This paper explores the application of the card-sorting interview technique in understanding the complex interplay of motivations and barriers faced by adults engaging in learning. Traditional research methods, whether quantitative or qualitative, often fail to capture these nuanced interactions or to provide scalable insights for policy…

Empirical models of transformative learning offer important insights into the core characteristics of this concept. Whereas previous analyses were limited to specific social groups or topical terrains, this article empirically typifies the phases of transformative learning on the basis of a comparative analysis of various social groups and topical…

The lifelong learning system in the Czech Republic and Slovakia share some common traits: traditional model with the dominant role of the initial education, low participation rates, lack of incentives and fragmentation. The results of the narrative research on 15 low-skilled persons demonstrated that negative attitudes towards education are often…

The Miqqut project was a participatory action research project through which Inuit language and literacy learning was embedded in a traditional skills program. Community-based researchers tracked learners' progress through entrance, exit, and post-program interviews and questionnaires, as well as through participant observation. Results show that…

In 2008, the European Council agreed on a Resolution on better integrating lifelong guidance into lifelong learning strategies. The Resolution promoted lifelong guidance as a policy to support people during the multiple transitions provoked by a more volatile labour market. However, when looking into the guidance policy of Denmark, the Resolution…

Flexibility and change are typically viewed as endemic features of late modernity, leading to increased emphasis on the importance of transition during the adult life course. The paper examines experiences of transition for eight contributors to a research project that collected and analysed life histories as the basis for an understanding of…

The international University of the Third Age (U3A) embodies the principles of lifelong learning and personal fulfilment amongst members. The research reported in this article focused on the Choir of the U3A Hawthorn, Melbourne, Australia and the benefits perceived by members undertaking this active music engagement in non-competitive choral…

This paper seeks to advance our understanding of the credit transfer phenomenon in the UK, specifically how students draw on a credit as a form of institutional cultural capital. Drawing on interviews with 26 part-time mature learners, this paper examines the progressive and retrospective orientations to study that surfaced in students' accounts…

Learning and Work Institute is an independent policy and research organisation dedicated to promoting lifelong learning, full employment and inclusion. This report sets out the findings of research and consultation carried out by Learning and Work Institute (L&W) for the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) on learning…

Through presenting empirical research exploring the connections between popular culture and informal learning, we argue that, as predicted by concepts such as self-directed learning and transformational learning, the experience of transition has a meaningful impact on adult learning. Specifically, transitions encourage adults to engage in learning…

This paper explores learner progression for participants in community-based adult learning (CBAL) provision in Scotland. It focuses on learners' perceptions of progression drawn from analysis of life history interviews carried out with ten adults who had participated in community-based adult learning. The analysis of data was undertaken in three…

This report analyses how learning supports labour market transitions and career changes of adult workers across five countries (Denmark, Germany, Spain, France and Italy). To make the most of career and labour market opportunities, individuals have to rely on their own resources and their agency but also know how to navigate the institutional…

This paper discusses a study that explored the impact of the Lesotho Government pension scheme on the learning attitudes of pensioners. The recent introduction of the pension scheme means that old people have regained their status as breadwinners. They are no longer dependents but have become very resourceful members of the community. As a result…

This article addresses how older people understand and engage with contemporary art in the gallery context--whether there is something unique to the art, the format of the visits, the pedagogical approaches used by gallery educators, the social contact, or a combination of all these factors. It also addresses the psychosocial barriers to…

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…