In the United Kingdom, changes in the policy, funding and commissioning landscape for mental health and well-being are posing opportunities and challenges for adult community learning (ACL). Opportunities include increased recognition of, and funding for, the "wider benefits" of learning, whereas challenges include the risks of ACL…

This article profiles a Web-based tool developed with the support of two lifelong learning networks (LLNs) to address issues around higher education progression amongst under-represented groups across the East Midlands, including vocational learners and adults returning to education. Having introduced the site and explored its development, the…

This case study shows the imaginative methods adult learners use to stay motivated while studying. Respondents used social network sites and texts to motivate themselves, and each other, to continue studying. I call this innovative application of technology "e-motivation". Students used communication technology to transform their attitude, to…

This article examines the perceptions of Accrediting Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) from the point of view of lecturers delivering higher education in further education institutions. Despite the fact that APEL is recognised as potentially providing a range of benefits for higher education providers, students and employers, little research has…

The purpose of this study was to investigate how knowledge of different kinds is put to work in workplace education programmes for adults with low skills and adults with higher skills. A novel framework, which has moved beyond narrow conceptions of "transfer" to concentrate on different forms of knowledge and the ways these are recontextualised as…

This paper questions the assumption underpinning recent government initiatives, both at national and international level, that the Further Education Sector is "an enterprise free zone". As part of the drive for global competitiveness policies to improve the business start-up rate as well as engender enterprise skills and capabilities within young…

As with other sectors of education, further education seems to be locked in endless change with policy unable to resolve what have become to be regarded as intractable problems. In turn, much is expected of teachers who are left to resolve the competing pressures they are placed under. Evidence suggests that they expend much emotional labour and…

This paper describes the process of designing and administering a sufficiently valid and reliable assessment instrument to measure the progress in attainment of adult learners studying numeracy, and discusses some of the inherent difficulties that were involved. The fieldwork took place during 2003-2005 and involved a sample of 34 teachers and 412…

A common outcome of entering post-compulsory education as a mature aged learner appears to be development and growth of the self. However, this is often only viewed as an outcome or considered an added benefit, rather than an integral part of the academic process itself. This paper explores the relationship between academic growth and personal…

A critical discourse analysis of the Adult Numeracy Core Curriculum is used to expose and challenge the underlying assumptions of the Skills for Life strategy, and to examine the way in which the text constructs subject positions for adult numeracy teachers and learners. The analysis finds that presuppositions include the unproblematic transfer of…

Engagement in communities of practice has increasingly come to be seen as an important aspect of adult learning. Participation within such communities is thought to provide a dialogic space in which learning can take place. These ideas are increasingly being applied to the work of teachers, lecturers, and trainers. This reflective paper addresses…

For some years now, teachers in the post compulsory sector have been lambasted in educational circles for what some perceive as the poor quality of teaching and learning in classrooms. Such criticisms have tended to emanate from those responsible for inspecting the sector's provision. In fact, when Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education) and…

This article interrogates the concept of articulation through its enactment in post-compulsory education systems in Australia. It presents an initial analysis of the challenges and opportunities that articulation holds for individuals and institutions in the higher education, vocational education and training sectors. Making pathways work for…

Informal learning involves a wide variety of activities and pursuits which extend beyond conventional classrooms or lifelong learning courses. In this article one application of informal learning is explored in detail: the use of a sports theme, which deploys various multimedia applications in order to encourage adult learning. The article builds…

This article reports research findings from a 21-month empirical project called "Making Numeracy Teaching Meaningful to Adult Learners," which was funded by the National Research and Development Centre for Adult Literacy and Numeracy (NRDC). It looks at motivations behind adult learners returning to study numeracy in three FE colleges, and finds…