Widening participation in learning through adult residential provision : an evaluation (original) (raw)
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2019
This paper presents emerging findings from data collected for a professional doctorate that sought to explore the experiences of adult learners from disadvantaged backgrounds who had undertaken a distance learning Access module, prior to undergraduate study. Based on a series of vignettes (devised to address ethical challenges around labelling widening participation learners), semistructured 1-1 telephone interviews were used to explore the impact of participants’ past experiences of education, and how this affected their current HE studies. The findings suggest that a poor experience of compulsory education created an initial detachment from post-compulsory education, with participants reporting aimlessly drifting into work. All participants described one or two influential individuals who guided and supported them back towards education to the point where the thought of gaining a degree was feasible. We concluded continuing support throughout undergraduate study is vital to avoid ...
Final Briefing 1 - Adult Learning and Vocational Training
A key issue for West London is the gap between low qualifications and training of a sizable proportion of the available workforce and the demand by employers for skills at an increasingly high level. The labour market is polarised between high-skilled and low-skilled, and competition for work is strong as jobs in London often attract people from wide areas. People with low skills who are in employment are often stuck at low pay. This is problematic given London's high cost of living. Alongside inactive and unemployed people on benefits who struggle to access the labour market, there are persistent pockets of deprivation and poverty in West London. There are also specific educational needs among Black, Minority and Ethnic (BAME) communities in West London, such as language learning and barriers in recognition of foreign qualifications and skills.
British Journal of Sociology of Education, 2014
Adult learners on Access to Higher Education courses struggled with institutional and social structures to attend their courses, but transformed their identities as learners through them. Although asymmetrical power relationships dominated the intentional learning communities of their courses, their work was facilitated by collaborative cultures and supportive tutors, and students gained the confidence to construct their own emergent communities of practice for learning. The students attended seven FE Colleges in the East Midlands of England. Data was collected by mixed methods within a social constructivist framework from students and their tutors.
Barriers and solutions for adult learners in post-secondary and basic education settings
2008
This research project aimed to address the barriers and positive practices that face adult learners with learning challenges in post-secondary settings including university, community college, and adult basic education settings. Many adult students with learning disabilities in PEI and Canada have received appropriate testing to identify their disabilities, have accessed appropriate learning opportunities, and have had success in fulfilling goals for post-secondary study, although this success has not been documented. Their success is usually the result of personal factors, such as high ability, hard work and persistence, and awareness of available services, as well as institutional factors such as awareness of learning disabilities and difficulties, accessibility and availability of services, and good teaching practices . However, many adults have not had full access to services, nor have they accumulated the confidence and selfefficacy necessary to take on the formidable task of continuing their education while coping with a learning disability or difficulty (Learning Disabilities Association of Canada, 2007). The challenges of continued literacy and numeracy demands, and perceived lack of understanding of teaching staff toward the effects of learning difficulty, require that the student be aware of their own strengths and limitations and advocate on their behalf. Sometimes this task is too difficult, and students reach plateaus of learning from which they are not able to progress . This research aimed to identify the factors which contribute to this phenomenon. Once the factors are identified, strategies will be identified which alleviate these barriers. Students and educators will be taught various information and strategies to enable them to move beyond these barriers onto future progress. The success of the applied research will then be evaluated and recommendations will be made for future research and practice.
The chapter studies the conditions that define seniors in Europe as disadvantaged. Although term “disadvantaged” is case specific (referring to those in a disadvantaged, needy or deprived state or position) it is necessary to approach it within a specific context (such as social, economic, cultural, educational or medical). In general terms it refers to a particular group of people with inadequate learning resources due to limited or restricted access to learning provision, people who are unemployed, education dropouts or non-participants in learning such as migrants, unskilled or low skilled, people with disabilities (mental or physical), those who have taken early retirement and third age learners (50+). The main argument of the chapter with regard to disadvantaged seniors in Europe is that their drawback highly relates to the inability to access education and learning because they are either not informed or unaware of educational opportunities, or because existing educational opportunities are not appropriate to this particular group of people. Furthermore, seniors may be unable to participate in learning because they do not consider it as important or because they think it is irrelevant to their development. Reflecting on existing theory and relevant research evidence the chapter concludes that it is of critical importance in addressing these conditions for assessing how disadvantaged seniors may be enabled or empowered towards self-directed learning in order to make their way in and actively take part in a productive way to life.
Studies in Continuing Education, 2012
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.