Jonathan Tummons - A-Z of Lifelong Learning

A-Z of Lifelong Learning

A-Z of Lifelong Learning

Jonathan Tummons and Ewan Ingleby

Open University Press
McGraw-Hill Education
McGraw-Hill House
Shoppenhangers Road
Maidenhead
Berkshire
England
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First published 2014

Copyright Jonathan Tummons and Ewan Ingleby, 2014

All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited. Details of such licences (for reprographic reproduction) may be obtained from the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd of Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London, EC1N 8TS.

A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

ISBN-13: 978-0-335-26324-0
ISBN-10: 0-335-26324-0
eISBN: 978-0-335-26325-7

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Fictitious names of companies, products, people, characters and/or data that may be used herein (in case studies or in examples) are not intended to represent any real individual, company, product or event.

Praise for this book

This book is an excellent entry point for anyone who wants to know more about lifelong learning and the lifelong learning sector. Each entry provides a clear definition and an introduction to the topic with an overview of the key elements. This is followed by a concise critical review highlighting the key theorists and writers. Each section concludes with a comprehensive guide to further reading.

Jonathan Tummons and Ewan Ingleby combine scholarship and experience of the sector with the outcomes of their own research to create a valuable addition to the literature on lifelong learning.

If you are unfamiliar with the territory of lifelong learning, this book gives you the map.

Pete Scales, Senior Lecturer in Education, University of Derby, UK

In their introduction, Tummons and Ingleby describe the breadth and complexity of the lifelong learning sector with its wide range of educational institutions, programmes of study, contexts and settings and diverse student and teacher populations. That it manages so comprehensively to encompass this sector, from Accreditation of Prior Learning to Zone of Proximal Development, is one of the key achievements of this text. Each entry is economically written but any necessary brevity does not prevent the writers from dealing with topics in a critical and scholarly fashion and entries are usefully accompanied by references and further reading. The indices of most textbooks concerned with the sector will usually indicate where, through the text, individual topics are dealt with. A strong feature of A-Z of Lifelong Learning is that readers can go directly to topics which interest them for a clear, comprehensive treatment of them. This text will be invaluable to all those teaching or studying in the sector and will be particularly useful for those outside the sector baffled by the myriad topics, theories, policies, processes which are current within it indeed, there is even an entry on Jargon!

Andrew Armitage, Head of the Department of Post-Compulsory Education, Canterbury Christ Church University, UK

This is a welcome and timely text. Lifelong learning is characterisedby continual revision and radical diversity. This simple A-Z of the sector provides a much needed overview of that complexity. For the novice unfamiliar with the pedagogies, philosophies and policies that define working with adults this A-Z of Lifelong Learning is an accessible introduction. The seasoned professional familiar with a particular institutional setting will appreciate gaining depth and insight into the workings of an entirely different educational context. Those working in a further education college may know little and understand less about the distinctiveness of the Workers Educational Association. Each alphabetically listed entry is sharply focussed and accessibly written. The writers somehow manage to stay true to the criticality and contention desired by those seeking depth. They do more than provide factual information; the reader is gently guided through the broad arguments surrounding that particular entry audit, Ofsted and part-time tutors are three good examples of how contestation is introduced: there is enough here to appreciate the significance of the concept but too little to completely satisfy. The reader is left curious and inspired, wanting to follow up and find out more. Yet, each entry provides just enough detail to stimulate thought and discussion.

Carol Azumah Dennis, PCET Programme Director, University of Hull, UK

Contents

This book provides an AZ of the lifelong learning sector. Ingleby and Hunt (2008) refer to the sector as being characterised by a range of educational institutions (further education colleges, adult education centres, outreach centres, family learning units, libraries, museums, and so forth) offering an even more varied range of formal and informal educational programmes. The lifelong learning sector can be a fascinating educational context to work and learn in. It is characterised by diversity and difference. There are a number of different groups of students within this educational context. There are also a number of different programmes of study. This range of contexts and learners is valued and regarded highly by many of the staff and students who are part of the lifelong learning sector. Anecdotally, many staff associated with the lifelong learning sector highlight the range of teaching experiences that they encounter within this educational context. Staff may be involved in both further and higher education, in accredited adult education, or in family learning programmes involving both parents or guardians and children. They may teach teenage learners who have only recently left school alongside adults who left school many years before. The variety of teaching experiences is one of the enduring appeals of this educational context. The settings that are used for teaching are similarly characterised by diversity. Many of the older educational institutions have their origins in the technical colleges of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and the university extension departments that grew alongside the post-war educational expansion of the 1950s and 1960s. There are also teaching centres in the community in churches, in rooms attached to primary schools, and in community centres. The lifelong learning sector also involves education that occurs within local libraries, art galleries, and museums.

The students who are educated in the lifelong learning sector come from a range of educational backgrounds. In further education colleges, there are younger students who are studying vocational subjects such as carpentry alongside adults who are studying foundation degrees in child development. In schools, there are parents studying so that they can help their children with their homework. And in community centres, there are adult learners researching the histories of their local communities through old photographs. This diverse range of students requires a diverse range of subject specialists to meet their needs. Some tutors were until recently working in industry and have changed career to become teachers. There are other tutors who continue to work in business while teaching on a part-time basis. And there are those tutors who were themselves non-traditional students in the lifelong learning sector, and others who are qualified to PhD level. There is certainly no such thing as a typical teacher or trainer in the lifelong learning sector.