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This text traces the history of the learning society and discusses the different interpretive models which have been attached to the idea. It provides scrutiny of the current debate, sharpening our understanding of the learning society at a time of some urgency.
As an approach to the diverse and shifting learning needs of today, the learning society labours under a definitional generosity which has led to three different models evolving with competing claims. This book traces the history of the concept and lucidly lays out these three interpretive models: learning for work, learning for citizenship and learning for democracy. The book's close scrutiny concludes with an analysis that synthesizes and sharpens our understanding of the learning society. With due consideration given to the emerging critique and with chapters from public bodies engaged in implementing learning society principles, Inside the Learning Society offers a comprehensive appraisal of ideas and practices. This is a book of great significance for anyone concerned about or involved in the future of education.
This book analyses and compares concretely the processes of knowledge production, dissemination and use in the engineering, the information and communication technology, the health and the education sectors.
This text discusses the meaning of education through an examination of life paths, identities and significant learning experiences. Looking at education over three generations of war and scant education; of structural change and increasing educational opportunities; and of social well-being and wide educational choice the book examines a variety of questions.; The book demonstrates how the synthesis of social and cultural interpretations of education forms four groups: resource, status, conformity and individualism. The implications to education policy in late-modern or postmodern society are also discussed.
Based upon a year of videotaped observations of one inner-city elementary school class, a sociologist analyzes the tacit rules that organize the social interaction of a classroom and provides a new understanding of its social fabric.
Lifelong learning is a key government strategy - both in the UK and internationally - to promote economic growth and combat social exclusion. This book presents a highly innovative study of participation in lifelong learning and the problems which need to be overcome if lifelong learning policies are to be successful. It: provides a systematic analysis, based on innovative empirical research, of the social and economic realities which actually determine patterns of participation in lifelong learning; shows what the factors are that shape people's participation, or their decision not to participate; offers new insights into the processes of lifelong learning, which have important implications for the development of more effective policies.
Lifelong learning has been an evidence-free zone for too long. It has been under-researched and under-theorised. This volume, the first of two, is the culmination of years of empirical work undertaken for the ESRC's Learning Society Programme, a major investment in lifelong learning research. It explores the ways lifelong learning can contribute to the development of knowledge and skills for employment, and other areas of adult life. In this first volume, the contributors address the challenges to social science researchers to study issues that are central and directly relevant to the political and policy debate, and to take into account the reality of people's lives. Each chapter gives an overview of one project, describing its objectives, methods, main findings and policy implications. Some of the main themes explored include the education market post-16, key skills in Higher Education, adult guidance services, and how knowledge can be developed at work. In the introduction, these topics are placed by the editor within the broad context of research and policy on different types of learning societies and lifelong learning. The evidence provided shows what policies are or are not working and provides the basis for structural reform. Some of the conclusions arrived at by the projects challenge fundamental assumptions of current policy. The contributions demonstrate the value of independent, critical research in an area which is awash with unsubstantiated generalities, armchair musings and banalities without bite. Differing visions of a Learning Society contributes to the public debate on lifelong learning, and is essential reading for politicians, policy makers, practitioners, academics and researchers concerned in any way with lifelong learning.
This volume provides an examination of what is meant by the learning society and how it can contribute to the development of knowledge and skills for employment and other areas of adult life.
This book critically assesses the learning that is required and provided within a learning society and gives a detailed sociological analysis of the emerging role of lifelong learning with examples from around the globe. Divided into three clear parts the book: looks at the development of the knowledge economy provides a critique of lifelong learning and the learning society focuses on the changing nature of research in the learning society. The author, well-known and highly respected in this field, examines how lifelong learning and the learning society have become social phenomena across the globe. He argues that the driving forces of globalisation are radically changing lifelong learning and shows that adult education/learning only gained mainstream status because of these global changes and as learning became more work orientated.
What underlies the Finnish success in international comparisons of education? The articles in this collection address this question through an examination of the educational institutions, education policy and life histories of learners in Finland's rapidly changing society.
