Differential outcomes of adult education on adult learners' increase in social inclusion

To date a significant share of the European population can be considered at risk of social exclusion. It has been argued that adult education programmes are a powerful tool to support vulnerable adults increasing their social inclusion. This study aims to answer the question if and which subgroups of vulnerable adults experience an increase in social inclusion after joining adult education programmes. The results of our study show that 46.3% of the participants experience an increase of social inclusion in terms of ‘activation and internalization’ and 41.0% experience an increase in ‘participation and connection’. Results show that foreigners and people who live together experience a higher increase on variables of ‘activation and internalization’ and ‘participation and connection’. Furthermore, results show that learners who received school education at a primary level and have no professional qualification experience a higher increase of social inclusion on a few variables of social 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.     

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。     

全纳与公平视域下的成人学习与教育进展——基于GRALEⅣ的分析

实现全纳与公平的成人学习与教育是全球各国不断追寻的目标。依据GRALE I—Ⅳ中的调查结果可知,世界各国在成人学习与教育政策制定与发展取向上日益指向全纳与公平,成人学习与教育筹资日益接近全纳与公平的需要,成人学习与教育的参与者日益接近全纳。但是,不同国家与地区之间的成人学习与教育尚未达到真正的全纳与公平,而且存在明显的不均衡现象。究其原因,主要是贫富差距和经济不平等导致的情境障碍,公共领域教育支出不足等造成的机构障碍和弱势群体学习发展意识与信息缺乏产生的意向障碍等造成的。为此,应制定成人学习与发展积分累进的多样化优惠政策,建立政府与社会多元投资的成人学习与发展保障机制,建构全域覆盖的全民学习与进展信息平台,并从教育反贫困与扶智的视角提升社会和个人参与意识,不断提升成人学习与教育的政策效度,加快学习型社会建设进度,早日实现全纳与公平的成人教育。     

普通高校成人教育教学模式选择分析

社会发展的主要动力来自于劳动者素质的提高,劳动者素质的提高,更多的是依靠成人继续教育(回归教育)这种学习形式来持续获得新知识。在知识经济时代,终身学习成为人类面临的共同课题。成人教育应该根据其不同需求制订不同的培养目标,实施不同的教育方案,以满足不同岗位、不同层次、不同时期劳动者学习的需求,架起成人继续教育通向终身教育的桥梁。     

Further Education under New Labour: translating the language of aspiration into a springboard for achievement

In this article, Ann Limb outlines the main elements of new Labour's emerging policy framework for adult, continuing and further education within the context of the debate about lifelong learning. The government has established its coherent purposes for further education and now expects successful implementation by the sector in return for significant funding. Raising standards and widening participation are the keystones of this policy and, as in other areas of government activity, ‘zero tolerance of failure’ and ‘social inclusion’ are at the heart of the agenda for further education. The article suggests that the diverse assumptions underlying the delivery of lifelong learning policies nonetheless remain largely unexplored and that it is too soon to make a sound judgment about the likely effectiveness of the new lifelong learning partnerships     

Learning at every age? Life cycle dynamics of adult education in Europe

Adult learning is seen as a key factor for enhancing employment, innovation and growth. The aim of this paper is to understand the points in the life cycle at which adult learning takes place and whether it leads to reaching a medium or high level of educational attainment. We perform a synthetic panel analysis of adult learning for cohorts aged 25–64 in 27 European countries using the European Union Labour Force Survey. We find that investment across the life cycle by cohorts older than 25 still occurs: participation in education and training as well as educational attainment increase observably across all cohorts. We also find that the decline with age slows down, or is even reversed for older cohorts, for both participation in education and educational attainment. Finally, we can identify cross-country differences in approach. In Nordic countries, adult learning is achieved primarily through participation in education and training without adding to formal educational attainment. In central Europe, adult learning occurs primarily in the form of increasing educational attainment. In Ireland and the UK, a combination of both approaches to adult learning is observable.     

Beyond educational attainment: The importance of skills and lifelong learning for social outcomes. Evidence for Europe from PIAAC

Empirical evidence suggests that educational attainment nurtures people's social outcomes and promotes active participation in society and stability. However, it is unclear to what extent other types of human capital also correlate with social outcomes. Hence, we explored the opportunity offered by the PIAAC survey through its provision of information on educational attainment, observed individual key skills proficiency, and participation in adult education and training (adult lifelong learning). We therefore studied the association between these human capital variables and social outcomes, and more specifically interpersonal trust and participation in volunteering activities. Results revealed that these social outcomes were affected not only by the formal qualification obtained, determined by the education variable, but also throughout the life‐cycle. Indeed, education and training when undertaken during adult life have a significant impact, especially on volunteering. The fact that the skill proficiency also plays a significant role is extremely relevant, as skills are more likely to change over the life‐cycle, either in a positive or negative way. Whilst the formal education received is constant after exiting the educational system, skills reflect competences more accurately: first, because those with the same level of education may have different skill levels because of differences in the quality of education or ability; second, because skills can vary over time. For example, they may increase with work experience or informal education, or decrease as a result of depreciation and ageing. These findings suggest that social outcomes are prone to be affected by many factors other than formal education, suggesting that policy makers can implement recommendations even after formal education has been completed.     

芬兰低技能劳动力继续教育现状与策略

芬兰政府意识到技能发展体系应适应日益变化的劳动力市场,及时升级低技能劳动力的继续教育水平,这对本国经济的发展和国家竞争力的提高至关重要.目前,芬兰社会对高技能人才的需求急剧增加,人口老龄化问题突出,成年人现有技能水平不均衡等历史背景,促使该国对低技能劳动力提供更多的、形式丰富的继续教育机会,但低技能劳动力的学习参与度较低.芬兰同时面临着教育结构不合理、继续教育服务与劳动力市场需求不匹配、低技能劳动力具有特殊学情等挑战.芬兰通过改革福利制度,激励低技能劳动力积极参与继续教育学习和提升技能水平;加强继续教育的综合服务和发展数字化教育服务,为学习者提供更便捷的学习支持;鼓励雇主参与制订培训方案,降低义务教育辍学率等方面,促进低技能劳动力进行技能升级,提高整体素质,这为我国教育适应低技能劳动力未来发展提供了有益的借鉴.     

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.     

The relationship between resistance to change and Romanian teachers’ attitude towards continuing education: the moderating role of conscientiousness

Previous research highlights that personal factors are more important than contextual factors in explaining teachers’ behaviours in relation to learning participation. The present study explores the relationship between two personal factors (dispositional resistance to change and teachers’ attitude towards continuing education) and the moderating role of conscientiousness on this relationship. The data have been gathered from 142 teachers from the field of special and public education, using three questionnaires: Revised Adult Attitudes Towards Continuing Education Scale, Resistance to Change Scale and IPIP-50. The main results show that, firstly, conscientiousness has a moderating role on the relationship between dispositional resistance to change and enjoyment of learning, and secondly, teachers in special education consider their continuing education as being more important than teachers in the regular system. Knowing this, we can predict and increase teachers’ participation in continuing education and can improve training design.     

我国成人学习基本状况调查

成人学习是一个涉及心理、教育、文化、社会、政治、经济等诸多因素的复杂问题,对成人学习基本信息的采集,是科学规划与实施全民学习项目的前提。我国大陆（不包括港澳台地区）16岁及以上各类成人群体的随机调查显示：我国成人学习的范围和领域十分广泛,学习需求涵盖工作、职业、自我发展以及正在或者将要扮演的社会角色等诸多方面。工学矛盾是影响我国成人学习参与的首要因素,其次是社会角色及其承担的相应责任,再次是当地能否提供适当的学习机会、学习信息、学习时间和地点。学习费用、性别、年龄、地理环境’与地区经济社会发展的不平衡,也是影响成人学习参与的重要因素。总之,我国继续教育和终身学习条件及环境营造等方面还存在诸多不足,成人学习支持服务体系建设情况不容乐观。为了进一步改进成人学习规划与实施工作,相关管理部门、用人单位和教育培翻I机构,应组建或委托专门机构,对我国成人学习状况相关问题展开定期调查;同时,充分考量性别、年龄、地理环境与地区经济社会发展的差异,重视成人工学矛盾和社会角色,兼顾成人多方面学习需求,积极营造有利于成人深度参与的学习环境,建立健全成人学习费用分担机制和成人学习支持服务体系,进一步提高各行各业从业人员继续教育和学习的参与率。     

Regular primary schoolteachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education: a review of the literature

Teachers are seen as key persons to implement inclusive education. Positive attitudes are therefore argued as playing a considerable role in implementing this educational change successfully. The aim of this study is to examine what attitudes teachers hold towards inclusive education, which variables are related to their attitudes and if these affect the social participation of pupils with special needs in regular schools. A review of 26 studies revealed that the majority of teachers hold neutral or negative attitudes towards the inclusion of pupils with special needs in regular primary education. No studies reported clear positive results. Several variables are found which relate to teachers’ attitudes, such as training, experience with inclusive education and pupils’ type of disability. No conclusion could be drawn regarding the effects of teachers’ attitudes on the social participation of pupils with special needs.     

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.     

Constructing social inclusion through further education – the dangers of instrumentalism

This article explores, through an analysis of key policy documents, the construction of the political concepts of social exclusion and inclusion through further education (FE). During the first decade of the New Labour government the concepts of social exclusion and inclusion have undergone a process of active construction. In between The Learning Age and Raising Expectations, different political concerns come to the fore. Whereas in 1998 social exclusion encompassed the broad category of ‘disadvantaged people’ and reducing social exclusion was linked firmly to promoting employability, by 2007 interest with the socially excluded was more specifically focused upon ‘16–17 year olds not in education, employment or training’, and FE was to promote social inclusion, in part, through challenging anti‐social behaviour. Three main models of constructing inclusion emerge: instrumental, social and psychological. This article examines the impact of the instrumental model and argues that focusing FE upon the needs of the economy provides a narrow concept of inclusion and a degraded view of education.     

Stichwort: Weiterbildung im Spiegel empirischer Bildungsforschung

In the course of empirical educational research, there is an increasingly broad approach to inter-disciplinary contributions to academic questions related to the processes of institutionalised teaching and learning and their effects. By reference to a multi-level structure, inter-disciplinary studies are presented which focus on continuing education, the level of participation in continuing education and the effects of continuing education. A particular concern is to review approaches to research which are methodically designed to generalise findings about the effects of continuing education. Using monitoring studies as a starting point, economic and sociological education studies are considered which have their empirical basis in large-scale data records; the evaluation of in-service training courses in business enterprises is a branch of research which has been used, especially in the meta-analysis of smaller evaluation studies, to develop models of the effectiveness of company in-service training. To supplement these approaches which consider the effects of continuing education especially in the context of paid employment, the discussion also examines further social benefits of continuing education and various approaches to teaching and learning research. Finally, the current state of the research is then discussed in order to examine the implications for research strategy.     

继续教育发展与数字化学习的若干思考

本文在简析数字化学习和继续教育发展的历史、现状和趋势基础上,阐示数字化学习特点和优势,及其对继续教育发展的可能影响,从数字化学习与继续教育发展的契合点中,提出若干问题与对策。     

社会学视野中的成人学习探究

随着社会变迁和社会角色的转换,成人继续社会化的必要性日益加强,而成人学习是成人继续社会化的主要途径.在审视当前成人学习问题的基础上,优化成人学习,从而促进成人继续社会化进程和提高继续社会化的质量.     

美国会计教育改革及其对我国的启示

美国会计教育改革中把培养学生的"终身学习能力"作为重要的教育目标,把一般教育课程、企业管理教育课程、会计教育课程作为重要的教学内容,并在教学中注重学生的参与.借鉴上述经验,我国高职会计教育应加强与职业界的联系,各院校应进行校本教材开发,增加案例分析、课堂讨论等教学环节,着重培养学生的学习能力和会计技能.     

“Whatever Happened to the Social Dimension?” Aspects of Learning in a Distance-based Teacher Training Programme

In this article we discuss distance-based teacher trainees' understandings of learning and education in a computerised learning environment. Educational research today often stresses the importance of a social dimension in learning and education and computerised learning environments are said to create and fulfil the social dimension in on-campus education as well as in distance education. This social dimension of learning and education is investigated, in a Swedish distance-based teacher training programme supported by ICT, through semi-structured interviews with 19 teacher trainees. The study shows that there is a complex relationship between the use of the computerised learning environment and the physical meetings in the programme. One conclusion is that, even though theories emphasise the social dimension of learning through participation, teacher trainees view participation with others as important primarily in relation to social aspects of well-being and not in relation to learning. The use of ICT for creating a community of learners through participation seems to individualise the students' learning rather than bringing them together in their learning.