This open access book challenges international policy ‘groupthink’ about lifelong learning. Adult learning – too long a servant of business competitiveness – should be reimagined as central to democratic society. Young adults, especially from disadvantaged backgrounds, engage more in education and training, and learn more day-to-day at work, if provision is democratically organised and based on enduring and inclusive institutional networks, and when jobs encourage and reward the acquisition of skills. Using innovative qualitative and quantitative methods, the contributors develop a critical perspective on dominant policies, investigating – across the European Union and Australia – how ‘vulnerable’ young adults experience programmes designed to improve their ‘employability’, and how ‘skills for jobs’ policies squeeze out wider – and wiser – ideas of what education and training should do. Chapters show why some provision works for those with poor educational backgrounds, why labour market and educational institutions matter so much, how adult education can empower and expand people’s agency, and the challenges of using artificial intelligence in lifelong learning policy-making. Several investigate the pivotal role of workplace learning in organisational life, and in learning during ‘emerging adulthood’. Important comparative studies of workplace learning in the metals, retail and adult education sectors show the role of management, trade unions and social movements in young adults’ learning.
Author(s): John Holford, Pepka Boyadjieva, Sharon Clancy, Günter Hefler, Ivana Studená
Series: Palgrave Studies in Adult Education and Lifelong Learning
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 485
City: Cham
Foreword
Preface
References
Contents
Notes on Contributors
List of Figures
List of Tables
Part I: Lifelong Learning for an Inclusive and Vibrant Europe
1: Lifelong Learning, the European Union, and the Social Inclusion of Young Adults: Rethinking Policy
Origins of the Enliven Research
Rethinking the Problem
Bounded Agency
Making and Analysing Policy
Policy Trails
The Book
The Message
References
2: Bounded Agency in Policy and Action: Empowerment, Agency and Belonging
Introduction
From Bounded Agency to Empowerment and Belonging
Vulnerability and ‘NEETs’
Belonging and Agency
‘It Felt Like Family’
Conclusion
References
Part II: Policies, Programmes and Participation
3: Vulnerability in European Lifelong Learning Policies 1992–2018: Seeing Young People as a Problem to Be Fixed?
Introduction
Analytical Framework
Young People as Lifelong Learning Target Group
Studying Policy Discourse: Methodology
Associating Young People with Risk: Personal and Structural Factors at Play
Vulnerability: Personal or Structural Characteristic?
Individual-Level Factors
Structural Factors
Educational Goals for Policies on Vulnerable Young People
Conclusion
References
4: Participation in Adult Learning: System Characteristics and Individuals’ Experiences
Introduction
System-Level Determinants of Participation in Adult Learning
Inequality in Opportunities and Its Consequences
Occupational Change
From System-Level Determinants to Individual-Level Experiences
The Policy Trail Method
Different Systems, Broadly Similar Experiences
Conclusions
References
5: Participation of Vulnerable Young Labour Market Groups in Job-Related Training: The Effect of Macro-structural and Institutional Characteristics
Introduction
Data and Methods
Inequality in Participation
Young Adults with Low Educational Levels
Young Adults Working in Low- and Medium-Skilled Occupations
The Impact of Economic Sector
The Impact of Macro Context
Institutional Influences
Conclusions
References
6: Gender Gaps in Participation in Adult Education in Europe: Examining Factors and Barriers
Introduction
Gender Segregation: Theoretical Explanations
European Policies on Lifelong Learning and Gender Equality
Data and Methodology
Factors for Gender Differences in Participation in Adult Education
Obstacles Preventing Participation in Adult Education from a Gender Perspective
Gender Gaps Related to Cost
Discussion and Conclusions
References
References
7: Adult Education as a Pathway to Empowerment: Challenges and Possibilities
Introduction
Theoretical Considerations
Empowerment as a Contested Concept
Theorising the Relationship Between Empowerment and Education
The Capability Approach Towards the Relationship Between Empowerment and (Adult) Education
Adult Education as a Sphere of Empowerment
Adult Education as a Factor for Empowerment
Intrinsic and Instrumental Value of the Empowerment Role of Adult Education
The Role of Non-formal Adult Education for Increasing Individuals’ Agency Capacity: An Empirical Study
Data and Empirical Strategy
How Learning Matters to Adults’ Agency Capacity
The Need to Rethink Adult Education Policies
References
8: Governing Adult Learning Through Influencing Public Debate: How the Media Use PIAAC Data in Denmark, Italy and the United Kingdom
Introduction
Governance, Standard Setting and Benchmarking in Adult Learning
Study Design and Methodology
Dataset
Data Analysis
The Use of PIAAC Data in the Highest Circulating National Newspapers
Denmark
Italy
The United Kingdom
Concluding Remarks
References
9: Policy, Practice and Praxis: Computer-Aided Decision Support to Enable Policy-Making in Lifelong Learning
Introduction
Policy Focus: NEETs
Computer-Aided Decision Support and Evidence-Based Policy
Wicked Social Problems
NEETs and the IDSS
Key Challenges
Limitations of Information Available
Information Modelling and ‘Soft’ Attributes
The Individual Story
Funding Regimes
Facilitating Effective Policy-Making: Learning from the IDSS
Conclusion
References
Part III: Young Adults’ Learning in the Workplace and Beyond
10: The Interplay of Organisational and Individual Bounded Agency in Workplace Learning: A Framework Approach
Introduction: Agency in Workplace Learning
How Workplaces Can Invite Learning: A Short Review of Concepts
How Organisational and Individual Agency Are Intertwined in Workplace Learning
Organisational Agency in Workplace Learning
Individual Agency in Workplace Learning
The Framework Summarised and an Outlook on the Empirical Results
Conclusions
References
11: Working and Learning in the Retail Sector: A Cross-Country Comparative View
Introduction
Case Study Overview
Belgium
Denmark
Estonia
Findings
Organisational Agency Shaping Workplace Learning Potential in the Retail Sector
Organisational Agency Shaping Early Career Pathways and Individual Agency in Workplace Learning in Retail Sector Jobs
Conclusion
References
12: Organisational and Individual Agency in Workplace Learning in the European Metal Sector
Introduction
Overview of Cases Studied
How Does Organisational Agency Shape the Learning Potential of Workplaces in the Metal Sector?
Agency in Shaping Workplaces and Their Learning Potential
How Organisational Agency in Human Resource Management Structures Organisations’ Perceptions and Preferences for Learning Policies
How Organisational Agency Is Applied in Shaping Early Career Pathways
The Structuring of Early Career Pathways
The Impact of Organisations’ Decisions on Early Career Workers’ Agency to Learn in the Workplace and Beyond
How Organisational Agency in Workplace Design and Career Structuration Interacts with Individual Agency to Learn in the Workplace
Conclusion
References
13: Work and Learning in the Adult Education Sector: A Cross Country Comparative View
Introduction
The Case Studies: Organisations as Embedded in Adult Learning Systems
Austria and the Sub-field of Adult Basic Skills
Italy: Basic Skills and Training Within Active Labour Market Policies
Slovakia: Training Provided by Employers
The United Kingdom: Community-Based Colleges for Continuing and Further Education
Organisational Agency in Shaping Workplace Learning Potential: Key Results
Organisational Agency in Shaping Workplace Learning Opportunities
Organisational Agency in Shaping Early Career Pathways
Organisational Agency in Involving Early Career Workers in Innovation Processes
Conclusions
References
14: Speaking Up: How Early Career Workers Engage in Fighting for Better Working Conditions by Joining Youth-Led Social Movement Organisations
Introduction
Comparing Industrial Relation Systems as Environments for Newly Founded Youth-Led Organisations
Studying Challengers Within the Industrial Relations Field
Three Organisational Case Studies
Charter of Social Rights of the Basque Country
Association for Career Guidance and Career Development (ZKPRK) (Slovakia)
IG DAF/DAZ Basisbildung (Austria)
Comparison and Conclusions
References
15: Early Career Workers’ Agency in the Workplace: Learning and Beyond in Cross-Country Comparative Perspective
Introduction
Understanding Individual Agency in Workplace Learning: A Life Structure Approach
Learning Against All Odds: Understanding Resources for Individual Agency Embedded in the Individual Life Structure
Compensating for Poor Workplace Learning: Solveig in Danish Retail Work
Overcoming Limited Workplace Learning: Snejana in the Bulgarian Metal Sector
Rich Day-to-Day Learning in Insecure Employment: Nesrin in Austrian Adult Learning
Discussion and Conclusions
References
Part IV: Conclusion
16: Adult Education, Learning Citizens, and the Lessons of Enliven
The Adult Education Europe Needs
Lessons of Enliven
References
Appendix 1: A Note on the Enliven Project
Appendix 2: Key Features of Enterprises Studied in Research on Learning Organisations
Adult Education Sector (Austria, Italy, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom)
Austria: AT1
Austria: AT2
Italy: IT1
Italy: IT2
Slovakia: SK1
Slovakia: SK2
United Kingdom: UK1
United Kingdom: UK2
Machinery/Metals Sector (Bulgaria and Spain)
Spain: ES1
Spain: ES2
Bulgaria: BG1
Bulgaria: BG2
Retail Sector (Belgium, Denmark, Estonia)
Belgium: BE1
Belgium: BE2
Denmark: DK1
Estonia: EE1
Estonia: EE2
Appendix 3: Members of the Enliven Research and Administrative Team and Advisory Board
Research and Administrative Team
Enliven Advisory Board
Appendix 4: Enliven Research Reports and Policy Briefs
Research Reports
Policy Briefs
Index
