Ideological challenges to the social inclusion agenda in the Republic of Ireland

This paper is set against a background of Ireland’s endorsement of a ‘unique’ social partnership model wherein educational policy measures are being shaped by emergent change factors in a so‐called new era of lifelong learning. Despite a number of policy responses focusing on the need for greater social inclusion, the paper highlights how the Irish education system continues to mirror and produce notions of ‘advantage’ and ‘disadvantage’. It is argued that while educational strategies appear extensive in addressing this social stratification, serious questions remain concerning their far‐reaching impact. In particular, the paper points to a critical concern for how notions of ‘disadvantage’ and ‘social exclusion’ are ideationally conceived and used within an Irish policy context. It is contended that the inadequate treatise of this concern impedes real progress towards meeting the needs of disadvantaged groups in society. A case for reassessing the ideological treatment of social exclusion is therefore made in the interest of promoting effective educational measures for social (and cultural) inclusion.     

Evaluation of the outcome of lifelong learning programmes for social inclusion: a phenomenographic research

Our current knowledge society does not only have an impact on labour market demands, but its citizens also have to cope with increasing social demands. A growing number of vulnerable adults lack basic competences and therefore risk social exclusion. In this respect, The European Commission as well as the OECD agree that adult education can play a significant role in increasing social inclusion of vulnerable adults. However, to date, evidence of outcome of adult education programmes in terms of social inclusion is hardly available. The present study aims to unravel the complexity of the phenomenon of adult education to enhance participants’ social inclusion. Using a phenomenographic approach, we have explored different experiences of 32 vulnerable adults who have participated in adult education courses. The results show that an increase on an individual level (activation and internalisation) is more often perceived by the interviewees than an increase on the collective level of social inclusion (participation and connection). To ensure successful results and to improve quality of the lifelong learning process it seems that particularly the variables teacher support, life circumstances, and learning contents and activities are important elements to enhance the transfer aiming to increase social inclusion.     

Lifelong Learning in Social Work Education: A Review of the Literature and Implications for the Future

Social workers practice in rapidly changing and complex environments where they encounter challenges that include increasing evidence-based practice requirements, a shifting information landscape, and diminishing workplace resources. To address these challenges, social workers need to engage in lifelong learning. The purpose of this article is to explore conceptual elements and assumptions underlying lifelong learning; propose social work specific approaches to lifelong learning; present a conceptual model to orient social work educators to the possibilities inherent in lifelong learning for practice, with inclusion of suggested practice behavior; and offer a research agenda for practice.     

Equity and social exclusion measures in EU lifelong learning policies

ABSTRACT

The aim of this article is to examine how EU lifelong learning policies are trying to reach the vulnerable by looking at what measures against social exclusion they offer and how equitable these measures are. It is a qualitative study that focuses on policy documents that form the European Union’s legal and political frameworks of reference in the lifelong learning area since 1992. The document analysis has been complemented by semi-structured interviews with EU lifelong learning experts. The findings show that early school leavers and migrants are the main target groups in the policies, leaving many other groups at risk of being excluded from learning opportunities. There is not enough attention to measures addressing wider social phenomena. There is also an overemphasis on basic skills which are understood in a very narrow way as literacy and numeracy when referring to the vulnerable. We argue that a greater variety of measures as well as better targeted measures are needed to address the multiple and complex needs of the vulnerable. Such measures would allow a broader understanding of lifelong learning where those that are hardest to reach are offered learning opportunities independent of their personal and social circumstances     

Envisioning a critical social pedagogy of learning and work in a contemporary culture of cyclical lifelong learning

In Canada, current federal learning-and-work policy is focused on individual learner-worker development using an iteration of lifelong learning as cyclical. This policy aims to enhance the social as an effect of enhancing the economic. In this neoliberal milieu, cyclical lifelong learning has become not only a norm but also a culture and an attitude. Still, a current Canadian phenomenon indicates that increasing numbers of young adults are disengaging from participation in such learning that the federal government considers being a preventive measure. In discussing their withdrawal from what might be perceived as cyclical lifelong learning for control, I consider a particularly challenging case: the predicament of young adults in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. To help us think about adequately addressing the dislocation they experience in life and work, I offer a Freire-informed vision of a critical social pedagogy of learning and work. This pedagogy calls for re-engendering the social in lifelong learning by revitalizing critical social concerns with historical awareness, hope, possibility, ethics, justice, democratic vision, learner freedom, critique, and intervention.     

Understanding the effects of training programs for vulnerable adults on social inclusion as part of continuing education

According to the increasing rates of unemployment and poverty a significant share of the European population can be considered at-risk-of-social exclusion. In order to combat social exclusion adult education seemed to be a possible tool, which can increase social inclusion among adult learners. This study explores factors relating to training programs considered as adult and continuing education which enhance social inclusion for vulnerable adults and their life environment. The results indicate that after following the training programs as part of continuing learning, the participants show a significant increase in activation and internalisation as well as participation and connection (as processes of social inclusion). Moreover, non-parametric correlation analysis and logistical regression analysis shows that the training design feature transfer possibilities is significantly related to the increase of almost all social inclusion variables. Besides this direct surroundings and learning contents and activities only significantly relates to the increase of social inclusion variables of activation and internalisation and care to the social inclusion variables of participation and connection.     

Active and inclusive citizenship for women: democratic considerations for fostering lifelong education

In this paper a critical feminist theoretical framework is used to explore the challenges of creating democratic learning spaces that will foster active and inclusive citizenship for women. Three democratic considerations are addressed to assess how adult educators can create more inclusive opportunities for lifelong education for women. The first consideration is the need for a careful examination of structural inequalities that create disadvantages for women in pursuing lifelong education. The second consideration is the need to create a broader and more gender inclusive understanding of the scope of lifelong learning possibilities, so that women’s learning experiences are not devalued. The third consideration explores how to take up gender as a complex variable within the broader discourse of inclusion. This paper is informed by preliminary results from a current SSHRC (Social Science and Humanities Research Council) study on lifelong learning trajectories for women in Canada and a CCL (Canadian Council on Learning) study on active citizenship for women in Nova Scotia.     

Is the expansion of higher education in Japan for young students only or for all? A critical analysis from a lifelong learning perspective

The recent restructuring of higher education in Japan has been carried out in the context of neo‐liberalism with an emphasis on the unbridled workings of market forces. However, civic discourse on issues such as active citizenship and social inclusion/exclusion, which is significant to higher education as a democratic public sphere, has been left behind. Focusing on this omission, this article aims at a critical analysis of the government expansion policy initiative in Japan. It includes discussion of a wide‐ranging group of participants, in particular adults who are disadvantaged with regard to access to higher education in a knowledge‐based society, from the point of view of lifelong learning. It is a very important subject in Japan to encourage the active participation of adults in higher education. Regarding this aspect, the article discusses significant points for building new concepts and systems in higher education, instead of the established traditional concepts and systems, which have contributed to the exclusion of adults from higher education.     

The concept of the learning society for adults with learning difficulties: human and social capital perspectives

In this paper, it is argued that adults with learning difficulties represent a significant marginalized group within society whose experiences may shed light on a range of political and social values affecting those in the mainstream, as well as on the periphery. We begin by considering some possible meanings of the learning society and some features of the social and economic context which have promoted interest in the concept. An economistic reading of the learning society may prove problematic for adults with learning difficulties, since it may be argued that this group is unlikely to be highly productive and therefore will not provide a good return on money invested in education and training. Although an emphasis on social capital may lead to the inclusion of people with learning difficulties, this outcome is by no means automatic since high levels of social cohesion may be based on the ruthless exclusion of those regarded as deviant. Finally, we suggest some ways in which promoting the concept of lifelong learning for adults with learning difficulties may enable us to develop deeper understandings of the experiences of education, training and employment.     

Can ICT reduce social exclusion? The case of an adults' English language learning programme

Strong claims are made for ICT‐based lifelong learning as an effective way of reducing the exclusion of various groups in society, yet, there is very little research to support these claims. Empirical research is needed, including qualitative studies of the experiences of socially excluded learners using ICT. This article reports the findings of such a study in relation to learners from one socially excluded group, adults from ethnic minority backgrounds, who are disproportionately deprived and often excluded by language. The article discusses the study of the experiences and perceptions of adults learning English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) through ICT in seven different learning centres in England. The findings show that technology is insufficient to overcome existing inequalities in access to learning, and to engage learners who would not otherwise undertake formal learning, but ICT‐based learning can reduce some aspects of social exclusion in terms of encouraging minority ethnic group learners to speak more within the host community. ICT‐based learning offers a space for language learning and practice, which is often absent in traditional ESOL classrooms and in the every day lives of these excluded groups. Learning is a social practice in which the level of commitment of tutors to encouraging the use of these media and creating a safe and private space for learning affects the range of learning activities with which learners engage and the impact of these on their everyday use of English.     

The potential of transnational language policy to promote social inclusion of immigrants: An analysis and evaluation of the European Union’s INCLUDE project

Language issues and social inclusion consistently remain two major concerns for member countries of the European Union (EU). Despite an increasing awareness of the importance of language learning in migrants’ social inclusion, and the promotion of language policies at European and national levels, there is still a lack of common actions at the European level. Challenged by questions as to whether language learning should be prioritised as a human right or as human capital building, how host/mainstream language learning can be reinforced while respecting language diversity, and other problems, member countries still need to find solutions. Confronting these dilemmas, this study analyses the relationship and interactions between language learning and immigrants’ social inclusion in different contexts. It explores the potential of enhancing the effectiveness of language policies via a dialogue between policies and practices in different national contexts and research studies in the field of language and social inclusion. The research data are derived from two databases created by a European policy for active social inclusion project called INCLUDE. This project ran from 2013 to 2016 under the EU’s lifelong learning programme, with funding support from the European Commission. Through an analysis of these two project databases, the paper reviews recent national language policies and their effect on the social inclusion of migrants. In the second part of her article, the author interprets the process of language learning and social inclusion using poststructuralist theories of language and identity.     

Counteracting fabricated anti-gay public pedagogy in Uganda with strategic lifelong learning as critical action

Political, cultural and social fallout following the introduction of the anti-homosexuality bill in Uganda in 2009 intensified fabrication of an anti-gay public pedagogy of negation and nemesis that fuelled the passage of the Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2014. The Government of Uganda, conventional Anglicanism and US evangelical Christianity were all implicated in developing this homophobic public pedagogy. This article provides an extensive account of what transpired to result in prohibition of lifelong learning focused on Ugandan sexual minorities. In the face of this prohibition, the article calls for lifelong learning as critical action constructed as strategic public counter-pedagogy aimed at recognizing and accommodating sexual minorities in the face of homophobia. This critically progressive counter-pedagogy would include a pragmatic turn to comprehensive health education as a starting point for inclusive, holistic learning. The article also considers the important role that media could play in this work. It explores contemporary realities of advancing and deploying lifelong learning as critical action in Uganda, examining the current dire state of education in the nation. It concludes by considering the status of Uganda’s tenacious quest to entrench gay apartheid amid what is now a growing trend toward global gay inclusion.     

荷兰成人教育促进弱势群体社会融合成效评估工具研究——基于SIT工具的分析

荷兰开展的成人教育促进弱势群体社会融合成效评估,通过搭建理论框架、建构评估指标体系、编制评估量表等一系列活动,首创成人教育促进弱势群体社会融合成效评估工具——SIT工具,实现了成人教育与弱势群体社会融合的有力对接。荷兰的SIT工具为我国建构成人教育促进弱势群体社会融合成效评估体系提供了参考范式和思维框架。     

Re-Emphasizing the Role of Affect in Learning and Teaching

Issues of combating social exclusion are often held to be synonymous with a reduction of truancy and exclusion from schools. In the UK, for example, the Labour Party has expressed a commitment to reducing the number of pupils truanting or excluded from our schools Social Exclusion Unit (SEU) (1998). As this paper will illustrate however, the social exclusion of pupils goes way beyond simple measures of school attendance. Equally important are issues of affect, the external, observable manifestation of emotion and feeling, which are related to the engagement and active participation of pupils in schools. Drawing on years of teaching and research in Australia and the UK, this paper examines the role of affect in learning and teaching. We begin by examining the ways in which pupils' participation and inclusion is related to their perceptions of themselves, the quality of their relationships in school and their feelings about the culture of the classrooms in which they work. We then examine the ways in which teachers' perceptions of themselves and their feelings about the culture of the school in which they work influences how they teach and indeed how they learn. We argue that constructivist approaches to learning provide an opportunity for pupils, and teachers, to feel more included, rather than excluded, from the education process.     

Historicizing the Future: Educational Reform, Systems of Reason, and the Making of Children Who are the Future Citizens

Educational reform and reformist research are not merely about school improvement. They embody a field of cultural practices that constitutes the objects of schooling – the teacher who administers the reforms to the child and the distinctions and differentiations about who the child is and should be. Our interest is in the rules and standards of reason assembled through the cultural practices of school reform. Reason is a cultural practice functioning to enact a change in the conditions of people but also invests people with particular capacities and capabilities. This investiture of capacities and capabilities produces particular human kinds or categories of the determinant qualities of the individuals schools administer. Using studies of educational governance and social inclusion/exclusion in Europe and on US educational reform, the discussion focuses on the overlapping practices of system management and curriculum reforms that map different human kinds. One human kind is the child as a lifelong learner, an individual whose qualities entail actively and flexibly participating in communities through problem-solving strategies. The characteristics and qualities of the lifelong learner are differentiated from those who do not embody the norms of participation –the child left behind. The study of the systems of reason that govern the objects of reflection and rectification in school reforms is a strategy to consider the politics of reform, change, and social inclusion and exclusion.     

The inclusion and construction of the worthy citizen through lifelong learning: a focus on the OECD

This paper argues that underlying the OECD’s promotion of inclusion in, for and through lifelong learning is the notion of an ‘active citizen’ who establishes their worth through learning and, ultimately, competence. Through the critical examination of recent OECD policy documents on adult and lifelong learning, the paper also calls for a re‐examination of the purported goals of inclusion and participation, essential elements of ‘inclusive liberalism’.     

Measuring perceived social presence in distributed learning groups

Social presence—the degree to which ‘the other’ in a communication appears to be a ‘real’ person—has captured the attention of those dealing with learning in groups through computer-supported collaborative learning environments. The concept is important because it affects participation and social interaction, both necessary for effective collaboration and knowledge construction. This article reports on the construction and validation of a self-reporting (Dutch-language) Social Presence Scale to determine perceived social presence in distributed learning groups using computer-supported collaborative learning environments. The result is a one-dimensional scale consisting of five items with an internal consistency of .81. We used a nomological network of similar constructs for further validation. The findings suggest that the Social Presence Scale has potential to be useful as a measure for social presence.     

Children's participation in school grounds developments: creating a place for education that promotes children's social inclusion

This paper advances the idea that ‘education for the social inclusion of children’ is similar but different to ‘inclusive education’ as it has come to be understood and used by some authors and UK government documents. ‘Inclusive education’ tends to carry an inward emphasis on the participation of children in the education system (with discussions on school culture, transitions, truancy, exclusion rates, underachievement, and school leaving age). In contrast, education for the promotion of children's social inclusion requires an outward emphasis on children's participation in ‘mainstream’ society while they are still children. The latter emphasis is seen to be lacking in educational policy discourse in Scotland though a recent shift in policy towards education for active citizenship is noted. Examples are provided to show how many policy statements enact a limitation on the scope for education to promote children's social inclusion by emphasizing children's deficits as social actors and focussing on the ‘condition’ of social exclusion. The paper draws on an empirical study of children's participation in changing school grounds in Scotland. The analysis shows how the enclosure of learning in books, classrooms and normative curricula was challenged. Learning from school grounds developments was constructed relationally and spatially, but the scope of what was to be learned was often delineated by adults. The paper closes with a discussion of how education that promotes the social inclusion of children will benefit from seeing both children and adults as current though partial citizens and using socio-spatial opportunities for the generation of uncertain curricula through their shared and/or differentiated participation.     

Education Governance in Transition: An introduction

The purpose of this article is to present concepts and research problems dealing with education governance and social inclusion and exclusion. Education restructuring, as a recent international movement, is regarded as a combination of transitions in governing and new managerialism. Social inclusion and exclusion is conceived of as a duplet concept, mutually defining each other. The relation between new governance - deregulation, decentralisation, privatisation and steering by goals and results - and social inclusion/exclusion is conceptualised as an equity problematic and a knowledge problematic. It is argued that there is a need to understand the system of reason in order to capture the implications of education governing in transition.