Improving Learning through the Lifecourse

Abstract

There is now widespread agreement that in modern countries, the ability of all citizens to develop new skills and knowledge over their life course, will help individuals and communities adapt and thrive. Lifelong learning in practice, however, is often reduced to a narrowly economic conception. This book reports on one of the largest research projects into lifelong learning conducted in recent years. Through over 500 in-depth interviews with a cohort of about 120 adults who were followed for three years, the Learning Lives project has compiled a detailed understanding of what learning means and does in the lives of adults. For example, how learning has changed over time and across generations, what the connections are with the changing world of work, what differences learning makes for life chances, and how people's prospects of learning can be improved. The authors combine life history and life-course research with analysis of longitudinal survey data to provide insights into the learning biographies and trajectories of adults. The outcomes demonstrate that learning means and does much more in people's lives than is often acknowledged by current education policy and politics.