult learners, based on collaboration between the Workers' Educational Association and universities in England and Wales, was a belief that they offered an educational vehicle for the promotion of liberal concepts of political citizenship. Attempts to disseminate this tutorial class…

Interviews with seven working-class adults suggest a need to understanding adult-learning patterns within the life context; they demonstrate how gender and class experiences affect learning and attitudes toward education. Pressuring adults into formal credentialing education would not necessarily be appropriate, and may be seen as oppressive. (SK)

The research reported in this paper attempts to document the actual learning practices of working-class people in the context of the much heralded "knowledge-based economy." Our primary thesis is that working-class peoples' indigenous learning capacities have been denied, suppressed, degraded or diverted within most capitalist schooling,…

The General Election is over. People now know that the policies for lifelong learning will remain as before: to promote competitiveness through skills and access to educational opportunities for groups previously denied them. The list of potential beneficiaries is a long one: (1) working class people in general (especially those with basic skills…

Adult education in the United Kingdom is historically associated with working-class movements in the nineteenth century. In recent years, however, with the popularity of postmodernism, social class has become a neglected concept among sociologists and adult educators. Wider participation strategies have increased the number of adult students…

It's that time of year again and "Adults Learning" has once more asked some of the outstanding authors who have contributed to the journal over the past 12 months to nominate their best and most valuable reads of 2004. The authors are: (1) Judith Summers; (2) Thomas Sticht; (3) Alison Wolf; (4) Tom Schuller; (5) Linden West; (6) Brian…

Researchers explored the relationships between the great working class communities and the industries they sustained and were sustained by in terms of production, storage, and transmission of skills. First, the ethnographic literature on industrial workplaces and the working class communities associated with them was reviewed. Next, lengthy…